Part and assembly files from other CAD systems can be imported for use in Autodesk Inventor. The import operation does not maintain associativity with the original file (exception - associative import is available for Alias). As a result, changes to the original file after the import operation do not affect the imported part or assembly. Likewise, changes to the imported part or assembly do not affect the original file.
When assemblies are imported, Autodesk Inventor attempts to preserve the assembly and subassembly structure of the original file.
The import process creates base features in Autodesk Inventor representative of the geometry and topology in the source file. You can use Autodesk Inventor commands to adjust the base features and add new features to the Autodesk Inventor feature tree. You cannot modify the original definition of the base features.
You can also import Mechanical Desktop parts and assemblies, translating the features into Autodesk Inventor features, or place a Mechanical Desktop part or assembly as a component in an Autodesk Inventor assembly.
A translation report is generated that includes information pertinent to the import process. You can save the report to disk, in HTML format, and embed the report in your new part or assembly document.