Preview of Autodesk Inventor Publisher Technology Available

Most documentation today isin a 2-D format and in paper form, which might explain why I recently had somuch trouble following the assembly instructions for a cheap chest of drawers.

So it was no surprise to mewhen Samir Hanna, VP of Digital Concept, Manufacturing Industry Group atAutodesk, reported at a press conference yesterday at Autodesk University that 5 percentof all product returns are due to lousy documentation as a lead-in to theannouncement of the new Autodesk Inventor Publisher technology.

According to Singh, thesoftware, which he says is compatible with multiple 3-D CAD packages, wasdesigned to allow users to easily create interactive, 3-D product documentationin the form of exploded views or full-motion animations for assemblyinstructions, repair and maintenance manuals and the like.

"You don't need to be anexpert in Inventor or even a CAD user," said Senior Product Manager AbhijitSingh. Noting lots of people are intimidated by animation, he showedhow in just a few clicks he could create an exploded view and a full-motionanimation.

Singh likened it to using someother common software tools for the office, though how easy some of those toolsactually are is debatable. One of the major benefits, he says, is thedocumentation can be developed concurrently during the design process, avoidingthe "after-thought" mentality that often surrounds documentation.

Markups such as callouts andlabels can be added to the documentation, which can be published in a varietyof formats, including PDF, DWF, PPT, SWF, AVI and published to the web or electronicallydelivered via email. To wit, Singh waved an iPhone around displaying a 3-Dimage he had created just seconds before.

For engineers interested intaking a test drive, Autodesk is now offering a free download of InventorPublisher Technology on Autodesk Labs.