Wiley Mastering Autodesk Inventor 2012 and Autodesk Inventor LT 2012 978-1-1180-1682-4 ユーザーズマニュアル

In this chapter, you will be introduced to the concept of parametric 3D design and the general 
tools and interface of Inventor. This chapter will focus on the concepts of parametric modeling 
and the workflow, tools, and interface elements found in Inventor that are used to turn your ideas 
into a design.

In this chapter, you will learn how to

Create parametric designs

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Get the “feel” of Inventor

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Use the Inventor graphical interface

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Work with Inventor file types

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Move from AutoCAD to Inventor

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Create 3D virtual prototypes

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Use functional design

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Autodesk Inventor is first and foremost 3D parametric modeling software. And although it has 
capabilities reaching far beyond the task of creating 3D models, it is important for you to under-
stand the fundamentals of parametric 3D design. The term parametric refers to the use of design 
parameters to construct and control the 3D model you create. 

Well-constructed parts start with well-constructed sketches. Typically, the 3D model starts with 
a 2D sketch, which is assigned dimensions and 2D sketch constraints to control the general size 
and shape. These dimensions and constraining geometries are the parameters, or input points, 
that you would then change to update or edit the sketch. For instance, Figure 1.1 shows a base 
sketch of a part being designed.

You can see four dimensions placed on the two rectangles defining the length and width of 

each along with a fifth dimension controlling the angle at which the two rectangles relate. These 
dimensions are parameters, and if you were to change one of them at any point during the 
design or revision of the part, the sketch would update and adjust to the change.

An important part of working with sketches is the concept of a fully constrained sketch. Fully 

 simply means that all of the needed dimensions and sketch constraints have been 

applied to achieve a sketch that cannot be manipulated accidentally or as a consequence of an edit. 

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