Inventor 2014 - Quick Orbit Animation

by Luke Davenport

So - we know that you can use Showcase to create a quick orbit around an Inventor model. But what if from time-to-time you want a REALLY quick orbit video and Inventor graphical quality is sufficient for your needs. Well on that subject....

All you need is some screen-capture software (here at Cadline Castle we use Techsmith's excellent 'Camtasia', but try downloading their free 'Jing' software – I’ve heard good things about it), a little knowledge of the orbiting tools in Inventor and you're good to go. 30 seconds and you’re done.

1)     Get your pivot position correct for the orbit. Zoom into the center of your model. Hold F4 to get the ‘orbit target’ controls up. Then hit the left mouse button inside the viewfinder on the spot you want to rotate about. You should see the model move as it re-aligns itself. Then spin the model around using F4 to check the orbit centre is correct.

2)    Hit CTRL and 0 (Zero key) together to get rid of the menus. (You can toggle them back on with the same keys afterwards).

Then hit the Orbit button (shown below), hold the Shift key, and rotate the model by grabbing one of the horizontal points of the target as shown. This allows you to ‘flat spin’ the model. Let go of the shift key and it should keep spinning.

3)    While the model is spinning, fire up your screen capture software and work your magic.

4)    All done! Embed your beautiful orbit in a powerpoint, and watch your customers jaws hit the floor.

Just another side note. If you are keeping up with the times and are working in Inventor 2014, then try using the Express mode (working with a lightweight version of the assembly) as this will allow a faster frame rate and better results.

Check out this video of my quick orbit – 30 seconds work!