Video: Do it yourself with Inventor Publisher Viewer

What do we see in typical unboxing videos? Everything except the manuals! We may love our novels and other books, but product literature is definitely not our favorite. While it’s easy to operate Android devices (we usually don’t need instructions for them), other products highly depend on these booklets. We tend to ignore them in the beginning, but we usually go back to them once we’re stuck.

Instruction booklets can be annoying. They’re bulky, boring and usually not very interactive. Having instruction manuals on our devices would be optimal and much more fun. This is exactly what Inventor Publisher Viewer is doing, bringing DIY (do-it-yourself) manuals to our Android devices–in both 2D and 3D.

This product comes in two versions:  the Inventor Publisher software (used by the business that sells the product) and the Inventor Publisher Viewer (for the consumer). If you’re a business and want to provide 2D/3D DIY manuals to your customers, this software’s price starts at $2,495 and can be purchased at Autodesk’s site. Quite a high price, but definitely a good investment if you plan to use it on a large scale. Companies like good ol’ IKEA, BicycleTutor.com and Engineering.com have chosen to use this software, so it’s definitely no small-time product. And it has great potential. As for us consumers, we can  enjoy the brand new free app, available at the Android Market.

Simple, intuitive user interfaceZoom, pan and rotate in 3D using Multi-TouchPlay or scrub through animated sequences of step-by-step instructionsDouble Tap on individual components for detailed part informationView text descriptions and annotations that can help augment 3D graphicsIncludes sample instructions and access to an online gallery of instructions right in the appCreate, publish and deliver instruction files to mobile devices using the Publish to Mobile capability of Autodesk Inventor Publisher desktop PC softwareStore files on your device or Cloud Storage

Before you download the app, though, there are a few device requirements. You’ll need to have Android 2.1 or above, OpenGL 1.1 or above, and Autodesk recommends devices with a 1 GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. Something else to note is that “Textures will only appear on Android devices with PowerVR chips when models with textures are published using R2011 and R2012 of Autodesk Inventor Publisher desktop software.” If you’ve got it all down, hit the bar below for a link to the Android Market, where you can download the free app.

Inventor Publisher Viewer Autodesk Inc. MARKET QR 

For a quick look at the app, watch the video posted below. There are also a few images and a press release with more details. Now, get down to business and start building!

Show Press Release Today Autodesk announced that Autodesk Inventor Publisher, the acclaimed technical communications software, will now be available on Android devices. Inventor Publisher helps manufacturers explain and differentiate products with clear, accurate and easy-to-follow 2D and 3D product instructions, available on select mobile devices including the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and now the Android via the free Inventor Publisher Mobile Viewer App.

A June 2010 U.S. Consumer Survey showed that 61 percent of consumers who shop online would be more inclined to purchase a product if given online access to 3D assembly instructions. It comes as no surprise then, that companies such as IKEA, BicycleTutor.com and Engineering.com have selected Autodesk Inventor Publisher to aid consumers in do-it-yourself (DIY) assembly.

Below I’ve outlined a few features of Inventor Publisher for Android. I can also provide images for your use.

Features of Inventor Publisher include:

Publishing and viewing options: In addition to publishing support for 3D PDF and 2D vector graphics, Inventor Publisher now enables users to publish directly to Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. A free companion Autodesk Inventor Publisher Mobile Viewer app makes it easier for mobile technicians and salespeople to access 3D interactive instructions.Tighter CAD interoperability: Inventor Publisher extends Digital Prototyping to documentation teams through much richer, higher-fidelity import of Autodesk Inventor data and integration with Autodesk Vault data management software.Enhanced authoring capabilities: Users can easily create detail views, section planes, bill of materials (BOMs), and parts lists and have more ways to clearly communicate key concepts and information.