3ds Max settings - Inventor reference

Target Scene

This setting controls whether the user is prompted to select the 3ds Max scene to send data to or if a new scene is created. If Ask the User is selected, a dialog is displayed when running the workflow.

Options

• Ask the User Displays a dialog when the workflow is run. You can select to create a new scene, select an existing scene, or select a scene from the active 3ds Max session.
  • New Creates a new 3ds Max file to receive the Inventor model.
  • Existing Select an existing 3ds Max file to receive the Inventor model.
  • Active Only available if there is an active 3ds Max session. Select from a list of open files in 3ds Max.
• New 3ds Max Scene Creates a new 3ds Max file to receive the Inventor model.

Merge / Replace

This setting determines how the importer treats the current scene.

Options

• Merge with Target Scene Incoming geometry is merged with any existing geometry in the scene. This setting is useful for combining components from separate files into a single scene.
• Completely Replace Target Scene The imported data completely replaces any existing geometry in the current scene. This is the default choice.

Import As

Choose the format in which the Inventor model is imported and set teh resolution for meshes.

Options

• Body Objects Imports the Inventor as solid body objects, which retains all ACIS solids information.
• Meshes Imports the Inventor model as editable mesh objects. Use the Mesh Resolution setting to determine the fineness or coarseness of the imported mesh.
• Resolution Determine the degree of refinement applied to the mesh objects. Set the resolution to 0 (zero) to import the geometry as it appears in Inventor. Set the value less than zero to optimize the mesh with fewer faces, thus reducing detail. Set the value to greater than zero to tessellate with more faces, providing greater detail.

  The default Mesh Resolution is set to 0.

Assembly

Determine how to handle duplicate partsin the Inventor model.

Options

• Reference Duplicate Parts When on, the importer treats duplicate parts in the Inventor file as references of each other. If the setting is disabled, duplicate parts are treated as unique objects.

Include Inventor materials

Determine whether colors and texture maps assigned to the Inventor model are imported to 3ds Max materials.

Options

• Asssign Material IDs Controls whether material IDs are assigned to objects imported from Inventor. You can assign different colors to different surfaces of the same object while working in Inventor. When these objects are imported to 3ds Max, material IDs are assigned to the faces of single objects to which multiple colors are applied.

  For example, say you've created a single object that represents a knob with a threaded shaft and you've applied a black, plastic color to the knob and a silver, metal color to the threaded shaft. If Assign Material IDs is on when you import the model into 3ds Max, the imported faces that have the plastic color are assigned material ID #1 and the faces that have the metal color are assigned material ID #2. If you choose to try different materials while working in 3ds Max, you can quickly make sub-object selections based on the material IDs or apply a Multi/Sub-Object material that contains materials that correspond to the IDs assigned to the faces.

• Create Layers by Material Generates layer information based on incoming materials. All objects sharing a material will be placed on the same layer.
• Add Object Name to Material When importing materials, uses the imported object name as part of the material name.

Inventor File Vertical Direction

This option determines the model's orientation upon import. You can choose which origin axis of the Inventor model is vertical in 3ds Max.

Select from:

• X Axis
• Y Axis
• Z Axis