IMAGINiT Manufacturing Solutions Blog

Inventor Add-in: Center Point Rectangle

It's in AutoCAD Mechanical, it's in most other 3D modeling programs...so why isn't it in Inventor?  Why do packages of hot dogs come in 10 and buns in 8?  It's one of the great mysteries of the Inventor user base.  Well Inventor user Brian Hall finally got tired of not getting an answer from Autodesk on this one.  Not the hot dogs, the rectangle one.

Download Qube-It Rectangle Tools R2

This add-in works beautifully on Inventor 2010 and 2011 assuming you have all the service packs and microsoft hotfixes installed including .NET updates.  I find myself using this tool quite a bit and every time I show sketching now in Inventor, I get asked what it is and where do I get it.  Here is a video from the programmer himself.  Enjoy!  Now to work on that pesky hot dog conundrum.

 

AutoCAD Shortcut List

I find myself teaching AutoCAD this week and wondered to myself why I haven't put this up on the blog sooner.  It's not rocket science or some elaborate tip or earth shattering workflow.  Just a nice handout for your cubicle wall for AutoCAD hotkeys.  Feel free to modify the Excel spread sheet as you see necessary.

Download COMMAND ALIASES

Remember, you can modify the aliases with the acad.pgp file as well.

Tips Overheard at AU2010: Blank Slate Templates

Last week at Autodesk University 2010, I presented a class on Drawing Templates.  One of the hot tips that not a lot of users knew about was the creation of a blank slate template.  This will basically start up a new drawing with no Drawing Resources or Styles loaded into the document.  This is the perfect way to start a new Company Standard for any and all styles as well as new Drawing Resources such as Title Blocks and Sheet Formats.

To start a clean slate template...hold down CTRL+SHIFT and at the same time select a new drawing from the pulldown.

The Styles and Drawing Resources will be blank allowing you to start from scratch on your new Standard or Title Block.

The handout for this class is available now on the AU website (http://au.autodesk.com/) and the recorded portion of the session will be available soon.  These should all be available by December 8th.