Autodesk has unveiled Inventor 2017, one of the most advanced 3D modelling solutions for manufacturing industry professionals. The latest version in innovative software for designers and engineers, Inventor 2017 delivers new professional-grade design, interoperability and communication tools aimed at supporting customers ever-expanding needs. 

“The manufacturing industry is witnessing an evolution of the role of the mechanical engineer. They are no longer solely responsible for the design of complex mechanical systems, but are often also tasked with complete product definition, design and delivery,” said Derrek Cooper, director of the Inventor product line.

“With this latest version of Inventor, Autodesk is delivering new capabilities aimed at supporting all aspects of this expanding role.”

Based on the requests of Inventor’s more than 11,000 alpha and beta testers and IdeaStation community, the company built Inventor 2017 to serve the expanding role of the modern professional engineer and provide customers with features aimed at simplifying the new aspects of their jobs:

Professional-grade Design Tools help users design faster and optimise performance from the outset and include:  Enhanced sketching, part modelling, assembly management, surfacing and sheet metal capabilities so users can capture and develop design ideas quickly and easily.  Additional Shape Generator capabilities such as symmetry and member size controls that help users explore lightweight designs and improve product performance.  

New Interoperability Tools help to pull disparate aspects of a project together, regardless of the discipline or software that was originally used and include:

Expanded AnyCAD tools allow users to easily integrate non-native mechanical design data into Inventor models without translation, now including associative connections with the industry standard STEP format.

Inventor’s latest update includes hundreds of enhancements including several customer-requested modelling tools.

Shape Generator, an integrated design optimization tool powered by Autodesk’s Nastran technology, guides users in the design of structurally efficient parts.

Other enhancements facilitate data and process management, ranging from improved mesh handling to new connections with Vault for customers using Inventor for factory design.

“We work with suppliers and other partners who use all kinds of design tools and Inventor’s AnyCAD capabilities help us bring all this data together seamlessly,” said Tim Evans, Design & Engineering Manager from Kalitta Motorsports. “It’s not just able to bring the data in, but as designs change it keeps everything up to date and avoids re-work, saving us a lot of time and money.”

Enhanced Communication Tools help customers share information with anyone on a project team, regardless of their role, company, location or software package:

Design Shares on A360 accelerate feedback and approvals on designs in progress. They enable users to lift the 3D graphics off the screen and instantly deliver them to anyone in the world and on any device so collaborators can easily collect design feedback in a single secure location.  Enhanced animation capabilities to show assembly sequences and 3D PDF publishing to document designs.

 Design Shares on A360 help distributed teams get quick feedback on designs as they evolve. Recent enhancements now allow users to manage collaborators, review comments, and archive Design Shares directly from Inventor. 3D PDF enables customers to augment traditional documentation with high quality 3D content viewable directly in Adobe Acrobat Reader. 

New mesh handling capabilities enable uses to integrate mesh data into native Inventor assemblies, easily constrain and pattern mesh objects, and detect interferences.

Simplified Subscription Choices

Inventor standalone product subscribers will also see a simplification of editions with the 2017 release.

Beginning today, the standard-level Inventor product is no longer available as subscription, and it is being consolidated with Inventor Professional to create just one subscription offering.

New subscribers will now get the Inventor Professional product at a lower price that matches the old price of Inventor standard. This simplifies choices and provides greater value for subscribers, while making sure they have continuous access to the most up-to-date features and tools.

This change does not affect maintenance plan or Suites customers. Current Inventor standard and Inventor Professional subscribers will receive more information about this change in an email communication from Autodesk.