AUTODESK says users can download its Inventor Fusion technology preview software for free.
Inventor Fusion is a new digital prototyping technology from Autodesk Labs. According to the company, it unites the power and control of parametric, history-based modelling with the speed and ease of use of direct, history-free modelling.
Autodesk says Inventor Fusion is suited for users who need to make rapid, history-free design changes to a model through direct manipulation, but also want to be able to access, use and maintain their previous feature- and history-based data and design intent.
Inventor Fusion differs from Inventor 2010 in that it does not rely on history, eliminating the need for history recalculation when features are edited.
Autodesk claims the direct modelling methodology will allow manufacturers to accelerate product development. By combining both parametric and direct modelling in Inventor Fusion, the company hopes to combine the best of both disciplines.
The technology preview will be followed by a second technology preview later in 2009 which will enable users to perform direct modelling for fast changes and then see their changes updated in the model's parametric feature history.