How to Create & Use Components in Altium 365 and Concord PRO (Step-by-Step)

[@nikosant03]

I was searching for the component template item before I figure out that this is included only in the pro subscription :(

[@MaxWattage]

This was a good video and it raised some important points about the importance of tracking component changes, especially in a collaborative design environment. I will not be using Altium 356 for a variety of reasons, not least is the fact that it is "cloud software". There is of course no such thing as the "cloud", it is just other people's computers. Having business-critical design software running on someone else's computer, where you can't control it, security audit it, or back it up, is a very foolish thing to do. Any software I buy must run locally and have a perpetual license. That way, when I finish a project I can archive the project design tools along with a copy of the design tools needed to view and edit those files. The design tools have to have a perpetual license so I can restore that design in (say) 8 years time and have no import or compatibility issues if I need to view or modify those design files. So many times I have the problem in other companies where they have a legacy product that needs a refresh, and when they want to modify the design they find that their backed-up design files can't be properly imported into the current version of the design tools, or that the design-tools company no longer even exists any more, rendering their design archive unreadable by anything.

[@RobertFeranec]

I agree. I am very curious to see where this goes. I have learned, that there are many different companies and many different reasons how people and companies use their tools. So, many times I am very surprised to see how people and companies react ... for example it may be more simple to give up on privacy in exchange for comfort + other benefits (speed, time, money saving, less headache, etc ...). I would never think that I would be trying A365 (as I have very similar opinion as is yours) .... but I needed to work on a project with other people and A365 was just much more simple solution then other ways ....

[@MaxWattage]

​@@RobertFeranec Indeed. Because the NDA I sign with all my customers requires me to "take proper and all reasonable measures to ensure the confidentiality of the Confidential Information", I am legally bound to not use of cloud services, as I can't security-audit Altium's servers. It is not even a legal option for me to trade security for convenience. When (and it is never "if") Altium's servers get hacked, I don't want to be held legally liable for the loss of my customer's confidential product design data. The descent into vendors only providing the cloud versions of their tools needs to be vigorously resisted. It benefits the vendor, but the risks far outweigh the benefits for their customers.

[@kamildobrowolski9906]

Hi guys! I'm curious if there are any integrations you would like to add to Altium 365?

[@virajytube]

Robert, I love your in-depth tutorials and efforts. Please tell me, What is the source of your great knowledge about Altium?

[@RobertFeranec]

Thank you Viraj. I learn a lot when I am creating videos - so creating videos is actually the source of a lot of new things I learn.

[@NE-Explorer]

Lets say you have a released component with a released PCC footprint and a released SYM symbol and good component parameters. Lets say that component is used on 20 boards. On the 21st board, you have to use a PCB vendor that requires a change to the PCC footprint. What is the quickest way to create a new component (we dont want to revise the component because 20 designs will report "out of date revision") and retain the parameters and symbol and put a new PCC in?

[@kurtafplom2947]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/baGQh5iMeNFmh6s FFS, I have been looking into how to disable that text the entire day. Thanks, but why is Altium always so bad at the UI????? Why not allow us to turn off that feature in the library directly?

[@itsxylarein_]

very helpful. Thank you Robert

[@shannonprescott7243]

Thanks keep the 365 vids coming

[@jamesweeks6429]

More of Concord Pro please

[@rupalm8468]

Excellent Robert! What would we do without you? 🙏

[@serhiykolesnikov4409]

Thanks Rober for your explanation and good helpful video. It was exciting and interesting to watch your video. Thanks a lot.

[@thai19995]

Hello :) I'm trying out Altium 365 for creating and storing component library. The only thing that's not perfect is when a symbol is edited, Altium creates revisions for the the component that is associated with such symbol. With that being said, when you search for components in the library, all the revisions appear (which result in a dirty search) Do you have any solutions for this? Thank you for reading and answering :)

[@1976Duesentrieb]

Fantastic video... thanks Robert. I just was wondering why some things are in the managed content folder and some in the non managed content folders?

[@stian4277]

When importing components from Manufacturer Part Search, it does not seem like all parameters are downloaded, even though they are visible in the part search info field. For example Manufacturer Part Number is very nice to get automatically.

[@doofus_robot7287]

Robert! You just gave me the best and worst news of the week. I must kill all my preferences to get import working! so sad... and happy to be past the problem. You're a hero as always.

[@dominikschmid1341]

Thank you for this video. It helped me a lot to understand stages and states :) Here's a quickfix to ensure that no unchecked component where at different stages in you design -> If you want to verify components wich are in 'Production' state you can use the 'Server objects state validation' in your Output Job file. Cheers

[@linqiang5734]

Thanks for the great Video, I am going to use Altium 365.

[@pranavmokashe1637]

if not Altium 365 or concord pro , what method do you prefer to use for component management ? data base library

[@ipX91]

How can I delete a footprint in Concord Pro even though it is used in old part revisions?

[@RandyLott]

The only time I've seen component type get used is on Multi Board Schematics. Your connectors must have their type set to connector for Altium to compare schematic symbol/nets with how it's mated in 3D.

[@RobertFeranec]

Thank you Randy. I have got an email from Altium and component type is also used to help with search.

[@conorshukur5596]

Great video Robert. Very helpful for people starting out on A365 Pro

[@RobertFeranec]

Thank you Conor

[@DannyBokma]

On my first setup the workspace was filled with a lot of example components in the library, it was quite a lot of work do delete all of them, how did you empty the library? Is there an option to delete multiple components quickly?

[@RobertFeranec]

I just moved them to trash :D. I have not deleted them yet as I would like to go back and maybe check some of the items later. PS: I just checked, you can select multiple components in one folder and delete them all at once.

[@prabhashkumar4296]

while placing a component from room to Specified Area of pcb its color becomes green ..how to resolve it in Altium 20

[@prabhashkumar4296]

In Altium 20

[@spruce1000]

Thanks a lot Robert. Do you know a nice way to add some form of stock management to the active bom? To keep track how many parts I ordered, which reels are on its way, which reels I payed, etc.

[@RobertFeranec]

spruce1000, no, I do not know. I think there is a way to connect concord/nexus and a company system, but I am not sure how difficult it is to do and how well it is supported right now.

[@zino1313]

bonne vidéo ☺

[@massimomantovan8446]

Very good video Robert!!! But Altium 365 is included on Altium subscription??

[@RobertFeranec]

Thank you Massimo. I do not know exactly how they do it with licenses - they keep changing that. But I think, you need extra Altium 365 license.

[@stefanoinfante2666]

Hi Massimo. If you have an Altium Designer active subscription you also have access to the standard version of Altium 365 (please note: the one Robert is using in this video is the Pro version, which is not free). Without an Altium subscription you can only use a few web-based functions. The standard version, by the way, does not allow to use component templates. See www.altium.com/documentation/altium-designer/altium-365

[@DannyBokma]

I finished it all the way to the end and loved it! I learned quite a lot new things but also noticed things I do different (I used CC Pro for a month now and am migrating my library to it ). One thing I noticed (with CC Pro) is that the folder structure of the component explorer does not simply match with the folder structure of the library, only a few library specific settings in the preference window are shared to the cloud (library folder structure mainly), but many other are not, for example the component name preference you set in the preferences wont be share with other users using the same workspace. But these can of course be manually shared. The most annoying thing I noticed so far is the column and folder structure sharing with others that use the same workspace, you have to redo it all, I would have liked it to be shared automatically as well.

[@RobertFeranec]

Danny, thank you. PS: I also noticed that the online Components directory is different, but the Explorer in Admin menu looks oki. And yes, the scheme is not transferred .... I will try to play with it. PSS: I only set the folder scheme because the template naming didn't work, but I am expecting this to be somehow fixed in future.

[@nikolayponomarenko9457]

@@RobertFeranecComponent types tie all those pieces together - folders, component templates and types.

[@nitrocaster]

Don't use Altium 365. Use database libraries and your own git repositories instead. It's been 1.5 years since A365 went from beta to release, and it is still filled with bugs, still has poor UX, still is unforgivably bad performance. It's an outright disgrace and I don't expect all these issues to be fixed anywhere soon. They don't care. Using A365 in a commercial environment is like installing gentoo to watch youtube, except that with gentoo you have a fairly decent chance that it's gonna actually work without freezeing or crashing every 10 minutes.

[@RobertFeranec]

Actually, I didn't think I will use Altium 365 (or Concord) ... and I was not planning to. However, I joined a project, where more engineers are working on one board and my DB library and Github was not as easy solution for this joined project as I thought ... and I needed something very quickly, so I decided to try Altium 365. Let's see how it goes.

[@shannonprescott7243]

I would like to do exactly that. How best should I start? I have zero database programming experience. Any how to videos, tips, tricks, and documentation links ?

[@shannonprescott7243]

nitrocaster I would like to do as you suggest. I am not a database programmer so creating databases library seems difficult. Are there some good tutorials would recommend?

[@Nater_Sk8er]

Is it possible to create centroids from a gerber file in Altium without having a schematic? ie something like; flash to pad -> designate pad(s) as a part and name -> export pick and place for the part(s)

[@RobertFeranec]

Maybe this can help? designhelp.fedevel.com/forum/test/other-aa/11541-footprint-from-gerbers-using-camtastic

[@Nater_Sk8er]

@@RobertFeranec Thanks, This definitely helped me try some new approach tactics to the problem. Unfortunately, this shows how to create a part footprint from gerber, I am looking for an way of defining the part pads then export pick and place data for all parts. For instance, you receive gerbers without any pick and place data, if you had a BOM could you reverse engineer the pick and place data with Altium? I guess its more of post processing question than design... After trying to convert gerbers to pcb, i still haven't been able to figure out how to get the pads to show up with centroids. I would think that "create & group parts" and "assign ref designators" in CAMtastic would spit it out.... but no luck there either.

[@nihar0689]

Thanks for the detailed video Robert, I will definitely need to refer to this video in coming future when we start building new libraries in Altium at work.

[@RobertFeranec]

Thank you Nihar

[@mbalvert]

Lol @45 min😂

[@jasenjordanov5681]

Hi, do you know how does altium detect duplicated components? For example - if I have 2 different libraries that I want to upload to the server, how will Altium detect the components that are the same, but with difference in the footprint? Will the software detect them and say - "you have duplicate components" or it will create 2 different components on the server?

[@RobertFeranec]

Jasen, I do not know. But I do not think Altium is looking inside of content of symbol or footprint ... I would say it simply just work with object names/IDs and if it finds components with same names, I can only guess, it should ask what to do with them.

[@jasenjordanov5681]

@@RobertFeranec Ok, thank you

[@nikolayponomarenko9457]

@@jasenjordanov5681 At the moment it will detect duplicates during usage of Library Migrator tool. Set of data is used to detect those, from primitives in the symbol (to have only one resistor symbol when importing intlib) to manufacture part number, that are being recognized dynamically. www.altium.com/documentation/altium-designer/streamlined-migration-of-existing-libraries-to-your-managed-content-server-ad#!duplicates-detection