The November product update is available for download. Check out what's new in this release.
« Back to Blog home page
November Update Preview
We are not far off from our November update. We had hoped to release the 8th. We found a few last issues we wanted to take a week and test to make sure we got right. The update is full of improvements you have asked for. Let’s look at each area in detail.
Collaboration
The new Data Panel has been enhanced based on feedback. Improvements should make usage easier.
- The delay in thumbnails appearing on newly saved or uploaded items has been removed.
- Items show spinner while saving helping users understand what is happening with their design data.
- The project drop-down chooser now uses project folder images that match the folder images assigned in A360 Web. This makes finding projects easier, especial for users who are members of many projects
- When looking at projects with many members, the side pane now shows a link to More. This provides access to the complete list of project members.
- It is easier to identify selected items as they now show with a new blue selection box effect.
- Files that have unsaved changes will display “*” as a suffix to the item’s tab display name.
The activity pallet now allows replies to comments. This creates threaded comments that better organize discussion on an item.
Offline Improvements
- Creation of drawings can now be done offline.
- Right click menu is now enabled to insert items when offline and to create a drawing of the item.
Usability
Multi-aspect Fusion data
When you create a Fusion 360 design, the item now has multiple aspects that include the modeling workspaces and two new workspaces for Animation/Explosions and CAM. This replaces the old workflow where you needed to switch tabs to move between CAM and Modeling.
When you switch workspaces the model is always up to date with respect to changes. Toolpaths will be marked out of date if they are affected.
A360 Web viewer provides access to each aspect using navigation along the left side of the viewer by the search field. This UI will improve in a future update.
General UI
- Keyboard access to open/close data panel Option+Command+P (Mac) and Ctrl+Alt+P (Windows).
- Keyboard access to hide/show the activity pane Option+Command+A (Mac) and Ctrl+Alt+A (Windows).
- Improved move command to add access to the Set Pivot tool, a.k.a reorient, from the command dialog.
Grid
- Improved XYX identification in layout grids shown in Red (X), Green (Y), and Blue (Z) colors.
- Improved grid settings allow the override of the grid spacing and definition of custom increments.
- New grid snap behavior for align command. Allows snapping to the grid for quick and easy precise positioning.
Timeline replay
- Improved error messages for multiple errors in rebuild.
- The compute progress indicator lists the name of features that take a disproportionally long time to compute.
- Timeline playback will show hidden items temporarily as each step is played. Displaying hidden items makes it easier to understand sketch and construction geometry.
Improved association from timeline to model and timeline to browser
- A new timeline option enables the Component Color track. This adds color hints to the browser and timeline to help quickly visually associate features to the components they affect. If you turn on color cycling in the Inspect tools the colors match those assigned to 3D geometry.
- The color cycle functionality has been changed to keep colors consistent across all instances.
Form
Sketch Improvements
- The horizontal and vertical constraints are combined into a single horizontal/vertical constraint. Selected geometry is analyzed and the closest condition (horizontal or vertical) is applied. Perfect 45 degree lines with respect to X or Y will default to horizontal. This single constraint type reduces unexpected constraint results as most users are constraining lines that are close to the condition they need but may not know the correct condition due to the current viewport orientation.
- Sketch origins now align to the parent components origin, not to edges of the faces to which they are created. This creates a more predictable X and Y axis in new sketches.
- Sketch fillet creates an equal constraint for multiple fillets created in same command. This makes it easier to add multiple sketch fillets and have them controlled by the first driving parameter.
- Grid improvements have also been made when sketching. These improvements make it easier to work against the model’s XYZ direction. Simplifying sketching and removing cases where results were ambiguous or frustrating.
- When creating a sketch, the viewport will auto-look at the sketch and disable perspective. X, Y and Z direction are set to make it easier to know direction. The sketch look at follows left hand rules. Exiting the sketch returns the privies viewport orientation. this can be disabled in the preferences.
- Like the layout grid, the sketch grid shows X and Y in Red and Green.
- Sketch creation can now inference and pick up snap points to geometry that does not lie in the sketch plane. The New Sketch look at behavior makes these new inference points easy to see since the camera now is looking directly at the sketch as the inference preview is projected into the sketch plane. You can sketch, constrain and dimension without pre-projecting geometry when looking at the sketch.
- By default when creating sketch dimensions Fusion 360 will prompt for the dimension value. This can be disabled in the preferences.
- Sketch trim now defaults to the new Power Trim behavior. Power Trim enables users to simple press and drag the cursor and all lines crossed are trimmed.
- Sketch Conic Curve allows precise blended shapes to be created. They are especially useful in stylized products. Conics are defined by three points and a Rho value. Double click the conic to edit Rho. Conics can be constrained tangent to connected sketch curves.
Timeline
- Timeline support for extruded surface.
- Timeline support for revolved surface .
- Timeline support for surface sweep.
- Timeline support for offset surface.
Extrude can now use a work point or sketch point as the input for “To” terminations.
Delete feature(s) after the timeline play marker.
Assemblies
- Timeline support for Paste New of components. Copy and Paste of components now supports Paste New. This creates a new component with the same features as the copied source but is independent allowing features to be changed without affecting the source or other instances of the source. This makes it easy to create derivative designs of existing components.
Function
New Animation Workspace
Animation and Exploded Views
- Animations and assembly instruction authoring tools have been added to allow the creation of 3D exploded views and animations. These help tell the story of how products are used, assembled or maintained.
- Automatic explode tools allow users to quickly explode automatically based on assembly hierarchy (level).
- Manual explode tools give precise control of component transformations.
- Visibility tools capture changes in visibility components in time and can be edited to fade out parts over time for emphasis.
Story boards
- Story boards organize the multiple explosions or animations. Story boards can be created so that each new story board begins from the end state of the previous or clean using the models default visibility and position. This allows quick creation of serial storyboards or parallel storyboards.
- Story boards can be copied and pasted to create quick derivative works.
- Story boards can be reversed allowing an assembly animation storyboard to be quickly copied, pasted, then reversed resulting in a disassemble animation.
- Each story board has a scratch area at the beginning of the timeline. This allows edits that do not get recorded as events in the timeline.
- Story board events can be moved, deleted, and lengthened or shortened dynamically simply by editing the position and length of events in the timeline.
Camera recording
- Camera moves can be recorded while authoring a storyboard.
- Camera recording can be turned on or off as needed.
- Camera events are tracked in the timeline as events.
Annotations
- Annotations create pins associated to 3D geometry in time and can have text information associated to them.
- Selecting a pin will display the annotation information.
- Annotation events are tracked in the timeline as events.
Component Properties
- Components can be hidden and are tracked in the timeline as events.
- Components can have unique appearance properties in each storyboard
Playback
- When playing storyboards you can play one story board or all.
- Full screen playback creates a clean screen simplified experience making presenting storyboards easier to focus on the 3D graphics.
- A360 Web viewer allows viewing of animations.
- AVI export and rendering animations is coming in a future update
- Drawing support of explosions is coming in future update
Render Workspace
- Commonly edited properties have been added to the Appearances editing UI. This includes roughness and translucency.
- Duplicate materials are easier to identify and remove.
Fabrication
CAM Workspace
- Improved consistency with Autodesk CAM desktop solutions; HSMWorks and Inventor HSM.
- Updated Simulation tools. This includes a new option to stop simulation on collisions.
Updated Strategy options.
- (Ultimate only) Added stock options for fixed and relative cylinders and stock from a solid model.
- (Mac only) Added ability to create and edit new tools.
- Improved images output to setup sheets.
- New NC Editor based on the Brackets editor. Users can select an NC editor of their own too.
- Added more post-processors
Drawings
- Drawing creation and editing is now possible on OS X.
- Drawing functionality has parity between Windows and OS X.
3D Print
- Added support for STL export to additional 3D print utilities. These include: Meshmixer, Makerbot, Cura and RepetierHost.
- Select the default utility in the preferences.
API
- Python scripting has been added. A dedicated Python IDE, documentation and samples makes ramping up on the additional language easy and familiar.
- Both Javascript and Python are still previews.
- Spyder is embeded and used for Python IDE and Debugging.
Introduction of Fusion 360 Ultimate
Fusion 360 Ultimate now delivers advanced tools.
Fusion 360 Ultimate includes:
- Animations
- 3 axis toolpaths
- Advanced support
Learning and First Customer Experience
- Better What’s new information making it more clear what has been updated.
- Access to specific help from Command dialogs makes it easier to get detailed learning on commands as you use them.
Comments
kingson138
Hi SCHNEIK,
This is a long list of improvements and the STORY BOARD is practically a brand new idea in the world of 3D Product Designs. I noticed that “Component Paste New” had been added. However “Component Scaling” is still a missing important feature. Now we can only scale individual bodies but not components at the parametric mode. In order to scale components, If I were not wrong, is to “Stop Recording” completely. Scaling bodies in a component or subsets of components sometimes generates unwanted results.
sanguish
Wow.
When can we expect these items on the Mac side? Especially drawing. I spent 5 minutes drawing something last night that I still haven’t been able to replicate in Illustrator. :-/
3Dpcb
You have surely been busy. I wonder how many people are working on an update like this.
Looking forward to exploring the new opportunities.
I think the new timeline provides a better overview. But I feel that the timeline can be difficult to navigate when the timeline is longer/wider than the screen width.
For an even better overview, I think it would help if it was possible to temporarily collapse the parts of the timeline, which consists of many contiguous icons of the same color.
gearsoup
This list of updates is quite nice to see. I am really starting to like this software….
schneik
sanguish;
All of these enhancements are Mac and Windows. Note in the Fabrication section that we are finally delivering drawings for Mac this Saturday.
schneik
kingson,
You mentioned “Scaling bodies in a component or subsets of components sometimes generates unwanted results.”
Can you be more specific. Scaling bodies in components is the current solution for scaling components. If something is not working as you expect we would like to understand that better.
Yolmen
Nice list!
Will DFM be also added in this update? Thats the one im most exited about.
Happy to be Fusion 360 ultimate user!
Also was thinking if Fusion 360 will have built in slicing capability for 3D printing?
kingson138
Hi,
Scaling individual bodies within a component and its sub-components might have positioning problems. The Bodies might not scaled correctly and they might shifted to other position. But in DM mode by stopping recording completely, scaling a main component will have a more stable result. I cannot give you files to test because I simply could not afford to test on my commercial files since scaling bodies almost failed all the time. I had decided not doing that at the parametric mode. If I am designing a ring which I have to scale from size 46 all the way to size 66 (in mm Circumference) I have to stop recording completely after creation. It simply could not keep the parts together unless I combined all of them at the parametric mode. These are actual experiences. But then the parametric mode is very good in a way but has limitations. For example, the “Move” command on surfaces had been added to the Create Base Feature of the Parametric mode but the objects have to be created inside the Base Feature Mode. A few updates ago this “Move” command could only be done in DM mode by “Stopping Recording” completely. You might think that I am wrong. I am a real user using this program almost everyday designing real products to be made at my factory. If I had found something not working I just use another way to do it until I found some posts at the BLOG. I found this “Move” command from a tip in this BLOG recently otherwise I would not even have known about it.
O.Tan
Documentation and visualization will be much more easier with these new tools! Can’t wait to test it out! Good Job Autodesk Team!
kingson138
Hi Kevin,
After reading the “About The Author” part about yourself made me understand the concept behind Fusion 360 more. Yes you are the guy to talk in our industry! This part is really good!
cekuhnen
is there no update to the patch tools in the timeline?
prabakarm
Claas, Extrude, Revolve, Sweep and offset surface commands in the patch workspace is now supported in the timeline. This is in addition to patch, loft, stitch and trim surface commands which were previously supported in the timeline.
cekuhnen
Prabakarm,
You mean the new update will have those features? I saw a demo of them recently, which is why I was asking becasue I do not see them in the text listed here on this page.
jbisme
Until we see a major move away from a hierarchical tree the CAD industry will continue to be stagnant and users will continue to be apathetic.
http://lnkd.in/dXhG9HQ
“History tree” is one of the pillars, the classical parametric feature-based approach is rested on, but it is that pillar that has to be removed in order to go out of the CAD stagnation.
Geometric constraints should be set explicitly in 3D space. The system of constraint equations should be written for the whole solid model (for the whole part, assembling might be preserved).
In this way, we’ll be able to obtain solid modeling application that is parametric, but history-free. This application will allow implementing easily both the direct-modeling functionality and parametric functionality.
The future of the CAD is not in two separate solid modeling applications – one for direct modeling, one for parametric modeling (as, for instance, PTC has) – but in a single application that unifies both history-free parametric modeling and direct modeling in one common workspace.
Certainly, to implement such a Great Unification one should have much more powerful constraint solver than those of traditional parametric CAD applications. In traditional approach solid model is, actually, subdivided into small feature (with 2D sketch under each feature) and these small systems of equations are solved consequently.
In the brave approach, we are advocating for, we should solve the big system of equations for the whole 3D model. This is a challenge.
We, in Cloud Invent, are ready for this challenge. We have our Cheetah Solver to attack big 3D problems. Meanwhile we implemented our solver as a 2D plugin for AutoCAD (see more info on our site http://www.cloud-invent.com). However, our next step will be implementing 3D plugin for AutoCAD. AutoCAD is a good platform for testing our approach to solid modeling – it has a nice 3D modeling functionality, but it has absolutely no constraints in 3D..”
Nick Sidorenko
CEO at Cloud Invent
schneik
Class;
Yes, If you look at the form section right above the assemblies improvements. There is the list of new timeline features. All are in the patch workspace.
-kevin
kingson138
Dear Mr. Sidorenko,
Are you part of Fusion 360 team? Or are you trying to sell us a plugin for AUTOCAD? But we are talking about Fusion 360 here. Not AUTOCAD Plugin. Can you please explain in words that we Simple Commercial Designers can understand?
Thanks for explaining.
jbisme
I listed a link and then quoted Mr. Sidorenko. I did this because it’s very clear to me what the main problem with Fusion 360 is.
I’m a machinist and CADCAM programmer with well over two decades of hand on experience. I don’t find anything that Mr. Siorenko wrote hard to understand. If you or others do, it’s pretty easy to follow the link and ask him whatever you feel like asking him. At this point he has no products for sale and I don’t expect him to ever have any products for sale. I do expect a CADCAM company to buy his technology and implement it.
Did this help?
Jon Banquer
CADCAM Technology Leaders group on LinkedIn
patilvarad
Amazing……….. Specially Python scripting!
joranson2
Does anybody know how to use script to create loft object in Fusion 360?
aalzagax
Hello,
I’m a student in a innovation school, I must say that I attempted to use many 3D design software before (and after) using Fusion 360, so far, I find the UI in Fusion the most intuitive by far, it has allowed me to do things I couldn’t imagine before, and things I haven’t been able to replicate elsewere, not solid works, not inventor, not maya…
Having said that, I have now a big problem. As I’m student within a university program, the University doesn’t allow any file created in here to be stored elsewere but the university servers. I have tried to explain that Autodesk has a great privacy policy, and that the data in Autodesk servers is as safe as it would be in the university -if not safer-.
Being this France, and being IT’s main concern the security and protection of university’s generated data, it is strictly forbidden.
Of course, I wil keep on using fusion for my personal purposes, and surely this will be the software I will use when I get to use it commercially, but, is there any way to use it completly offline? Storing files only in my university’s computer (or server)? That would be great, as the next generation students just arrived and I would love to teach them this tool to design concepts, and I won’t be able if at any point the files leave the closed loop.
Thank you in advance for any information
Amilcar