how to get a 3d drawing from 2d pictcher autodek

2D + 3D: Get the Best of Both with AutoCAD and Inventor

Past Paul Munford and Luke Mihelcic for Autodesk University

Introduction

Is in that location still a identify for 2D drafting in modern design and manufacturing? Depending on your processes and engineering, the answer may be yeah or no, but for many of us, it'southward going to exist somewhere in between. You don't have to choose between 2D and 3D. We'd like to evidence you some tips, tricks, and workflows to utilize second drafting in AutoCAD and 3D parametric design in Inventor together.

Mayhap you are transitioning from ane production to the other? Maybe you lot are coming from AutoCAD to Inventor, and you want to re-utilise or repurpose some of the work you did inside AutoCAD inside Inventor? Or perchance you lot are collaborating with colleagues who tin can only provide you with 2D details, and yous demand to convert them to 3D? Maybe it's the other fashion? Maybe you work fully in 3D Inside Inventor, but your clients or customers are asking for 2D Drawings as a deliverable? Perchance yous want to keep your survey drawings and site layouts in 2nd, but you desire to coordinate with mechanical designs that have been modeled in 3D? However you want to employ 2d and 3D design, there is a workflow to help you.

IDW versus DWG

Did you lot know that you can open up Inventor drawings in natively in AutoCAD? Autodesk Inventor was created by Autodesk in 1999. When it was first launched, information technology was decided to rewrite the dominion volume and create a make-new drawing format for Inventor called .IDW. Of course, it was presently realized that customers expected Inventor to be able to open and piece of work with AutoCAD data, and DWG was added equally a drawing format. And then, what's the difference between IDW and DWG?

IDW files are native to Inventor. The file size is a little bit smaller and they load a niggling bit faster. The downside of IDW is that at that place are very few compatible programs for viewing or exchanging IDW information.

DWG files are native to AutoCAD, the file size will be a little chip bigger than IDW and they may take fractionally longer to open up than IDW. The advantage of DWG is that the files will open natively in Inventor and AutoCAD, and there are many other programs and Viewers that are compatible with DWG data.

How do I choose which file format to employ? If yous never share information with others, use IDW. If you always need to share information with colleagues using AutoCAD or many other CAD systems, you lot'll find DWG is acceptable almost anywhere.

So, how do we create DWG files with Inventor? Inventor comes past default with both IDW and DWG templates. To create a DWG file in Inventor, you lot merely need to select the DWG template.

Setting DWG as the Default Drawing Type in Inventor

If you desire to permanently select DWG every bit your format you just need to select information technology in the application options:

Tools (Tab) > Options (Console) > Application Options (Button)

In the application options dialog, look under the Drawings tab from the Default Cartoon Type drop-down. Note that y'all can as well gear up the DWG file version you want to utilize here.

Creating drawings in Inventor using the AutoCAD DWG file format follows the exact same process as IDW. At that place is no loss of functionality and aught is missing.

To open up the cartoon in AutoCAD, yous simply need to shut it In Inventor and open it in AutoCAD. It's that elementary.

So, what can we practise with our Inventor DWG now that we have it in AutoCAD? You'll observe that you can't change the Inventor model while you are in AutoCAD. That's considering the Inventor design model isn't in AutoCAD; only the drawing is. And so what else can we do?

Well, we can plot the cartoon, take measurements, and add items such revision clouds and notes. This makes AutoCAD a great tool for anyone who wants to review our design electronically, but who doesn't want the overhead of installing or learning how to employ Inventor simply to look at drawings.

Only what if you need 2D AutoCAD geometry? That'due south also possible, and nosotros'll get to information technology presently.

Insert Inventor Views into AutoCAD Drawings

We can't edit the geometry in an Inventor DWG directly, but nosotros can re-utilise 2D views. To do this, open an Inventor DWG file in AutoCAD and so switch to model space.

Gasp. In that location's nothing there. And that'south okay. Different AutoCAD, Inventor has a modeling environment that is split to its drawing environment. Information technology references the model into the drawing a bit like AutoCAD uses x-references.

Just if we open the AutoCAD block palette, we tin see that all the model views that where created in Inventor are saved in AutoCAD as AutoCAD blocks. In fact, this is why an Inventor DWG is bigger than an Inventor IDW file: information technology contains ii sets of data, Inventor data and AutoCAD data.

We can now insert the Inventor view into AutoCAD model space as a block. An case of when this could be useful is in facility or job-site layout. We tin add an AutoCAD block that represents the footprint of our 3D model into our 2D layout. If we modify the Inventor model, we merely need to open the DWG file in Inventor to update the drawing, and then we tin open it in AutoCAD over again to update the view block.

Merely exist aware that if you lot re-create and paste the view cake into another drawing, the link will be lost and the cake will no longer update. If you need this workflow, we encourage you to take a await at Autodesk Manufacturing plant pattern utilities.

Endeavour It

1. In Inventor, first the open command and navigate to '00 Inventor Drawing.dwg' from the dataset (download the Material zip file to access).
2. Select the file with a left click and select the Options
button in the open dialog.
three. Select Defer updates, then click OK to open the
drawing. (This saves u.s. having to share the full Inventor associates.)
four. Take a look at the drawing in Inventor, then close the file in Inventor without saving.
5. From the dataset, open up '00 Inventor Drawing.dwg' in AutoCAD.
6. Navigate to newspaper space.
vii. Take some measurements, add some annotations, or plot the drawing. What can yous do with an Inventor DWG drawing in AutoCAD? What tin't you do?
8. Close the file without saving it.

Extra Credit

ix. Double click over a viewport to enter it. What practice you notice?
x. Get out the viewport and switch to model space. What exercise you encounter?
11. Get-go the Insert command (or open the cake palette). Notice that the Inventor views are available to yous in AutoCAD as blocks. Insert a view/block into model space.
12. Close the file without saving it.

Convert an Inventor DWG into an AutoCAD DWG (with Inventor)

So, we've learned that nosotros can create drawings in DWG format in Inventor and open them directly in AutoCAD, only what we can do with that cartoon is limited.

Allow's imagine that we've been asked to deliver a native, editable, 2D AutoCAD drawing every bit a deliverable. How do we do that? To create an editable DWG file, we'll demand to consign the drawing.

To consign an Inventor DWG to AutoCAD, Get to the Application menu (the orange tab with 'File' written on it).

Navigate to Consign, then select Export to DWG. In the dialog, annotation that you tin save your configuration and use it again. Click Side by side.

Look for Consign options > Data scaling. Your Inventor cartoon is drawn to scale on a virtual canvas of paper. The information scaling pick allows y'all to choose how y'all want your drawing to come into AutoCAD.

You can cull whether the geometry will come into AutoCAD at the aforementioned scale as it was in Inventor or at ane:i scale. You can also cull if you want the drawing to appear in AutoCAD's model or paper space.

When you are set up, click Cease. When you open the file in AutoCAD, all geometry will now be in an editable second format.

For details of all the export to DWG options available to yous, check out this resource.

Convert an Inventor DWG into an AutoCAD DWG (with AutoCAD)

If you just have AutoCAD, or you are just more familiar with the AutoCAD Interface, you lot can also convert drawings from Inventor DWG to AutoCAD DWG from inside AutoCAD. We will practise this with the 'EXPORTLAYOUT' Command.

In AutoCAD, open an Inventor DWG file. Navigate to paper infinite. Right click over your layout tab and choose the option Export Layout to Model. Follow the prompts to create your editable 2D version of the Inventor cartoon.

Detect that y'all don't go whatsoever choice to scale the Inventor drawing or remove the title block. You may demand to scale the geometry if you want it to be a 1:i and do a little clean up.

Try It

1. In Inventor, get-go the open up command and navigate to '00 Inventor Drawing.dwg' from the dataset (download the Material zilch file to admission).
2. Select the file with a left click and select the 'options'
push in the open dialog.
three. Select Defer updates, then click OK to open up the
drawing. (This saves u.s.a. having to share the full Inventor assembly.)
4. Go to: Application menu (File) > Export > Export to DWG
5. Click Next
6. Nether Export options > Data scaling, select Full scale (i:1) Model space.
vii. Click finish and salve your file. Close '00 Inventor Cartoon.dwg' without saving.
viii. Open your exported file in AutoCAD to see what you got.

Extra Credit

i. From the dataset, open up '00 Inventor Drawing.dwg' In AutoCAD.
ii. Navigate to paper infinite.
3. Correct click over the newspaper infinite layout tab and pick 'Consign Layout to Model'.
iv. Proper name and save your file.
five. Close '00 Inventor Drawing.dwg' without saving.
6. Open your exported file in AutoCAD to come across what you got.

Tip: There are case consign files in the '05 Examples of Exported files' folder. Compare the consign from Inventor to the export from AutoCAD. Compare the location of 0,0,0, the scale of the geometry, the layers used etc. Which method suits your workflow best?

Create Drawings of Inventor Models in AutoCAD

In that location's i more method of using AutoCAD and Inventor together that can give united states the best of both worlds. At some companies, the tasks of 3D modeling a design and the cosmos of 2D drawings are done by different people.

This is an example where each user tin use each programme for what it's best at, Inventor for 3D parametric modeling and AutoCAD for 2D drafting.

To practise this we use a command in AutoCAD call Base of operations View.

To create a drawing in AutoCAD from an Inventor model, nosotros'll use a control chosen Base View. Go to an AutoCAD drawing layout and offset the base view command. You lot'll find that you tin chose an AutoCAD model, or you tin can choose a model from Inventor.

If you've used the drawing environment in Inventor, the base view commands volition wait pretty similar. If yous've used the drawing environs in Fusion 360, information technology will look fifty-fifty more familiar, because the Fusion cartoon environment comes from AutoCAD.

We tin can add views, sections and details of the model, and add dimensions and notes. Nosotros can't edit the model from here; nosotros'll need to do that in Inventor.

For more than information on the base of operations view command in AutoCAD, check out this resources.

We can also recommend J.C. Malitzke's Autodesk University course:
Create Compelling 2D Sections, Details, and Auxiliary Views from AutoCAD 3D Models.

Want more than? Download the full class handout to read on.

Paul Munford is a laugher, dreamer, bon vivant, CAD geek, and technical marketing managing director for Autodesk in the Great britain. Paul's background in manufacturing items for the construction industry gives him a foot in digital prototyping and a pes in Building Information Modeling (BIM). Paul was a speaker at Autodesk University for the first fourth dimension in 2012, and he says it'due south the near fun anyone can accept with 250 other people in the room.

Luke Mihelcic has been involved with design, engineering, and assay since 1995. His career started in telecommunications designing mobile product equipment for TV and radio. He has taught blueprint and engineering at Pittsburgh Technical Institute and has spent over 10 years equally an awarding engineer for an Autodesk reseller and Blue Ridge Numerics. His various roles as educator, end-user, and provider give him a unique perspective on identifying, agreement, and helping solve pattern and engineering challenges. Every bit the technical marketing manager for the core manufacturing solutions at Autodesk, he is responsible for the evolution, creation, and implementation of relevant content and tools that aid users understand and utilise the Autodesk Design and Manufacturing Portfolio.

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Source: https://medium.com/autodesk-university/2d-3d-get-the-best-of-both-with-autocad-and-inventor-695dfcc47885

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