About Translated Image Models (TIMs)
You can import Autodesk Inventor, CATIA V4 and V5, CADDS 5, NX, SolidWorks, Creo Elements/Direct, and Neutral model files as Translated Image Models (TIMs). Neutral part files and files of ATB-enabled formats such as CDRS and ICEM are imported as native Creo Parametric parts with ATB-enabled features.
Import operations such as > 
Open and > 
Assemble > Assemble create TIM parts and assemblies. Inserting the geometry of part models in the native Creo Parametric parts with the > > 
Import command creates ATB-enabled import features.
Open and > Assemble > Assemble create TIM parts and assemblies. Inserting the geometry of part models in the native Creo Parametric parts with the > > Import command creates ATB-enabled import features.The TIM parts and assemblies store their Associative Topology Bus (ATB) information at the model level. ATB-enabled import features store ATB information at the feature-level. The TIMs are displayed on the Model Tree with ATB icons that indicate their status with respect to their reference files as up-to-date, out-of-date, or as models with missing references.
If you select the Representation options of Structure or Graphic in the Import New Model dialog box when you import assemblies, you can use the ATB commands of Read Graphics and Read Master to change the representation of the TIM assemblies and their components. The level of content detail is stored in the TIM components.
Although the structure and the graphic representations of TIM assemblies are fully functional and have content, both these assembly representations do not allow you to create model geometry. You must use the Read Graphics and Read Master ATB commands and upgrade the TIM assemblies to their master representation to create new geometry. You can however, assemble new components in the structure and graphic representations of the TIM assemblies.
The names that the TIMs display in Creo Parametric are not the actual import model names, but the names that are generated when you create the TIMs, as stored in the NATIVE_NAME parameter. The NATIVE_NAME parameter is set to the name of the reference file and has the same value as the DEX_MASTER parameter except for a single reference file imported as an assembly. For a reference file imported as an assembly, the NATIVE_NAME parameter of the component model TIMs are set based on the file format. Internal component names are used for the parameter value or internal solid body IDs are appended to the reference file name to generate a parameter value that uniquely identifies each component of the assembly.