RobiNZ CAD Blog

Un-Inventor LT Technology Previewing

I removed the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview from my machine as it expired May 1st.

Important announcement for Autodesk Inventor LT users (posted March 1st)

Un-installing, via add/remove programs, was trouble free* except for one aspect. I found the file association for .dwg files was still trying to use Inventor when a file was opened from Explorer. Changing the association from Explorer didn't seem to help so I tried a repair install of AutoCAD Architecture which restored it's .dwg association.

Now it's not free, would I buy Inventor LT?

That's complicated by the rather strange product offer in our region. While the US & Canada get Inventor LT as a stand-alone product in New Zealand it's going to be bundled with AutoCAD LT. While there is nothing wrong with the junior AutoCAD I wouldn't want it when I already have a full AutoCAD license in the form or AutoCAD Architecture or Revit Architecture Suite.

While I found Inventor LT an interesting learning tool I didn't use it enough over the preview period to justify purchasing it. Within it's limitations, parts rather than assemblies, I can see it being a good value tool for a machine shop wanting to try 3D design, and they might want AutoCAD LT too!

* If you've had any problems removing yours this post on the Labs blog might be of help; 

Un-installing Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009

Inventor Wizard, Inventor LT Preview & 3Dconnexion connections

Jürgen emailed me last September* in response to a post about Inventor LT. It got my attention because I wasn't aware of many Inventor blogs/sites, even now I still follow more SolidWorks blogs!

I run an Autodesk User Group in Belgium, mainly for Inventor and somewhat AutoCAD
 
Inventor Wizard Belgium - www.inventorwizard.be (you can find English & French translations buttons on the side-bar)

Anyway, I maybe have something that may be of interest for you as well:

I just published an article/interview of a meeting I had last month, with the Sales Director Northern Europe of 3Dconnexion;
http://www.inventorwizard.be/interviews/andy_parnell-hopkinson.html

A recent splurge of blogging, too much for some, about the new SpacePilot PRO reminded me that this was lurking in the drafts. It was also because yesterday, as part of an IT requested My Documents archive and machine clean-up, I un-installed the Inventor LT Preview due to it's impending death. They are migrating my profile to a new environment this weekend and apparently 30GB of My Documents meant this could take some time. I managed to get it down to a mere 20GB!

Getting back to controllers, I haven't used anything other than a mouse for cad since the demise of the "Tablet & Puck". I can't remember when that was, for me before Windows AutoCAD, but probably because I never really embraced the whole Puck/Template thing.

Although I have seen, played with, even considered buying the SpaceNavigator PE at Autodesk University I ultimately decided my computer habits and use don't really justify it. Although all our work is 3D the nature of it means most design time is just spent editing plan views. The 3D'ness only really helps those who can't read the plans or looking at spatial relationships for new concepts. Many of our suppler fittings arrive as 3D models, our time being spent dumbing them down to manageable sizes.

The other concern is I like the same set-up for home, mobile & work. Do I get two controllers or add one to the collection of junk I lug to & from work every day? Then there is the compatibility with many non-CAD applications (including 3D design ones) that we use, or are considering. At the end of the day I decided it wasn't worth the bother.

Anyway, although no longer new, Jürgen's interview has some interesting background info on 3Dconnexion and their place in the CAD UI world. If you're thinking about a new controller it's worth reading.

* My response to emails like this is often "I'll take a look and post about it if I think of interest, this may take some time". "Some time" maybe months, here is proof!

CAD advertised on the radio, is this a first for New Zealand?

I've never heard a New Zealand Autodesk reseller use radio advertising until today. Radio Live had a CADPRO advert for AutoCAD & Inventor. It got my attention but I wonder what their audience, it's a talk/news station, made of it?

The death, or retirement, of a desktop - RIP Mechanical Desktop 1995 - 2008

I remember going to the launch of AutoCAD Designer. Mechanical Desktop replaced Designer and now, although some with much more knowledge than me might argue this, Inventor has replaced MDT.

Engineering Education for the Mechanically Inclined: Farewell old friend
Autodesk Mechanical Desktop 1995-2008
Some of you may have read on the web or received an e-mail notification announcing the discontinuation of Autodesk Mechanical Desktop after the present 2009 release....

Note: I've backdated this post to about the time it was written as found it lurkng in my drafts.

Inventor LT Preview - The Sequel!

Good news, the  Inventor LT (Free) Technology Preview will be extended for another year!

It is Alive in the Lab: Sign us up for another year of LT feedback

Mike Puckett interviews Lynn Allen at Solidworks World

Earlier this week I posted about a mystery person, actually Autodesk Evangelist Lynn Allen, being seen at Solidworks World. What was she doing there? Mike has the answers in this audio interview!

Mike Puckett's Blog: Lynn Allen Sit Down
if you're confused as to why someone from Autodesk is attending a Solidworks event, Lynn was gracious enough to sit down with me and answer some questions...(the post has streaming audio file link)

If you have trouble with the streaming file this post has a download link: Mike Puckett's Blog: Lynn Allen Interview File (download)

Tags: Lynn+Allen, Solidworks

Learning Inventor LT

I’ve finally had a chance to install the free Inventor LT Preview. While I’ll do the tutorials, and learn the proper way, I couldn’t resist jumping in and creating a simple model.

I’m a complete Inventor newbie so will be test driving the learning process as much as the application!

Inventor LT, the free technology preview arrives in New Zealand! (and aussie)

Earlier this year I was excited to see a free preview of Autodesk Inventor LT announced, then disappointed to see demand meant it was restricted to US/Canada. I went to the Autodesk New Zealand Web-site today and found the preview has been extended to NZ and Australia. Downloading now…

Autodesk Labs Blog – Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview Now Extends to Australia and New Zealand

RobiNZ CAD Blog: Inventor LT, free technology preview! (My Original post)
My dad is a talented engineer and can machine, weld, craft pretty much anything. I’m very much not a talented engineer but have always been interested in engineering design software. The hope was it could drive CNC machinery to compensate for my lack of machining skill .
That’s why the news that Inventor LT is available as a free long term preview (May 2008) caught my attention…

Tags: InventorLT

Inventor LT, free technology preview! UPDATE 04-05-2007: USA/Canada Only

My dad is a talented engineer and can machine, weld, craft pretty much anything. I’m very much not a talented engineer but have always been interested in engineering design software. The hope was it could drive CNC machinery to compensate for my lack of machining skill . 

That’s why the news that Inventor LT is available as a free long term preview (May 2008) caught my attention. If you’ve an interest in engineering software, a need to collaborate with engineers or would like a look at this technology click download (one warning it’s 934mb! and only for the USA/Canada), try it and then tell the Inventor LT team what you think!

Inventor LT is here! | Autodesk Manufacturing Community

The Inventor team is pleased to announce a new member to the Inventor family – Inventor LT. Inventor LT is a technology preview that will be available today on Autodesk Labs for all to download and use through a free preview license that is active until May 1, 2008.

Inventor LT contains the same great 3D part modeler contained in Inventor plus the ability to create associative 2Ddrawings and photorealistic renderings of the 3D models. A variety of tools are included to speed communication such as DWF, neutral import and export formats as well as the new Translator Add-In available on Autodesk labs. Inventor LT also comes with Autodesk’s suite of viewing tools including Autodesk Design Review 2008, Inventor View and DWG TrueView. One of the biggest differences between Inventor LT and Inventor is that Inventor LT does not support assemblies. For a full list of capabilities take a look at the Inventor LT site…

http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/inventor_lt

Autodesk Inventor LT Now Available - Autodesk Labs Blog

LT stands for "Limited Technology" - but don't let that sway you. There's a lot you can do. For example, AutoCAD LT is a version of AutoCAD with most everything except for 3D and application runtime extension capabilities.

Autodesk Labs is proud to announce the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview. Created by the same Manufacturing Solutions Division that brings you Autodesk Inventor, it is available for a limited time free of charge from the Autodesk Labs site…

UPDATE 04–05–2007: Too Popular for me…

I downloaded the preview but the “Important Inventor LT Information” registration email which was supposed to confirm an install serial no was blank. Querying this didn’t get a very useful response:

Thank you for your interest in Inventor LT, and this blank email appears to be an early technical glitch with the automated email system. It is resolved now.  Nevertheless…
 
Current demand for the Inventor LT technology preview has far surpassed our initial estimates. In order to provide our participants with the best experience, we have decided to limit availability to participants in the US and Canada at this time.  We regret any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused, and the website has been updated to reflect this more clearly.
 
We are extremely excited about the overwhelming response to this technology preview.  Please continue to visit the site for the latest information on the Inventor LT technology preview.
 
Best regards,
Product Manager, Inventor

Pity to waste a 1GB download…