Autodesk Inventor From The Top [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Daniel T. Banach (Author), Travis Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0766843580 | ISBN-13: 978-0766843585 | Edition: 1

Based on the latest version of the software, Autodesk Inventor from the Top uses realistic examples, exercises, tutorials, plus more than 500 screen captures to guide readers, step-by-step, through basic sketching and solid modeling to the application of more advanced modeling techniques. Ideal for mechanical engineering professionals and students, this how-to and reference manual begins with an overview of part creation. Subsequent chapters, each building on information presented previously, lead readers through the process of using mission-critical Autodesk Inventor features and functions. Users learn to sketch, constrain and dimension 3D drawings, create and edit drawing views, and create assemblies and sub-assemblies. A variety of time saving and productivity enhancing advanced solid modeling techniques - such as derived parts and assemblies plus mass property information for active and multiple parts - are also explored in detail. Comprehensive in scope, the final chapter provides opportunities to gain valuable hands-on experience with additional Autodesk Inventor functionality, including: transcripting, migrating, importing other 3D file types, using the Design Assistant and Engineer's Notebook, and more!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Daniel T. Banach earned his B.S. in Industrial Technology from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. With more than five years of professional mechanical design experience and over 15 years working with CAD software, Daniel is the Director of Professional Learning at MasterGraphics, Inc., an Autodesk Premier Solutions Provider. He has written three books on Autodesk Mechanical Desktop, co-written ten books on Autodesk Inventor. Daniel is a long-time speaker at Autodesk University.

Travis Jones owns a consulting company and manages projects in the manufacturing industry, including a number of large domestic and international companies in a variety of disciplines. Travis has worked with AutoCAD since the early 1990s and with Inventor since its inception; he is equally skilled in a number of other parametric modeling applications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Autodesk Press; 1 edition (November 14, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0766843580
• ISBN-13: 978-0766843585
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #583,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Banach is a recognized expert, and author in the Mechanical CAD field and an Autodesk Inventor Certified Expert, Dan has been providing CAD solutions for MasterGraphics' in Wisconsin (Autodesk Premier Solutions Provider) clients for over sixteen years where he is a Senior Technical Specialist. A nationally recognized instructor and long-time speaker at Autodesk University, Dan has written three books on Mechanical Desktop and has co-authored eleven books on Autodesk Inventor. He also consults to Autodesk on numerous projects.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, January 16, 2002

By 

jeff finley (northern california) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Autodesk Inventor From The Top (Paperback)

The title of the book is misleading and the book is disappointing. It it the other way round. If you want to find out the tricks of using Inventor or to discover the "tops" of Inventor, don't buy this book. It is simply of replica of the help menu found from the application

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Autodesk Inventor From The Top, January 11, 2002

By 

John O'Gara (Austin, TX, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Autodesk Inventor From The Top (Paperback)

In my 10+ years as a Certified Autodesk Instructor, I have found that there are two approaches to writing a tutorial manual. First, there's the "just shut up and do it" approach, where you follow instructions, but a lack of reference information to explain what you just did causes you to wonder "O.K., I did it, but what did I do?". Then there's the "Russian novel" approach, where the theory is that if you read a three inch thick book about how to play a Mozart piano concerto, that you will be able to sit down at a piano and play a Mozart piano concerto. To master piano, the golf swing, or a complex software program, you have to use it, not read about it.

"Autodesk Inventor From The Top" strikes an excellent blend of reference information with hands-on practice to provide the reader with a thorough grasp of this powerful design tool. The authors provide an "every item of every menu and dialog box" explanation of the guts of the program. They cover many key topics that are missing from the "official" Autodesk Essentials Courseware, most notably a jaw-droppingly powerful feature called Iparts. In fact, it's surprising how much information they crammed into a book of less than 400 pages. The tutorial exercises are, for the most part, accurate and clearly presented. Particularly useful are the practice exercises at the end of each chapter, which challenge you to use the skills learned in the chapter without detailed instructions. This is where you really learn the program (you have to think!).

A few minor boo-boo's pop up occasionally. For instance, the explanation of the "Defer Update" setting in the Assemblies chapter says the opposite of what it should, the "Shaft" drawing in Tutorial 4.2 is missing from the book's CD, and the drawing for Tutorial 6.4 is already completed (the CD problems may have already been cleared up at the publisher). Also, on a grammatical note, (and I'm nit-picking here) the writing has a lot of passive voice, which tends to detract from the precision and efficiency of the instruction. But these problems are minor compared to the grasp that you will gain of a very powerful and feature-packed design tool from a relatively small investment of time and money.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Autodesk Inventor from the Top, September 26, 2003

By 

R Bagwell (CHESTERFIELD, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Autodesk Inventor From The Top (Paperback)

I have worked my way through about 75 percent of this book. I find it to be very helpful for learning to use Inventor from scratch. I was having no luck at all with the tutorial that came on the software CD. This book has taken me to the intermediate level.

I wish there were fewer typos. I wish there were fewer instances of pick sequences being out of order, (work plane referenced to a surface and an axis). I wish the index did not expect the reader to know the Autodesk vernacular. All the above make using the book dificult, but they do not make it useless. I am able to use the software now as a result of studying this book.

It is not a reference, it is a tutorial, and should be studied in sequence. Each chapter expects the student to know and be able to use the information in the previous chapters.