Fusion 360 Tutorial: Get a Grip on Components, Bodies & Assemblies

[@themadcow8191]

I never knew I needed CAD filesystems explained with foam boards. Suddenly everything makes so much more sense.

[@UselessDuckCompany]

This is the best explanation video I have seen. I appreciate the time you put into the interactive whiteboard part, even though the hedge trimmers had trouble cutting those strings :)

[@JHV166]

You can't see through Opaque.. Transparent is what happens. The Active component is Opaque. Very nice explanations though.. Thank you..

[@cadcamstuff]

Yes! Totally my mistake :-) Thank you for watching!!

[@alum5704]

Thank you, I'm 12 y old and I'm trying to learn fusion for my 3d printer I got for Christmas . Your a big help 🙂

[@ramirescoms]

Maybe the most value for my time was achieved on this video! Thank you sir!

[@mxxz3900]

I'm 5 years late, but thank you!

[@azztopia]

same as me, its realy usefull though

[@nisargdoshi2640]

Same... This one video cleared a whole lot of stuff for me

[@dnainkable]

This video made me laugh and cry a little all at the same time. Coming from SolidWorks the concepts regarding assemblies made sense. I will be checking out your other videos as time progresses to learn more. Thanks!

[@carpanimachine1875]

Has to be the best video I've ever seen. Made me laugh so hard the first time I had to watch it twice just to make sure I understood what you were saying. That video was a lot of work and your illustration was hilarious. Thanks for putting so much effort into this to help it all make sense.

[@plasticochido]

Oh! I finally get the difference. I used to be a SolidWorks user, so I was used to do separate parts. The fact that you can model everything with reference to the first part is quite cool! Thanks for sharing.

[@sharshabillian]

love you bruh for taking the effort to make the wrench assembly analogy

[@okflyer777]

Lars, you're absolutely the BEST. Despite being quite entertaining, you're presentation was extremely well thought out, expertly delivered and stayed on-point. Nice work!!

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you so much Bill, and thank you for taking the time to comment. Happy you like the video!!! Have an awesome day! Best, Lars

[@CAD4STEM]

Especially like how you make it simple with examples.

[@alphaxg1]

I've taken a few Fusion 360 courses and no one does a better job at explaining this software. Excellent teacher!

[@funafter5081]

Entertaining and educational...a good combination! Keep up the great videos, Lars ;)

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you, John!

[@MarionvillemodelsMultirotors]

Every time im stuck you give me the solution.

[@sjdennis]

Lars, just found this video thanks for demystifying some of the workflow for fusion. As a side note when you are doing a cut you can specify which bodies or components you with it to cut through with the drop down option "Objects To Cut" in the extrude function.

[@ringding1000]

And this is why Fusion 360 isn't very good. So many designs, particularly use outside components. And when you get into large and complicated designs it's not easy to use when you need to focus on a single part in complex mechanisms. Been there done that and broke Fusion.......... It's a fine philosophy for homegamers and simple designs. But sucks big time for difficult assemblies.

[@georgecorsautiii1744]

Well explained, I have been watching videos on Fusion for three days now and thanks to you it finally clicked!

[@cadcamstuff]

That is Awesome, George. Thank you for watching!!

[@PrimalOutdoors]

Thank you very helpful 👍 Jason

[@supernova-4420]

As a uni student, this couldnt be more helpful and entertaining at the same time!

[@finbat]

Another great video. Now I actually understand why you have the the "Rule#1 - Create a new component before creating anything" other videos go on about. That makes it a lot easier to remember. (I also loved the plasterboard files analogue)

[@dalefollett1093]

This video has helped me more than words can describe. I use Fusion 360 to design functional 3D printed parts for my small business (automotive electronics and module enclosures) and the tips/tricks you laid out in laymens terms in this video have totally changed how I use fusion 360 and is going to make me so much more productive. THANK YOU!

[@cadcamstuff]

You are so very welcome 👍😊Thank you for watching

[@MrShaneSunshine]

As a SW user....it seems so slow and awkward. I feel like i must be crazy because everyone loves F360 so much. Apart from having to paw for SW.....is there anyone out there who has used both professionally and can weigh in on the benifits of either SW or F360? Thanks!

[@latenttweet]

I think its hard to answer, its like iPhone vs android, if you grew up on one. you're going to be more biased to that. SW was the first cad that I learned to use very well, took a couple classes, and used it at work professionally for 5 years, then used it hobby and consulting after that maybe once a year for ten years. I absolutely love solid works. but have some friends that were good with SW, but stuck more with Autodesk, and love Autodesk. however now that Autodesk got rid of eagle/pcb capabilities, and it became super expensive, I will prob go back to SW.

[@AyrtonMcNamee-zq1ot]

I agree with you. Solidworks feels intuitive and easy. alot of fusion 360 just seems to be different for the sake of being different. I use Solidworks professionally but the company I currently work for decided to buy fusion because it was cheaper. everything has been a slog since

[@JonPrevost]

I've used CREO (from PTC Pro Engineer), and Solidworks, both starting around 25 years ago. Maybe 10 years ago we started using Fusion 360. It has been difficult from day one and I'm still watching tutorials. The software just feels so slow, both in UI and in rendering. I've had to update my graphics card driver files a lot. I have yet to fully understand assemblies with joints. There is a specific order of operations and the software lets you think you can do certain things, when you can not because the part is either a body, or a face, or surface, and it needs a point, or a axis, or a component, etc. At this point, I'm an old dog, and I'm just using Fusion for the Eagle CAD integration and the ability to easily share files with students. We can do a lot with it, but we get stumped whenever we try and navigate past the most basic of CAD operations.

[@SOHCHEAD]

I think I can attempt a response to that. Albeit long winded, this is a career choice, it shouldn't be a shoot from the hip decision. ----------------------------------------------------------- Background if Useful (Wordy, skip it): Manufacturing Engineer and Now Design Engineer in Precision Manufacturing for SemiConductor, Medical, and Aerospace. I'm only 31 so that might be relevant, this is all going to be recent within the past 15 years or so. I have well over 5k hours in Solidworks (2014, 2017, 2019, 2021), another 1k hours in Creo (2020) , 500+ hours in Inventor (2014 and 2017), 2k hours+ in AutoCAD 2004, 2010, 2016, 2020, 2024, DraftSight 2024, and hands on with MasterCAM, FeatureCAM, SolidCAM, SolidworksCAM, CAMworks, GZero, PowerMILL, HyperMILL, and modeling/Illustration such as MudBox, Maya, Illustrator (500+ Hours), Photoshop (well over 1k hours) etc. and I've overseen and managed a full Solidworks PDM install and reorganization over the past two years (I've evaluated a lot of software packages for integration) ---------------------------------------------------------- I started with AutoCAD and loved it, I also tried inventor and HATED it in Highschool through Drafting/CAD semester 1-5, parametric modeling was infuriating with no one to teach it to me. I struggled through SW in early college and hated it as much as inventor. Then when I went to university from Community I joined FSAE and was forced to learn SW. It finally clicked once I learned to throw lines on a plane and then dimension it as I went and not worry about getting it perfect (NO BLUE LINES). I tried Fusion360 about 5 years ago and found it unintuitive and as others put "Different for the sake of being different". Then I got into 3D Printing after learning CAM programs the past 6-7 years and not having SW at home, my dad Loves F360 but he has no previous experience. I had to let go and completely rethink how I use CAD, there's basic features like copying parts along paths, reference creation (planes, axes, points), getting over having an ASM file vs prints, and the nightmare that is understanding joints... But once I started treating it like its own program I've actually started liking it a lot. It's made me look at other software programs and get frustrated at their lack of innovation, SW 2024 is on the same broken bones as it was 15 years ago, they add more and more and never seem to solve stability issues. It's the status quo and if they made changes there would be uproar and chaos... I haven't driven into creating drawings yet, honestly I'm dreading it (I've made thousands of prints in SW and it's second nature), but modeling and assemblies via components, especially how relations are managed has had be changing all my hotkeys in every other program I have to match Fusion. I have probably 500 hours in F360 in the past 7-8 months and I'm finding myself sending SW .STEP files into fusion at home because even at a dumb model, working with it is faster than SW for quick edits and cleanup for printing. It's a similar experience I had from living on algebra based physics as a younger kid and then being forced into calculus based physics and having to fundamentally change how I think about the world, and then there was my quantum mechanics electives... My point being, for many of these things, you're going to have to let go of your comfort zone and struggle a bit if you're going to use Fusion and like it, assuming you're on a traditional modeling program. I think it's worth learning, it's coming for all of us it seems... in 500 hours, I've been able to crash fusion 6 times, each time losing no more than 5 min of work. I crash SW 5-10 times a week on files that have been stable for years with no changes, often corrupting files and losing hours of work.

[@TechnischesDiesUndDas]

Thank you for the good explaination. Helps very much on inproving on my next projects in Fusion 360.

[@LuapAzerty]

I'm an industrial design student, and coming from solidworks , this is really helpful ! Thanks

[@StraightToThePointEngineering]

Hey Lars, thanks for the fun and informational video!

[@longdongsilver4719]

This one was the funniest ever. I loved the "assembly" part.

[@frank2398]

My God this guy is good! Wow! Thank you so much!

[@CarbonGlassMan]

You're my new favorite channel. I am going to watch your videos until I have them memorized. Thanks for making them.

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you for taking the time to watch them. Have an awesome day! Best, Lars

[@iAMboognish]

Seriously who could possibly thumbs down Lars?

[@jorishurk1273]

came here for the solution for 1 problem but got an answer on like 5 questions i had, thanks a lot!!

[@dalewright7908]

Great job sir. Just getting started with Fusion 360 as a hobbyist for 3d printing. Plus I love 3d models so your series are fun to watch and learn from.

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you, Dale! Glad you found the content helpful! Best, Lars

[@danclemens1835]

Lars - you rock man! - i've been struggling to learn fusion 360 for some hobby stuff and I've learned a TON just watching a couple of your videos... awesome - seriously - awesome! Thank you!

[@cadcamstuff]

That is awesome to hear Dan Clemens .Thank you for watching the videos

[@anamy]

Thanks for these videos

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you for watching!!

[@johnvodopija]

I laughed out loud when you were hanging the boards and then trying to cut the string. You are a superb educator Lars. Thank you for your quality content. Cheers 👍🏻😎🇦🇺

[@toddphelps5030]

Another great video, thanks! I knew a bit about Solidworks and was having trouble with Components and Bodies in 360 so your explanation of the difference between SW & F360 was a very helpful addition to an already helpful video.

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you, Todd. Have an awesome day!

[@santiago1966]

I did! And still struggling with the movie/copy command. IMO Fusion would gain if this command was made easier to use. Personally I struggle when moving sketches and when I try to define a reference point and then move a sketch object using that reference point.

[@cadcamstuff]

Hi Santiago Munoz Thank you for watching! Yes. Sketches are somewhat fragile in parametric design because of the whole constraints. If you do a lot of this stuff, I would recommend that you try to dimension the sketches to the origin you use as a location point, does that make sense?

[@cncwoodworxroc6881]

Lars, what can someone say? this entire fusion video tutorial should ABSOLUTELY be adopted by fusion to REPLACE their lesson sets! The time it saves keeps those learning fusion engaged in the product, the explanation is paced perfectly and effortless with visual demonstrations to boot. Im hooked, you have earned a permanent subscriber here!

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you so much, Chris👍😊

[@chillierdavro]

Nice fun tutorial Lars really enjoyed.

[@ollenlee9183]

Lars, Thanks! You are a great teacher! I am new to CAD. You mentioned something about creating a Bill of Materials or a list of parts. How do we do that! Going to CAM, CNC or 3D printing is part of the joy, however am also a woodworker and have started to design cabinets and struggle to find a way to get a list of parts. Can you address this?

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you for taking the time to watch the video! Bill of Materials is on the future video list :-) Have a great day!

[@brunolabarre5011]

Thank you, that was very clearly explained. I certainly would like that free cnc handbook but do not find the proper link. Glad to find you Lars.

[@khaie1258]

Ive been using Solidworks for 2 years now, just getting into Fusion. Lars' videos are hands down the best for newbies! keep up the great content man! could you do a video on top down/ in context modeling in Fusion???

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you for taking the time to comment! I will put it on the list! Best, Lars

[@bluehandsvideo]

Great info as always Lars!!! Literaly LOL'd when you tried cutting the first string!!!! :) Thanks!

[@supersong115]

God damn that was awesome. Good thing you didn't screw your hand :)

[@welnamarcin]

Lars you have made proper job. Thank you some much. Now assemblies ar not that much confusing like use to be. Thank you

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you, Marcin

[@kaboommst1984]

thank you, been using Fusion for quite a while now and am still confused about the component thingy, this video explained what i need to know clearly. Subbed

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you! :-)

[@shawnschultz5509]

Thanks for the awesome tutorials!! Beginner to Fusion and your videos are an excellent way to learn, you have taught me so much already and I haven't even opened the program yet. Keep up the great work!

[@cadcamstuff]

Hi Shawn, Thank you so much for watching! Have an awesome day! Best, Lars

[@thedude5702]

Thank you, finally someone that explains assembly’s well. I’m use to solidworks so I was getting really frustrated

[@UsmanSaleemSulehri]

Love the way with boards. Made me laugh.

[@lindsay5985]

Super video Lars

[@chintanpatel764]

The amount of work you put into making a single video made me so happy and motivated. Thanks for the great content.

[@terrellbradshaw3504]

Hey Lars, I actually have the exact same monitors as you.

[@BStateham]

Awesome job explaining this! Thanks!

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you!

[@Kirch93]

Awesome video, coming from Inventor I am struggling, but this helps a lot!

[@cadcamstuff]

Glad you find them helpful! Have a great day! Best, Lars

[@laragrimes855]

Great video. Lots of fun and very helpful. Thanks very much!

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you for taking the time to watch! Best, Lars

[@inkton]

You are a good teacher - thanks heaps!

[@scottpowel2415]

you are very funny and also a great teacher. thank you Lars

[@ahliaesguerra3048]

I need to learn fusion 360 and this was an AMAZING explanation as a beginner!!!!! Thank you so much for the help!!! New Subscriber :D

[@Ancientlaws]

Very well put together video and really engaging. Answered all my questions and some i'm sure I would have asked later on. Thank you!

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you and thank you for watching 👍😊

[@lukaszb1282]

It was not only helpful but also very funny! :) Love to watch your videos!

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you!

[@JohnDK165]

As a raw beginner on Fusion I'm really grateful to have found your videos. They're Brilliant. Just don't stop 'til I've learnt a lot more! Many Thanks

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you so much John Den !

[@plavix2215]

Can only confirm that. To use fusion without any tutorial is like trying to put a key into a blank sheet of metal. Really not that intuitive if you don't know anything about these structures.

[@roelfschutte716]

Lars Christensen Ass a new novice with no back ground of CAD. awesome Training videos. I am from Sourh Africa. You and excellent tutor. Thanks

[@XaymacaJah]

I own a P.O.S software called ''Punch Viacad pro. version 10.. i an doing a complete jet engine with it.'' if I dont safe every move i do... i t some point along the process. my image/ design, will go.. ***pooof**** vanish!! ghost... program freezes. SO Yesterday,, manage to buy my first subscription . so.. did you ever do an individual turbine blade, such as are in a regular fan jet engine? if i can figure out he fan blades and the compressor and hot section profile.. PARTY TIME.. but. i need HEEEEEELLPPP!!!!!! i foloowed your regular tutorial on the radial compressor impeller. ehhh. easy to follow. very cool!

[@redkb]

So helpful!

[@cadcamstuff]

That is awesome to hear RedKB .Thank you for watching the videos

[@YCM30cnc]

Nice work and good illustration reg. Components / links etc.

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you!

[@noticesomething5876]

Top job Lars. Great video.

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you

[@santiago1966]

I use Cad software (TurboCad pro) and moving objects is straight forward. And yes, I guess, that the problem with Fusion maybe that sketched and objects have constraints attached to them and this may interact with commands. Perhaps there coukd be and ‘override all constrains’ command. Or a way so users know what is stopping a particular action, or functions

[@marathondude]

Very helpful. The help buttons on Fusion 360 don t really give us much help. These videos help quite a bit.

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you for taking the time to watch the videos! I am happy you found them helpful!

[@marathondude]

We also appreciate your cheerfulness as we plow through the mind numbing minutiae of navigating the program.

[@djwalsh1884]

This was insanely helpful

[@henrykenuam2400]

Lars, I love your videos! Keep them coming!

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you for taking the time to watch! Best, Lars

[@MPVCAS]

This is starting to make sense now. thanks!

[@eviebee4]

This was amazing! You explain these concepts so well, thank you :)

[@broderp]

Great info. How does bringing in assemblies impact making new assemblies? Should premade assemblies be brought in prior to starting a new assembly or after you start a new assembly? This video cleared up stuff but opened a few more questions. I guess I must watch more of your videos.... lol

[@mikesportsman1811]

Cool video, very informative. I loved the comedy, with the foam board in your garage. However it did get the point across. Nice job. I plan to check more of your videos soon, Mike

[@miguelroberts-vallejo7819]

Love the visual demonstration, It helped a lot to understand how to separate the parts. Currently making a 3d printed Computer case on a 3d printer and was having trouble with making individual components. your awesome man!!

[@aryandangi3138]

You are my ideal

[@minhnguyenngoc9966]

you looks just just like doctor Banner :V

[@bryceligon6778]

THANKYOU!!! I was insanely frustrated, after coming from Inventor

[@nileswright8915]

Great video, awesome shirt! Keep up the good work :)

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you!

[@catastrophicfella]

Totally lost me after explaining the setting up components first, which is good stuff (wish I knew that a few hrs ago lol!) but I'm sure it will make sense a couple dozen more hrs into messing with FUsion.

[@SKYLIMI]

Switching from sketchup to Fusion 360 after 10 years is a challenge,I design furniture and try to design each cabinet individually and install it as one whole kitchen it is very difficult and there is no video explaining how to do it only single cabinet designs or someone will undertake and do it

[@nismoskys]

Super video. Components Demystified coming from Solidworks! Thank you!

[@someonesays8022]

Thank you for the clear explanation. Hope to see something like this in Inventor some time. It would be more easy to work with a vault if the components are embedded into the assembly. For more complex assemblies however I would still prefer the way Inventor works.

[@jordannewell5478]

Lars, I commend your masterful teaching style. I wish all my instructors were so engaging. Subscriber here!

[@spikechampkart55]

Most informative and entertaining one yet, WE MISS YOU LARS!!!!!

[@1scottburns]

This video was cracking me up

[@Duraltia]

@06:05 i.imgur.com/UmpOi.gif Gonna keep that in mind for the Future. Much appreciated what you and the other F360 Guys are doing with their tutorials.Got me up and running in no time while I was waiting for my X-Carve to arrive =)

[@mustgetlife]

best explanation so far, thank you so much. Having said that - some of these tricks still feel like workarounds to get this kitchen software to behave like the big boys, I'll never be sure if I'm not messing up somebody else's parts, nothing is stored in a clear location on a server or my PC. Sorry for the rant, thanks for the explanation, it was very useful.

[@bobsamuel1567]

Hi Lars, Yet another excellent video, thank you! I learn more from you in 15 minutes that in hours spent trying to understand the vendors documentation and videos. Please keep-up your great work. Thanks again, Bob

[@cncwoodworxroc6881]

Bob, you read my mind. His videos save so much time i could watch them all, recreate everything he has drawn in the first try, close the program and take a nap with time to spare before i would get through 1 lesson set of the vendors videos. So glad i stumbled on them!

[@jeffreymurphy7703]

Thanks again Lars. I've been doing things the old way...and linking in all of my components into one "master" assembly. Now that you've schooled me... I'm going to give this a try for my project this weekend. FYI ....BEST VIDEO EVER. Laughed pretty hard when you tried to cut the string with the garden shears.....

[@alexkayl8201]

While I prefer solidworks way of doing things at least I understand Fusion now. Thank you for posting this!

[@aryandangi3138]

Hi, thank you a lot sir. By this video I came to know about Fusion 360, but we need to go to different videos for different topics so please combine all the videos related to fusion tutorials which will make us hero from zero. I will be very happy if you does this.

[@cadcamstuff]

Hi Aryan Dangi Thank you for watching! Check out the playlist: kzbin.infoplaylists BEst, Lars

[@DigtoDef]

Ok... I got lost in the terminology. In your Solidworks example you have each body as a separate part, where in reality, you can have multiple bodies in a single part file in SW and edit each body individually and define joints between bodies as well. Then you can import these multiple bodies as a single part file into an assembly. How does your workflow/terminology differ from that? I need to watch your video a lot to understand this, because lack of understanding the proper workflow is keeping me from using F360. Well that, and midpoints. Thanks for posting this video!

[@alyssaverhappen]

Hey Lars! Watching this in my classroom with my friend and enjoying everything and laughing and having fun! Thanks for the helpful video and making us happy :-) Btw what is your favorite color Lars? Greetings from Yentel and Alyssa from the Netherlands!

[@cadcamstuff]

Thank you Alyssa and Yentel. Happy you liked the video! Favorite color has to be blue :-) Best, Lars

[@sergionowa]

Very well explained.

[@Ratmanmouse]

The addition of "bodies" into the hierarchical data structure is still a puzzle. A simpler approach would have been to just change the icon (like it's done on a component) . I started out with AutoCad Version 7, have gone through Solidworks, Inventor, Mechanical Desktop, Mastercam, and a few others. So it's just another iteration of CAD. I do enjoy your presentation and subscribed to your channel.

[@PT1040]

Ahhhhh.. fantastic. You answered a number of old nagging questions I had all in one video. Thanks Lars. I really like the way Fusion has tackled these old problems (from other 3D modellers) in a new more logical way. Oh, and you're killin it with your physical depiction of parts/assemblies.. damn those garden shears! Time to visit the grinder.. oh, and get some graphene gloves to deflect those run away screws ;)

[@roverdief1857]

i am a hobby designer,that makes boat model designs,i need to print the parts on paper,then glu to wood before i can cut them out,i like to know how to make a normal print from the sketches i use to make the parts/bodies?

[@dguadz]

Hey Lars, I figured out how to publish my design in the F360 gallery; it's called swim wheel, if you can take a look it should clarify my question below; looking to add graphic numbers and tick marks to my wheel calculator design not emboss or extrude i.e. Alternately, can I make my sketch of the numbers into a drawing for a print house to do the graphics? That could work too, just hoped that I could add the graphics to the model on one drawing. Thanks again.

[@AdrianoFerreira-nb8cd]

pls stop adding the sound from the arrows lol its so loud

[@cadcamstuff]

:-) Soooooorry about that, lol