Providing Inventor content for Plant 3D

Issue

You want to insert an Inventor model into a Plant 3D project and you want to convert this model into a specific AutoCAD Plant 3D equipment.

Solution

Those are the steps to provide Autodesk Inventor content for AutoCAD Palnt 3D:

• Ensure that the units for the Inventor model match the units of the Plant 3D project
• This can be set in Inventor under 'Tools - Document Settings'

• Ensure that the orientation of the Inventor model is aligned with the z-axis pointing up
• Tip: If the orientation of an existing design isn't aligned, you can insert the model into a new assembly and apply the necessary constraints in Inventor to orient it properly

• Start the BIM Exchange environment in Inventor via 'Environments - BIM Exchange'

• Author important connection points for Plant 3D to re-use
• Plant 3D understands 'Connector Size' and 'Connection Type'

• Optional: You can reduce the size of the Inventor model by creating a 'Shrinkwrap Substitute'. This can improve the performance in AutoCAD Plant 3D if this component is used frequently
• 'Shrinkwrap Substitute' can be found in Inventor under the 'BIM Exchange' environment

• Select 'Export Building Components' to package up the Inventor model and relevant component item data
• You can assign the component to an OMNI class application type and include important data like Description, Manufacturer, Model No., Cost, etc.
• Selekt 'Ok' to browse to a location to save the ADSK-file output

• Start AutoCAD Plant 3D and open the target project
• Open the drawing in which you want to insert the Inventor model
• Use the command 'Convert Inventor Equipment' to insert the ADSK-model

• Place the model into the drawing
• A dialog box will pop up there you can set the specific equipment class in which you want to convert the model