About Importing Autodesk Inventor Models
The File Open dialog box provides the Import and Open options for Autodesk Inventor part and assembly models with Open as the default option. You can import part and assembly models to Creo as ATB-enabled Translated Image Models (TIMs) or open them as non-Creo models using Creo Unite with the Creo Collaboration Extension for Inventor license.
The import of Autodesk Inventor parts and assemblies includes the following data:
• The B-rep geometry of parts and assemblies
• B-rep solids
• Product structures
• The default, user-defined, and reference datum features such as planes, points, axes, coordinate systems, and curves with datum tags
• Quilts
• Exact surfaces and edges
• The colors of parts, the bodies of part models, assembly components, and faces
• Wire-body datum curves of parts and assemblies
• The multiple bodies of standalone part models and the part components of assemblies
• Part and assembly level default and user-defined parameters
• Assembly-level features such as holes and cuts
• Model units
• The visibility states of the part, body-level, and assembly-level objects and components
• Material assigned to the part models and their bodies
Autodesk Inventor part (*.ipt) files import as parts or assemblies to Creo. Autodesk Inventor assembly (*.iam) files import as assemblies. Quilts, surfaces, and assembly structures import as solid geometry. The components of assemblies import as solids. Autodesk Inventor assemblies and components can include assembly-level features such as cuts, holes, patterns, and move faces. The components that are intersected by the holes and cuts from the source CAD system are embedded in the Autodesk Inventor TIM assemblies after import. The import features of the Autodesk Inventor TIM assemblies contain the assembly-level features. You can import wire body datum curves from Inventor part and assembly models. The wire body curves contain wireframe curves.
The material or density assigned to the Autodesk Inventor parts import as Master Material of the imported part. Bodies are created with the Follow Master Material attribute in the imported part models. You can associatively update the Autodesk Inventor part models using ATB when the material or density of the part changes, or when material is added or removed.
When you import Autodesk Inventor assemblies to Creo, you can select a Representation option in the Import New Model dialog box for the selective import of the assembly data. While you can import the complete assemblies by default, you can selectively import the product structures of the assembly models with or without their display data. You can choose the level of detail for the representation of the TIM assemblies after import.
The datum features of the part and assembly models are imported with proper placement and scaling. Datum features such as points, axes, coordinate systems, and planes contain tags that are persistent during import. The persistent tags of the datum features preserve the geometric references and their associativity during an ATB update or while opening the Autodesk Inventor models using Creo Unite.
The visibility states of the part, body-level, and assembly-level objects and components are retained during the import. For example, entities such as datum features and quilts or components with a hidden status do not appear in the imported part and assembly models.
The following types of default and user-defined model parameters are imported:
• String type parameters such as length, diameter, depth, breadth, distance, quantity, and material name
• Boolean type parameters
• Real type parameters mapped to appropriate units with proper values
You can create and use the format-specific Inventor profiles for the import and append tasks. Import log files are automatically generated in the working directory when the import is complete. If the Autodesk Inventor part and assembly files are located on Windchill servers, you can download them to your workspace or commonspace as CAD documents. You can then open them in the Windchill connected mode of Creo.