Could anyone offer any suggestions:

I need to learn how to use Autodesk Inventor in the next 8 days, I have a good working knowledge of AutoCAD and a number of other 3D modeling packages. I've used Inventor intermittently but I've never given any real time to it. Sheet Metal/Injection molding are not necessary. Can anyone suggest any resources, online or otherwise that may be useful to supplement the built in tutorials?

Thanks

do you have a copy?
what do you need to be able to do? i teach inventor at secondary school but have used it for the last eight years, drop me a line if you want.

A 5 day training course?!

You say 8 days – what do you need to be able to do by then specifically? And what version do you have?

The tutorials are pretty good in it these days, and there are plenty of animations that show how to achieve things, I find these often the quickest way to learn.

Autodesk have some good tips on youtube, inc. a monthly podcast,
url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSxREkuD0co
but this may be a little too specific if you are just starting on it. A few other vids worth checking though.

Brilliant advice, much appreciated, I may send you an email nickhart later in the week if I'm having any trouble. I can't be very exact bout what I need to know just yet so I'll be looking for a general overview of the modeling and alterations processes. Link above bookmarked.

I used it in my last job and coming from Pro E it was dead easy to use – like CAD for Dummies! I played around with it for a couple of days prior to going on a Inventor training course and the course was a waste of time as I tought myself all of that in 2 days. So in summary if you already know CAD and can think in 3D it's a piece of p.
I don't know if it's improved but 5 years ago I didn't rate it for anything other than simple models. Solidworks is way better.

Yeah it's pretty straightforward to use, I detest using autocad now!

It was fairly basic 5 years ago but it's got a lot better. Pretty impressive the way it integrates with other autodesk products like alias, autocad, showcase, design review. At least the ratio of inventor:solidworks jobs is better than 5 years ago 🙂 Haven't had a go on solidworks for years though.

I tip in 2011 if you are doing assemblies is to use the assemble command, you can add lots of constraints in 1 go. Just make sure you pick the the part you want to move first.

Another thing I heard on a course a while ago – the ribbon interface is designed so you move from left to right. Not always of course but the general workflow makes sense that way. Apparently that is true for all the ribbon bars, but I certainly didn't spot it 😉

Someone been lying on job application forms eh? 🙂

It's got a very steep learning curve once you do get going.

Start off by sketching simple shapes, extruding them, assembling and constraining them. The books published by AutoCAD press are good.

Have used Inventor for several years and now, as a CDT teacher, am having to learn to use Pro/E Wildfire – find myself very frustrated with its foibles and added complexity… in my eyes anyway.

Interesting, not as straightforward then? From what I understand proE has lots of specific add ons to do certain things.

Found a few more vids here showing all the features on inventor
http://www.inventordoes.com/Inventor.htm
I like the guy using fusion on a touchscreen!

Good advice about making shapes and constraining. And agree it can get quite complicated quickly. I've been using it 5 years but still failed my autodesk exam. You have to know every menu and option, sheesh.

inventor is a very powerful package which can do pretty much anything you ask of it. the biggest bonus as a teacher and a user is the clarity of the model tree. the tree is the key to all models allowing you go back and change dimensions, interrogate the feature and generally change it to what it should be!

Thanks for the feedback.

Someone been lying on job application forms eh?

I promised to help a mate out on a new venture off the back of him being made redundant, the time pressure being that I'm only available for a week from next Wednesday. Thanks for your input.

I did the essentials course run by Midas here at work and to start with just playing with simple sketches and then extruding and making simple assemblies wasn't too hard.

Once the bloke left us and we had to try and produce real models and assemblies we got pretty bogged down. the tutorials are pretty good though and you tube has helped a little….good luck there matey.