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Fusion 360 is free!
- Thread starter Jwest7788
- Start date
I started watching some 360 tutorials a while back but ran out of awake time. Its slightly different that other 3D cad systems I've been exposed to, but they all have their quirks & similarities. You cant argue with the price & co-attachment of CAM package if I understand that aspect correctly. I have heard some grumpings about 'file ownership' & hiccups working with larger multi-part assemblies. There is 'cloud' as in a convenient place to upload, save, collaborate. And then there is 'cloud' as in: we own those files just like Zuckerburg owns your pictures 
I'm not sure if commercial mode alleviate some of these issues, or is it more feature rich?
I'm not sure if commercial mode alleviate some of these issues, or is it more feature rich?
I started watching some 360 tutorials a while back but ran out of awake time. Its slightly different that other 3D cad systems I've been exposed to, but they all have their quirks & similarities. You cant argue with the price & co-attachment of CAM package if I understand that aspect correctly. I have heard some grumpings about 'file ownership' & hiccups working with larger multi-part assemblies. There is 'cloud' as in a convenient place to upload, save, collaborate. And then there is 'cloud' as in: we own those files just like Zuckerburg owns your pictures
Built in cam, yeah, I was just beginning to figure that stuff out.
The cloud for me has been nothing but convenient, syncing my projects between my home and office computer without even realizing it was pretty awesome.
With regard to models, so far I can't imagine the ownership issue will even be an issue down the road, in my case. Like, Fusion want's to own a model for a power hacksaw drain? or a new oil plug for my motorcycle? Good on em, they can have it. lol
Commercial must have a workaround, else no company would ever use the software, I would imagine, as that is where the risk in file ownership is.
JW
I downloaded fusion 360 onto my laptop but my computer is old and slow so it won't run the tutorial without crashing. I'm going to buy a new computer just for fusion 360. I will also download mach3 and use the simulator to make sure my file works before I take it out to the garage. The laptop I have now has an AMD E300 APU with Radeon HD graphics 1.3GHZ processor and 4 gigs of ram. I don't know much about computers but I need an upgrade to run this program smoothly. Is there any good deals out there on a laptop I can use? How much will all this technology cost me? It is kind of funny what a techno noob I am. Thanks in advance
Well I had the same problem and bought a new laptop just to run fusion 360. Ha ha. That's funny Alex.
Get a newer processor i5 i7? Or something new with 4 cores, 8gb of ram or more. The latest i7 will cost more and it might not help much. You need good graphics performance too, Radeon or ati , nvidia - with 2gb of video memory and a gpu would probably be fine. Various "HD" types Intel Radeon HD etc. maybe not. Ask about that. If possible is see if you can try the program on it before you buy the computer. Load some sample drawings and spin the model around. Should be able to smoothly spin the objects without jerking and stuttering. Fusion seems buggy and still under development - there could be glitchy things with some hardware.
The quality of the screen is another thing to watch. Nice specs don't always mean easy on the eyes.
A nice to have is a solid state drive ssd. Jusy browsing I'd say $1200 $1500 $1800 ish.
Get a newer processor i5 i7? Or something new with 4 cores, 8gb of ram or more. The latest i7 will cost more and it might not help much. You need good graphics performance too, Radeon or ati , nvidia - with 2gb of video memory and a gpu would probably be fine. Various "HD" types Intel Radeon HD etc. maybe not. Ask about that. If possible is see if you can try the program on it before you buy the computer. Load some sample drawings and spin the model around. Should be able to smoothly spin the objects without jerking and stuttering. Fusion seems buggy and still under development - there could be glitchy things with some hardware.
The quality of the screen is another thing to watch. Nice specs don't always mean easy on the eyes.
A nice to have is a solid state drive ssd. Jusy browsing I'd say $1200 $1500 $1800 ish.
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I was going to suggest a visit to 360 forums where hardware specs are typically discussed at length & they run performance comparisons on standardized models. Unfortunately I didnt see much in this regard. If you guys find links, please post. There is a ton of Solidworks hardware discussion, but I cant say how close the programs compare. For example, despite SW being industrial strength CAD app, majority of routine tasks like model editing/rotating/viewing are single-threaded, so no performance gain with higher core count. It only factors with simulation & FEA which only the bib boys do. So check into this with 360 because its software specific.
Re laptops, the general CAD theme I hear is gamer laptops are quite well suited from Processor/RAM/disc space. The difference is the graphics card - different demands than what cad/photo apps require and power in one may not translate into power of the other. Specific to SW, the card models & drivers compatibility is the #1 headache to glitchy performance. So try & dig into this issue with 360. The typical business laptops with integrated GC's tend to be kind of minimal & thats the weak link in the chain in an otherwise powerful setup.
Some links to help with (SW-specific) terminology.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...e-a-Quadro-video-card-in-Solidworks-2016-751/
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Solidworks-2016-Multi-Core-Performance-741/
Re laptops, the general CAD theme I hear is gamer laptops are quite well suited from Processor/RAM/disc space. The difference is the graphics card - different demands than what cad/photo apps require and power in one may not translate into power of the other. Specific to SW, the card models & drivers compatibility is the #1 headache to glitchy performance. So try & dig into this issue with 360. The typical business laptops with integrated GC's tend to be kind of minimal & thats the weak link in the chain in an otherwise powerful setup.
Some links to help with (SW-specific) terminology.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...e-a-Quadro-video-card-in-Solidworks-2016-751/
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Solidworks-2016-Multi-Core-Performance-741/
Ok so I went down to Best Buy to find a laptop during there labour day sale. They explained that I had 14 day to return it if it didn't work with Fusion360.
the sales guy recommended this Asus laptop for my tiny budget of $1000 or less. It was $750 and has an I7 processor 8GB of ram and Nvida graphics card with 2GB of dedicated video memory. I will start testing it now and let you know what I find. If it doesn't work it is going back to the store.
the sales guy recommended this Asus laptop for my tiny budget of $1000 or less. It was $750 and has an I7 processor 8GB of ram and Nvida graphics card with 2GB of dedicated video memory. I will start testing it now and let you know what I find. If it doesn't work it is going back to the store.
Looks like a nice laptop. I was ogling similar ones at Memory Express for family home use because..... a month ago had ME change out the spinny drive to SSD on my older Win-7 Asus laptop to speed it up. Worked great for about a month & it just died this weekend. Suspect the SSD bugged out. PITA! I have been an SSD convert from my main PC box experience where it resides for OS & program executables. Super fast bootup & leaves the data files on regular drives which is a cost performance compromise. I noticed few (low medium $) laptops are entirely SSD, but spinny drives are getting much faster & more capacity.
Back to 360. Link below kind of summarizes my sentiments when I was googling: I'm astounded that Autodesk doesn't know what hardware works best with their software. I would like to see the F360 team release some guidelines to help intensive users build a system that will run their software as quickly as possible. Testing your laptop against your own models is perfectly fine, but highly dependant on model size & complexity. Working with assemblies (multiple parts with mates) is typically when the rubber hits the road. As that person states, it would be MUCH better if 360 had standardized models to run your hardware against & get a quantified score like 1=sucks 9=kick butt. That's pretty much standard discussion fodder with other CAD & graphics software.
http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/desig...-for-best-performance-windows-pc/td-p/6442218
Back to 360. Link below kind of summarizes my sentiments when I was googling: I'm astounded that Autodesk doesn't know what hardware works best with their software. I would like to see the F360 team release some guidelines to help intensive users build a system that will run their software as quickly as possible. Testing your laptop against your own models is perfectly fine, but highly dependant on model size & complexity. Working with assemblies (multiple parts with mates) is typically when the rubber hits the road. As that person states, it would be MUCH better if 360 had standardized models to run your hardware against & get a quantified score like 1=sucks 9=kick butt. That's pretty much standard discussion fodder with other CAD & graphics software.
http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/desig...-for-best-performance-windows-pc/td-p/6442218
@Jwest7788 I also made a thing. This is my pen
the other project I drew is a drilled brake discs I have a few minor problems with that design. The sketch is perfect but when I try to render this model the hole patterns are no longer visible. I will try try again tomorrow. Has anyone noticed the cool sharing features that are built into this program? we should make a CHM fusion360 group.
the other project I drew is a drilled brake discs I have a few minor problems with that design. The sketch is perfect but when I try to render this model the hole patterns are no longer visible. I will try try again tomorrow. Has anyone noticed the cool sharing features that are built into this program? we should make a CHM fusion360 group.
I have started another model. I Had my computer with me during the long car ride to Helena Montana and back. I spent about half of the drive recreating this baby sized Sandvik tool holder that I bought from DGI Supply for my mini lathe.
the finished model looks like this.
this fusion360 is tricky but the finished model matches the original turning tool exactly. Is there anyone who has tried 3D printing a model from this program? How does that work?
the finished model looks like this.
this fusion360 is tricky but the finished model matches the original turning tool exactly. Is there anyone who has tried 3D printing a model from this program? How does that work?
Looks good Alex. Once you Cad, you never go back. Don't forget the slots extending off the pockets... unless you were going to mill the pocket with a needle
Hey does 360 have any design table goodies like tap/clearance holes like from a selectable drop-down menu?
And how is it for banging out dimensioned drawings & such?
Hey does 360 have any design table goodies like tap/clearance holes like from a selectable drop-down menu?
And how is it for banging out dimensioned drawings & such?
Tom O
Ultra Member
If anyone is wondering about Fusion 360 Lars is the guy to watch in my book!
https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/author/lars-christensen/
He covers a good range of topics as well as live feed so you can talk to him about the demonstration.
https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/author/lars-christensen/
He covers a good range of topics as well as live feed so you can talk to him about the demonstration.