Importing and Editing STL Files in Fusion 360 [2022]

[@3DPrintingNerd]

THANK YOU for this! I was rusty with my Fusion 360 knowledge, and was trying to do some very simple edits to an STL. This saved me, you are awesome, and I'm going to sub.

[@thehardwareguy]

@3DPrintingNerd Hey Joel, you're welcome! you've been helping me for years with your videos. Glad I could give a little something back to you. Take it easy, - Gareth

[@malcolmhodgson7540]

Excellent tutorial, perfect pacing and clear explanations.

[@sualpozel1]

Nice video. I am the product manager who worked on all the mesh features you are showing here in Fusion 360 ,and I really enjoyed your video. Keep up the good work. You may also want to show the outcome of the face group calculation by turning on face group visualization from the icons on the bottom middle area of Fusion

[@thehardwareguy]

Thank you! much appreciated

[@dylangergutierrez]

Why was the prism mode limited to pro only?

[@Shamsher1]

Please make the prismatic mode free!!

[@DerTechNick]

How about doing something about this paywall? We will not pay for it anyways

[@rosumparat]

Let's put basic features under a paywall because greed - product managers today. You're disgusting.

[@god1aj]

Thanks, you’re a lifesaver, I spend 20-30mins trying to do stuff myself then have to search when I can’t figure out. A lot of it seems like common sense once you see it. Thanks!

[@BenRush]

Thanks!

[@S_Chand13r]

I am a complete noob to using any kind of program like this. I’ve tried following along with some of the “more in depth” videos, but it always seems like information overload! You’ve put it into a clear and concise format that is easily understood. Thank you for this, and I look forward to seeing more of your work!

[@RobertBarton86]

I had no idea that Prismatic mesh conversion was so powerful. I've been doing stl remixes on hard mode. Thank you for this simple, concise guide!

[@lukaszsiadaczka]

This is brilliant! Game changer. I'll open the champagne and drink to you 🎉🍾🥂 I finish work at the speed of light... But tomorrow. 😂

[@gourabpal8652]

Please share which key do you press in keyboard.?

[@gregg-d4l]

great video , very helpful. Two things I am struggling with is aligning the part post mesh. So you have a part in the air post import etc. Is there a shortcut, other than when importing to align and tag a center? Second question, similar with import process and create mesh , this works great and allows edits. Is there anyway to create a sketch to backfill that part/components dimensions?

[@oqueeutofazendoaqui]

Hi. The freecad version of convert processing is in your channel? Do you have the name or the link?

[@thehardwareguy]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqOUoqeXirelrKs

[@American.Divergent]

I think I’m more amazed on how quick you imported and converted. My computer takes some time no matter how much I upgrade the system

[@The_HomeHandyman]

Thanks very much for that simple and understandable explanation of the differences. Makes a big difference!

[@thehardwareguy]

You're very welcome!

[@harryravenkiller8580]

very helpful video. I tried the process outlined in this video. When I clicked on a Triangle and hit [Delete] it only deleted that single tringle. Was there something to determine which triangle to delete to clear the entire flat surface?

[@xhex_3116]

I am experiencing same issue.

[@Hohmies86]

May your channel continue to grow super fast. I thank you extremely much for all the knowledge you have selflessly given me.

[@Tester13032]

Got my subscription off this to the point video. Thank you!

[@deankq4adj125]

Absolutely brilliant! I have watched hours of video and you are the one to get me what I needed.

[@mrtyko]

Hello , i can not hear what key to hit to clean up the surface 4:32 in the video

[@thehardwareguy]

The delete 'DEL' key.

[@jhgpsimons]

Thanks, this is really helpful.

[@mathirojust7402]

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH i had to watch 3 vidéos where they had the education license and said it was the "free licence"

[@kennethhicks2113]

Ty, been years and ain't the old AutoCad I used to know! Hate online apps... so limited and well, expensive! Done the tedious free type you described and am here looking for better way... off to see the FreeCad example ; ) Again, thank you so much.

[@DominionDroneDaily]

so, how do you clean up the arcs & rounded components in the free version?

[@thediscoman2001]

sorted just what i wanted, question how would you do the same in solidworks

[@pvercello]

Super helpful! Thanks for breaking it down so clearly.

[@Yaroslav_Tselovanskyi]

Is there a different format that I can export from inventor to get this clean model in the free version?

[@vinyltheworld4092]

Hay you are my go to guy for stuff like this. Because you always make the best videos and there always so easy to under stand. Also I'm on free version and it worked just like in the video. Thanks for saving my life again.

[@sateeshum394]

awesome detailing, thanks much

[@TheMoose240]

So here 2 years later but related question. What orientation would you print this to limit supports and have a decent form and functional part.

[@mulberryworkshop]

It would depend of what is that you are looking for, if there are other parts that are connecting and need tighter tolerances for them, cosmetics faces for the client. in this case I would do as he shows in screen.

[@beardeddad_NL]

Great video again mate! I had the issue that I needed to "Compute All" everytime when I was deleting the faces to clean up the mesh. Any suggestions on that?

[@guillermomichelgonzalez4824]

Thank you so much man i've been trying to do this for weeks you a real one

[@smokingcactus]

did everything you said in the video with the prismatic and i till have tons of bodies.

[@thehardwareguy]

I haven't tried this in recent days but it wouldn't surprise me if they've paywalled more features. I'll try it again this week and see if anything has changed!

[@ver1fy487]

It is very fucking rare that these videos work, but this one worked!

[@hernansintado2989]

Thank you so much!

[@RyanStone143]

Great info, thank you!

[@thehardwareguy]

Glad I could help, thanks for watching!

[@davidbutcher6637]

Really great for novices cheers

[@SayantanAuddy]

Very informative and to the point :)

[@augie3]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. You just got a SUB.

[@mortenkallesen923]

Thanks. I really needed this :)

[@avejst]

Great video as always 👍 Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us 👍🙂

[@thehardwareguy]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@Way2Do]

Really appreciate your videos, thanks for make it.

[@joetkeshub]

Thank you so much. It's instructive and helpful. Great pedagogy.

[@giusepearturo]

thanks from Colombia!!!

[@Paul_______]

I wonder if alibre design can do this too

[@gheice_modelism]

Funky... I select any flat face, I delete and I get a "Failed computing" message.

[@waikryder6633]

Do you have any other videos that shows the other differences between free version and the paid version?

[@mdimansantoso3976]

Wow this is much easier to understand, thanks

[@lukafh]

Very informative info! Thank You very much!!

[@thehardwareguy]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@rauls2380]

GÊNIO DA BOLA ❤

[@x_jaydn]

I'm on the hobbyist license, but I was able to use the Prismatic mesh conversion. Did they migrate this feature to the free hobbyist license now or something? 🤔

[@broderp]

How does one get an educational licence?

[@shawnr699]

How to clean up the triangles on corners with the free version, Is there a work around?

[@thehardwareguy]

Not as far as I know, but I will keep my eyes open for possible work around!

[@shawnr699]

@@thehardwareguy I saw a video a while ago someone was putting dots on the curve to make points and then could make a face. I can’t seem to find the video. I think it was productdesignonline vid but very old. Maybe is there a program you can use to convert the stl to solid body? Then import into fusion? Do you know of any programs to do so?

[@vladimirmitrovic9724]

Prismatic is no longer an option in the free one.

[@BhindiBhaji888]

Really useful. Helped me a lot this. Thanks

[@samar5838]

My mesh is getting converted into a surface instead of a body. Do you know why that might be happening and how to fix it?

[@marcoyip9245]

thanks a lot, the video is very useful

[@rabnawaz3347]

very nice tutorial

[@stenmartens7179]

the thing i dont get is when i press delete, it just prompts me an error and doesnt do anything, even though the surface is flat...

[@shadowfreak5613]

Very usefull thanks alot :)

[@expatinthailand9824]

Tinkercad imports STL similar to Prismatic on Fusion but when I try to export to Fusion 360 it says it cannot connect to my app. I am on a personal license. The only other exports are your typical for slicers.

[@leandrowoods5865]

Thanks for the video, I have the free version and when I select the face and hit delete to make a flat surface it just deletes the face and doesn't actually flatten the surface :(

[@ChrisT-ib1zh]

Switch back to 'Solid' first!

[@rjdial9705]

I never got that part to work either, even after switching back to Solid from Mesh. delete a triangle on a face, and just the triangle face deletes.

[@michaelrobinson9643]

Can this be done in FREECAD and then imported as a design file that is immediately workable in F360? I.e. a workaround for the paywall?

[@thehardwareguy]

Yes you can. I have made a separate video about it. However, the results aren't as good as they would be in Fusion 360. This is common with most features in FreeCAD.

[@jaggedpixel]

Any reason the paid options are available in my free version?

[@futbol1972]

Is this tinkercad?

[@ladislavboxan1121]

super usefull thx

[@summerswoodworking]

Thank You ever so much!!!!!

[@OneIdeaTooMany]

By putting some of these features behind a pay wall, they are missing the opportunity to become the go to application for model editing. I really don't model enough to warrant paying for the feature for anything more than a month at most.

[@YQLF]

100% Agree . .I am switching to Open Source/Free version software.

[@jedzciejapka]

TY, you hero

[@AWatermansLife]

Is there any way I can scale the imported model to exact uniform dimension? I just want to import something I made in blender. then center it in the right direction and uniform scale it using 127mm on the Y axis. :P then i can modify it properly and put a 2.2mm hole down the middle of it. :P

[@CorbinHurst88]

Ive been wondering this too. My quick and dirty way is to use the scale function. If you play around with inside points you can scale it down. it always take two goes for some reason, but i just use known measurements and divide! would love to know if there is a "calibrate" funtion like with canvas'

[@squidkid05]

Is there any way to import the stl files using the student version of fusion?

[@thehardwareguy]

Yes, that is the first method I showed you

[@sonOsamp]

Insert mesh isn't a thing anymore?

[@vazza69]

i downt have that little menue on the right..

[@R0LLM0P]

I have tried this on some simple STL's, but it seems to miss out lots of faces :(

[@eduardito69]

After inserting the .stl mesh and then modify/convert mesh, when I come back to solid and I select and try to delete a face it says: "DeleteFace1. Compute failed. Cannot delete individual faces...". Am I doing something wrong?

[@EnnTomi1]

wont work on free license

[@ARK_2908]

Unfortunately, it no longer works! Probably it was not intended and Autodesk has blocked this feature with an update for the free accounts 🤨

[@thehardwareguy]

they seem to be restricting the software more and more as the days go by. Disappointing that they've abandonded the very people who gave the software it's credibility

[@Enojadoland]

This is pretty good when the designer doesn't let you sell prints of his files because they don't give out seller "loicenses". Reverse engineer them into STEP and now you can sell the prints as they would be originating from your reverse engineered copy, not their STL's, therefore, your not violating any licensing agreement when you bought their files. When they find out and try to get fresh with you, you just clap back with screencaps of the step files and that usually shuts them up.

[@wemedia9928]

I didn't have any luck... I have the free version... when I select a triangle on a flat surface I get an error "Delete Face 1" "Compute failed"

[@connectcampers5138]

Nice video as always But I am following all this and still coming into problems My software is a paid for variety but will not do the prismatic way I know this is not how it should be but I am an ongoing learner and need this to work Just posting here to see if I can get help Sorry From the UK Stay safe everyone

[@vfxmastersthailand9330]

Hi there, i'm chris, i have CP which mean I can't use my hand for the PC so i use a chine pointer, I have download a wielding mask STL from thingverse, which i have changed but now I am trying to fill in a gap and the sides, but it just will not do what I want. I been trying now for 3 days; I'm getting nowhere can you please tell me what I'm doing wrong pleaseeeeeee

[@rabnawaz3347]

sir i am select the face but there are totally delete the selected surface please help me i am new in fusion 360

[@ulaga9166]

same here. did you figure it out?

[@flyingcactus1953]

how do I convert a huge poly mesh into solid?, I have a 300k poly file and have been really struggle

[@thehardwareguy]

check out my most recent video, should help you out a lot

[@taurruth]

Why is it so hard to find that video! It should be top result but it took me over an hour to stumble on it when I was already giving up...

[@JeskaRain]

The delete key absolutely does not do that for me it just deletes the tri face and it's completely pointless if we cannot deal with curves at all.

[@thehardwareguy]

They may have updated it. Please don't take frustrations out on me, blame Autodesk! Ultimately, they want you to pay.

[@Dirt33breaks]

Deleting faces in stls never works for me, it complains and gives errors and fails. Most Stl files i get were made in stuff like blender which give you stls that have millions of faces after conversion. Its a real nightmare on the free version

[@YQLF]

The benefit of this video to let you buy the paid version. ok, thank you.

[@Despiser25]

Ive followed this and my mesh turn purple and I cant select it. This mesh thing is supremely frustrating. I don't even want to edit the stl file I simply want to place it in the assembly using a joint. It shouldn't take me 2 days and be no further along.

[@gonzalez519]

I tried downloading the Free CAD for my iMac and for some reason it wouldn’t open? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@thehardwareguy]

You need to give it security access, Mac is pretty strict with non verified developers

[@onecarwood]

Really sucks they made this only paid. I mean probably one of the biggest reasons I was happy with Fusion as a hobby guy.

[@davido273]

This did not work for me (Free Version) I am working with an object with flat surfaces and things worked up until the "select a face on a flat surface and delete". This action only resulted in an error warning.

[@3pantherproducts619]

how to deal with more than 20,000 Triangles in the free version. fusion keeps crashing

[@dandunn6419]

nothing works for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@chinchan9]

sadly for a hobbyist, this whole conversion has been made so much more difficult in the free version..

[@user-lx9jm1wo3h]

I think I am done with Fusion at this point. They are way over priced for for the average hobbyist out there. If they allowed you to buy a standalone version and not have to use cloud service, it would be worth the money. Having to pay just under $500 every year just to make some parts for yourself is just crazy! And to get the EDU version you have to actually in school and not learn from some online YT or some other online learning website.

[@davidbucek]

Delete key not working like before... what is wrong ? :( Just get this error: Error: Cannot delete individual faces. To delete the whole body, please use the Browser or Selection Filters. There was some stupid update?

[@atreyucinema93]

The model was filled with holes unfortunately. One day I hope to have success with this.

[@agrahazl]

Your content is very good and covers the important details. It is hard to watch though due to volume. LOSE the keyboard and mouse. Everytime it sounds like your trying to punch the key through the desk. The mouse clicky sounds like your tapping a base drum every time. A whole video with this and you come away with a headache. Nails on a chalkboard. Maybe move the mic away from these or use a pin on mic.

[@johnl5177]

doing this with a large item is a night mare in fusion 360

[@makewithmegma]

💕👍

[@jcd2171]

Commode

[@MrDaniell1234]

The edu and start-up license are the same version of fusion as the paid licence.

[@outkast187]

Its disgusting how they charge such an insane amount. If you are a big company, no prob...its worth it. But they screwed the average user. Now its $1600/yr when it was free. I bought my machine when it was free, now I cant even use it.