Autodesk Inventor Users

Organizing a inventor project is a pain in the ass after youre done because the assembly will become uncooperative if you move files around.

I try to use subfolders or number system for aub assemblies. Using filenames to have control is almost impossible if you have many parts that look very similar.

There is also a vault for inventor but i havent had the need to look into that yet.

Here is a good video by Wintergatan on how something can be organized

https://youtu.be/zVyEsMiwvVc

The numbering makes everything manageable

We do not use Vault, my preferred method of Inventor data management, in my present position so we use folders within the Project Inventor file.

i.e. Existing, Steelwork, Complete Assembly, Drawings etc.

and then folders within folders as necessary.

A similar system as I have used within a Vault system.

This requires a certain amount of Inventor data management discipline and structure as you work on the project.

Hello Joao;

Tony is quite right, however in all my Inventor/CAD adventures I have found how people can struggle with a "not that simple thing to do" but easy to understand the necessity of a simple file hierarchy.

Allow me to share this experience with you that I'm also planning to add in a future Tutorial:

Create a Root folder for your Project: Lets say Project Table:

you we have

• Table (as the root folder)

Then inside that folder create 3 folders:

• 00-IPT
• 01-IAM
• 02-IDW/DWG
• 03-IPN
• 04-ETC

The reason behind this way of doing is simple: imagine that you are trying to find a file: The first intention (before to do a windows search) is to find the file yourself, so why not go to the folder that will contain Probably that specific file extension? if is a part goes to IPT, if is an assembly goes to IAM? and so on.

got it?

Now: Why numbers in front of the name of the folder? Simple Windows will sort the folders by different ways, adding a number will be "easy to sort" and also will be easy to identify by your brain because we have kind of "numerical mind" we count! 1,2,3 but also it will be easy for our "Autodesk Inventor Mind " go to the software philosophy : With Parts(00) will create Assemblies(01), And with both we make drawings (02) then will come the rest (03, 04,05, etc)

Now if you have Autodesk Vault, the idea will remain but you will have to create a coding system for your files in order to get everything organised and be able to track. That it is important!!

There are some good ideas here, and so just to add a little to the discussion...

I just finished a large project and when I started, it was a bit haphazard and test. But as I moved along and more parts kept getting built, I had hundreds or parts and no organization.

So I began to create Inventor folders and drag parts into them.

But still, file names were a mess.

Everyone knows that if you change a part file name, then Investor ends up with broken links.

What I found, was to use DESIGN ASSISTANT to rename files and keep links in tack.

Then i used the method of NUMBERING for part numbers based on FUNCTION of models.

Example: 09-Suspension (folder name)

Then all Suspension parts had 09- prefix.

04-Air Brake System (folder name) and again, all parts renamed from test part name to a new NUMBER name. 04-0104.

When I started organizing, I had hundreds of parts with no way of finding them unless I scrolled screens and screens down.

Afterward, I had about 10 folders.

Now the one thing I could not overcome, was PLANES /AXIS / POINTS.

since geometry is based on these, I could not MOVE them into folders.

So below all my folders I had all the planes, axis, and points. But I named those too, so at least I knew their function.

By doing all of the organizing, it made it much easier to then create the Bill Of Materials (BOM) and then send it to Fabrication and Purchasing.

Within the BOM, you can adjust the Category for each part from NORMAL to what you need. PURCHASED, PHANTOM, REFERENCE, etc.

Then you can control what the BOM shows and who gets what page of it.

If you made it this far, sorry the answer ran long.

I would be happy to share any help or details.

I might even make a tutorial.

I'll post it soon.

That's the idea!!!

What happen is people have different practices, and every method/approach/technique is good until you have the first big problem.

Some people have issues organising a simple folder structure, they prefer to drop everything inside, videos, pictures, files etc, Then the time to find something comes and big mistake are made along with the incredible amount of time that you spend trying to remember what was the name that you to the file in order to type it correctly to let the computer find it for you.

Adopting a FOLDER/FILE NAMING CONVENTION for any organisation/company or personal it is always an excellent idea because it will make the things simple from the renaming process but also the copy design process (talking from the Inventor/Vault point of view); however there are people against the idea because they found difficult to understand or A N N O T A T E ! the simple meaning of for example: 04-0104; which is probably a part that belongs to the breaking system(04) and is the #4 spring (04) of the first wheel (01) i don't know I'm making up the thing...the point is Lets try to convince those do not want to take a note about a Naming Procedure to make our life simple because procedures are mandatory!

I thanks to all your instructions.

I'll try and verify with is the one is better to apply in my job.

When your have the Tutorials done share with us. So we can light the way for another users.

Thanks you all.

Sounds good to me. But how about the ipj file? Where do I put it? The location determines where all the related parts & assemblies come from right?

Thanks Elaine, for your comments/question, everybody is more than welcome to share their opinions/ideas.

I believe that the whole idea of ipj files (project files) is that you can actually copy the file with all the other files (like a pack & go) involved in the "project", copy them into another computer and then when you load/re-direct the project file/location in that new computer Inventor (clever enough to do that) can load the work!.

However, if you have Autodesk Vault in place (properly installed/up and running) you just need to add that new computer to the network, install Vault Client and play .

The structure that I suggest above is just an idea, something that i created for myself and gave good results because is clear, concise, quick to find items, etc. I normally put the ipj file (when I'm not using Vault to M a n a g e) my project under the root folder

Something like this, however you can choose whatever you want as long it works for you.

Hope this help!

Pardon my ignorance. Can I build an assembly without creating an ipj file?

Hi Elaine,

I would not say Ignorance Elaine...that is certainly a very strong word!

The answer is NO, when I learn inventor, I asked my self the same question, then I understood the idea behind the ipj file,

The project file will contain information about everything that is related to the project/Inventor (materials, textures, location, libraries, etc). Therefore every single project (big/small ) will have it's on project file FIRST, then parts, assemblies, drawings, presentation etc...

Now to make you think! If you open the project dialog box you will see on the top a list of projects, Autodesk Inventor as a default inventor has a Default project file (Default.ipj) so that means if you do not create a project file for every single project you have all the information related to all your projects will be contain in a single file. You lose the file, you will have issues!

I use Autodesk Design Assistant to deal with that things

I have used such a shot. The project is divided into folders, one mechanism / order in each folder. To ensure the availability of models over the years, I save all profiles and other shopping products as "custom". At the end of the job, at least one third of the folder is in use in the "debris". To clean up the job, I will create a new folder and draw the model as well as drawings in the new folder with PACK & GO, this folder is so ready to be archived. The old folder can be deleted.

We generally work with tens of thousands of parts in a typical assembly (some of our larger stations exceed 200,000 parts).  Of course we utilize Vault since there are so many users sharing common stock library parts.

Our basic folder structure per project is as follows:

Keep in mind there is a 256 character limitation in Vault for files names & paths.  We haven't encountered an issue with this to date, but I've heard of others who have run into this issue.

Here's a screen cap of a partially completed project.

What is the meaning of these titles ?

That is certainly a big project, but also a very good file organisation and distribution that allows you to get to the exact location quickly.

However it seems to be an organisation by project, but what happen inside every project?

Lets say that you have: Folder 23-MOTOR AKUPLE MONTAJI (Motor's coupling assembly) (Montaje del acoplamiento del motor)

What happen within that folder?

Sorry i did'nt understand the structure of the folder and its advantage - what is what?