Breakout Views. Detailing for Clarity.

“The man who has seen the rising moon break out of the clouds at midnight has been present like an archangel at the creation of light and of the world”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I was working in industry, I created a lot of cylindrical parts that had internal features. I created more O-Ring grooves than I want to think about!

That translated into having to create a ton of Breakout Views.

Inventor's Breakout Views are pretty easy in my opinion, but that doesn't mean there aren't a couple of places you can get tripped up.

The basic steps are:

1. Select the view to breakout (don't miss this step!)
2. Draw a closed profile
3. Finish the sketch
4. Choose 'Breakout View'
5. Select Options
6. Hit OK.

Everyone (including myself) tends to make a mistake on Step 1. If you don't select the view first. You'll get the following error:

This error isn't as scary as it looks. Just make sure to select the view first.
(click to enlarge)

If you see it, don't panic! Just make sure you pick the view you want to use first!

As always, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's a video to go with it!



On a non-Inventor note....

For those in the United States, Happy Memorial Day.

At the Planes of Fame Museum I was lucky enough to sit in the top turret of a B-17 Flying Fortress that is currently under restoration.

It was very cool, but also pretty humbling when I considered the courage of the crews that were in there in combat. Thanks to all those who flew those for real, so I could sit in there for fun.

Here I am sitting in the top turret of a B-17 Flying Fortress. I know I look angry, but I'm really just squinting because of the sun.

The 'business end' of the B-17s top turret. The .50 caliber machine guns are non-functioning of course. That's a DC-3 in view of the turret.