Mesh Enabler for Inventor users

The Inventor Mesh Enabler is a free* technology preview that enables Inventor users to work with imported Mesh data. As shipped Inventor 2012 can import mesh data from Catia files. In addition to Catia files, Inventor 2013 can import mesh data from STL files and from JT files. The Mesh Enabler for 2013/2012 adds the ability to post process the imported mesh data to convert the mesh features to Inventor Base features. The resulting Base features can then be used for further operations including drawings and measurements.

Usage:
After installing the technology preview, users can right click on one or more imported mesh features of interest, and convert them into Base features (solids, surfaces, or composites) through a new context menu command. The graphical mesh data is converted into B-Rep Model data that can be used similar to imported solids and surfaces. As part of the conversion process, the technology preview also does some simplification of the faceted data by merging multiple mesh triangles into a single face when possible. Try it with some sample files: cgr.zip (830.8K).

The Inventor 2012 compatible preview is available until January 31, 2013 at which time the license expires and the function will be disabled. Similarly the Inventor 2013 compatible preview is available until January 31, 2014 at which time the license expires and the function will be disabled. It is not known if this technology will be incorporated into a commercial product.

LINK

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/inventor_mesh/

Help Us Out

This preview is provided to enable the Inventor user community to validate this experimental technology and provide feedback to the product development team. See how well the Mesh Enabler application works for you, and be sure to tell us what you think by following the feedback links. You can also post comments on the Between the Lines or It's Alive in the Lab blog.

* Free technology previews are subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license and services agreement that accompanies download of the software.