Coast Fabrication - A Great Source for Fastener Information!

A sample of a Hydraulic coupling rendered in Fusion 360

In this post, I'm actually taking a step back from directly talking about a design tool.  Instead, I'm sharing a little info on where I get the information to put my design tools

At work, one of my tasks is creating and maintaining Autodesk Inventor Content of aerospace fasteners.

And trust me, there are a lot of these fasteners around!

They can be referred to as AN (Army/Navy), MS (Mil Spec), NAS or NASM (National Aerospace Standard), and AS (SAE Aerospace).   And I'm sure I've missed a standard or two somewhere! 

That means a lot searching databases, reading charts, and sifting through a lot of tables!  

Of course that begs a big question?  Where can this data be found?  

Admittedly, it can be quite a safari.  I'm fortunate that my place of employment maintains a resource for the data.  

But not all of us have that luxury.  That means a lot of hunting around, trying to find the data we need.  

One resource I found that has been a enormous help has been the technical resource page from Coast Fabrication in Huntington Beach, California. 

More than once I've used their technical page as a quick reference for a fastener I'm using, sometimes for work but other times for personal use.  

This is just a section of the Coast Fabrication Technical page

The reason I shared this site is because I know that there are many times users need this information.  It might be to create a library of helical inserts for work, or a quick model of a hydraulic fitting for a personal project, this is a sight that is well worth the reference!

Of course, a blog post like this wouldn't be a blog post if I didn't have a disclaimer.  I'm not paid by Coast Fabrication.  I've never even visited their shop even though their only about 10 miles away from me. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure they don't even know I exist.  

But that's okay!  They've provided a great resource worthy of sharing, and I'm happy to help Karma return some of their goodwill!  So take a look if you're in the need for fastener specs.  

Outside the Box with Autodesk Inventor Publisher and Techsmith Camtasia Studio

“Hindsight explains the injury that foresight would have prevented”
~Unknown

For the second time, I've taken a video exported from Autodesk Inventor Publisher, and created a set of narrative instructions by editing the video in Camtasia Studio by Techsmith.

In this case, I created it as a sample for KETIV's Autodesk Manufacturing Academy in Oregon, which was yesterday, October 10th, 2012,  and California, coming up on October 25th, 2012.

Just like before, I started with an assembly.  This was a Dual Throttle Assembly provided by Datum3 Studios. 

The Dual Throttle Assembly created by Datum3

But just like any "2.0" version, this one is improved.  Sure, I had better tools in the sense that I had more current versions of both softwares (Inventor Publisher 2013 & Camtasia Studio 8.0), but I also have gotten better at creating them as well.
 
But putting aside the "fun and excitement" portion of the task, I realized there was a "real world" lesson hidden in my fun and games.

First, think outside the box.  I know I can be guilty of thinking about using my set of CAD tools to solve all my engineering and design problems.  Sometimes I fail to ;ook beyond what I can do with a little bit of creativity.

In this example, I wanted to use a voice-over.  Perhaps text or video instructions alone just won't cut it.  Perhaps this is going to be a file for use overseas.  With the help of a translator, a voice over could be created in several different languages for several different locales.


Not to mention the fact that I got to edit the video exported out of Inventor Publisher, edit it, and throw some cool transitions and effects.

That's where I took the video file from Inventor Publisher, imported it into Camtasia Studio, and started the editing process.  I threw in transitions, intro and outro slides, as well as watermarks, and credits!  

And as part of that "credit where credit is due" process, I can't thank Datum3 Studios for the use of their Dual Throttle Assembly..  This project would have been a lot tougher without their help!

Check the Dual Throttle assembly, and some of their other cool work, on their projects gallery here! 

So here's the result of a some spit and polish, and a few virtual blood, sweat, and tears.  I hope you enjoy, and maybe get a little inspired by a project I had a lot of fun creating.

AMA Oregon was great, by the way.  I only had time to take a few pictures off my smart phone, but here's a little of what went on!

KETIV's John Aiello presents to the crowd

Janna Spicer explains the benefits of the First Robotics Program

And everyone had a chance to mingle!

Using Styles to Clarify Assembly Directions in Autodesk Inventor Publisher

“If everything else fails, read the instructions”
Unknown

When I have a little down time, I sometimes like to build my own woodworking projects inside the Autodesk tools, just to see how I might use the tools to help me with my own design challenges. 

 One of my projects I toy with is a "Saturday Table" that I found in woodworking book.

I've built up the assembly and drawings in Autodesk Inventor, archived the drawings in Autodesk Vault, rendered the files in Autodesk Showcase, and as a last step, I decided to make the assembly instructions in Autodesk Inventor Publisher.

The Saturday Table Rendered in Autodesk Showcase

Overkill you might say?  Probably.  It's not a complicated design, compared to the Autodesk Inventor's of the Month like Tolar Manufacturing, and 4th Dimensional Facade Solutions.

But even this had a lesson to teach me.

In the process of creating assembly instructions, I found that the screws to mount the table top where obscured by the table's aprons.  I could have rotated the view so you could see under the table, but I felt that would make it hard to see the screws and where they needed to go.

Gah!  I can't see where the screws go!

So I opted for another solution.  Inventor Publisher can change the color style  a part in a single snapshot, or step of the process.  So when I reached the step where the apron obscured the parts I needed to show, I just used the "Smooth Ghost" style.

Smooth Ghost might help!

This made the component transparent so I could see through it, making the screws and mounting rails easy to see without making compromises in my camera angle.

Much better!

 Then, I just switched the part back when I was done.

So here is the video on the full trick of the trade!  Enjoy!

P.S.  If you're looking for more videos on Inventor Publisher, check out the posts listed here!

KETIV's 2011 Autodesk Manufacturing Academy Recordings are Out!

“Nothing has really happened until it has been recorded”
Virginia Woolf

At long last!  After much hard work, the bow tie on the 2011 edition of KETIV's Autodesk Manufacturing Academy!

The videos!  They're all up and ready for download!

So if you've attended the classes presented by the the KETIV technical team, or even if you didn't attend, and want the benefits of the course materials.  Take a swing by the session archive and download all the materials!

Click HERE for the link to download the materials!  

Fire away and start eating up some bandwith!  ;-)  You can even download the 2010 and 2009 materials too!

I hope those who attended took some useful things away!  Go

I hope to see you all, (and a few more) at the next 2012 KETIV AMA!


And as a trailer for the movie, here's a sample of the classes on Autodesk Showcase, so you can get an idea of what's available!

Special thanks to Tolar Manufacturing for providing us with some great real world samples to use in the session!

Autodesk Showcase Part 1 - Importing Models




Autodesk Showcase Part 2 - Changing Environments



Autodesk Showcase Part 3 - Assigning Materials




Autodesk Showcase Part 4 - Changing Materials




Autodesk Showcase Part 5 - Adding Lights

Hold that Pose! - Extracting Camera Views in Autodesk Inventor Publisher

“There are no circumstances, however unfortunate, that clever people do not extract some advantage from.”
François de la Rochefoucauld

This week I've been spending a lot of time working on one of two things.  The Autodesk Manufacturing Academy, and Autodesk Inventor Publisher.  During that time, I've learned a few tricks that can made the job go  along smoothly.

One of the challenges I encountered was working with the storyboard.  As I was moving from step to step, creating assembly (or disassembly) steps, I encountered an issue where I wanted to move a component.  That part was easy.

The hard part was that in order to select the component I wanted, I needed to zoom into to the assembly.  But the snapshot remembers that I did that, and creates a rotation I don't want.

So how do I get back to my original view?  I could try to "eyeball" it, and try to match it up, but that would be tedious, and I would probably never be exactly right.

Fortunately, a tool called "Extract Camera" helps with that.  By using this tool, we can extract a camera view from one snapshot, and place it on the current camera.

Right click on a snapshot and choose "Extract Camera"

It's great when you need to rotate your view to see something, then match it up to another snapshot.

It wouldn't be a blog post without a video, so hears the video to go with the post!

Life Lesson: The Temp Directory is not Infinite!

Yeah, it felt a little like that!

Sometimes it pays to check the obvious!  Occasional "spring cleaning" of your CAD machine is always a good idea too!

Just today I was working with Autodesk Showcase, prepping some models for KETIV's Autodesk Manufacturing Academy.

I notice Showcase has started to slow down.  I'm not over-tasking it, I've run larger models at higher resolutions.  

But it's still seeming sluggish.  I perform the "three finger salute" (Ctrl + Alt + Delete) and check the task manager.

My machine is running fine.

I'm getting ready to try a new video driver, although I wasn't having problems a few weeks ago....  Why so slow now?

Then I think, "I wonder what my Temp directory looks like?"

I open up Windows Explorer and type "%temp%" to take a peek under the hood. 

My Temp directory looks like the aftermath of a frat party that was simultaneously hit by an hurricane. 

In other words, it's a mess!

I use "Ctrl +A" to select all the files.  I hit delete.  I don't even bother checking the size of the directory.  It's time to get serious.

And with this Temp directory, I wanted to be SURE!

Windows counts the files as it prepares to delete them.  The total size of the collected files climbs like an altimeter on a space bound rocket.

Finally, the numbers settle at nearly 5GB worth of  files!

Suddenly, I can hear Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame proclaming; "There's your problem!"

After a few minutes, the Temp directory is as clean as I can get it.  There are always some files in use, so you can never get every last one.

I open up Showcase, and try the same model.

It was night and day!  Showcase maneuvered around as smoothly as my memories recalled.

What's the lesson!  Check that temp space!  It clutters up over time, and keeping it clean can really help your performance!

Don't let it get to 5GB like I did! 

One Fell Swoop - Affecting Multiple Snapshots in Autodesk Inventor Publisher

“In one fell swoop they could make a pretty big dent.”
Harry Schuhmacher

This week I found myself working with Autodesk Inventor Publisher again.   As I worked with it, I realized that each storyboard snapshot had it's own camera view set.  So as you moved through to each snapshot, the camera was constantly zooming in and out.

In some cases, I liked it.  In others, it was unnecessary, unless part of my goal was to give my views motion sickness.

I also wanted to change the material on some of my snapshots, but the materials are also set per snapshot.  Hmm.  I didn't want to have to click through each snapshot and set the material.

How to I affect all my slides at once?

So, what to do?

With a little bit of searching, I found the solution.  If you right click on your story board, you can choose the snapshots affected by your action.

Here's the little gem!

Some of the choices I've come to like are:

• Choose Selected Snapshots - Be sure to use the Ctrl+Left Click, or Shift+Left Click to choose your slide)
• Choose All Snapshots - The "fell swoop" option
• Choose Preceding Snapshots
• Choose Following Snapshots

Give them a try!  I think you'll find they help a lot!

And of course, here's a video to go along with what I've described!

Creating Narrative Assembly Instructions - Camtasia Studio and Inventor Publisher United

Typing the quote just doesn't have the same effect.  So let's hear it from Gene Wilder himself:

For this weeks blog, I had a crazy idea, and opted to go a bit off the page. 

For years I've been using Camtasia Studio, by Techsmith, to create the videos you seen in so many of my blogs.

Then in the last few weeks, I've been working with Autodesk Inventor Publisher, and talked about exporting video files from Inventor Publisher

Then one night, it occurred to me, and I had that moment that Gene Wilder spoke of so well. 
Camtasia Studio for years.  Inventor Publisher can export a video format.  Why not combine the two?"

Using Techsmith's Camtasia Studio for editing my Autodesk Inventor Publisher video

So I did.  Here's the result.  It could definitely use some polish.  But for a first try, it's not too bad (at least I think).  I could probably add a few more bubbles, and tweak the narration a bit more.

Perhaps some of you out there in the "Cloud" can share some of your thoughts on how you might approach something similar?

In any case.  Here's my video.  Take a look, and let me know what you think!

Exporting Your Inventor Publisher Data - The Final Step

“He who distributes the milk of human kindness cannot help but spill a little on himself”
James Matthew Barrie

At long last, my next  (and final, at least for now) video in my Autodesk Inventor Publisher series of videos!  We're going to publish your Inventor Publisher data into "publicly" consumable format.

Those formats can be one of several.  Microsoft Word documents, Adobe PDFs, Adobe Flash, Autodesk DWF formats, and even files for the Autodesk Inventor Publisher formats for iPhones, iPads, and Android mobile devices.

Example of an image Exported from Inventor Publisher

So the first thing we'll have to decide is what format is the best for the end user we want to supply.  That will ultimately a decision based on the best format to send to the end user.

So far, we've seen how we can create the formats, adjust the timing of our instructions, as well as add annotations to the instructions.

In this video, we'll talk about exporting the instructions and finally get them distributed to the users who will be using them!

Autodesk Inventor Publisher - Creating Annotations

“He listens well who takes notes.”
Dante Alighieri

At long last.  Here's my next post for Autodesk Inventor Publisher.

In the last big post, we saw how we could adjust timing to get our time line to show the details when we need it.  Now in this post, we see how to add annotations to the post, so we can make sure we include as much key information as possible.


By using annotations, value can really be added to files you export out to the end users!

Here's the video to go with it.  Happy Inventor Publishing everyone!  

 

Still Working on the Next Blog, but for now, a Quick Publisher Tip

“We learned a lot and lost a lot of sleep.”
Mabel Smith

I still haven't had a chance to come up for air!  :-) 

It's been a hectic week working on some tests, a data creation project or two, plus our normal office duties at the KETIV homestead.

But I promise to have another, full featured, blog up by Monday (yes, it may have to go that long).

But until then.  Here's a short litttle Inventor Publisher tip I learned while working on one of my projects!

When moving components, click on the glyph to see options align the Triad, show your Trails, or restore your component to its home position.

A quick tip on Inventor Publisher Trails!

And on one last note.. We created a "commercial" for Autodesk Manufacturing Academy, and I got to be a part of it.  Feel free to check it out! 

Inventor Publisher - It's a Matter of Timing

“A little help at the right time is better than a lot of help at the wrong time.”
Proverb

Last week's blog saw us explode an assembly inside of Autodesk Inventor Publisher.

Of course, this is the first step of many we can take.  We might intend to place these in a document format for a technical manual, or perhaps create a video that can be put on the web or a mobile device.

But before we send that data to whatever it's final destination is, why don't we use the storyboard to add as much critical information as possible, as well as make sure that the assembly shows all the information it needs as it comes apart and goes together.

 

The Inventor Publisher Storyboard

So in this week's video, we see how to add descriptions, and adjust timing in our storyboard!

There we go!  Happy Inventor Publishing!  :-)

Autodesk Inventor Publisher - If You Don't Write it Down, It Didn't Happen

“Real programmers don't document. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.”
Unknown

I'll admit, I always thought Autodesk Inventor Publisher was a just a "cool program".  The power of being able to create documentation was impressive, but I asked myself the question, "What does it do that I can't do using presentation files?"

Trust me.  Creating exploded views are just the start!

I told myself, "I'll have to look into it's capabilities later on".  

Then, time marched on.  I found myself working on Vault, on Inventor, on Showcase.  Every once in a while, I'd stick my head up and say, "I need to get back into Inventor Publisher."  Then I'd put my head back down and carry on as I had before.

Nearly a year ago, I saw a presentation on Inventor Publisher's capabilities, and I finally "got it".  I understood the power of being able to create documentation directly from your 3D model.  It can create in in 2D pdfs, publish to a mobile device, you can even use it to create Flash movies!  I get it! I get it! 

I really facepalmed myself for not seeing it sooner.  

Now, at long last, I've found the time (alright I'll come clean, I made the time) to take a deep look at Inventor Publisher.

The more I use it, the more I like it.

So I've decided to create a short series on Inventor Publisher.  Here's the first installment, inserting a 3D model and creating a timeline in Inventor Publisher.  We're just getting started.  I'm going to add more in the up coming weeks!