Environments

The term environment in Inventor is analogous to the environments in which we live and breathe. For example, a park enables people to relax and play by providing open green space, flowers, trees, paths, benches, walkways, waterways, and play structures. The environments within Inventor are also purpose/task driven. These virtual environments enable you to understand the purpose of the environment, how to access the available tools, and provide feedback to reinforce actions.

The following base environments are available in Autodesk Inventor LT:

• Part
• Drawing

Additionally within the Part and Drawing base environments, you can access the 2d and 3d sketch environments.

Within the Part and Drawing environments, specialized environments are available for performing certain tasks.

The Part environment provides access to:

• Inventor Studio
• BIM Exchange

Once you enter an environment, all commands that enable you to work within that environment are available for you. Each specialized environment has a unique tab, called a contextual tab, with commands specific to that environment. For example, when you enter the Studio environment, a new tab labeled Render is displayed.

Example of the Studio contextual tab

The Render tab is specific to Studio. Tabs specific to an environment have a unique color to indicate you are working in a specialized environment.

Each specialized environment and 2D/3D sketch provides an Exit/Finish (environment) command, on the right side of the ribbon, to allow you to re-enter the general working environment.

Use Return to leave in-place editing and quickly return to the desired environment. The destination depends on which modeling environment you are working in.

Procedures

To access, work in, and exit environments

To access Environments within a Part file

1. In a Part file, on the ribbon, click on the Environments tab.
   
2. Click on one of the available environments.
   

 

Work in Environments

Once you enter an environment, all commands that enable you to work within that environment are available for you. Each specialized environment has a unique tab, called a contextual tab, with commands specific to that environment. For example, when you enter the Studio environment, a new tab labeled Renter is displayed.

Example of the Studio contextual tab

The Render tab is specific to Studio. Tabs specific to an environment have a unique color to indicate you are working in a specialized environment.

To exit Environments

To exit an environment accessed from the Environments tab or the Sketch environment and return to the general working environment, click Finish on the Exit panel, which is located on the ribbon to the far right.