Import .STL file into Autodesk Inventor Professional 2012 as an Assembly

I spent a couple of hours today trying to figure out a way to import .STL files into Autodesk Inventor Professional 2012 as a part or an assembly. In this step by step tutorial, i will describe my way of accomplishing the same. For those of you that are not familiar with the STL format, please refer to this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STL_(file_format) . You can view and process the mesh files using the popular open source software called MeshLab. I would highly recommend you download and try it out.

For this tutorial you would need the following programs from Autodesk:

• Autodesk 3ds Max 2012
• Autodesk Inventor Professional 2012

Both of the above are free for students.

Following shows you a snapshot of the .STL file from MeshLab that i am trying to convert:

Steps to Convert:

1. Open Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 and click on import.
2. Select the .STL file and open it.
3. Once you click on open, following window will pop-up:
4. Click Ok. The software will now try to open the file and weld the mesh. It could take a loooooooooong loooooooooong time, so have some patience.
5. Once successfully imported, you will see the following in the Autodesk 3ds Max window:
6. Next, click on export.
7. Save as type “ACIS SAT (*.SAT)” file and click Save.
8. You will see the following options box. Make sure the options for “Export Basic 3ds Max Primitives (Box, Cyl, Cone, Sph, Torus)”, “Export 3ds Max NURBS Objects”, “Export Mesh Objects (Objects Collapsible to Mesh)” are checked. Click OK.
9. The software will now attempt to save the file as the new format .SAT file. This could take a loooooooooong loooooooooong time, so have some patience.
10. Once finished exporting, you can now open up Autodesk Inventor Professional and open up the .SAT file. As before, it could take a while for the inventor to open it, so hang in there. Once done, you will see the following:
11. Make sure to save the work in Inventor, and you should now have the full Assembly drawing.

The downside is that a 2.11MB .STL file resulted in 77.8MB of .SAT file, and the resulting Inventor Assembly files total 90.5MB. So, be VERY VERY careful about what you are trying to convert. Make sure you have enough physical memory and hard disk space as the resulting files are usually 35 to 45 times bigger. Try and reduce your mesh as much as you can before converting.

3D CAD Model-Fox Racing Shock DHX AIR 5.0

I was thinking of using a couple of these shocks for my project, so i took the dimensions as best as i could, and made a CAD drawing. The model is based on 9.5″ eye to eye length an 3.0″ travel. My shock came with 0.5″ inside diameter bushings pre-installed on both top and bottom ends, so the CAD drawing reflects the same. I did not pay too much attention to the complex details on top of the shock, as all i wanted to do was make something that “looks like” the shock yet the exterior dimensions are accurate enough for me to base decisions on, in other words it is not highly accurate.

Here is a link to the PDF file containing the Drawing: Click Here

I have uploaded the CAD model to Google Docs for those of you who would like to use it in their projects. The drawings were made using AutoCAD Inventor.