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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
An explanation of the main Inventor project prerequisites in relation to folder structure, file references, and file naming dependencies required for publishing an Inventor product model with Informed Design.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
4 min.
To publish an Inventor product model with Informed Design, there are several prerequisites in relation to folder structure, file references, and file naming dependencies.
When a product definition is created, on the Source content tab, a Root folder is specified. This folder contains the base model and all other files that will be zipped and sent to the cloud on the Autodesk platform.
The Inventor project involved must not include dependencies or references to files outside the root folder, such as common library or content center files. The root folder must contain all and only the files necessary to create and configure the Inventor base model as a product definition.
Make sure to remove files in the root folder that are not required for product definitions or model variance. Unnecessary files increase the file size of the zipped product data set, slowing down the publishing process as well as performance in Revit when generating new product variants.
Note that the OldVersions folder, as well as any contents automatically created by Inventor, are ignored by the Informed Design publishing process and will be excluded from the zipped dataset.
It is also important not to move or rename the base model Inventor file after creating an associated product definition, because the link between the two is dependent on the file name and location.
To better understand folder structure and file dependencies, review the settings of a product definition that has already been created:
Based on the selected Inventor model, several fields are automatically filled in. This includes the Product definition name, which can be edited as needed.
The Base model input value is automatically set to the currently open and active Inventor document and is read-only.
The Root folder is also automatically set to the folder location of the identified base model.
If the base model is not located in the root folder of the Inventor project, but in a subfolder, for example, then the root folder must be adjusted to point to the folder containing all files included in the Inventor project.
In addition, the Inventor project file input value must be manually selected from the root folder of the Inventor project.
Optionally, any IDW or DWG drawing files included in the Inventor project can be selected for inclusion as an output source.
This does not finalize the file as an output. Later in the process, on the Outputs tab, all outputs will be chosen and formatted as output types.
In summary, the Inventor data directly used for generating product models must reside within the root folder structure, either at the top-level folder or subfolder. There must be no data linked outside of the root folder, and no files should be included in the root folder that are not directly used by the product definition. Following these practices streamlines the publishing and output generation processes in Revit and the web app.
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