Import from Inventor

James_40

I have attempted multiple times to import models from Inventor in an editable format, with no success. I have an Inventor part that only consists of a sketch, which I am using as the skeleton for a multi-part assembly. I've tried to export the sketch from Inventor to DXF and other formats and every time I import it, I get a blank document. I want the skeletal sketch to be editable in Onshape as the design may change in the future. If there is an existing tutorial or workflow doc that I am missing, someone please post it for me. Thanks.

andrew_troup

You will either have to convert the sketch to viable dxf linework in another package, or (if possible) extrude the sketch to a random thickness in order to create a solid body which can be imported to Onshape. Then you can convert the edges to sketch entities using "Use/Project" in Onshape.

James_40

andrew_troup said:

You will either have to convert the sketch to viable dxf linework in another package, or (if possible) extrude the sketch to a random thickness in order to create a solid body which can be imported to Onshape. Then you can convert the edges to sketch entities using "Use/Project" in Onshape.

Is there a specific process for converting the sketch to "viable dxf linework"? I've tried exporting the sketch from Inventor as DWG and DXF then importing to Onshape, but the files are always empty. And even though there is a DWG currently in my documents, I am in a sketch in a new document and try using the "Insert DXF or DWG" command, but it says I have no DXF or DWG files. Thanks in advance for the help.

andrew_troup

It's essentially (I dimly gather) an AutoCAD problem, perhaps to do with paper space vs model space, and as a sworn foe of AutoCAD since time immemorial, I don't pretend to understand either the problem or the solution.
Hopefully someone more well-rounded will be along soon to help you.

lougallo

@James_40 Currently with any of the main 3D CAD formats we are only translating the solids.  For DXF/DWG we read model space when importing into an existing Part Studio sketch.  If you are uploading the DXF/DWG we will have a tab of the original and then a Drawing of either the MODEL or the Layout.  If you can export the sketch from Inventor to DWG (DXF does not come in with constraints)  and specify MODEL it should come into a sketch in a Part Studio.  We are working on adding other options during import to address these workflows.