& Construction

Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing

Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Transcript
00:09
This course will focus on Building Structures with the Frame Generator tool.
00:16
The Frame Generator tool is located within the Design tab of the Inventor Assembly environment.
00:23
It is located alongside the other Design Accelerator tools.
00:27
The Frame Generator tool allows you to Insert Frame components from the Content Center.
00:35
These will be standard-sized shapes such as square tubing, pipes, I-beams,
00:42
channel, and all sorts of different cross-sectional shapes.
00:46
Once they've been added to an existing skeleton, they can then be given different end treatments like notches, miters.
00:55
You can even Trim and Extend, so they line up as you need to.
01:02
You can also automatically update your frame and the individual member length by updating the base skeleton.
01:10
So each of these frames will have either a sketch or a surface body that drives the overall shape.
01:17
And as you update that skeleton, the frame and its components will update to match.
01:23
And that includes all of your end treatments as well.
01:27
This makes it really easy to really quickly manipulate a very complex welded frame assembly.
01:34
And none of these frame assemblies require constraints,
01:39
so you don't need to manually place a line and constraint each individual part.
01:49
So when you're working in an assembly, you can insert your frame members in a variety of different ways.
01:54
You can actually add them between two sketch points, Work Points or Vertices.
02:01
You can also choose a line from a sketch, either a 2D or a 3D sketch. And that line does not necessarily need to be straight.
02:11
It can also be an Arc or an Ellipse or Spline.
02:16
And you can also add in frame members onto existing edges of a surface body, a solid body.
02:24
And once again, this could be a Straight line, a Spline or an Arc that you're selecting from that body.
02:34
So once you've chosen your Input Geometry, whether that is a point to point, or an existing Line sketch,
02:42
you can then decide what frame member you'd like to add onto that line.
02:46
So you can choose from a standardized list that is pulled from the Inventor Content Center.
02:52
So you'll see a category which is going to be the type of shape.
02:57
You can then choose a Standard, for instance ANSI is shown here, and then you can choose from that Standard Family.
03:04
So for instance, Square, Tubing, Pipes, Tees, I-Beams,
03:10
all of those existing shapes from that library can be pulled along with their size.
03:14
So shown here is a 2 x 2 x 1/8 inch thick square box tube.
03:21
One thing to note with these frame members is the material here is shown as Mild Steel.
03:26
That is going to be the default material from the Content Center.
03:30
However, you can override the material for each frame member if it's something besides a simple Mild Steel,
03:36
and that will be populated through to the design, the individual part, as well as the Bill of Materials.
03:42
You can also change the appearance if you don't want to look like the material.
03:46
If it needs to be a certain color, you can do so here as well, just like when you're creating a part.
03:51
And then the last thing that you can decide to do is if you'd like to change the Orientation.
03:56
So the default Orientation will show up in the graphics window.
04:00
However, you can rotate about the center axis or about the geometry line that you've chosen.
04:08
So you can put in a rotational angle there and it will update in real-time in the graphics window.
04:13
So it makes it easy to see if you have that correct.
04:16
You can also choose a point to Rotate about,
04:20
and then the Offset A and B is going to be essentially the X and Y direction relative to that rotational center.
04:27
So for instance, A might be forward and backwards along that line,
04:32
whereas B is going to be up or down in the Y-Axis from that Z direction.
04:39
You can also choose align to geometry and choose a new reference to align your shape too.
04:46
When you're done adding in your frames, make sure you select "Okay".
04:49
And then it will have you save the frame components into your working folder and give them a name if you'd like to.
05:00
There are several end treatment tools that are available in the Frame Generator environment.
05:05
These will show up on the ribbon with your frame tools in the Design Accelerator.
05:12
So the first one you'll see here is a Miter.
05:15
That would be if you'd like there to be essentially a 45 degree angle between the two frame members where they come together at a corner.
05:23
You can automatically create that Miter. You can also add in an offset if you'd like there to be a gap for tolerance or for welding.
05:32
You can add in a Notch, which will essentially cut out one frame member's profile from the other, so that it will fit in.
05:40
This is helpful when you're working with channel or I-beam, where you'd like to create that notch profile automatically.
05:46
You can also create custom notch profiles and save them to the Content Center library.
05:54
Corner joint is essentially going to cut one frame member back to the edge of the other frame member,
06:03
to make a nice 90 degree corner where you don't have any overlap.
06:07
So it'll cut one component and then extend the other to create that joint.
06:13
The Trim/Extend tool allows you to cut an existing member back to a selected face.
06:21
So Corner Joint, you select two parts and it cuts them and extends them as necessary.
06:28
The Trim/Extend tool has you choose a frame member, and then a plainer face that you'd like to trim that member back to,
06:37
and it will automatically do so. So the member will be shown in blue.
06:41
The trim face will be shown in yellow as they show in that image there. And that takes a little bit of practice to get used to.
06:51
And lastly, I'd like to just cover a few Expert Tips here.
06:56
When you start working with the Frame Generator, these insights can be super helpful.
06:60
So the first is that keep in mind that when you edit the skeleton model.
07:04
So if you edit the three dimensional or two dimensional sketch that you're working with,
07:10
or the surface body that you're using as a skeleton, when you change the dimensions of your skeleton, the frames automatically update.
07:18
So if you have a sketch and you increase the length, those members will increase their length and the end treatments will update as well.
07:27
And that will populate all the way through the assembly, and into the drawings and Bill of Materials as well. So it's all linked together.
07:34
You can also promote and demote frame members in the browser.
07:37
If you'd like to reorganize the subassemblies, or move a frame out of a subassembly into the top level assembly.
07:48
Keep in mind that even though you can apply frame members to a curve like a Ellipse or an Arc,
07:55
you can't insert frame members onto a closed curve, so a closed ellipse or a closed circle.
08:02
If that's required, you'll need to create the cross section, and then use the Sweep tool in the Part environment.
08:12
And then lastly, you can extract end treatments, for your frame members in the Bill of Materials and the parts list.
08:20
So you can take the length, the shape, the material as well as the end treatments,
08:27
from the assembly all the way into your drawing, Bill of Materials and parts list,
08:32
which can be super helpful when you're preparing it for manufacturing.
Video transcript
00:09
This course will focus on Building Structures with the Frame Generator tool.
00:16
The Frame Generator tool is located within the Design tab of the Inventor Assembly environment.
00:23
It is located alongside the other Design Accelerator tools.
00:27
The Frame Generator tool allows you to Insert Frame components from the Content Center.
00:35
These will be standard-sized shapes such as square tubing, pipes, I-beams,
00:42
channel, and all sorts of different cross-sectional shapes.
00:46
Once they've been added to an existing skeleton, they can then be given different end treatments like notches, miters.
00:55
You can even Trim and Extend, so they line up as you need to.
01:02
You can also automatically update your frame and the individual member length by updating the base skeleton.
01:10
So each of these frames will have either a sketch or a surface body that drives the overall shape.
01:17
And as you update that skeleton, the frame and its components will update to match.
01:23
And that includes all of your end treatments as well.
01:27
This makes it really easy to really quickly manipulate a very complex welded frame assembly.
01:34
And none of these frame assemblies require constraints,
01:39
so you don't need to manually place a line and constraint each individual part.
01:49
So when you're working in an assembly, you can insert your frame members in a variety of different ways.
01:54
You can actually add them between two sketch points, Work Points or Vertices.
02:01
You can also choose a line from a sketch, either a 2D or a 3D sketch. And that line does not necessarily need to be straight.
02:11
It can also be an Arc or an Ellipse or Spline.
02:16
And you can also add in frame members onto existing edges of a surface body, a solid body.
02:24
And once again, this could be a Straight line, a Spline or an Arc that you're selecting from that body.
02:34
So once you've chosen your Input Geometry, whether that is a point to point, or an existing Line sketch,
02:42
you can then decide what frame member you'd like to add onto that line.
02:46
So you can choose from a standardized list that is pulled from the Inventor Content Center.
02:52
So you'll see a category which is going to be the type of shape.
02:57
You can then choose a Standard, for instance ANSI is shown here, and then you can choose from that Standard Family.
03:04
So for instance, Square, Tubing, Pipes, Tees, I-Beams,
03:10
all of those existing shapes from that library can be pulled along with their size.
03:14
So shown here is a 2 x 2 x 1/8 inch thick square box tube.
03:21
One thing to note with these frame members is the material here is shown as Mild Steel.
03:26
That is going to be the default material from the Content Center.
03:30
However, you can override the material for each frame member if it's something besides a simple Mild Steel,
03:36
and that will be populated through to the design, the individual part, as well as the Bill of Materials.
03:42
You can also change the appearance if you don't want to look like the material.
03:46
If it needs to be a certain color, you can do so here as well, just like when you're creating a part.
03:51
And then the last thing that you can decide to do is if you'd like to change the Orientation.
03:56
So the default Orientation will show up in the graphics window.
04:00
However, you can rotate about the center axis or about the geometry line that you've chosen.
04:08
So you can put in a rotational angle there and it will update in real-time in the graphics window.
04:13
So it makes it easy to see if you have that correct.
04:16
You can also choose a point to Rotate about,
04:20
and then the Offset A and B is going to be essentially the X and Y direction relative to that rotational center.
04:27
So for instance, A might be forward and backwards along that line,
04:32
whereas B is going to be up or down in the Y-Axis from that Z direction.
04:39
You can also choose align to geometry and choose a new reference to align your shape too.
04:46
When you're done adding in your frames, make sure you select "Okay".
04:49
And then it will have you save the frame components into your working folder and give them a name if you'd like to.
05:00
There are several end treatment tools that are available in the Frame Generator environment.
05:05
These will show up on the ribbon with your frame tools in the Design Accelerator.
05:12
So the first one you'll see here is a Miter.
05:15
That would be if you'd like there to be essentially a 45 degree angle between the two frame members where they come together at a corner.
05:23
You can automatically create that Miter. You can also add in an offset if you'd like there to be a gap for tolerance or for welding.
05:32
You can add in a Notch, which will essentially cut out one frame member's profile from the other, so that it will fit in.
05:40
This is helpful when you're working with channel or I-beam, where you'd like to create that notch profile automatically.
05:46
You can also create custom notch profiles and save them to the Content Center library.
05:54
Corner joint is essentially going to cut one frame member back to the edge of the other frame member,
06:03
to make a nice 90 degree corner where you don't have any overlap.
06:07
So it'll cut one component and then extend the other to create that joint.
06:13
The Trim/Extend tool allows you to cut an existing member back to a selected face.
06:21
So Corner Joint, you select two parts and it cuts them and extends them as necessary.
06:28
The Trim/Extend tool has you choose a frame member, and then a plainer face that you'd like to trim that member back to,
06:37
and it will automatically do so. So the member will be shown in blue.
06:41
The trim face will be shown in yellow as they show in that image there. And that takes a little bit of practice to get used to.
06:51
And lastly, I'd like to just cover a few Expert Tips here.
06:56
When you start working with the Frame Generator, these insights can be super helpful.
06:60
So the first is that keep in mind that when you edit the skeleton model.
07:04
So if you edit the three dimensional or two dimensional sketch that you're working with,
07:10
or the surface body that you're using as a skeleton, when you change the dimensions of your skeleton, the frames automatically update.
07:18
So if you have a sketch and you increase the length, those members will increase their length and the end treatments will update as well.
07:27
And that will populate all the way through the assembly, and into the drawings and Bill of Materials as well. So it's all linked together.
07:34
You can also promote and demote frame members in the browser.
07:37
If you'd like to reorganize the subassemblies, or move a frame out of a subassembly into the top level assembly.
07:48
Keep in mind that even though you can apply frame members to a curve like a Ellipse or an Arc,
07:55
you can't insert frame members onto a closed curve, so a closed ellipse or a closed circle.
08:02
If that's required, you'll need to create the cross section, and then use the Sweep tool in the Part environment.
08:12
And then lastly, you can extract end treatments, for your frame members in the Bill of Materials and the parts list.
08:20
So you can take the length, the shape, the material as well as the end treatments,
08:27
from the assembly all the way into your drawing, Bill of Materials and parts list,
08:32
which can be super helpful when you're preparing it for manufacturing.
How to buy
Privacy | Do not sell or share my personal information | Cookie preferences | Report noncompliance | Terms of use | Legal | © 2025 Autodesk Inc. All rights reserved
Sign in to start learning
Sign in for unlimited free access to all learning content.Save your progress
Take assessments
Receive personalized recommendations
May we collect and use your data?
Learn more about the Third Party Services we use and our Privacy Statement.May we collect and use your data to tailor your experience?
Explore the benefits of a customized experience by managing your privacy settings for this site or visit our Privacy Statement to learn more about your options.