The Complete Inventor to AutoCAD Conversion Guide

This guide is part of the RapidPipeline 3D Formats Knowledge Database. It shows how to convert Inventor to AutoCAD, if you'd like to know more about the formats, please check out the following links:

• Learn more about the Inventor format
• Learn more about the AutoCAD format

There are various ways to convert between Inventor and AutoCAD. With RapidPipeline, you can easily convert and and optimize Inventor files, at scale. It supports AutoCAD, as well as many other file formats (examples: 3dsMax, CATIA, Creo, FBX, glTF, Navisworks, OBJ, PLY, Revit, Solid Edge, SolidWorks, STEP, STL, USD, USDZ, VRM), at high quality.

Below you can find a video explaining how to convert your files:

The Inventor file is a format mostly used for Professional 3D CAD software for mechanical design, simulation, visualization, and documentation.
The AutoCAD file is a format mostly used for Industry-standard 2D and 3D computer-aided design software for technical drawing and drafting.

The following limitations should be taken into account when converting Inventor files to AutoCAD format:

Inventor Feature (not supported by AutoCAD)	Limitation Details
Materials	Materials: supported in Inventor, but not in AutoCAD. Materials are a fundamental concept in 3D modeling, enabling colored and - in many cases - photorealistic rendering of the 3D model that they are applied to. There are also some formats that don't make use of 3D materials, for example because they need to solely describe a shape (e.g., for many cases in additive manufacturing). In this example, photorealistic PBR materials are used to equip the 3D model with a realistic look. Without support for materials, the model will have to be rendered with a default material (often a default shade of gray).
PBR Materials	PBR Materials: supported in Inventor, but not in AutoCAD. PBR materials enable Physically-Based-Rendering (PBR) for a standardized, photorealistic look of rendered images. PBR uses concepts like metallic-roughness or specular-glossiness properties and a microfacet-based modeling of the surface, using a concept called BRDF (Bi-Directional Reflectance Distribution Function). In this example, PBR materials are used to achieve realistic looking plastic and metal materials. Without support for PBR materials, only basic colors and shading can be used (for example, based on more simple shading models, such as the Blinn/Phong model).
Animations	Animations: supported in Inventor, but not in AutoCAD. Animations are an important part of many interactive 3D assets, for example in real-time rendering (including games, XR training, assembly instructions, product demos, and other use cases). There are various kinds of animations that can be used on 3D models. In this example model, a rigid animation is used to make the gears spin. Without support for this feature, in this example, the gears won't move.
Rigid Animations	Rigid Animations: supported in Inventor, but not in AutoCAD. Rigid Animations are typically used to animate mechanical parts. In this example, the door of this 3D model of a microwave can be interactively opened or closed, using a rigid animation that gradually changes the 3D transformation of the door. Without support for this feature, in this example, the door will just stay in place and won't move.

Doing 3D conversion right, especially at scale, can be tricky, as 3D data is in general a rather complex (yet very powerful!) medium. This also applies to Inventor and AutoCAD files - the conversion guide above provides a rough first idea about that. Once you know what you would like to do, tools like RapidPipeline can help you perform the necessary steps, and to even automate the process for thousands or even millions of files.

Especially when introducing pipelines and workflows at scale in an enterprise context, it is usually good to rely on dedicated tools and expertise, making sure you do not introduce any steps into your 3D workflow that are detrimental to the final output's quality, or that take your team too much time (and money).

If you're interested to hire dedicated expertise from the best in the field to help your company reach your goals fast and reliably, please do not hestitate to contact DGG. Being the creators of RapidPipeline, and ambassadors for open 3D standards for more than a decade, we have been building some of the world's most advanced 3D pipelines, having processed many millions of 3D assets.

Therefore, our expertise will help you to reach your goals faster, at scale, and with the least possible friction, since we are focused on maximum interoperability.

To get started with 3D data conversion and optimization today, sign up for a free account!

If you have any questions, feel free to chat with our human team.