What's New in Autodesk Inventor 2016

Inventor 2016 enables you to break through boundaries typically associated with 3D modeling, delivering an invaluable connected design experience between you, the data, people, and processes involved in getting your job done. From providing seamless parametric, direct editing, and freeform design tools, to associatively connecting your Inventor data to non-native CAD formats, to truly integrating your electrical and mechanical data into a single design - Inventor 2016 helps you connect with your design like never before.

Subscription Features Now Available

Inventor 2016 R2 (Customers with Subscription) delivers core product enhancements and introduces new tools to improve your product performance through up-front simulation and concept lightweight part design, more efficient electrical and mechanical design data workflows, and more.

Inventor 2016 R3 (Customers with Subscription) includes exciting new tools that open up the design process and improve collaboration across the design team.

Work More Efficiently in a Multi-CAD Environment

New Technology for Importing Files from other CAD Systems.

Associative DWG

AutoCAD Electrical and Inventor Interoperability

Shape Creation

Use powerful new commands and workflows in the Freeform modeling environment. Some of the highlights are:
  • Work with open surfaces or closed shapes.
  • Convert existing model faces to freeform geometry for shape refinement.
  • The new Freeform Thicken command creates solids, offset surfaces, or shell walls.
  • Unweld edges to split and move a freeform body segment.
  • Delete faces.

3D Printing Environment

A new environment is added that lets you position and orient your design within the print space of the selected 3D printer. You can also update the part in the print environment that does not impact the source document. When you are finished, you can send the results to Print Studio or other printing software to begin printing the part.

Drawing Environment

Improved Start Up and Learning Experience

The new start-up and learning experience combine to make learning and using Inventor faster and easier.
  • Movable and resizable Inventor Home panels.
  • Home provides greater access to common file tasks.
  • Files can be removed from the recent documents list.
  • Vault status is displayed in the recent documents list.
  • Create custom shortcuts to provide fast access to frequently used files and locations.
  • Help content was edited to provide better search results.
  • Topic content was combined to reduce the number of clicks.

Graphics/Visualization/Studio Enhancements

Some highlights are:

Workflow Enhancements

Among the many enhancements, are:

General
  • Use Escape (Esc) key to cancel an operation in select processes.
  • Multiple productivity enhancements made to dialog boxes.
  • Add all window tile styles to the task bar.
  • Dock an Inventor browser on any application's window edge.
  • Hide all sketch dimensions now available in the Object Visibility menu.
  • Import/Export external rules configuration for iLogic (not available in Inventor LT).
Sheet metal parts
  • Multi-body support is added to sheet metal.

  • Support for zero bend radius is added to many commands.
  • Material thickness is detected when you convert a part to a sheet metal part.
  • Punch tool shows a count of the center selections.

Part appearance and body, feature, or face color overrides can be pushed from derived part to new part

A new Use color override from source component option has been added to the Derived Assembly (not available in Inventor LT), Derived Part, Make Part, and Make Component dialog boxes. Selecting this option pushes the Part appearance and body, feature, or face color overrides to be pushed from the derived part to the new part.

Tube and Pipe setting enhancements (not available in Inventor LT)

You can now customize file names for fittings and populate part numbers into your parts list within the drawing environment. Previously, you could only change the name of your conduit items, but now you can update fittings as well.

Parts
  • Face draft contains powerful new options that let you Fix or Move the parting line.
  • Ruled Surface is added to the surfacing commands.
  • The Mirror and Pattern commands support multiple solid body selection.
  • Previously, nonlinear patterns of a solid body in a multi body part file have not been possible. You can now create nonlinear patterns for solid bodies.
  • Drag a sketch above the parent feature in the browser to share it.
  • The Measure command now allows you to measure an angle to the midpoint of any segment. This option is achieved by hovering your mouse over the midpoint of a segment until a yellow dot appears.
Sketch
  • Identify which workplane or face a sketch was created on.
  • The selected Show All or Hide All Constraints display setting remains active as you sketch and throughout your editing session.
  • You can now create tangent dimensions between circular or arc geometry within a 2D sketch.
  • The Initial View Scale property of the first drawing review placed on the sheet is added in the Sheet Properties group within the Format Text dialog box.
  • The Sketch Dimensions option is added to the Object Visibility list. Select this option to display 2D or 3D sketches and hide all related sketch dimensions.
  • Sharing a sketch is made visible by dragging above the feature in browser.
  • New snap points added to the context menu: Endpoint, Apparent Intersection, Quadrant, and Mid of 2 points.
  • You can now modify Start Sketch and select a view or sheet before sketching.
Assembly (not available in Inventor LT)
  • New safety factor calculation warning displays in Stress Analysis.
  • The Midplane option has been added to the assembly Pattern command. Select the Midplane option to create a pattern distributed on both sides of the original component.
  • Replace All feature available for highlighted components within an assembly.
  • Select multiple sick constraints within Design Doctor to delete.

Drawings

Presentations (not available in Inventor LT)
  • Tweak command is redesigned to use direct manipulation tools.
  • Creating and editing of trails is easier.
  • Component selection is simplified.
  • Auto Explode command is added to the ribbon and improved.

Keep reading for details on all of these great enhancements and more.

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