Fusion 360 for Beginners - Lesson 7 - Parametric Modeling Tutorial - Dice (2023)

[@karimh-e7u]

Hey man, greetings from France. Just got into Fusion 360 and stumbled upon the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to tutorials. However, this series is second to none, it is simply amazing. It started off kinda slow but as I go through the episodes, it just keeps getting better and better. You really go in-depth and over tons of little tips and tricks here and there. Your tutorials are so good, even my pet goldfish could design a spaceship by now! As long as you keep it up, I'll keep coming back! Thank you for the amazing content.

[@learnitalready]

What an awesome comment! Thank you for the encouragement. So glad that you’ve been finding these tutorials beneficial. Also, if your pet goldfish designs any spaceships, please send the royalties! 😆 That’s classic. Please keep in touch with us. We would love to hear how you’re progressing through each stage of the tutorials. We have a number of subscribers and KZbin/Patreon members that do the same. Looking forward to hearing from you again. All the best!

[@karolosmanski2309]

Oh man, I`m almost breathless. I`m 43yo and I`m still learning a lot of things as I need them for some reasons BUT I didn`t knew that learning could be enjoyable that much. I feel like a child who found out how to use a toy. You`ve made my day!

[@learnitalready]

So glad to have received your message. Learning should be fun, and we are so glad you think our tutorials are enjoyable. Stay tuned for more. Please don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already and please send more comments like this to us... it is very encouraging.

[@EricDobsonTV]

Agree. To someone who's not a nerd I'd appear irrationally excited right now. These videos are such a fantastic find.

[@tysonstephenson2181]

I am taking this series so I can learn to convert paper plans of radio controlled aircraft to digital format and thus cut on a laser printer. This is just perfect as it allows me to use one design and make the plans available for different sized motors. This was really an unexpected benefit to fusion 360. Just another excellent lesson. thank you.

[@learnitalready]

Excellent plans that you have. That would be nice to see some of your projects come to completion. Thanks again for your encouragement and support. All the best!

[@SasaRakezic]

Great tutorial. I really liket it. Regards from Serbia.

[@learnitalready]

Thank you so much for your comment! Glad that you enjoyed the tutorial. Please check out the others too. All the best!

[@-Ola-.]

Really enjoyed the parametric modeling, makes it alot faster to change sizes between testmodel 3d prints etc!

[@learnitalready]

So glad to hear that you are utilizing parametric modeling. The better you get, you can make use of more complicated formulas to make much more complicated yet controlled parts that can be completely changed with a few parameters. We will come out with another tutorial in the near future that highlights this. Thanks for your support! Hope you continue to benefit from the Learn It! channel.

[@-Ola-.]

@@learnitalready i’ve been watching many YT learning videos on F360 the last week, but you make some of the best without going completly kindergarden-level.. Seems like some actually thinks that people with no geometric knowledge at all, starts to use this sw…. I’ll keep on watching through them all 👍🏼 Please, also cover modeling based on photos of items (copying shapes and/or modeling add-on items to the pictured model) eventually :) Perhaps also lidar scan pictures? (many iphones has lidar these days).

[@learnitalready]

Much appreciated! Thank you for the comments and suggestions too; they will definitely go on the drawing board. Thank you again for your support. These tutorials are taking quite some time to create, so we truly are thankful for your encouragement. Additionally, they will continue to get more channeling and complicated, with the hopes that ones who view our channel will stick with us. There is a ton to learn and and ton to teach! Feel free to make any further suggestions. If you’re interested, I would suggest checking out our Short Tutorials and CAM Tutorials playlists too. Take care!

[@reinewahlstedt]

You can also change all the measurements to parameters under the model parameters in the parameters pane, that way you don't have to click around in the timeline and edit each sketch separately.

[@learnitalready]

Very true! Thanks for adding.

[@nilaya80]

Greetings from snowy Sweden! I wish i found your channel and tutorials earlier! I am self taught in fusion360 and i see now that i make sooo many obvius mistakes and take so many unneccesary detours. Things take a lot longer than it should, even basic things. Thank you for this and hopefully you will continue to teach me further more. /Mike

[@learnitalready]

Greetings Mike! So nice to have received your comment. Thank you for taking the time to message us to explain how you’ve been benefiting from our channel. Hope you like our other tutorials too and hope to hear from you again. All the best with your journey of learning Fusion.

[@ReeseTimm]

Nicely presented. Drove me a little nuts in the beginning when you started off using hard coded values, but then it made sense when you showed the problems that causes and thus why parameter values are so powerful. Well done.

[@learnitalready]

Thanks for commenting that and seeing the benefit in the end. My desire is to teach principles that can be used in many applications. Hope you enjoy our other tutorials too.

[@Fubar12341]

Great Tutorial

[@learnitalready]

Thanks!

[@billbyrd9845]

There are any number of F360 videos, but too many of them were published by people who don't understand the first thing about teaching. This one episode demonstrates your expertise with that skill. It took a good bit of planning to come up with the dice example of how to do it the hard way and how to do it parametrically. Bravo! Subbed and liked.

[@learnitalready]

Thank you so much for your comment and kind words. So glad that our teaching style appeals to you and that you’ve benefited from this tutorial. Hope that you find the other tutorials beneficial too!

[@chmiller81]

Thank you so much! Learning a lot

[@learnitalready]

You’re most welcome! Thanks for showing your appreciation.

[@brrrinalaska6411]

Useful for my hex head designs so I can change the size proportionally. Useful for modeling different size bolt heads.

[@learnitalready]

So glad that you have found a personal and practical benefit to this tutorial.

[@305doveridge]

I just finished the dice and intro to parametric modeling. Very good lesson. I went over it several times in areas that I didn't feel comfortable. But I got through it. I find myself thinking in 3d modeling between lessons.

[@learnitalready]

Excellent! You are motoring along. Thanks for keeping us posted. Thinking in 3D is a skill that many don’t have. I commend you for your hard work in getting to this point.

[@kellyjean4981]

Thank you ❤ I always see files that say they are parametric. Now I get it. With some practice, I will be able to create some parametric models myself

[@learnitalready]

Thabk you for commenting 😃 You will love parametric modelling in due time.

[@teflon1961]

A really engaging way to simply demonstrate parametric method. Loved it. Thank you.

[@learnitalready]

Thank you! Glad you found it engaging. Hope you like our other tutorials too. All the best!

[@joell439]

Great Job! - Although I have been dabbling with F360 for years, I learn new shortcuts and tips in every one of your tightly edited episodes. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@learnitalready]

Thanks so much for your comment! Glad that you are benefiting from our tutorials. Keep it up!

[@GunterYang]

Thank you for this very clear lesson on constraints, parameters and the parametric timeline. By the end I was smiling because I learned so much, it all made sense, and got me extra excited to continue to get into Fusion. 👍

[@learnitalready]

You’re most welcome! Thank you for taking the time to show your appreciation and how you’ve benefited. Hope you enjoy our other tutorials too.

[@GunterYang]

I do and will!

[@Grazfather]

One trick I learned later that helps to change things you didn't parameterize at first is that once you create the parameters you can open the Model Parameters section in the Parameters view and change the values you use for each feature all in one place. Also makes it easy to see at a glance what values were not parameterized.

[@learnitalready]

Thanks so much for the trick!

[@ahmedali6519]

thankss

[@learnitalready]

You’re welcome :)

[@roffencs]

This is awesome!! So comprehensible. Thank you!

[@learnitalready]

Thanks so much!

[@kampalaravi]

These tutorials are great!

[@learnitalready]

Thanks so much! Glad you like them.

[@boboscurse4130]

This is so great. Teaching us good habits right from the start. How cool would it be if you could define parameters inside a feature's dialog box!

[@learnitalready]

I like how you appreciate learning good sketching habits and practice. You are a quick learner!

[@HellbellyUK]

With the DivotDia parameter, does the "-0.1" not make the spacing go weird at more extreme values for DiceSize? They looked a bit crowded with the larger die and too widely spaced with the tiny 1in die. Would "DiceSize/6.7" make it more reliable?

[@learnitalready]

Yes! Great job thinking of using a parameter to control the divots.

[@bradnelson3595]

DiceSize/4.4 seemed to work pretty well.

[@UzunKamis]

Thank you very much! This is a great tutorial...

[@learnitalready]

Thank you very much! Please let us know what you benefitted from. Also, don’t forget to check out our other videos and playlists too!

[@SasaRakezic]

@@learnitalready Parametric modelling Is actually very useful. I believe it will help me a lot in my door making process. Thanks once again.

[@taifiebig]

@@SasaRakezic Great to hear! I have also used parametric modeling while designing furniture. Very helpful for quick, on-the-fly changes.

[@hanspijpers2100]

Hi, could you also take the "five", and paste and copy that for the :four" and the "three" and the "two", and the "one" by erasing the unwanted divots ?

[@learnitalready]

You can! But, I can think of a couple of reasons why you wouldn’t want to. You would need to “Paste New” rather than just “Paste”. If you “Paste” then anything you change on any side will be reflected in the parent object you’ve copied from. This would make your timeline 1) extremely difficult to control and 2) badly cluttered and disorganized. My suggestion would be to give it a try and see what happens so that you can log the outcome in your mind for future projects. It never hurts to try something in F360 and see if the end result is what is really desired, and then hone your skills along then way. Hope that helps!

[@hanspijpers2100]

yeah it becomes mess @@learnitalready

[@JerryBWagoner]

Wow! I had no idea. Those formulas are very powerful. Question: The ones in this lesson were scoped to this project. Is there a way to build formulas that can be applied to multiple projects (a global variable)? Very cool!

[@learnitalready]

Thanks so much for your comment and question. Yes, there is a way. There are actually two ways but sadly I don't have a tutorial made for either one. The first is too complex to describe via a message. The second can be done with exported parameters (the ability to export and import parameters was just released by Autodesk). You have now given me a reason to make a tutorial based off of your question. Thanks!

[@tonywilliams9600]

Really enjoying these lessons, I noticed an error notification appear, so could you give a little insight into errors just to allay our concerns when they pop up? A short explanation may help with our understanding them and what we need to be mindful of….Many thanks.

[@learnitalready]

@@tonywilliams9600 Excellent suggestion. I oftentimes do, but not all the time. But I will keep your suggestion in mind.

[@christopherlyons7613]

Thanks for your great introduction to parameteic modeling. I'm looking to create a design for Dominos. I'm trying to think how this could be done parametrically. If I had TopPipNum & BotPipNum parameters, I'd like to read those parameters and adjust the shown dots per tile accordingly. Thinking the design would only be a single tile and it would show the pips based on the defined parameter values. Is this possible? If so, can you give me a hint on how I would do this? Appreciate any guidance. Thanks.

[@learnitalready]

Thanks so much for your encouraging comment! I can imagine your brain gears are just grinding away right now thinking of so many different projects. That’s what mine does! Yes, it can be done. It is not easy because you have to think outside the box. The secret is: You won’t be able to do it with sketches only. Create one pip that is solid modeled and then solid pattern it. You can’t constrain it to the center point, but rather along a line that is parametrically controlled. You may even have to utilize “If” statements. It is hard to model and even harder to explain. Maybe I’ll do a follow up to this tutorial. The next best option is to use Configurations. Let me know if any of what I wrote strikes a chord with you.

[@christopherlyons7613]

@@learnitalready Thanks, appreciate the quick reply. Trying to "think outside the box" is my normal, LOL! I'm a developer, so using "ifs" and some type of scripting makes a lot of sense. I was thinking about whether Fusion had a scripting engine under the covers that could be used (Python?). I was also considering using Patterns. I'm just learning Fusion so will probably put that on the back-burner for now but definitely plan on coming back to this later (good to know it's possible). So, in the interim here's what I did. I created a TileModel component that has all the PIP circles needed to create any of the 28 possible tiles with a horizontal separator in the middle. I also setup parameters for the following; TileWidth, TileHeight, TileDepth, PipWidth, ObjDepth, CenterSepWidth, CenterSepHeight, TileFilletDepth. Here's the process I'm using to generate a specific Tile: 1. Copy the TileModel to a new component and name that Tile_(Top Pip Number)_(Bottom Pip Number). For example when making a Tile with 1 PIP top & bottom, I'd name that Tile_1_1. Plan is to slowly accumulate the full 28 Tile set as separate components. 2. Activate the new Tile component. 3. Set the parameters as desired (these will default to the calculated values based on function expressions, so no need to modify unless needed). 4. Edit the PIP circle sketch and delete any of the PIP circles not needed and finish the sketch. 5. Verify the Tile look is as desired. If not, delete this new Tile component and start again. 6. Modify the Appearance of the Tile & PIPs to give the desired look. **NEED HELP WITH THIS, PLEASE SEE BELOW. 7. Save the project and note which Tile(s) were added. 8. Export the Tile component(s) as needed (for 3D printing). This certainly isn't as slick as a fully automated approach but this seems to work for now. Will come back to fully automating it later. ** Having an issue trying to select the internal faces of the PIPs so I can apply different appearances. When just looking at the model, I can select the interior Faces of the PIPs without any issue but it doesn't work when trying to apply Appearance. When I bring up the Appearance dialog, I switch to Apply To Faces and then try to drag the desired Appearance to the Face(s) I want to change. But since the interior PIP faces are not on the top plane, Fusion doesn't appear to allow me to select a back Face (which you'd do normally by holding the right-click button longer to display the face selection menu and selecting the desired Face to choose). I can first go and select the desired PIP back Faces by doing as above and the selected faces show with a BLUE outline. But if I then try to drag the desired Appearance to those Faces, Fusion doesn't do it. It just automatically moves the selected Appearance back to the dialog and does nothing. How can I do this? Do I need to do a Split Face and re-split out the PIP Faces?

[@learnitalready]

@ Amazing! I could learn a ton from you, that’s for sure. Great thought and modeling processes. Also, Python script can be run within Fusion. You should check out Fusion’s online store where many developers have created scripts using Python to run Fusion. Looking forward to keeping in touch with you along your journey of learning Fusion. All the best!

[@christopherlyons7613]

@@learnitalready Thanks. I've already learned a ton from you, so glad to give back a little. Any comment on the Appearance issue?

[@learnitalready]

@@christopherlyons7613 Regarding appearances, that's where you'll run into a snag with a Python script (I think). My previous comment would solve the issue of appearances. I should do a series on top requests, because your request would be on there.

[@EricDobsonTV]

16:12 Who knows, you might want to make twenty inch foam dice for toys, or decor for a casino charity night!

[@learnitalready]

It’s amazing what you can think up and design within Autodesk Fusion!

[@mikekuhnkey7231]

Is dicesize "driving"...and all other parameter "driven" in this example?

[@learnitalready]

Thanks for asking! Almost. In other words driving vs driven can also be referred to as defining vs referencing. DiceSize defines or drives the overall shape. The other dimensions like DivotDia and DivorDepth also define the shape. The driven dimensions are the positions of the divots. There are no dimensions on them, yes, however the are locked into place and move as DiceSize changes. If you were to create a dimension on the center point of divot to divot (for example) it would bring up a warning saying ‘your sketch would be over-constrained, would you like to make a driven dimension?’ That driven dimension cannot be changed manually but is just a reference for you to know if so desired.

[@mikekuhnkey7231]

@@learnitalready Very Specific...Going back thru the tutorial to think thru "defining vs referencing". Product Documentation is confusing with Driving, Driven and Grounded.

[@learnitalready]

@@mikekuhnkey7231 I agree! “Driving” and “driven” terminologies seem to be universal, but “grounded” is what Fusion likes to use. I think “defining” and “referencing” is easier to understand. Good job trying to wrap your brain around it.

[@vegasdealer777]

Thanks for some great videos. I'm a little confused by what you said in Lesson 4, though, that you ALWAYS, ALWAYS create a component first. Is there some reason you didn't do that first in Lesson 7 here. I'm not trying to be a wise guy -- just wondering if I missed something.

[@learnitalready]

I love it! Thanks for your comment and thanks for catching me not doing what I said should be done. Thanks for learning with us… you’re doing amazing to be at this lesson already. Here’s the official answer: if you know for sure that you will only have 1 component ever in your design, then it is ok that you don’t create a component right from the start. However, if you will need to create more than one component or a joint in your design, then it is key to always, always, always start with creating a component. Keep up the good work! Please feel free to comment along the way especially if you catch another mistake. All the best!

[@vegasdealer777]

@@learnitalready OK, thanks for the info, sir. I'm making an electronics enclosure. It has a box body and a bottom lid. Would you make two files, or one file with two components. The bottom lid has screw holes that need to align with holes on the bottom of the box. In OnShape, I can "USE" lines/circles from previous sketches to get things lined up. I'm sure Fusion has something similar, and you probably cover it in one of your excellent videos. I'll look for that. Thanks again!

[@learnitalready]

@@vegasdealer777 Very nice to hear! You will need to jump ahead to lesson 9 to learn the exact answer to your question. That tutorial is one of our most viewed videos and is very useful. Actually. Here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/apCxY2BjlKuIis0

[@vegasdealer777]

@@learnitalready Wow! Thanks. That looks like exactly what I need to see! Beautiful. Have a great day!

[@robberlin2230]

The issues I had with this were I couldn't get the triangle and then making circles on that line it didn't allow them to be equal to the centre circle,I must have missed something there.

[@robberlin2230]

Okay I missed the half line half line and missed coincident

[@robberlin2230]

I spent ages on this, I'm not certain how I check for coincidence, it has 2 right angle shapes on each corner and the centre circle has 3 right ajgle shapes

[@learnitalready]

Happy to try and help you figure it out. May I ask that you explain it a different way please? I don’t quite understand the problem that you’re facing.

[@robberlin2230]

@learnitalready sorry, I kind of wrote it as I was going. I drew the line from one corner to the other as you did, then missed the step where you deleted and then drew from the corner to the centre, twice. I did that and was able to find the triangle and the centre for the circle origin. However when I drew the circle it required me to put in the diameter and then again hit enter which showed a small padlock. If that occurred I could not go to the next step of making the circle equal to the centre circle. I had to try and figure out how to make the 2 lines meet in the corner of the square. I did that multiple times, I'm not sure how the sequence goes? Click on the coincident and then on the end of the line and then the corner? It happened but o don't know how, perhaps even the centre wasn't connected?

[@learnitalready]

@@robberlin2230 Thank you again for reaching out and explaining in detail. So, a very easy way to do solve that problem is: 1) Create a sketch on the face of your part that you'd like to model on. 2) Just draw a line off to the side of your part, on a slight angle so that there are no automatic constraints applied to your line (for example a horizontal or vertical constraint) 3) Now, select the coincident constraint first, then the endpoint of your line, and then the corner of the cube. It should constrain the endpoint of the line to the corner. 4) Finally, select the coincident constraint again, select the other endpoint of your line, and then the centre of your cube. It should constrain the line fully now. Let us know if that works. :D