Inventor Fusion, Inventor - what's the difference? New tutorial coming soon!

Hi everyone,

You might have heard about Inventor, Inventor LT, Inventor Fusion, and wondered what it's all about. We've got a new course on Inventor Fusion coming out in a couple weeks, and in preparation for the release I've prepared this short blog entry. Inventor Fusion is not stand-alone software; it comes bundled with many other AutoDesk products like Inventor and AutoCAD. (Check out our Inventor tutorials and AutoCAD tutorials at www.video-tutorials.net.)

Personally, I don't think you're going to need Fusion if you're working proficiently with Inventor Professional. (As you know we have many hours of Inventor tutorials at our site). However, Inventor Fusion is really handy if you need to pull in files from other 3D modelers like SolidWorks and CATIA (yes, Inventor Fusion can open files from both these programs, as well as Inventor parts and assemblies.) That's because you can bring in these docs without converting to any native format; normally that causes some problems that have to be fixed. Fusion lets you open the part in whatever format, and get right to work. Now, it only exports to .dwg, but the other CAD programs can all handle .dwg so that's not a showstopper.  

Like Solidworks, CATIA, and Inventor, Autodesk's Inventor fusion is a CAD 3D parametric modeller, but with many fewer options and functions than these programs. It doesn't offer any of the tools for animation and simulation, and is best suited for static models, not, let's say, assemblies that require animation. Fusion comes bundled with AutoCAD, and this is where it can be most useful. AutoCAD rocks at the direct modeling of geometry, but once you're transferring your AutoCAD work to 3D, it gets clunky, and if you're used to SolidWorks or Inventor, you'll really be annoyed. But, bring Fusion to the mix and you get the basic 3D manipulating capabilities that let you get the job done.

Is Fusion better than Inventor LT? Inventor Fusion is not as dynamic as LT; when you change geometry sometimes your solid won't update. (A sketch might dissociate instead). Also, Inventor Fusion has fewer choices than Inventor LT. You get many of the same menus, just fewer tools or commands. You can still accomplish similar tasks, but it might take longer or some more creating thinking on how to get it done. 

For industries that require complex assemblies which are animated, Inventor Fusion would not be appropriate. But if you're looking to improve on AutoCAD's 3D capabilities, or work more freely with non-AutoDesk file formats, Fusion will fit you just right.
Rosanna D, Video-Tutorials.Net