Parametric modeling in Fusion360 explained in 40 seconds + detailed tutorial with example

Read the full article: blog.prusaprinters.org/parame...
With parametric modeling, you can easily change dimensions of a model without having to painfully go over individual steps and correct it there.
Download the parametric LED holder model: www.prusaprinters.org/prints/...

[@rjc0234]

Parametrics are so useful. One of the biggest things I did over lockdown was convert massive amounts of work over to parametric designs. Now that we have returned, we have distributed them around the company and everyone is finding them so useful. It's not just easier for me, its easier for people who wouldn't even know where to begin!

[@conormacfadden5285]

Always good to see CAD used properly! Parameters are very useful but stable modeling practice is important to make the size changes reliable. Try to locate your model around the origin to make best use of the planes and axis for mirroring, revolving, patterning and dimension references.Think about the feature types being used, for example a draft could have been used instead of a chamfer but as you want the lower diameter to be controlled rather than the angle the chamfer was the easier to control option. Your sketches should always be fully constrained to avoid unexpected results. Naming them also helps when you go back to fault find. Plan ahead and leave finishing features like edge blends and chamfers as late as possible as these can remove or change edge references and are likely to cause update problems. The order in which blends are applied can also make a huge difference to the results. If you have more than one body in a part then you should probably be splitting them into separate components. Most importantly keep it as simple as possible. The longer the history tree the more likely it is something will fail but with proper planning even complex models can be very stable.

[@Krynn72]

Always interested in more modelling tutorials from Prusa! I like the "concept tutorials" like this more than the step-by-step "how to model a widget" type. This sort of info is much more applicable to many more things!

[@CasparMacRae]

Aside from being a wonderfully clear intro to parametric design in Fusion360, the example used (self watering plant pot insert) made for a perfect practical real-world demo. Blog post mentions "constraints", think that would make for a great follow-up video; that's the bit that ensures parameters are bounded. Thank you Josef - am sold, now 👍 & 🔔

[@freddotu]

Your presentation style makes for a good learning experience. You are correct about the quantity of F360 tutorials, but your skills in creating the presentation along with your teaching ability makes this a pleasure.

[@helicopterjohns]

Enjoyed the video. Keep showing fusion 360 related tips. Thanks! John

[@vryzenok]

Agree, please show more tips and tricks!

[@StuckInVim]

Please more Fusion 360 tips!

[@Oggies100]

Although I think I use Fusion with skill, I always watch what others do and pick up hints and tricks always, just looking for a few gems. I really appreciate your training manner and pace. Really appreciated your tip for bridging instead or support, nice one - Thanks Mikolas. Nice to see more videos from Prusa Reaseach, love the live videos too.

[@Scoop9599]

45 second summary was so perfect, I felt ready to get started... but those 45 seconds were executed so well I decided to stay and see what else you had to say.

[@TheDaveOutlaw]

I have been learning 360 fusion and this practical example helped . I also have flash forge printers as a use them to help teachers in the classroom because they are so simple to learn . I do not have a Prusa printer because I had aleardy invested in dremal, ultimaker and flash forge. But think that I may want to rethink this as the new prusa has addressed a lot of issues .thank you for sharing.

[@elrod0011]

Very useful feature highlight. Thank you for the great video!

[@TonyGoesRiding]

More Fusion 360 tutorials for 3D printing relevant topics is always good!

[@ivanmarcov1844]

When i work with 3d printer i use this programm! This is very good programm!

[@TheChrisChung]

Thank you for sharing this, what an eye-opener!!

[@Prusa3D]

Glad you enjoyed it! - Mikolas

[@amoose136]

Fun fact: When in a sketch and defining a dimension, you can click another existing dimension in the same sketch to reference it without typing. Second tip: arrays need unitless integers for the count field and this can be accomplished as a driven function of an existing length by just dividing the length by (1 mm) or "1 in" if working in freedom/inferior units. Making a value snap to the nearest integer can work with any of the floor(), ceil(), or round() functions.

[@shipuku0305]

thank you, i was unsure of how to do tapers and parametric stuff without struggling to change things manually. I wish i learned this earlier to make things easier for myself.

[@monsti]

Thank you for the 40s explanation!

[@original1up]

Thank you so much for creating this video. It helped me a ton

[@Jeggo65]

What really seems to essential to parametric design in F360 are fully constrained sketches. It is sometimes hard to get this, but it is worth the effort.

[@avejst]

Great walkthrough Thanks film sharing👍😀

[@martinmacko7297]

Very useful. Thank you for the great video!

[@BaronOnlineCZ]

SUPER!!!! Víc takových videí. Zase jsem se něco naučil :-)

[@davidolson7575]

Nicely done Nice to see some tricks like this.

[@spikekent]

Great tutorial Mikolas, I've been using Fusion 360 for some time and I like to think I've got pretty good at it. I love the parameters, they save a ton of work, I've even added them after my original design. The bridging tip is one that I learnt a while ago and found it to be superb, not only in filament but print time too.

[@hillfortherstudios2757]

Really great explanation of a powerful feature. I am contacting Autodesk and requesting the ability to have the FEATURE MENU OPEN AT THE SAME FREAKING TIME AS THE SKETCH!!!! Its silly that you can't have them both available at once. Thanks again! Good job!

[@JAYTEEAU]

I use OpenSCAD and am learning Fusion, that was a great primer. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@MrKelaher]

Great tutorial, thank-you particularly for the "bridge with cutouts trick" :) I HATE supports and always design for "zero support" even if "some assembly required"

[@vinfaz4138]

same, supports are the bane of my existence!

[@Bsolo09]

More Fusion360 videos, please! Great job on this one, keep up the good content :)

[@jonnyBgood3]

Yes I would love to see more fusion videos, especially related to 3d printing, the presentation was very good if a little quick on some steps. Also explanations when you do something counter intuitive, why did you use the upper diameter on a ground plane, it can make following along confusing.

[@choschiba]

This helps me a lot for my 3D printed shoe project!! Can this also be used for organic shapes in some kind of way?

[@DoctorValium]

Yes, more videos about fusion!

[@forgotrafe]

Would love more Fusion 360 tips, especially basics and 3D printing related tips

[@wcndave]

One thing that's really handy that you missed, was to go into parameters and assign names to values already used. If you've done your cylinder a while ago, and now realise you want to make it a parameter, you can go in and give it a name to use later. You can also change parameters in that dialogue box without having to click each item in the timeline, all entered measurements are in there. I just wish you could work on the model with the parameter dialogue always open, eg on another screen, or floating!

[@JanSt12]

you're now able to do this... i know you asked 3 years ago 😀

[@wcndave]

@@JanSt12Yes, I meant it was missed from the video tutorial, not that the feature was missing.

[@sevro5027]

Very nice tutorial. Do more fusion 360

[@gamesvrtech6666]

Great article and video! I wish I knew about this before, would have saved me quite some time. Hmpf....! 🙄😄 Thanks! 👍🏻

[@crawlerin]

Parameters are indeed very powerful tool and the trick with single wall is neat, it is being used when embedding nuts, for example. One thing I wonder though - how well will it print that perimeter over the gap at an arc? I don't have good experience laying filament at arcs or angles over gaps, straight border suitable for bridging usually works better (depending on distance and material that is).

[@nickturin432]

Thanks for the fusion 360 tutorial!

[@mosher2302]

where do i find model of that self-watering pot?

[@brucegiroux]

Great. More please!

[@oferkrupka]

@Prusa3D I set a hole to 3.4mm in Fusion. Sliced it with PrusaSlicer (for 0.25mm nozzle). Used 0.25mm nozzle on my Prusa MK3s. And in real life it turned out to be 3.2mm instead of 3.4mm... What can I do to get the real life dimensions accurate?

[@MarinusMakesStuff]

Oh wow, I never knew about this. Thanks Josef!

[@vlcekmlcek3393]

I would be intrested to know what CAD soft you are using for developing your 3D printers.

[@pet3ro]

AFAIK, it used to be 100% OpenSCAD, but they've introduced Fusion sometime ago.

[@RPalmieri]

I would love to have more Fusion360 video’s based on 3D printing examples.

[@jpoppinmoneyunit7098]

Will the flower pot be up for download?

[@alexdavidsantiago3955]

More Fusion360 from the basics!

[@covertpluto]

Me: changes 140mm to 120mm Fusion 360: no

[@alejandroperez5368]

You need to learn how to constraint your designs first.

[@moclan5661]

@@alejandroperez5368 you're probably fun at parties, right?

[@alejandroperez5368]

@@moclan5661 What parties? They're not allowed anymore.

[@moclan5661]

@@alejandroperez5368 parties before 2020 maybe?

[@alejandroperez5368]

@@moclan5661 This is a serious channel, stop leaving dumb comments and ruining it for everybody. If you see cats, fails and the like, that's where you can comment like that.

[@darthPixel]

while creating an object you can also define parameter directly by typing Height=140 which ommits the need to open param window

[@Prusa3D]

No way, thanks, that's a great tip! -Mikolas

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Be sure to fully-define those sketches to avoid errors in the timeline :)

[@Shrimpycus]

Wait, so you can also save "global" variables? That's really useful for tolerances and stuff!

[@photelegy]

❓ How to make parameters bound to individual components? E.g. a component with 3 defining parameters. And when I import it into an other file multiple times I want to adjust those 3 parameters for each "copy" of the component individually without loosing the link to the main component. (Because of when I want to add features or bodies to it.) I really hope there would be something like "properties" for a component to change those parameters.

[@TheAmberN91]

hola!!! la verdad increible video lo disfrute aguardo por el siguiente video me despido les dejo kisses gracias

[@Biru_to]

So at 9:24 when he makes the upper diameter wider, it actually makes the bottom diameter narrower, right?

[@samsara2024]

What if you copy the object? Can it have each independet parameters? how?

[@UncleSammy]

OOOH Thank You!

[@martin3862]

claro que sí Josef!! Más vídeos por favor 🙏🏽

[@karlosss1868]

Thanks for the lesson. I'll try this for sure, By the way... the link to the LED holder model doesnt work. It takes me to your top secret Prusa i3 MK404 page

[@user-st6lw7uz8u]

I would like to ask you if i can editing parameters in real time? Can it intervenes in registered STL files?

[@MisterJack49]

Where can I find informations about the 3D printed "streamdeck" that we see at 1:16 ?

[@oysteinohansen]

I am also looking for this. Looked really good

[@oysteinohansen]

Don't be a Dick

[@buder5116]

id like to know how to load scad file that contain the parametric stuff from thingiverse ugh i need that file absolutly and the dude is dead for the last 10 year

[@envt]

So cool

[@natebigg802]

who cant love this

[@emanggitulah4319]

Use draft instead of chamfer and use the right references... Then it's also stable.

[@reddcube]

Tip: If you change a parameter and all the sudden the model breaks, then first try change the parameter in steps. Like instead of 2mm->5mm Try 2mm->4mm->5mm Sometime change parameter can make the constraints of a sketch break. so by doing it in step you might avoid having to fix the sketch manually.

[@user-tu9gl6wu8x]

why when change fx paramter in fusion design make mistake

[@mihailazar2487]

FreeCAD can do that too

[@WilkoVehreke]

Nice video, but what I don't like is, that parametric design is not based on "user parameters". You can simply use the "Model parameters" that are created on the fly (d1, d2 etc.) and you can reference those in other sketches and features, too. If you don't like the d1, d2 etc. naming schema you can rename them in the parameter window. You can reference them by typing the full name in feature fields. If you want to have "code completion" you simply make them a favorite and you're done.

[@alejandroperez5368]

Is the person talking Josef Prusa itself?

[@mathusealem8734]

Well, i run on Linux ( but Fusion not works on Linux ).. so i use Freecad for parametric conception. Just give it a try and perhaps tips ? Thanks for your job and for your printer :D !

[@tomasjedno647]

i just wanted to ask, is fusion 360 for free?

[@KarelSchmiedberger]

There isn't enough video about F360 :))

[@eduardo_Skywaller1032]

Prusa when are you going to add tree supports back to prusaslicer Like this so he can see👍👍

[@bhagyashreezarkande8799]

Bro you should make 4 in 1 printer this will help you in your business....

[@xl000]

I model my objects in Houdini. Everything is procedural.. Your object is some node in graph.

[@lobotomik3338]

more F360 tuto....

[@casio007]

Czechenglish se nějak špatně poslouchá:) Ale jinak víc takových tutoriálů

[@TheJohniegoodman]

...video mi skočilo na přehrávání samo a neviděl jsem obraz...po chvilce si říkám, jestli PLASMO začal dělat i návody na FUSION360 a on to kanál od Průši :-D :-D Sorry za "oftopik" ale musel jsem ;-)

[@redxx1000]

the problem is you must know that you need the part many times before you start konstruktion when you like planters look at my open source project www.prusaprinters.org/de/prints/36590-ownplant-2

[@jgeyer]

Unfortunately not a great tutorial. Parameters, variables and parametric modeling are kind of mixed here freely, which could be very confusing for newcomers. First of all, the model was broken after resizing, because blind (fixed values) extrudes were used in the first place. In parametric modeling, you should always try to use dependencies and constrains instead repeated values, whenever it makes sense (for example extrude up to surface instead repeating 140mm). Using parameters like a variables is not a good practice. Also using the 1 layer bridge instead of supports is neat (and often overlooked), but in this case it would fail, as the bridge layer contains curves (outer perimeter) which would definitely sag. Bridges doesn’t work with curved extrudes. It may recover after few layers, but there is not many available, so this could lead to fail print. Using a fillet or chamfer from the bottom (only for outer layers, not the whole bridged layer) should help with this and also would improve the rigidity of this part of the model. Still love you guys, sorry for the critique.

[@Gray-Today]

We must say no to rentware.

[@paull007]

Hi

[@Q8Police777]

I lost it at the chamfer calculations, the explanation made no sense

[@_Bragi]

The upper minus the lower diameter is just that. It is a difference in diameter. The chamfer-tool is using the radius as distance. And radius is diameter/2.

[@bzqp2]

The timeline philosophy in F360 really bothers me. It seems to "punish" the user for playing with the model by making a timestamp every time you do something, which limits the creativity and discourages from experimenting. I've seen people who work on bigger models in F360 do certain operations in a specially learned sequence, because it costs them less timeline steps. With bigger models this is not only the question of the legibility of the process, but also the performance of the program. You play with the modelling too much and suddenly your model gets too laggy to work on. It's a huge flaw that discourages me from learning F360 for 2 years already.

[@Prusa3D]

You can turn the timeline off and use it just like any other CAD ;) - Mikolas

[@gerardregnier3457]

$495.00 per year is way too much money for designing simple 3d parts. I'll keep using SketchUp.

[@Prusa3D]

It's free for non-commercial/personal use.

[@gerardregnier3457]

@@Prusa3D That's way cool! For that price, I'll give it a spin.

[@Johnny5Toy]

Who the fuck models in imperial!?

[@simontillema5599]

I prefer to use SolidWorks. Way more powerful and significant faster.

[@gjmi72]

AND.... significant more expensive. There is commercial licensing, no "cheap" license for a home user (except for students)

[@simontillema5599]

@@gjmi72 there is, but you need to know where to get. 40 dollars a year isn't expensive imho

[@vlcekmlcek3393]

Me too. I have SolidWorks licence from my university, i have learned it there and it is so much better than Fusion 360. Something like comparing Photoshop and Gimp ;) SW also uses way better HW resources, it is fast and usable even on really old Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM and cheap NVIDIA GT 1030.

[@simontillema5599]

@Elvir Burnic It's not a secret haha. Just become member of the EAA (eaa.org). You'll get a SolidWorks Student Edition License.

[@gjmi72]

@@simontillema5599 That is very questionable.

[@drxym]

Fusion 360 is a very frustrating piece of software. It takes AGES to load, looks terrible on a 4K display and while is mostly usable it can also be frustratingly obtuse. I find this to be particularly so if you create sketches on the surface of parts and changing the dimensions of the part can completely screw up the sketch alignment. What's depressing is there really isn't anything that competes well with it. No free software comes anywhere close (Freecad is a parametric cad but it's almost unusable) and all the commercial cad softwares are so prohibitively expensive and proprietary that switching is no easy task.

[@adrienkerguelen1913]

Hummmmm wow, ok. So ... Fusion360 sucks. Var usage/creation on Fusion360 are garbage. But thanks for vid :)

[@Gr8Success]

just cut the bull crap and go to the subject

[@Prusa3D]

??? The whole process is literally explained in the first 45 seconds of the video after which a more in-depth explanation with examples follows. If you have any actual feedback to what you think should've been cut out, we're happy to hear it.