AliasStudio links to engineering
Published Thu 22 May 2008
Autodesk is looking to bridge the gap between Industrial Design and Engineering by offering enhanced interoperability between AliasStudio and Autodesk Inventor.
AliasStudio 2009 features a new Inventor Import tool which uses Autodesk’s DirectConnect technology to import Inventor part and assembly files (*.ipt and *.iam). This is designed to eliminate the need for translation into intermediate formats such as STEP or IGES.
Experience Manufacturing can also reveal that translation from AliasStudio to Inventor is in the pipeline and a new technology is currently being previewed on the Autodesk’s Labs website. The AliasStudio Direct Reader Add-in for Inventor enables AliasStudio Wire files to be brought directly into Inventor. While there are no announcements as to when, or if, this Technology Preview will ship to customers, Inventor 2009 users can currently download demonstration videos and translation tools from http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/alias_iv_trans/
Elsewhere for the 2009 release of AliasStudio, Autodesk has introduced a number of new tools including enhancements to the modelling functionality and a range of general improvements. In terms of modelling, a new align tool features a simplified workflow and new intelligent manipulators to help increase the user’s direct interaction with geometry.
For those involved in reverse engineering new surface reconstruction functionality enables users to automate the multistep process of filling holes in scan data by recognising exterior curvature through user-defined section and generation of a mesh patch. User Interface performance has also been improved and large data sets feature faster pick performance. A new Reference Manger enables users to reference large engineering datasets while designing, and different design iterations or material properties during design reviews.
