Low- or No-Cost CAD
-2D/3D products like Siemens PLM software, Draft IT, Inventor LT, SolidWorks
Personal Edition, Alibre Design Xpress, CoCreate's OneSpace Modeling Personal
Edition, Caligari's trueSpace, and Rhino are available, Mike Hudspeth, Cadalyst,
Jan 1, 2008
Inventor in the AEC World? - Inventor eases analyzing and testing designs in
3D, can create BOM accurately, has ability to share models, DWG TrueConnect
feature, more, Paul Watson, AEC Magazine, Oct 22, 2007
Checking Out Inventor 2008
- features like DWG interoperability, sheetmetal, industrial design,
ribbon-cable design plus general enhancements, Leslie Gordon, Machine Design,
July 12, 2007
Trying Out Inventor: Day 4
- 'End of Evaluation Period' error has hotfix but at 151MB download, Ralph
Grabowski, WorldCAD Access, July 16, 2007
Trying Out Inventor: Day 1
- installing Inventor 2008 is less than straightforward, Ralph
Grabowski, WorldCAD Access, July 5, 2007
Trying Out Inventor: Day 2
- Inventor and Vault were installed but siblings failed to install,
Ralph Grabowski, WorldCAD Access, July 6, 2007
Trying Out Inventor: Day 2.5
- attempting tutorial without content installed unsuccessful, Ralph
Grabowski, WorldCAD Access, July 6, 2007
The Best and Brightest - software and hardware products highly praised by
Cadalyst: MicroStation V8 XM, SolidWorks 2007 Office Premium, AutoCAD 2008,
Autodesk Inventor 2008, HP xw4400 workstation, Xi MTower PCIe, SpaceExplorer,
SpaceNavigator, @Xi PowerGo 2Duo, ImagePro Gx42 HD wide-format scanner, Ron
LaFon, Cadalyst, Jun 1, 2007
Inventor LT
- focused on supply chain, Inventor LT is a free part modeling system with
photorealistic rendering tools, can read Inventor part files, more, Al Dean &
Martyn Day, MCAD Online, May 18, 2007
Autodesk
Inventor LT Aims to be 3D Design Editor - Inventor LT has photorealistic
rendering feature, imports/exports DWF, DWG, DXF formats, supports STEP, IGES,
SAT, STL, JT formats, but lacks many Inventor capabilities, more, Randall S.
Newton, CADdigest.com, May 14, 2007
Autodesk Plays Genie in a Bottle - users' wishes included in Inventor 2008:
sheet metal design environment, dimensions on isometric views, taper-tapped
holes, more, Rita Stange, Inventor Connections, May 7, 2007 (may require free
registration)
Autodesk Inventor 2008
- DWG TrueConnect
feature, updated sheet metal, area loft feature, design accelerators, more, Al
Dean, Desktop Engineering, April 2007
Inventor 2008 -- Part II
- ability to create standardized Punch tools, updated design accelerators UI,
improved integrated simulation & analysis feature, ribbon cable design feature,
more, Al Dean, MCAD Online, April 19, 2007
Autodesk Inventor 2008
- support for DWG format, axonometric hatching and dimensioning, control on
visibility of specific views, more, highly recommended by Bill Fane, Cadalyst,
April 1, 2007
Autodesk
Inventor 2008: Part 1 - DWG TrueConnect feature for DWG
interoperability, new2 Cell Frame Renderer, area-based loft feature, more, Al
Dean, MCAD Online, March 15, 2007
Autodesk Inventor 11 - construction
environment feature for better interoperability,
ability to manage large assemblies, new Sculpt
tool, AutoLimits and the Frame Generator
features, highly recommended by Jeffrey Rowe, Cadalyst, August 1, 2006
Inventor Series Release 11
- new steel frame design tools, tube and pipe tools, improved cable and harness
design tools and Vault enhancements for better data management, Al Dean, MCAD
Online, May 9, 2006
Autodesk
Inventor 11: A Quick Overview - enhanced construction
environment, shape modeling and new Sculpt tool for part modeling, functional
design toolset, Jeffrey Rowe, Cadalyst Manufacturing, April 13, 2006
Tackling Large Assemblies - Autodesk Inventor 11 provides functional design
features, ability to work with large assemblies, excellent data management,
Terry Costlow, Design News, April 2006
Inventor 11: Exclusive!
- Inventor 11 adds functional design, dynamics and a sculpt tool, but is still
based on 32-bit code, Al Dean, MCAD Online, February 10, 2006
Inventor Series 10: Part II
- a look at Inventor 10, data management updates and AutoCAD Mechanical, all
included in the Inventor Series 10, Al Dean, MCAD Online, September 14, 2005
Inventor Series 10: Part 1
- with the additions to core tools such as modeling and drafting, Inventor 10
also offers new areas of functionality such as the Inventor Studio and the
Functional Design, Al Dean, MCAD Online, August 8, 2005
Autodesk Inventor
10 -- Midrange Modeler Combines 2D and 3D Capabilities
- latest release gets an A minus, includes Mechanical Desktop 2006 and
AutoCAD Mechanical 2006 for 2D work and Vault for managing the data, useful
for AutoCAD users with 2D tools migrating to 3D, Jeffrey Rowe, Cadalyst
Manufacturing, July 1, 2005
First Steps in PLM: PDM with Collaboration Tools
- major CAD vendors (Autodesk, UGS, SolidWorks and Dassault) have built-in
product data management that makes it easier to veer users towards a PLM
path, Louise Elliott, Desktop Engineering, May 2005
Autodesk Inventor Professional 9 Offers New FEA Capabilities - the
new FEA capabilities within Inventor Professional can give new
insight into your products' strengths and weaknesses, Stephen Uppfalt,
Hagerman Technology Bulletin, January 2005
Design
Accelerator Preview Tools for Inventor Are Here! - add-in includes mechanical calculators to help in making
strength calculations for weld and solder joints and component generators
for creating parts based on real-world figures, Mark Lautenbach, Hagerman &
Company Technology Bulletin, November 2004
Inventor
Professional 9 - a mix of enhancements to existing functionality and brand
new technology, Al Dean, Cadserver, October 26, 2004
Inventor Series 9 - examines the core creation tools in the package: AutoCAD Mechanical 2005 and Inventor 9, CADserver, October 19, 2004 CAD For The Budget-Conscious - advice on how to get the most CAD for your money, including a comparison of the mid-range programs Alibre Design Professional, Autodesk Inventor, Pro/ENGINEER, Solid Edge and SolidWorks, Paul E. Teague, Design News, September 13, 2004
Mixed Motives -
version 9 of Autodesk Inventor Series speaks the language of the engineer as well as the professional modeler by providing a risk-free path from 2D to 3D, Charles Clarke, e4engineering, September 10, 2004
Inventor Series 9 Arrives - the newest version adds ANSYS technology for stress analysis, 3D DWF publishing along with 2D DWF and
new production drawing capabilities such as styles and layers, Sara Ferris, Cadalyst, June 1, 2004
Autodesk Inventor 7 and 8 - the rapidly changing solid modeler adds 2D drafting and document management tools, Bill Fane, Cadalyst, June 1, 2004
Inventor 8 Adds Time-saving Tools - explores the major improvements in the new version, which include better performance in drawing creation, new drawing creation shortcuts and enhancements in mirroring and automatic collision detection, Kevin Schneider, Cadalyst, March 15, 2004
Autodesk Speeds Up Inventor - release 8 of Inventor contains 39 minor improvements and one major change - it completes certain tasks faster than previous versions, CADCAMNet, November 20, 2003
Moving from 2D to 3D for About the Price of 2D - by purchasing Autodesk Inventor Series - which contains AutoCAD 2004, AutoCAD Mechanical Desktop 2004 and Autodesk Inventor 7 - you get Autodesk's 2D packages basically for free, Gary S. Vasilash, Automotive Design & Production, September 2003
Additional Notes on Autodesk Inventor 7 - Inventor users express some praise, but mostly dissatisfaction with the latest release, Joe Greco, CADENCE MCAD Tech News #103, August 14, 2003
CAD Vendors Offer Gateways to PLM - a look at the built-in collaborative capabilities of Autodesk Inventor, Solid Edge and Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire, Louise Elliott, DE Online, June 2003
More Than Just Mechanical Design? - compares Inventor, SolidWorks, Solid Edge, and Pro/Engineer for the purpose of industrial design, Joe Greco, Desktop Engineering, August, 2003
Autodesk Inventor Professional 7 - Professional's new 3D tube and pipe design and printed circuit board import capabilities are among the excellent additions to this upgrade, TechniCom eWeekly, July 14, 2003
Views on Autodesk Inventor 7 and the New Inventor Professional - there's little new in the latest upgrade, although Professional version offers some robust tools and Autodesk Vault provides handy file management tools, Joe Greco, CADENCE MCAD Tech News #101, July 10, 2003
Taking Stock of MCAD - looks at 20 areas of mechanical and computer-aided design and picks the best MCAD programs in each category, Joe Greco, CADENCE, March 2003
Well Worth the Wait: Autodesk Inventor 6 - the most significant release in Inventor's history, the latest version offers more than 200 new and improved features to model parts and create drawings more easily and quickly than before, David Cohn, DE Online, February 2003
A Mini Review of Inventor 6 - many new improvements although many should have been there a long time ago, Joe Greco, CADENCE MCAD Tech News, Dec 5, 2002
Surface Modeling State of the Art - an overview of the surfacing features offered in the latest versions of CATIA, Cobalt, Inventor, Pro/E, Solid Edge, SolidWorks, thinkdesign, Unigraphics and VX CAD/CAM, Joe Greco, CADENCE, November 2002
Autodesk Inventor 6 - Sneak Peek - a look at some of the more than 200 new and improved features, Avatech Solutions, September 2002
Certifiably 3D - a look at the new Autodesk Inventor Certified Application Program and how it compares with the third-party product partnerships of SolidWorks and Solid Edge, Joe Greco, CADENCE MCAD Tech News #79 (Aug. 20, 2002)
Editors' Choice - Inventor receives Editors' Choice from CADENCE, December 1999
Autodesk Inventor - Autodesk targets the high-end assemblies market with Autodesk Inventor, its new solid-modeling product and the first serious modeler from Autodesk not built on top of AutoCAD, Joe Greco, CADENCE, Dec 1999
Autodesk Out to Prove That It’s the Great Inventor - an early look at Inventor, the upcoming Adaptive Modeler from Autodesk, and notes a host of engineering pros, Jonathan Richardson, CAD User, Nov 1999 (est)
