REAL ENGINEER tries Fusion 360 for the first time

Curiosity Stream
curiositystrea...
Code: hardware
Many have asked me what the best 3D modeling software is to use and I have always responded, "Fusion 360" but..... I have never actually used it. Well today we fix that, watch me struggle to design the simplest thing ever.

[@TroubledTimes2024]

The difficult part is not learning Fusion 360 it is unlearning years of another cad's flow and methods.

[@strictnonconformist7369]

@@caseyman97 did you like how KeyCreator worked over Fusion 360 or the other way around, and why?

[@caseyman97]

@@strictnonconformist7369 I haven't played with fusion yet. The biggest thing i struggled with was dimensions don't define the size of the feature in key creator, its just a label basically. Multi body parts and drawings were hard for me to figure out (and I ended up getting layed off before I did figure it out). There are people I work with at my current job that swear by key creator for model editing because you don't have to worry about parent/child relationships and all of that jazz. I'd say if you have no CAD experience, either one. If you learned to parametric model (dims define size, parent/child relationships etc.), I'd go with fusion.

[@wyattb3138]

I started from Fusion and am learning NX and Solidworks. It’s so hard. Lmao Fusion was so easy for me to understand and use but now I can’t even extrude stuff on NX.

[@alansteyrbach6926]

I spent 2 years learning Blender basics, as I used SketchUp Pro 7 years before and it was my only 3D software. I actually had to wait for Blender 2.8 update to come, since everything before 2.8 was utterly awful and unnecessarily overcomplicated.

[@robertbradbury6962]

I learned Autodesk Inventor first. Learning fusion feels like a step backwards. I would take Inventor any day.

[@SchwachsinnProduzent]

The funny thing is, that he makes more errors than a noob, simply because he assumes, that Fusion works the same as what he is used to

[@brokeandtired]

Reminds me of the time I switched from Freehand to Adobe Illustrator....not fun.

[@elitewolverine]

yea don't like fusion either

[@ericwheelhouse4371]

More errors than a noob? Nah there were thing i didn’t know what he was trying to look for.

[@Fantaman900]

I have no knowledge or experience with 3d modeling. Its just a giant pain not knowing how to do anything and you spend hours clicking different things and still not get anywhere. Oh joy

[@waldoiswhere]

I started/learned F360 about 5 years ago. What used to take me all day I can now do in about 15 minutes. It is so hard to do this type of video and sometimes it does a disservice to youtube viewers because they look at this and without even trying they think it will just be too hard to use. If he used it for a week or so this would have been more informative. I looked at Solidworks and dismissed it for several reasons, mainly cost but also the learning curve. But I would never purport to do a video saying that Solidworks is. Also he is looking for stuff the way Solidworks names them and F360 has a few different names for stuff. It is all about how much time you want to invest in the software you use. At this point, with so much time invested in F360, I doubt I would switch or even try Solidworks even if it were free.

[@ThePowerknoedel]

I'm also a "real" engineer. I also have worked with solidworks, siemens nx, catia, etc. For big companies this is the way to go. But for small companies Fusion360 is the right choice. I work with it every day and love its features.

[@TheHallway7]

How about a video of your own. It'd be great to see a different perspective Thanks

[@Fyknite]

I second this comment. Engineer and I prefer fusion 360 over solid works or AutoCAD.

[@remarkable_ruin8608]

Do you believe Fusion 360 is the most cost efficient way for an entrepreneur to get from modeling to manufacturing? I’m currently in Quality Management but, working on my own project as well.

[@ThePowerknoedel]

@@remarkable_ruin8608 I would say yes!

[@Fyknite]

@@remarkable_ruin8608 i use fusión 360 to work with mesh files or in other words STL’s when editing files or creating them from scratch for 3D printing. You can also use many tools and features like assembly and simulations to design parts efficiently. It’s way to use and most cost effective. Plus you can render files with very good results.

[@ProductDesignOnline]

Your Solidworks background/expectations definitely made this harder ;)

[@Thefreakyfreek]

Used solidworks befor but I stil like Autodesk better inventor fusion is my way to go Even tryed to use some different software but I missed the feature workflow and time line

[@mrfinder18]

Im a Catia user. Used Autodesk and 3D Solidworks in the past. I could probably pick up Fusion 360, but ive found since ive been primarily using Catia that most other CAD software is a pain in the ass.. Or its just that Catia is a pain in the ass an dim stuck in these ways.. hahaha

[@AndyHeisz]

lol "Wheres sketch at?" aha solidworks is better anyways..

[@porterdavidson5421]

i caint figure out stuff with ittt (non-perfectional blender background)

[@Bobis32]

just moving from inventor which i used at school to F360 was a pain in the ass since i was so used to where everything was and how everything operated

[@zachcarrizales5038]

Solidworks was designed with a 'bottom up' design methodology, while Fusion360 was designed with a 'top down' design methodology in mind. As a result the CAD approach to making something is totally different. For me, as soon as I accepted that there is a Solidworks way to do something and that Fusion360 might have a different way to design that same part, it helped a lot.

[@Mtaalas]

You can do top down and bottom up design in solidworks and Inventor very well... it's your choice. I find Fusion clunky and limiting after those two softwares.

[@zachcarrizales5038]

@@Mtaalas creating a top down design in Solidworks is the clunkiest workflow ever. Inventor is better and a bit more similar to fusion360. Each 3d cad software comes with its own work flow.

[@Jorghhhh]

I just started using F360 for some 3D printing stuff. By "bottom up", are you referring to making the object physically? As in, starting from the base?

[@FuzzyPeanut00]

When you open “new design” that means you are opening an assembly. First thing you do is start with a component and each new part inside your assembly will need to be a new component. Joint each component together and you completed your assembly

[@BusbyBiscuits]

Every file can be an assembly in F360. “Component Tree” is your friend.

[@aquilux-vids]

Yep, he thinks assemblies are more complicated because they're simpler than he imagines. Hint, you're staring at the assembly list on the left. Create assemblies with the assembly tool under your solids menu.

[@ASM2210]

assembly in f30 is so damn simple and how easy and straightforward is creating joints it just blows me away I sometimes build my assembly In one file as u already have ur part as a component u can directly start modeling or designing a new body/component on top of that part, project the sketch get the dimensions and get working I find it very useful that there is no such part file or assembly file the way it is in solidworks

[@BattleDrumz]

As someone else who came from Solidworks, this was simply incomprehensible… and amazing once I realized it.

[@bas17h4]

​@BattleDrumz you can make multi component parts in solidworks too

[@MarkZimmermanKicksAss]

Alternately titled, “MAN TRAINED ON SCREWDRIVER CONFUSED BY WRENCH”

[@TheLenbus]

Subtitle of this Video: ConFusion360 😄

[@RA35GT]

😂😂😂👏🏾👏🏾

[@Crokto]

"can i not just save it to explorer?" *cries in a360*

[@MrCODEmaster00]

What is a360?

[@NaterNorris]

I assume autodesk 360?

[@fataxe1]

The cloud was difficult to use at first but I'm not upset i don't have to manage the files anymore. It was always super cumbersome trying to find stuff i organized where fusion kind of guides your hand. Also the first time you just log in from somewhere world's away or being able to share just a link is absolute 2120 stuff.

[@OneLiterPeter]

This was extremely painful to watch.

[@bluegizmo1983]

Fusion 360 is awesome. I had zero experience making 3d models when I started using it, and I picked it up fast.

[@laharl2k]

you should try solidworks. Just pirate it, its way better. (dont even try "buying" it because you cant)

[@GummyBearRacing]

Inventor, creo, and solidworks are all better.

[@Shadow__X]

yeah same, i only had a bit of experience with 123D but never used sketches before fusion

[@lucasabreu8367]

@@GummyBearRacing I tired inventor and didn’t really like it, it just seems like fusion but a worse ui. I’m assuming inventor becomes better when you start doing really complex models but for a hobbyist fusion seems better. I’ve never tried solid works so I can’t say if it’s better

[@whitewhizzy4967]

Everything which cost money is way better.

[@yoshisfriend1987]

As an Autodesk Certified Specialist with a focus on Fusion 360, I appreciate its distinctive approach to design. Unlike traditional assemblies, Fusion 360 employs a component and part system, allowing for greater flexibility. Components can encompass sub-components, offering a more versatile structure compared to CAD counterparts like SOLIDWORKS or Inventor. This methodology simplifies the design process and collaboration by enabling easy reuse of parts with their components. The absence of assembly complexities interacting with one another streamlines the application of constraints. This not only enhances efficiency but also contributes to a more straightforward workflow. It's worth noting that when dealing with substantial industrial assemblies, both Inventor and SOLIDWORKS hold an advantage. They allow for the export of comprehensive part lists to Excel sheets, including part numbers and associated data such as web links and cost calculations. This feature proves particularly beneficial for managing large-scale projects and enhancing traceability.

[@winstonzeb2842]

I work at a yacht company. I use inventor, fusion360, and rhino everyday. Each of them can pretty much do the exact same things, but each one is better for specific tasks then other ones. I swap out all day. For robotics/mechanical designs inventor and solid works takes the cake. For organic design/product design, Fusion and Rhino are the best!

[@seedmoreuser]

I wanted to try Solidworks, but when I asked them for a licence, they quoted me $20,000... I couldn't get the student licence and they didn't want to help me out. Happily been using fusion for two years now and it still has more features in it than I'll probably ever learn.

[@mrfinder18]

Thats my issue with Catia. I use it daily at work. I tried getting a license for my home and yea, your outta your freakin mind lol... Trying to use 2 diff programs daily for CAD can become a bit confusing. Trying to do something and its not working and realize, duh im not at home or vise versa.

[@aeywyn5230]

You got the worst quote in history if they wanted $20,000 for it. You can get a basic Catia license for that amount..

[@seedmoreuser]

@@aeywyn5230 It's because I was going to use it to make models I will be selling. They wanted to charge me for their business plan for up to 5 employees.... Wouldn't budge on it, so stuck to fusion.

[@nealgrieb6660]

I recommend Alibre ( I think Atom is the individual/hobbiest license). I know Fusion is free, but trying to make everything cloud based is just disgusting. Coming from a Creo/ProE background I found fusion just as annoying for many of the same reasons he did.

[@marklandsaat3696]

I don’t know where you got your quote, but that’s ludicrous. Basic SolidWorks is $4,000.-. I use SolidWorks Premium for work and I believe it runs about $9,000 at the moment.

[@djtomoy]

“Real” engineers can figure things out and solve problems

[@karlfimm]

When learning 3D cad software (like Fusion 360) I found it useful to pick random objects from Thingiverse and try to replicate them. This pushes you outside your comfort zone and makes you do lots of "there must be a way to do that, what is it?" moments. Do one a night for a month and it's surprising the how much you learn.

[@melzariodesign]

Yea thats what I do. I pick random objects around the house, sketch them in 2 or 3 views, and then design them on fusion 360. It's good practice like u said

[@crappysoup]

brilliant. i shall do this

[@CyanaraOfficial]

Real spelling instructor tries to teach Major Hardware how to spell "tries"

[@smith7602]

Lesson One:

[@WilliamAndrewPhilipBodie]

is try's from the usa and tries from the uk ???

[@CyanaraOfficial]

@@WilliamAndrewPhilipBodie "Try's" is not English at all

[@NiLem98]

@@CyanaraOfficial Unless there's a guy or girl named Try that is something xD

[@prydzen]

@@WilliamAndrewPhilipBodie american is not a language.

[@kylek29]

For those curious, Fusion 360 does have assemblies (haven't used SolidWorks, but I assume it's similar). He has the pane collapsed for these. You build it out with components which can have sub-components (and so fourth). Each component can be linked (e.g. separate file, mirrored) or part of one file. He may have found it, as he does have the pane open later in the video. There's some great KZbinrs (Lars Christiansen and Tyler Beck) that specialize in F360 tutorial videos. It's worth learning this workflow because it's used in other parts of the program like Drawings, Animation, Simulation/Physics, and automatic B.O.M. takeoffs.

[@techienate]

In Solidworks, it's two completely separate parts of the program for parts and assemblies, works almost like 2 programs.

[@ScottMoyse]

@@techienate in Fusion you can also work like that. Or work with everything in one document.

[@rowlandstraylight]

I think the Fusion lingo is Body and Component, and you can stack Components.

[@techienate]

@@ScottMoyse I really want to learn fusion sometime. At the moment, I'm only using my student version of Solidworks.

[@nickpickerwi7787]

The only thing I dislike about Fusion is the assembly environment. It has an apparent inability to mate things in space, like you can in Inventor/Solidworks, among other mates (not joints) Fusion cannot do. One example: Designing a robot. I have a telescoping arm. I know what angle the arm needs to be relative to the base. I know how far away from the base I want it to be. I want to put it there in space, then design the rest of the system to hold it where it needs to sit. Three mates in Inventor/Solidworks, maybe two if I want it to slide. Fusion can't do it, because you can't do angular mates. Oh, and if I want that arm to actually telescope, Fusion doesn't like to do that, and the parts flip endlessly and do crazy things like flipping the mate 180 degrees. I get that they want to push you towards joints, but when you don't know what the thing needs to look like, and are figuring it out based on putting elements in space where they need to be first, sometimes joints just don't work. I can't complain too much for free, though. It sure beats Onshape.

[@light-master]

The whole time I was screaming at the screen "This is how you do _blank_!" Lol

[@g.h.c855]

Learning fusion 360 from nothing was a huge learning curve, but now I find it straightforward. I imagine if I tried to move to Solid works I would find it really hard.

[@emanggitulah4319]

The SW GUI is outdated and many times doesn't make sense.

[@dan3a]

Once you learn it, you could do that in less actions than in solidworks

[@MNbenMN]

Yeah! I was watching this shaking my head, at first. Then remembering my first attempts to use it without having previously fumbled through what does and doesn't work smoothly with Fusion360 before. Its a different animal!

[@AliasBane]

You sir get a upvote, I'm a solidworks user. I hate fusion

[@jakedewey3686]

@@AliasBane I think you need to re-read what they said haha

[@Validole]

@@AliasBane any tool needs learning. If you take a mallet and expect to use it like a hammer, you're gonna have a bad time.

[@PMtoAM]

@@Validole if you take a baby and use it like a hammer youll have a great time!

[@tysonl79]

I'm a mechanical design engineer and I have used Fusion for personal projects. It's pretty good. I have recommended it to family and friends who want to use CAD. I used ProE/Creo for about 8 years, I have been using NX now for about 3, and I can say there is no going back from NX. NX is by far the best CAD software out there. It's hard to go back to using other CAD programs now.

[@teamtoken]

I used SW for close to 7 years and tried NX in a trial. Hated it, but kept hearing good things about it so went back to it a year later and forced myself to learn it. Once it fully clicks, you realise it’s the CAD that every other system WANTS to be. The workflow, stability and and sheer power of what you can do trumps everything else. I just wish it weren’t so damn expensive, because I’m ruined now 😂

[@robertmccully2792]

What is NX.

[@dtsnjsn6101]

I’m not the best at CAD, but I use Fusion 360 for programming my CNC machines One of the nice things is the whole cloud system, you can save a project in Fusion, and then you’re able to open it on any computer anywhere as long as it has Fusion.

[@justindelpero]

The annoyance of relearning that you captured is the exact feeling when a computer User who's familiar with one OS tries a different one. They instantly think the OS is bad because it's not what they know.

[@HK-yo4se]

Having myself used CAD for 18 years (CATIA V5, SOLIDWORKS, ProE/Crea) I needed a half day to retrain my way designing, since Fusion reinvented how certain thinks work. But now Fusion is always simpler and faster if you understand that a lot of things got simpler.

[@Ayce47]

would you mind sharing some examples? i'm curious to experiment with fusion but it seems like ios vs android, and i don't like lacking full control.

[@HK-yo4se]

When you open Fusion, you can top right corner in the help section there is the self paced learning. Do those tutorials they helped me a lot

[@Oblithian]

I love it when I dive in making the most complex shape possible, it's definitely making learning easy and not confusing or slow at all...

[@crazylegsmurphy]

"A bit of Googling later... that took way longer than it should have..." That is basically the tagline for Fusion 360.

[@SirSpence99]

As someone who has done extensive work in AutoCAD, Solidworks and Fusion 360, other than it being almost exclusively cloud based, I would say Fusion 360 is better than Solidworks. The main reason it is better is because it has something called a timeline. Look at the bottom of the screen in Fusion and you will see something that looks like a flattened feature tree. You can use it to change the order of operations. I have had situations in which being able to change the order of operations saved me hours of work to fix a mistake I had made early on. Fixing it took seconds as opposed to redoing most of the model or fighting Solidworks trying to do its own thing. You can also suppress features to see how it influences things. It is crazy powerful. The assemblies work fine. As long as you save the objects using the cloud based system they function similarly to Solidworks except *every* file is able to be an assembly. It can also update the models when they have changed. I have had some issue with large assemblies (>100 parts) but it has been awhile since then so their performance is probably much better. All in all, I would describe Fusion to someone who is used to using Solidworks as "Solidworks with a timeline, more control over what the tools are being applied to, cloud based and free for hobby use." Basically outside of extreme edge cases, if you can do it in Solidworks you can do it in Fusion pretty easily, maybe even easier.

[@laharl2k]

what do you mean? solidworks also has a "timeline". All the operations are in order, change the order and its the same thing, of course you have to take care of external dependencies as you cant change order in an op that depends on the output of a previous op. In solidworks you should always divide your assemblies in sub assemblies. You could even also create your parts as assemblies but i wouldnt recommend that.

[@SirSpence99]

​@@laharl2k Not last I checked. It has been a few years though. And yeah, dependencies is an issue with Fusion, but that is not surpirse. And yeah, Fusion doesn''t do assemblies the same way but it can do subassemblies. All up to how you want to organize things.

[@darbodrake89]

Having taught both. It is much easier for students to forget or lose things in the timeline. You can feel the Autocad DNA in fusion. The workflow is very similar. What I struggle with the most is constraints. I fight fusion a lot more than onshape or sw trying to make points coincident or connecting geometry to projections. It doesn't feel like it wants to set relations, it just wants you to have all your straight lines perfect the first time and make no changes. Onshape is free, works on Chromebooks, and puts what you are doing front and center. It is what I recommend for people.

[@SwervingLemon]

Watching you, a professional engineer, fumble about in F360 has made my day. I realize now that I have actually learned a lot about the software. My desperate fumbling is nothing compared to yours.

[@johncahill3644]

@@GrodyMaroon Well, for what it’s worth, I’m a Mechanical Engineer (retired) who made a living building Finite Element Models with Patran and am completely lost trying to get started in Fusion 360 so far. For somebody like me (and maybe this guy as well) it helps to understand the design “philosophy”...how to approach modeling basically. I’m used to defining a grid, a second grid, a line, two lines, a plane, 2 planes, a brick....etc. Each grid is where I define it..all my math is done on paper, not drawn on the screen graphically. I also don’t want to sketch in 2D and pull/extrude into 3D...I want more complicated structures. This feels more like drafting to me, not modeling. But anyway...now back to figuring Fusion 360 out (since Patran costs a fortune and has no hobby license).

[@SwervingLemon]

​@@johncahill3644I never got any notification about this reply, so I'm sorry for the delay but - 1. How is your 360 adventure going and 2. Have you given OnShape a try?

[@forestfishburne7900]

Thank God!! I’ve used Solidworks, Mastercam, and Partmaker for over a decade. Self taught on all of them, and Fusion 360 is THE WORST!! I really thought I was losing it!

[@MrCybergladiator]

Haha, I've used solidworks for decades now and recently tried Fusion and had the same fun as you... Keep up the good work!

[@bradleynealdaley]

as a daily solidworks user their are several key differences, but once you learn them they are good.. until it isnt. Fusion is a top-down assembly software. Their is no part vs assembly file as all files are assembly files. If you just have a single part in your assembly.. so be it. You start any "part" rather by extruding/revolving some part into a body. If you need a new part you simply extrude or revolve some other sketch and in the feature create command you use new body instead of extrude (etc etc) once you have your bodies roughed out all in-place you can make them components, and then copy and move them around. Fusions biggest downside imo is mating... It isn't intuitive and it is really meant for mechanical mating of finished components as you would (using fasteners etc) and not meant for pulling reference dimensions so you can draw a component.

[@izzieb]

I have used Solidworks and Inventor. I now work in education and they have been switching to using Fusion360. Honestly I'm not a fan - more often than not I find myself trying to find some function that isn't available in it. It seems to me that it's fine for basic work but not more complex models.

[@rafaelmalagon7950]

Having to find a work around in those cases is the hardest part

[@sarme5044]

This is like when a PhotoShop pro try's (sic) to use GIMP.

[@laharl2k]

as a GIMP user i know photoshop is better.......as a solidworks user i know fusion 360 is crap.

[@MrTex263]

Learning curve comes with every program. Often the issue is mostly in users, missing an workflow, how to accomplish a task and what task at all.

[@laharl2k]

@@MrTex263 if your workflow isnt intuitive, its a bad workflow. Things should be made to adapt to us, not so that we have to adapt to them. Cars, motorbikes and buildings are all made around the concept of a human. They are not made for dogs, or elephants. Sure you may be able to learn how to use it but id call that wasting time. Solidworks is intuitive, fusion 360 and most free programs are not and thats why solidworks is so expensive, because you dont have to waste time in unintuitive things which take more time than what they should. Imagine making stuff in OpenSCAD......sure "you just have to learn the workflow" but no one thats actually serious about technical 3D design will tell you OpenSCAD isnt shit and shouldnt exist.

[@chloedevereaux1801]

tries

[@Validole]

@@laharl2k not really. As someone who has glancing experience with both, the intuitiveness is all down to what you're used to. Solidworks is a professional tool, with lots of collaboration management features and domain-specific workflows. Fusion 360 has a different target market, giving a somewhat slimmer feature set but trying to make the whole chain from sketch to CAM intuitive to first-timers. It's like comparing a hammer and a mallet: same basic thing with different goals and resulting different design.

[@fluffypinkpandas]

“why do you like boolean” its like rolling paint out onto the canvas as a background color before you actually start painting over it or dynamite blasting a mountainside before building a road on it. it gives your shape something shapely before you start cutting it and chizzling the finer details.

[@TrentPierceProjects]

Just like other cad software, you need to take time to learn it. But once you learn, it's a great software. Much better than blender when designing for 3d printing because of the solid mesh system.

[@MNbenMN]

Yes! It's so common to accidentally end up woth faces intersecting or other weird non-manifold issues in Blender. Fusion360's BREP solids are better suited for 3d printing, and the workflow is much more oriented toward mechanical design. I think Blender still beats Fusion for for organic sculpting, but you won't find me in Blender trying to design an assembly of components with tolerances and clearances.

[@Crokto]

that *is* a pretty low bar tho

[@michael040990]

I need to learn this stuff I only ever used blender for everything

[@scladoffle2472]

Isn't Blender more for 3D modelling things that don't need to be so precise like game characters?

[@TrentPierceProjects]

@@scladoffle2472 yes it is. But for people like myself who learned blender years ago before fusion, it's my go to program for a quick 3d design. Just a bit more of a pain to be precise as you said. But it usually works out just fine.

[@rcfuss6314]

I have a B.S. in ME, but I ended up with my PE in Civil as a bridge designer. I learned Solidworks 16 years ago but haven't used it since. I've mostly used MicroStation since then, but had to start re-learning AutoCAD for work a few years ago. It has not been an easy transition. I've more recently been trying to learn Fusion360 for designing my own RC car parts and it also has not been an easy task. I remember Solidworks being so intuitive and easy to learn and I felt the same way about MicroStation for Civil, but it seems to me like AutoDesk programs are easy if that's all you've ever known, and frustratingly difficult if you're coming from anything else (and vice versa). I'll get there with 360 though because I am not paying for a Solidworks license just to make a few plastic parts. Great Video by the way.

[@darthludi]

Challenge: try designing something with FreeCAD or OpenSCAD next.

[@matt.604]

I second that request

[@lightarmanov6266]

Hear hear

[@_BangDroid_]

Microsoft 3D Builder

[@tigre3droyce771]

Try CAD with Blender.. that is fun.

[@Gengh13]

@@tigre3droyce771 I wish the mechanical blender project was more advanced, having a good open-source CAD would be awesome.

[@smoogles]

Used it a few years back, and didn't like it, tried it again and thought it was improved but again didn't like it, returned earlier this year and now it's become mature enough that I actually really like it.

[@JJFX-]

Don't worry, it still has plenty of frustration left in it

[@CorndogBrownie]

Man, of all the modelling software, i love Inventor the most. I use solidworks for work, but all the built in shortcuts, and sketch usability features, that inventor has makes it my fav. Plus the direct editing in inventor blows solidworks out of the water

[@vource2670]

Yeah inventor is still by far the best

[@Arek_R.]

I'm a electronics project engineer but also have a 3D printer at home, mostly for printing usable stuff that I need to design myself. Of course I chose f360 because nothing at least half decent was for free, after couple of months I can design anything I need. Then at work mechanical guys use solidworks, I've got to use it not once and well because of the experience I've got from f360 I was able to use SW without any major issues. And I'm not talking only 3D printed production fixtures but also drawings for approvals controlled manufacturing plant recognized as hazardous location safety sensors preventing the entire plant from exploding and killing hundreds of people. From Ender 3 PLA prints to life dependant devices.

[@SLEEPYJK]

Your dog seems like a cool ass dood.

[@Volt64bolt]

Dood? You mean dude?

[@ResidentIT_]

@@Volt64bolt no, he means dood

[@_BangDroid_]

@@Volt64bolt dewd, he means dood

[@Volt64bolt]

@@_BangDroid_ dewd also isn’t a word

[@jetah50]

@@Volt64bolt it's phonetic spelling.

[@danielfernandes2813]

What's a "Real Engineer" ?

[@mr_gerber]

One with the academic credentials to show for? In the US I think you even have to be licensed to call yourself a professional engineer, and even just engineer (but that might just be the case in some states. I'm not a US citizen, just a real engineer in another country).

[@nottelling6598]

Having your toolset _built_ is really important for engineers. It takes a lot longer to do something the first time than it takes to do it the third or fourth.

[@rfunk727]

My son (28 yrs. old) is a mechanical engineer and was trained in Solidworks in college, but uses Inventor at work designing high-speed processing machines. He did go out to Las Vegas to the Autodesk convention and got his certification from them, but he did say that he did the worst on the Fuson 360 part of the desk. Last week I had him try his luck with FreeCadd that I use when I design for my 3d printed, and I was amazed how quickly he picked up FreeCadd.

[@designersmind3140]

Ooh now that you've learned Fusion, I'm going to be sending you a bunch of wacky parametrically controlled Fusion 360 fan designs!

[@vincentguttmann2231]

Parametric design rulez.

[@nickpickerwi7787]

If he knows SW, he likely knows parametric design.

[@designersmind3140]

@@nickpickerwi7787 I'm sure he does, but since I only have access to Fusion 360 for personal designs, I can't send him parametric SW files

[@nickpickerwi7787]

@@designersmind3140 Ohhhhh, I gotcha.

[@ZTE23]

Dude thank you for this. I’ve had a lot of problems with 360 myself. I sat down and watched your video first and it all started to make sense. Thanks again.

[@Voyajer.]

IME fusion 360 feels like a gimped version of Inventor. I have high hopes for FreeCAD in the future for a better alternative.

[@vincentguttmann2231]

Ugh, FreeCAD has ways to go until it matches Fusion, unfortunately. I am using Linux, but ofc Autodesk does not include a Linux version of anything. At the time, FreeCAD is still way too complicated and cluttered to be efficiently used by beginners, which means when I need fast designs, I use SketchUp in a browser, and if there is something serious, I swap to windows and do it in Fusion.

[@snorky2k521]

I teach CAD in a small college. Fusion 360 does feel like a gimped version of Inventor. I have also used Inventor, ProE/Creo, Solidworks and a few others. Fusion is OK for small work. Since it is currently free for our students, I suggest that they use it for their 3D models. And, if they have used no other CAD, they do pick it up fast. But, there is a limit to number of items and complexity where Inventor pretty much is limited by power of your computer. I found that switching from Inventor to Fusion is most difficult because of how alignment and assembly are so different. As someone proficient in Inventor, I was still looking for ways to do simple tasks for over a year in Fusion. As far as Solidworks is concerned, they have a new version coming out for students in May and I am going to seriously look at it. In the past, it did not take me long to switch from Inventor to Fusion. In a couple of weeks with Fusion I can have students model the classroom in 3D. In a couple of weeks with Solidworks, I can have the students model the classroom in 3D and prepare a video of the airflow after one of the students passes gas in the back of the classroom. (Now watch, this will probably become a standard lesson for all Solidworks classes)

[@MNbenMN]

exactly! FreeCAD might even handle everything I want to do, but I get list in documentation, since a lot of what is out there seems to be for old versions and doesn't apply. A sign FreeCAD is surely growing into something more, but frustrating for someone like me that hasn't been along for the ride throughout FreeCAD's history.

[@MNbenMN]

@@vincentguttmann2231 I spent about a week to get Fusion running via WINE and then AutoDesk updated.. and it no longer worked, so back to windows for Fusion360 here, too.

[@pinkmouse4863]

@@snorky2k521 Indeed, and I don't doubt any of your points. But outside of academia, what hobbiest can possibly afford licenses for Inventor and Solidworks?

[@EveKitty08]

For those of you who already know SolidWorks pretty well and want to be able to access it outside of the company/school that you work at, get an EAA membership. It's currently $40 per year and includes a license for SolidWorks 2020, minus a lot of the simulation stuff. I tried learning F360 for home projects and kept finding myself frustrated trying to do things that are natural to me in SW. After finding out about this deal, I was thrilled, $40 per year for a SolidWorks license (plus a cool magazine about experimental aircraft!) is a steal!

[@AnirudhHu]

Tries*

[@SUBsystemHawgCranker]

Solidworks gang!!! Im a mechanical designer that works in ground vehicle testing rigs that car manufacturings and racing teams use. Im so obsessed with CAD and design, that after working 8-10 hours in solidworks, i go home and spend another 5-7 hours working on my own projects. Between my carpentry background, casting experience, and 3d printing... i feel like I've become invincible. Ive become obsessed with learning more and more tools. I love your channel. Also, its so awesome that you work with ABB. My dad is an industrial engineer, and he used to frequently visit ABB, and he would always bring me a mini orange 6 (maybe 7?) Axis robot scale model. Engineering type folks are my favorite to be around. Im constantly surrounded by some of the brightest and creative minds.. it's truly inspiring.

[@schizodillo1952]

Dude for real! Trying to learn a new program when you're used to a different one is extremely annoying.

[@Erowens98]

I used fusion 360 for 2 years. It was good enough. But once i picked up solidworks for a college course, i never looked back. Overall solidworks was just much more intuitive to me. Also handles assemblies much better. I also just don't like cloud integration in general. Causes more problems and security risks than it solves. This was years ago mind you, updates might have changed things. Did an internship at ABB (Finland) a while back, really cool company.

[@SchwachsinnProduzent]

Could you do a similar video to FreeCAD?

[@peterking2651]

I’m a computer programmer/engineer/architect but I learned engineering drawing on a drawing board (yes I’m that old). My biggest issue (apart from being a dinosaur) is that for simple parts in takes me longer in cad than on a drawing board. Of course it’s not a problem when not using CAM, but as I move CAM I need to learn this stuff. Your video is great for helping👍 I even have a German WW2 engineering slide rule, that is probably quicker to use for scaling.

[@masennlewis3820]

You should try out FreeCAD

[@MNbenMN]

I haven't used Solidworks, is it fundamentally more similar to FreeCAD? (not counting Solidworks' commercial abundance of features)

[@1008chaz]

For functionality to price fusion 360 kills everything else. The nice thing about that is it brings a lot of beginners and pros together, so the support and community around fusion is amazing.

[@sergiu2014]

"hardware" code on curiositystream already expired :/

[@mrkv4k]

I needed a 3D modeling software for our company and Fusion 360 was the very best option. I am an electronics designer and the idea was to have some software that would alow us to export rough model to another company. We provide basics (design idea, shape and size of PCB, required mount locations, cable paths, etc.), they do the final design, preparations for production (forms for injection molding, data for parts made out of sheet metal) and they produce them. At the beginning, I tried to buy solidworks, but they asked for almost 20 000€, Fusion was about 380€/year (1 license, which is all we needed).

[@castform57]

Fusion is so cool once you know some of the tools and functions to make your own workflow. Like the wheel slot/indent, I would do by making a midplane to the cube and then doing a symmetrical extrusion to the required dimensions.

[@Noidhole88]

Not gonna lie, I learned how to use construction lines and offset planes in this video. I typically "eyeball it" so it looks even. Now I can make them symmetrical and to a specific offset. I was looking to make a solid gridfinity 2x5 with a cylindrical cutout to hold my butane fuel and you helped me do that. Thanks, man. (and yes I realize it is a 2-year-old video...but that's the beauty of the internet.

[@deniszaika9534]

This is what CATIA users think about Solidworks.

[@pedrocardoso1986]

INDEED! AHAHAH

[@nickanselmo6353]

I think 90% of the hassle here was not using fusion as a top down design software the way it was intended. For anything under a few hundred parts theres usually not a reason to design parts independently, they should be designed as a single assembly file with each part its own component

[@TheDeepGaze]

I'd love to see a video where you show how to get into resin printing. Your prints are always nice. I've had a few "tries" and want to get better

[@gregorychard]

G'day I'm a complete newbie with 3D CAD software. I got Fusion 360 and the learning curve was huge. My teacher was KZbin and I could learn what I wanted by watching these talented people. You should search 'STI to solid STi' and just by doing a few simple things, you can print your STI file without any meshing programmes pri going to your slicer. HappyCADmodeling Greg

[@bluegizmo1983]

Don't save the individual parts as separate files. Just make them components, or even just separate bodies, within the same project.

[@TefenCa]

^ Exactly

[@zaknefain100]

Saving them as separate files is a typical workflow in almost every design organization.

[@Anonymus-ih7yb]

Fusion 360 seemed great at first glance until I needed to make a Manufacturing drawing of my part and it was missing feature that allowed me to do it properly.

[@Chevsilverado]

I was able to make some pretty good drawings in the program. Was there a specific thing wrong with the drawing software that I should be aware of?

[@Anonymus-ih7yb]

@@Chevsilverado If I remember correctly I was missing the option to make a sectional view or a detail view. Another missing feature was the option to make connection in a module.

[@Chevsilverado]

@@Anonymus-ih7yb It was a little hard to do but I managed to make sectional views. But yeah there are better softwares out there for drawings.

[@snorky2k521]

warning: do not attempt Creo without removing weapons, pills, kitchen utensils (including spoons) and poisonous snakes from workplace

[@prototype6778]

May I suggest you show the final product next time , would have been nice to see what it look like with all 5 under the wheels !

[@Sevetamryn]

After more than a decade without any 3D modeling software use for hobby purpose, because of purchasing a 3D Printer, i was looking for 3D Software and ended up at Fusion 360. For me, easy to learn and easy to use. As for any software product, it is more easy to learn from scratch than to adapt from deep knowledge of a similar, but different product.

[@AndrewGulick13]

My first experiences with Fusion 360 were about the same, also coming from solidworks. I ended up using FreeCAD instead Also, I work as a software consultant and ABB was a client I was at for about 9 months, pretty cool company

[@severpop8699]

you are the real deal mate, FreeCad is a class of it's own, while Fusion360 is just a watred down Inventor.

[@clockworkvanhellsing372]

I've been using Freecad for some time now for occasional moddeling. Only the realthunder branch is really usable. But that version is nice for quickly making parts.

[@teslasintern]

Not nearly enough commenters singing the praises of Onshape. I'm fluent in Inventor and Solidworks, which I use for work, but I use onshape at home, because it's free for hobbyists, and has no real limitations that I've found from the other softwares for component modeling, although the work flow is very different, and probably similar to fusion.

[@zackerie93]

I also work at ABB. That's awesome that you work there too!

[@Theprofessor1212]

We design and build automation machinery and have both solidworks and fusion 360. In terms of usability, fusion is leaps ahead of solidworks. The only time I use solidworks now is when I need weldments and advanced spiral features to make timing screws.

[@ckleanth]

Dude, fusion 360 works quite different from parametric cad software that you build your assembly from the ground up. Although you can link other parts made elsewhere (insert derive) you don't really have to export files.

[@Audio_Simon]

I like Fusion 360. It is NOT an industrial tool, but it is so far ahead of any other entry level CAD it actually gets compared with them. It even offers simulation and generative design capability if you pay a $500/year fee. That may seem a lot for a maker or micro-business but cheapest competitor is like $5000.

[@Flyingmarshie]

I work for an Autodesk reseller and do training on Fusion 360, this was painful to watch! Assumption is the mother of all f**k ups!

[@TheRogueBro]

I started using Fusion 360 recently. Took some googling and whatnot, but my time went from hours, to just minutes in making the parts i needed. Have been designing automotive firewall bulkhead connectors for a friend who is making custom wiring harnesses for race cars. Has actually been quite a fun learning experience!

[@grungar3x7]

How about now, you design one fan, to go into the fan showdown, using fusion?

[@michaelputtbach5134]

Have you ever heard of onshape it is a free web-based CAD software it is great. I'm on a robotics team and we design our entire robot in it

[@devin7551]

I'm also on a robotics team that uses onshape exclusively for modeling. I think the big Appeal of onshape is the seamless real time collaboration. However I think a downside that's inherent to onshape is the reliance on the internet. While it being cloud based is a pro for users with worse computers it is a con for users that have better computers and would be able to run software better locally or dont have a great conection.

[@jfkansas5508]

Could literally make that part in 1 minute given the dimensions.

[@forbiddenera]

And im sure he could in solidworks. I know I could in solidworks. Thinking of trying fusion though

[@converdb]

I was a software engineer with no idea of 3D modeling, always interested me and finally bought a 3D printer and had to use some CAD software to fed her. I started with freecad, painfully following tutorials on youtube and then someday I discovered fusion360, with basic notions I was suddenly able to make any idea that came to my mind. In time I've been able to design several CNC machines with joints, animations and everything... fusion is by far the best CAD out there, whatever your level

[@Black__Screen18]

nice

[@jdgdesign]

Another low cost option for hobbyists is an EAA membership which includes student edition SOLIDWORKS.

[@mrfinder18]

I did that years ago. But my student edition was heavily locked out with most not being usable.

[@jdgdesign]

@@mrfinder18 I can't speak to versions previous, but I've had the EAA membership version since 2019, and with the exception of the watermark and files being marked student edition so they can't be used commercially, it is fully functional including simulation. If you don't have a certified video card there are a few workarounds needed to enable PhotoView and to optimize rendering, but I've had good luck with getting it to work with most decent gaming cards.

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

Yeah, the "do all the things in the (Autodesk) Cloud (R)(C)" part of Fusion is honestly how it's able to let you build complex systems without shelling out thousands of dollars for software, and it's also a pain in the butt because you have to learn how to get parts to interact in Fusion.

[@ragetist]

"I have used other 3D modeling softwares before so I'll hopefully learn this a bit faster", fast forward 10 minutes and see Maj. Hardware learn how it can be a REAL bummer to unlearn habits in other software 😄

[@pjdecoste4636]

I've worked in SW for a decade or so. I tried Fusion for home use as my SW is at work. Fusion 360 seems to be designed to make SW users angry. It is so counter intuitive to the way we learned to model parts. There are a few organizations that give you a student SW serial number with membership. That's how I use it at home now.

[@slingitsideways]

Half an hour in Tinkercad, job done. I should really learn how to use Fusion 360. But while Tinkercad meets my needs, it'll do.

[@ubergeeknz]

If you try fusion 360 (hint: watch a tutorial first! It's not completely intuitive) you will quickly see just how limiting tinkercad is

[@twinturbostang]

I was chatting with someone about using Fusion360 for a fun non-work related part, and he said "I guess you're not an Engineer". I didn't realize the stigma was so strong with using something other than SolidWorks or Pro-E.

[@TheHookUp]

I am confused, you claim to be an Ohio State fan, and yet your dog shares a name with he who shall not be named. I loved this video though, super relatable for anyone who has mastered a specific program only to flail around in a related one.

[@sponsbaas]

@Thomas Pierce I am confused about why you all are confused

[@MattMcConaha]

@@sponsbaas I'm with you. I'm from Ohio and I don't know what he's talking about. I'm not even sure what the dog's name actually is, sounded like Cooper or Scooper or Scoober or Skipper or something like that. I guess maybe Ohio State just really hates Gilligan's Island and I wasn't aware.

[@BBountyHunter]

Do you mean Voldemort?

[@TheHookUp]

@@MattMcConaha Coach John Cooper has the worst record against _ichigan of any OSU coach in history, 2W 10L.

[@MattMcConaha]

@@TheHookUp I guess maybe I'd know that if I actually attended OSU, but students today weren't even alive yet when he was coaching so I think it might be time to let it go.

[@ingog.8424]

I simply put a carpet (or rather a larger door mat) under my chair. Not only it makes my chair not roll away unintentionally, it also fully protects the flooring. And I can still push my chair around easily. Of course the clear downside is, you cannot 3D-print a door mat…

[@evabaroni6693]

Check out Wintergatan's marble machine X on you tube I'm sure he is using sub assemblies in 360....

[@deth3021]

Didn't he stop using 360 because it couldn't handle all the components.

[@mrkv4k]

@@deth3021 No, he didn't.

[@NiyaKouya]

Finding someone who mentions the MMX here is... surprising xD

[@evabaroni6693]

@@NiyaKouya yeah, you should see what KZbin's algorithm comes up with...

[@servicestechniquesericgauthier]

Now it's time to try the next #1 CAD: Onshape! 💪

[@beauregardslim1914]

Fusion 360 has *really* improved over the last 6 months. They have killed piles of bugs and fixed a lot of the "why does it do it that way?!?!" frustrations. I haven't rage-quit an editing session in over a month.

[@MNbenMN]

I haven't opened Fusion360 in months. It sounds like it may be time to check out the updates

[@Wistbacka]

From a beginner's POV, Fusion 360 is a god-send, because it is not overly complicated out of the box. I know there are other, more advanced stuff, but to begin it is great. Especially if the only non-accurate modeling/designing I've done is in Blender, and god that is a nightmare by comparison.

[@vibrantjoseph5159]

You should do a video trying FreeCAD, I am interested on what you would think

[@EikeSky]

Gaddamn an American that works in mm. 8 knew I liked you! Edit: also, as someone who has done *some* stuff in fusion 360/inventor, could we have a more use case oriented series where you show, for example, how to get those assemblies to work and match up, how the more macro-oriented engineer translates to this a lot more mouse-driven "easier" approach? Because my hands keep going for macros that aren't there 😂

[@Krmpfpks]

You seem to have stumbled over similar things than me. Please test FreeCAD next. FreeCAD is much more logical than Fusion, especially when it comes to sketches and constraints and parametric modelling. But some stuff is of course worse in FreeCAD. I'ld love to see your opinion.

[@vincentguttmann2231]

Hmm. Using FreeCAD is noble, but a royal pain in the back in my experience. If you have never done something else, I guess that it's fine, but when you come from Fusion (like I do), it is unintuitive, cluttered and buggy. Yes, I'm using Linux, and yes, I'm going back regularly to windows because I want Fusion. Right now, I still can use an education license, which I will happily take

[@Krmpfpks]

@@vincentguttmann2231 with the bugs I have to agree. It crashed on my machine so I also switched to fusion. But fusion is the one that is not intuitive. Start with why a dimension is not a constraint. Or why can’t you align a rectangle (Like a door) in the bottom center of another rectangle (like a wall) without construction lines? The Loft in F360 is broken - but sadly even more broken in FreeCAD ... Fusion has a miserable UI if you want to do parametric construction compared to FreeCAD, but FreeCAD sadly is no where near stable enough to be a replacement

[@vincentguttmann2231]

@@Krmpfpks A dimension isn't a constraint? That's new to me. Whenever I enter a value in a sketch, the lock symbol appears, and the dimension (or angle) is a constraint. Only if you overconstrain, Fusion warns you that this will be a driven dimension. And I don't use loft. Yes, the rectangle thing is true, but I had never to do that. But you could probably constrain the distance between the parallel sides to be the same

[@Krmpfpks]

@@vincentguttmann2231 a dimension is a constraint. You cannot constrain two distances to be the same in fusion, at least not without construction lines or tricks. In FreeCAD you can constrain the distances to be the same or just put a line in the middle of another line. I want to use that all the time. Also in FreeCAD you have a list of constraints in your sketch and you can edit them and change them easily. Maybe I just come from a different background and FreeCADs way of thinking about constraints aligns more with my thinking and Fusion aligns more with your way of thinking. But I switched from FreeCAD to Fusion a year ago and I still want to go back to FreeCAD whenever I make a sketch. Fusion is better when you want to model free with the mouse, parametric design feels like an after thought in Fusion. In FreeCAD parameteric design feels very natural and the free modeling is much worse (dragging stuff with a mouse is much worse in FreeCAD). If FreeCAD becomes stable and reliable, I'll switch back in a heartbeat. I heard the problem isnt' even FreeCAD itself but the underlying constraint solver engine, which seems to be very hard get right.

[@techdiyer5290]

In fusion to "save it" to your computer like u do in solidworks u have to export it, or u can save it locally in fusion with cash, so u don't need the internet connection to pull it from the cloud, fusion is great for organizing and u make folders and just save it in there

[@bananowy_szejk]

"I work in an engineering firm called ABB" , F-ing ABB it's soo Awesome and COOL that I can't even describe it DUDE, sooooo Awesome i really want to work there after finish my university

[@mrkv4k]

What?

[@bananowy_szejk]

@@mrkv4k what what ?

[@lazyman1011]

If you really want, you will! Good luck and try hard!

[@jbergene]

Fresh engineer here. At school, we started out with Inventor, Because thats who sponsored the school i guess. Along the way, many of us switched to fusion 360 because it was SO MUCH faster to work with for the projects we did. + the cloud made it A LOT easier to collaborate. I have SW but I find it overcomplicated to make simple things with.

[@NicksStuff]

I don't know why but that's painful to see you looking for an assembly etc. BTW, you'll want to check how *components* work

[@somesnowleopard9638]

May I asked how those work..? I've been using Fusion for a while, but I've never really figured out what the do... I just make all of my designs out of bodies and leave 'em like that...

[@n1elkyfan]

@@somesnowleopard9638 The biggest benefit to components is it allow you to organize your bodies.

[@griind]

@@somesnowleopard9638 A good thing about components are that your timeline, bodies and sketches get organized.

[@somesnowleopard9638]

@@griind I normally turn off the timeline... It prevents me from doing certain transformations, and it makes the program act more predictably in my experience...

[@griind]

@@somesnowleopard9638 Still worth mentioning though, just in case you ever need it. xD

[@JbassPlayer28]

Automotive engineer here, NX is my favorite by far!