The 2D to 3D tool has been available for Autodesk Inventor for a few releases now and provides a great way of taking existing 2D geometry and quickly and easily re-using that geometry (along with the intelligent dimensions etc) to create a 3D part.
Here's an example of the 2D to 3D tool in action in Inventor 2010:
Good news for those using Autodesk Inventor 2011 is that the 2D to 3D tool has recently been updated to work with Inventor 2011 and is now available for download of the Autodesk Labs website:
http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/2d_to_3d_tool/
The 2D to 3D tool is available for Autodesk Inventor 2009, 2010, 2011 in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. There is also a version for R11 to 2008 and Inventor LT.
