You can now 3D print your parts with Fusion360's new slicer! Is it worth using?

Fusion360 now has a fully-featured slicer built right in! You can grab models directly from your design workspace without having to export as .stl, but is it worth using it in its current form?
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[@repalmore]

I think it's completely awesome that Autodesk has allowed us hobbyists to use this great software at no cost. I hope fusion 360 dominates the market because young people get used to using it before they hit the workforce and this influences the buying decisions of companies.

[@Seth-mb9nt]

Things that I would love to see added: Simulation based infill density (as you mentioned) would be awesome. And for weight optimizing designs, having the 3D printed part override the solid body would also be fantastic since right now even if you just set a part as some arbitrary percentage of the 100% dense material, it will never be true to life after printing, and to really accurately account for it you need to manually create a new density for every printed part.

[@zanpekosak2383]

Can't wait for the time when you'll be able to slice your part with a certain infill and than simulate the stress based on your wall count and infill type/percentage.

[@genericjonathan4115]

Žan Pekošak i feel like this should already be a thing

[@zanpekosak2383]

Oh yeah. Should be. Cant imagine the CPU power it would take. Takes my poor quad core 3min to auto route a circuit board let alone do 3D.

[@danielb.2873]

Wanted to say the same.

[@henrychan720]

@@transcendtient Fusion does generative design. It doesn't do infills specifically but it's as close as you can get.

[@SuperYellowsubmarin]

@@zanpekosak2383 That's why softwares like fusion are biased towards cloud computing, which frees you from your hardware limitations.

[@sualpozel1]

Great video Thomas. One protip: In print settings, you can take a sample printer , drag and drop it to your local / cloud library, customize it, add the post (even a customized post) and a profile to it (even a customized profile). This way your settings are just ready to go next time you want to print. stay tuned for a whole bunch of improvements release after release :-) - Sualp Ozel, Fusion Additive Product Manager

[@sualpozel1]

Ps: we just fixed the Prusa Post file. You can download the new one and start using it. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. Happy printing.

[@aykutcoskun6092]

@@sualpozel1 I would like to see "create custom support with using F360 tools" type of think. While printing figures I need that so much, other slicers' support creating tools isn't that useful.

[@williamforbes6919]

Watching this immediately, this combined with mold tools for compensation for thermal shrinkage could be really something special

[@anonony9081]

This was a surprise to me. Interesting move by Autodesk!

[@tipoyio]

I was waiting for your review about this update! Nice video as always! Keep making!

[@fredgenius]

Nice review, thanks. I've been using it couple days now, is very good but there are many improvements needed before it can compete with Cura on flexibility. Creating a post for my modified A8 was a steep learning curve, despite a working knowledge of javascript. One major advantage is that you can keep the slicing profile as part of the design project!

[@misteragb7558]

I have had lessons in inventor professional on school and I am currently in a professional course for Solidworks but fusion is my preferred CAD program, it's the most user-friendly by far ( you can extrude surfaces without having to go to sketch and select project geometry), it looks great, the app is cool, it's cheap, it's so easy I could get started without even youtube tutorials, and it even has CAM and a slicer now..... Fusion is awesome!

[@lukedavid8099]

I'm really excited for the potential cam/slicing integration. Once that is accomplished I think more machines will have subtractive toolheads.

[@adamfilip]

its a great first release. Looking forward to them adding non Planar support :)

[@jamessowin2505]

If they add that I would a tually pay a small fee to use it. If they had like a $20 per year fee to use non planar slicing I would gladly pay. Any more than than and idk if I would.

[@moclan5661]

@@jamessowin2505 Autodesk is not gonna sell you anything under $500 a year just saying lol

[@treyhenrichsen]

I am really excited for this. Although it isn't amazing right now, slicers loose out on a lot because they don't have the full model information. A combined CAD/slicer program has immense potential.

[@garagemonkeysan]

Great video, nice summary of the new slicer. Mahalo for sharing! : )

[@Standbackforscience]

As always, thanks so much for your in-depth and useful reviews Thomas.

[@spikekent]

Great insight Tom, thanks. I was very intrigued when I saw this in the Fusion 360 update. It's definitely a step in the right direction, but I'll be sticking to Prusa Slicer, at least for now. Although I'm very interested to see what Autodesk do with it.

[@SergiuszRoszczyk]

A year ago, when I bought my first 3D Printer I opted in to F360 Startup Edition. It was supposed to be 3-yr license. Not a full year after manufacturer changed his mind, cancelled that subscription and forced users to go either to non commercial one (which is generally ok for me, I use it for private use) or to one of commercial grades (of which one is still free). Given the history of other changes, like killing Eagle free edition many years ago, I'll stay on Cura or Prusa Slicer just to keep my workflow safe and stable.

[@microdesigns2000]

Isn't eagle free and with more free features than it was before AutoDesk bought it?

[@SergiuszRoszczyk]

@@microdesigns2000 it is, as a non-commercial sub. But for long time people were left alone with no free tier and free on-premise option removed.

[@MrDaniell1234]

Startup licenses was never 3 years it is one year and has always been like this it is the EDU licenses are 3 years.

[@MrDaniell1234]

@@SergiuszRoszczyk They did have a free option for eagle you just had to ask for it.

[@twitte0king]

Auto desk is full of DRM and annoying business move

[@rafakosc9001]

Just few hours ago I was searching for remedy for too small holes in the prints. Main tought was that is really hard to detect if it's a hole. If there is integrated slicer with modeling software, like in this case, it's easy peacy. I would love to see hole diameter compensation in Fusion360 slicer!

[@dale_ch]

Thanks for the update Tom 👍

[@someguy2741]

Lol. Coordinated uploads! Joel committed you to some pretty serious work.

[@SamDunham]

Given the frequency at which AutoDesk updates Fusion, I can imagine this will get much better, very quickly. Can't wait to see where they go with this.

[@hadinossanosam4459]

Would definitely be interested in some tests of the auxetic infill, that sounds really cool

[@choschiba]

After the last update I have found that function but didn’t have time to play around with it yet. I love testing different slicers. But of course not from an academic point of view as you do. Great 👍🏼 video!

[@MakerFarmNL]

Wow! Your video really pops off the screen!! Extremely high quality image and audio!! and... a good review! I have learned something!!

[@mukhtarramadhan2886]

Hi Tom. Really like your videos. It good in explain

[@onecarwood]

I bet this only gets better and better. It will be awesome to be able to do this all in one and send it straight off.

[@JorgeOrtiz69]

Thank you for a great video. Do you know if the new update is compatible with Octopi?

[@Veptis]

I am really excited to where this will go. I give it a few tries, but building my non common 3D printer into it again takes some effort.

[@MikeyFirst]

I had that problem with not homing and bed leveling too. But when starting the Post Process, you can select the printer model in the first row in the table on the right, under Program Settings and then it homes and does a mesh bed leveling. At least, this worked for me and my Prusa i3 Mk2.

[@MikeyFirst]

Update: Autodesk have updated the postprocessor for Prusa.

[@ScottMoyse]

Excellent video. Thanks.

[@fast1nakus]

Question: is there a way to print one piece with different density types? That would be really useful

[@Harko-]

Thanks Thomas!

[@F2_CPB]

Ever since I saw comments of fusion 360 on their additive manufacturing video. I knew they will add support for FDM printers (and it include my Ender 3!!! Yeah!!)

[@AthanCondax]

Many slicers stumble right out of the gate and I definitely didn't think Fusion 360's would be any different. PrusaSlicer started off so-so and quickly improved into something way more robust. Given Fusion 360's awesome development team, I have no doubt they'll patch up the issues and add any missing features. Considering they do have the CNC tools already, it almost seems perfect for them to have implemented a slicer.

[@3dprintingguru378]

I'd love to see G2/G3 true arc support in fusion additive manufacturing. I guess it would be a lot easier implemented than in other slicer software since there's no stl involved.

[@howardjones543]

That's an interesting point! It has a lot of potential to be smarter about the slicing, since it's not just getting triangles.

[@victortitov1740]

I'd speculate it's already there, i.e. toolpaths are generated with true analytic geometry under the hood, and only dumbed down to line segments for 3d printer to understand.

[@3dprintingguru378]

@@victortitov1740 if that is the case then it would be a matter of an output option.

[@dastompa]

does your controller support it

[@3dprintingguru378]

@@dastompa almost every controller and firmware supports G2/3 commands, I myself run multiple duet 2 wifis. David Crocker shows a plotter code running on a delta printer. a buddy is in the Marlin core developer team and also confirmed it working.

[@ldomotorsjason3488]

Nice introduction Tom!

[@bonilsson8842]

I hope they will be merging slicing and stl output to get infill there it's needed. From simulation.

[@estebanlondono8384]

Thanks for the tutorial. Where can one see the printing time of the generated toolpath?

[@jacksoni349]

Great video and I was definitely not expecting this to be game changing. The real question is what happened to Pathio? lol

[@GameHEADtime]

Solid works take note!

[@ats1995]

Opening the .stl in Cura (or whatever) directly from Fusion seems currently to me like the better workflow. Awesome video btw

[@drdrace]

Great video/features! Autodesk should just bring you, Stefan (CNC Kitchen), Angus (Maker’s Muse), Ivan Miranda, etc. as product consultants to get their features/workflow perfect before they continue layering on code. I’m looking forward to the day when I can one-shot print and get the exact tolerances I expect and click less on that “buy again” filament button.

[@3DHP]

Great Video,Just reposted on Facebook group.

[@theprisera1221]

where'd you get your jacket? I love it

[@danb9143]

great video, thank you for making it. What computer do you use to create your projects?

[@hanspeterson3641]

Thank you for your excellence in webcasting! PS- As a registered Fusion360 user, I have to wonder why they didn't notify me about this. If only they saw the wisdom of hiring YOU to do their tutorials. (Yeah, I've seen the ones by Lars- not my learning style- too jumpy.)

[@AE0MT]

This seems like the perfect application for Arc Support in the GCODE. What's the chance that can happen?

[@sallerc]

A small tip if I may, when recording from the computer like this - please lower the resolution in Windows or increase the DPI-settings to make the menus and text bigger in the video. That would make it much easier to see and read the texts in the application. Anyway, thanks for your work and great videos.

[@Alex-nl5cy]

What episode of the podcast do you discuss the toolchanger on?

[@empiricusdremomys7210]

Don't see a machine selection in the new setup box only setup milling. Something else to install first ?

[@grantsbirds1207]

love it!

[@matthewprince6157]

I can't wait to see where this goes with Fusion. Having something that you can model and then directly process for additive processing sounds like a great thing if it's done right.

[@hussainbhavnagarwala2596]

The crazy infills would give a nice octolapse !!

[@versus023]

Great video, thank you. Im biggie backig because ive seen the shelf bracket you designed with the générative deisgn in fusion. I was wondering if you were selling or sharing that 3d files? I wanted to modify it and add a french cleat to be able to use it on my french cleat wall. if not thats cool too !! :) thank have a great day!

[@joshuaansaldi8391]

Hi Thomas! I just purchased my first 3d printer and I work with fusion 360 Hobbyist version. Could I ask you for a step by step video how to actually go from model stl file to 3d print. Thank you in advance!

[@wadepolsen553]

I have attempted to use dual extrusion within fusion 360 and does not seem to be possible yet. it creates 2 different tool paths that execute 1 after the other instead of simultaneously layer to layer. Great video always find your content clear and informative.

[@acartier1981]

Tom, please please please tell us where you got that sweatshirt

[@doza6262]

dude thanks! Just starting to get really involved to fusion since its merge with Eagle CAD. Hey, I have a question. What is the state of FDM printing right now? is the hype gone to SLA? I believe prusa with the mk3 and recently e3d's new hemera (as well as the titan) pretty much achieved most of the roadmap for FDM. What do you think are the next steps for FDM, SLA and where do you see them have a place (besides prototyping).

[@michaelbrown-qe8cr]

Thanks Thomas for the informed video. I noticed the setup in Fusion denotes the Prusa MK3S as having a bed size as 200 x 250 x 210mm. This seems to be backwards in X-Y-Z dimensions as defined by Prusa, with a bed size of 250 x 210 x 200. Does this have any impact on print area when slicing direct from Fusion-360 vs the Prusa Slicer? It would seem as though the print would overrun the allowable print area.

[@billkellogg1403]

Excellent!!

[@Flapdr01]

I guess it's a working slicer but right now it seems more useful as an introduction to the fusion cam module for people already familiar with slicers.

[@ianmartin1214]

Hey Tom, Love your channel man. I am also in Germany, and will be ordering from DAS FILAMENT to test their PLA and PETG. Something that might make a great video for your european watchers is a review of OWL-Filament / Filamentwerk (Same company) they have crazy cheap PLA / PETG / ABS / TPU ... I've been surprised by their PLA, and disappointed by their PETG. But you can get there PETG and PLA for less than 15€/KG which is insanely cheap.

[@microdesigns2000]

A great feature would be server-based slicing instead of client-side. Then the server farm could slice in seconds.

[@JakeWaddell4325]

Hello, I have an anet a8, and the main board recently died in a power surge. Do you know if the btt skr v1.4 turbo will work as a replacement?

[@joshuavetting4148]

I really wish they would offer a 2 and 4 axis wire edm option. I understand the waterjet/laser options have been manipulated for 2 axis wire work but how tough would it really be to do so for WEDM?

[@tonberryhunter]

2 step music in the intro :) I like

[@adarol91]

How to use it with delta kossel type printer?

[@adama1294]

I like Fusion360 but I don't trust Autodesk to not pull the rug out from under me. I got a perpetual license with Alibre3d. They have a parametric cad program that has a hobbyist level for $200 US that goes on sale for some deep discounts. Just need fusion360 for cam and now maybe slicing for different infill.

[@LanceThumping]

How does it compare? I like Fusion360's style (OpenSCAD's programmatic style feels terrible) but I'd like to get something a little more reasonably priced if I ever buy into something.

[@adama1294]

@@LanceThumping you draw a sketch and do operations from that scetch. Not as streamlined as fusion and definitely not as good as solid works but very doable.

[@TalpaDK]

@@LanceThumping Have you tried FreeCAD it's both cross platform and Libre/Open Source software. I personally like quite a lot, but I am biased as I prefer my software free as in speech.

[@adama1294]

@@TalpaDK it's better than freecad. I have tried that too.

[@kermitfrog1897]

@@TalpaDK I like FreeCAD too. No cloud/privacy BS and can save files locally without any hassles. Personally I hate the nonintuitive F360 interface. CAD programs are a big investment of time and learning and I certainly don't trust the corporate model of autodesk, who could pull the plug at any time. Even though F360 might be more polished and has plenty of whistles and bells, FreeCAD is just as capable. FreeCAD is an active and growing project and I see it someday growing to the level of success that KICAD has become.

[@moth.monster]

I don't want to give Autodesk even more control over the 3D printing world, especially because Fusion 360 doesn't run on Linux.

[@chemicalBR0]

10:18 , when you export to STL from fusion do you do it from the file menu (where it has to use a cloud converter that takes ages?) if you right click on the component name from directly in the workspace it gives the option to save as STL (or click on the project name to export all components) this does the conversion locally and it happens MUCH MUCH quicker than using export from the file menu. (you can also tweak the conversion settings to lower polycount etc) I can save as STL open cura and slice the model LONG before the cloud conversion has happened. I've always thought that was crazy that the export from file menu method uses cloud conversion when it can clearly do the conversion locally

[@rickiek8268]

After Placed piece in 360 slicer and after G-code is generated How do you send gcode to printer Or where does the G-code being saved ?

[@venko3211]

I have Ender 3 please send me how change nozzle setting because I am using.8 Nozzle

[@blacklion79]

I really want to change settings per-feature and not by creating boxes and spheres like I need in Sl3cer now. Looking forward for better integration between CAD and CAM...

[@PaperHunter]

I think the biggest feature and probably the only one I'll use is that you can export your model as .3MF from the Additive manufacture workspace.

[@ianlai2961]

I can't get my mesh to go on the printing bed in Fusion 360, what should I do?

[@thepixelpusher]

Way nice vid! Salamander!

[@philpearce3248]

Many thanks, as always you have produced a very informative video, however there is a problem with the focus of the fusion screen shots, all the text is out of focus and difficult to read.

[@MadeWithLayers]

That's actually a problem with Fusion360, as it doesn't render at the resolution of my screens (UHD), but instead just renders at a lower resolution and scales that up.

[@sravanisamoju693]

Sir i have modeled and textued in fusion360 while my client opening that file in his software extures r not coming is tgere any other process to save or export file sir please help me to sloce this sir

[@giggawc8457]

Hawidiehre Tom, was mich jetzt noch interessieren tat war: Wandelt Fusion das Bauteil zuerst in a STL datei um, oder bekommt man da das von mir schon lange erwartete Feauter mit G2/G3 Kreisinterpolaration im gcode? Den vorteil den du noch nicht betrachtet hast, ist das in einem CAD system es wesentlich leichter ist 4-, bzw 5 Achsige additive Fertigung zu implementieren. Ob Fusion dafür geeignet ist weiß ich nicht da ich dieses Programm nicht verwende.

[@layton3503]

Does it work with Octoprint?

[@skeetfontenot4922]

Does it support resin printers?

[@Cletusaz]

Any good ender 5 posts for fusion 360 out there?

[@ameliabuns4058]

*dual extrusion smirk* I don't worry about supports really since I can easily do petg+pla supports and they get pulled out without a separation distance! seriously dual extrusion should be more common in printers. I don't like how everyone gives up on it.

[@robertrocconellacox4149]

3d print option not available for me

[@MarcusWolschon]

Finally we could get g-code running real circles/arcs because the model is not tesselated first.

[@Bakamoichigei]

Funny that they've added this yet there's _still_ no PLA material preset, or 3D printed 'appearance' shader for renderings. I'm excited about the future of the slicer though. With it built directly into CAD, it opens up the possibility of some really smart features, like variable infill based on part strength...and maybe even eventually including non-planar printing and other advanced features.

[@modernDEsignwithFusion360]

Its not to hard to add one....texture too.

[@bernardtarver]

Conditional gcode?

[@just_john_adam370]

That's great that they added that but its just as unstable as the rest of the program. I love fusion but the constant freezing gets old

[@jalanjarosz]

Thomas, Posted on Joel's video too: Are arc/circle G-Codes simple G0/G1 X/Y moves, or is Fusion using I's & J's or R's for arc moves?

[@brandonmott674]

I believe the main issue with incorporating arc moves into slicers is that the printer firmware doesn't support those commands currently

[@Averell64]

@@brandonmott674 marlin does have support for g2 and g3, the reason why it isn't being used is most likely due to the nature of stl files as they only have surface information stored in then and round structures get broken down to many straight segments (surface patches)... That and the other argument might be that it would be quite hard to properly identify use cases (how will it differentiate between a spline close to a radius and a proper radius for example)... Would most certainly be possible but I can imagine it using a lot of processing power while slicing...

[@3dprintingguru378]

@@Averell64 I would guess that it's easier to implement in fusion than it is in other slicers, since there must not be a stl. fusion is capable of generating tool paths for milling and turning which use G2 and G3 already. let's see what the future brings, I put all my hope in fusion 360 🙂

[@Averell64]

@@3dprintingguru378 definitely, but the state it is in right now is more an alpha or early beta version - I have high hopes as well though :D

[@jalanjarosz]

Brandon Mott Klipper supports I’s and J’s and we found out Marlin 2 supports both. Firmware is good. We just need to be able to slice native CAD or B-Rep models (step or iges).

[@-webster3120]

Also - I want your shirt. Where can I get one?

[@kevin_delaney]

If Fusions slicer tool path generation is anything like Inventor's CAM (which the HSM is still the same plugin, the slicer I'm not sure about I imagine it's from Netfabb). But Inventors CAM tool path generation requires VRam. It makes a significant difference. The streaming workstation you have, try the tool path generation in that vs your laptop, see if it still takes longer. It's only a matter of time before Fusion is the default, they have some talented software engineers under their belt.

[@cyberreefguru]

Performance in Fusion has been an issue for a long time now. I’m sure they make it better, but at least for CAM, it is still not as fast as a few years ago.

[@mihailazar2487]

but it's still generated using an STL mesh I'd really like to see a slicer that uses the perfectly smooth NURBS model when generating GCODE

[@KoMaHu3aM]

keeping those algorithms happy.

[@marinabazan651]

The real deal of having the CAM integrated into the CAD software is the possibility of using advanced moves, like G2/G3 (Arc or Circle Moves) or G5 (Bézier cubic spline).

[@Rodrigo-tt2vx]

hey! Autodesk should pay to you for this 9:12 and 9:30

[@Enlisuka]

It's much more useful in another point of view. Fusion get's closer to fill whole 3d designing pipe line. For example, my students use university's PCs and don't have an ability to install Cura or any other slicer. So, yes, it's great choice, when you have no others.

[@garramiro]

can you stress test the geometry of the 3d printed part in fusion 360?

[@MadeWithLayers]

You can run simulations in Fusion, but approximating the way 3D printed parts behave is going to take some work (it should be possible, though)

[@WilkoVehreke]

@@MadeWithLayers AFAIK they cannot simulate materials such as wood or printed layers.

[@modernDEsignwithFusion360]

Well - yes, and no. If you make some really big approximations, you can do it. But the FEM software in Fusion 360 will assume an isotropic material model - which means, we will assume the strength of the material is the same in all directions. This is majorly not true of FDM 3D printed parts. In the sim world, we sometimes assume the strength is just the weakest direction everywhere, but this is obviously not so great. Also - polymers (plastics) are a non-linear material, meaning, they don't really behave like steel when loaded. You CAN simulate plastics using F360 - but to do it well, you'll need some pretty specific material data - and by the time you run your filament through your printer, chances are, the material properties are mega-different to the data that your filament provider would give you. So - you'd be stuck having to test your material. And probably every time you use a different setting as well. So - here again, you basically estimate big time to get something workable. Is it worth it? Probably not - but you may have applications where it is needed and worthwhile....its kinda up to you.

[@Mikewgoogle537]

On a mac and in Fusion360 I do not see choice to set to additive manufacture only cutting etc Is this a mac thing? I went to autodesk site and downloaded '360 slicer for Fusion 'app and a '360 printing' app Still downloading .... not sure if its auto download update yet. Still preparing

[@WilkoVehreke]

You have to wait for the update. This is not an add-in that you can download from the shop.

[@bainsonic]

Very nice but I think I will stick with catia and simplify3d for now.

[@chriss2295]

You need a macro lens.