published 01/26/2001

Autodesk Inventor 4

- Making the transition from 2D to 3D design painless for mechanical designers

Just five months since Release 3, Autodesk has delivered this latest feature-rich version with an emphasis on making a painless transition from 2D to 3D mechanical design and with the most complete set of tools for industrial machinery design yet. Among the over 150 enhancements in this release, Autodesk is delivering industry-leading DWG file compatibility-making it easier for AutoCAD® customers to use their legacy data with Autodesk Inventor software. In addition, this release of Autodesk Inventor software continues to build on the software's inherent strengths of single-day productivity, unique adaptive technology, large-assembly modeling capabilities, and the ability to extend valuable design data throughout the enterprise.

"With the first release of Autodesk Inventor software last year, we targeted large companies that were primarily using competitive parametric software. We've won a lot of business for Autodesk Inventor in that space," said Robert Kross, vice president of the Manufacturing Market Group at Autodesk. "With Release 4, we are expanding the market for Autodesk Inventor to all mechanical designers, particularly 2D designers who want to make the move from 2D to 3D. Autodesk Inventor 4 features are intended to make that move as easy as possible and help customers maximize their legacy Autodesk® data. Designing in 3D allows customers to benefit from all of the high performance built into Autodesk Inventor software."

Having made the transition from 2D to 3D and citing the software's ease of use, Alfredo Bentivoglio, president of Canada-based Alpha Marathon Technologies said, "We were fully functional on Autodesk Inventor in six weeks, including training. The transition from 2D to Inventor was a breeze. It made our leap into the new world of 3D a great experience."

Since installing Autodesk Inventor software, Bentivoglio and his team have been saving an estimated 7 to 9 percent on material and labor on every single project. They anticipate that as their experience and confidence mounts, the company will achieve savings of at least 15 percent.

New Features

In addition to substantial performance improvements and reductions in file sizes, the most significant new enhancements in Autodesk Inventor 4 fall into three areas: single-day productivity, DWG compatibility, and technology improvements that help users create and share design information more effectively.

Single-Day Productivity

Autodesk Inventor 4 continues to focus on unparalleled ease-of-use improvements. There are numerous new enhancements to sketching, such as automatic dimensioning and support for unconsumed sketches that allows them to be cataloged for future use. In addition, Autodesk Inventor 4 offers improved visual feedback and fine-tuning of command sequences to enhance the user interface, making it even easier for users to navigate around the product.

With its intuitive workflow, Autodesk Inventor 4 provides even more opportunity for users to capture design intent during the early conceptual stage, allowing for more downstream automation. New iMates technology helps users define how parts will automatically snap into position in the assembly.

Finally, Autodesk has added a new tool called the Sketch Doctor to Autodesk Inventor's award-winning and already robust help and support system. The Sketch Doctor helps users with sketch and drawing recovery, especially when importing legacy data from other design programs.

DWG Compatibility from the Source

Autodesk Inventor 4 delivers DWG compatibility from the source, Autodesk. Users have the freedom to import legacy drawings in DWG format to use as a starting point for a new model or as a reference "backdrop" for a top-down modeling session.

This means users making the transition to Autodesk Inventor software will not lose the value of their legacy DWG data. Users can also export DWG files to communicate with suppliers and customers who rely on the world's most widely used drawing format for design communication.

Helping companies conform to their own drafting standards, in addition to those that are internationally accepted, is the new Dimension Style Manager, which provides flexibility and control not available in other systems. More section lines capabilities, extensive bill of materials enhancements, and rotated auxiliary views round out the comprehensive set of improvements to productivity, quality, accuracy, and communication benefits. In addition, Autodesk Inventor software now provides the ability to create 2D parametric-driven production drawings.

Numerous New Technology Additions

Adaptive Technology and Large Assembly Performance Enhancements

The innovative adaptive technology in Autodesk Inventor 4 has been substantially extended to accommodate multilevel adaptive solving. This means users will have full access to part-level constraints deep inside the assembly structure. This brings invaluable visualization benefits to designers of complex mechanical systems.

In addition to adaptive assemblies and adaptive layout, Autodesk Inventor 4 now includes advanced Family-of-Parts publishing, extending the capabilities of the Design Elements design management system. Moving beyond simply capturing geometry, Family-of-Parts enables all participants in the collaborative design process to share design intent and design knowledge. By controlling the parameters that users can access in parts, companies can more easily administer design data reuse and conform to the preferred parts library, resulting in dramatically reduced costs and increased productivity.

Autodesk Inventor 4 also includes many new assembly-modeling capabilities that extend the large-assembly performance of the software. Assembly file sizes in Autodesk Inventor 4 are four to six times smaller, constituting a 60 to 80 percent decrease in file size from Autodesk Inventor 3. In addition, across-the-board performance enhancements give Autodesk Inventor software a more responsive feel. Designers will have even more time to spend on the creative aspects of their work.

Embedded Applications: Surface Design and Sheet Metal

Autodesk Inventor 4 introduces surfaces, which add powerful techniques for creating complex shapes. Designers of products that require a tight integration of surfaces and solids will find these surfaces most beneficial. Tooling suppliers to aerospace and automotive industries will find the surface termination and splitting capabilities invaluable tools for increasing accuracy and productivity.

Autodesk Inventor 4 adds more depth and breadth to sheet metal design. The simultaneous folded and unfolded design methodology, which leads the market for ease of use, has been extended to include punched shapes across bends, flanges with setback, and ripped corners. By integrating engineering knowledge into Autodesk Inventor, these features bring enormous added value to companies working with sheet metal. Not only is the sheet metal functionality in Autodesk Inventor 4 easy to use, but it also offers the flexibility and freedom to experiment with different solutions for demanding applications.

Pricing and Availability

Autodesk Inventor 4 software is available as a multiplatform license for Microsoft® Windows 98®, Windows 2000, and Windows NT. The English language version of Autodesk Inventor 4 is currently available in the United States and Canada. International language versions will become available later. Prices are set locally and will vary according to reseller, region, volume, and availability promotions. More information can be found at www.autodesk.com/inventor.

About Autodesk

Autodesk is the world's leading design and digital content creation resource. The company provides software and Internet portal services to help customers drive business through the power of design. One of the largest software companies in the world, Autodesk helps designs become a reality for more than 4 million customers in over 150 countries. For more information, contact any Authorized Autodesk Reseller, call Autodesk at 800-964-6432, or visit www.autodesk.com. DiscreetT product information is available at 800-869-3504 or on the Web at www.discreet.com. Autodesk shares are traded on the Nasdaq national market under the symbol ADSK.

Autodesk and AutoCAD are registered trademarks, and Discreet and Autodesk Inventor are trademarks, of Autodesk, Inc., in the United States and/or certain other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks are used solely for the purpose of identification and belong to their respective holders.

© Copyright 2000 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

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