Autodesk Fusion free version - does it do anything beyond viewing?

[peter-h]

Someone did a design for me in Fusion. I have very little need for 3D design nowadays so don't want to pay the price of this thing.

He said he will let me have the design if I get Fusion free version and then I can view it.

After some hassle I managed to install it (various one time codes etc - why?? - presumably it runs only on one machine) and looking at the limitations it doesn't look like I could ever export anything to a CNC shop.

I see there is a thing called FreeCAD. Is there a route from Fusion to FreeCAD which would allow me to do little mods and then export for some chinese CNC shop?

[jc101]

Fusion free is pretty limited. You don't have to spend £636 for Fusion for a year, you can buy a months worth of access for £78. Not ideal I'll admit.

I have a fusion licence, so if you just need the file exported I can do that for you.

Recently I looked for something that would import Fusion files, but I couldn't find anything that would do that. Or at least nothing that didn't involve a lot of effort. So I let my legacy Fusion (a bit cheaper) licence renew. Over a year I use it enough to justify it, just.

[Doctorandus_P]

FreeCAD has become a quite usable and capable 3D drawing program, but it certainly has it's own learning curve to say it mildly.

For the rest... There is little hope of modifying any 3D drawing in another program then with which it was made. The closest you can normally get is something like STEP export (or IGES, STL, etc). But such exports only give you the current shape. Modern 3D CAD programs work parametric, and they save the editing history in the drawing. That means that if you want to modify small things, you only redo the step that is responsible for your small thing. If you convert a drawing to another format, the whole editing history is lost.

For the rest. I was not sure in how far STEP files can be modified in FreeCAD, and because I was curious I did a test:

• Draw a rectangular block in FreeCAD.
• Export the block as a STEP file.
• Close the drawing without saving.
• Create an new empty drawing in FreeCAD.
• Import the STEP file.
• Edit the Step file by punching a hole though the block.

And it works, as you can see from the result below.

[ejeffrey]

The fusion "personal use" version is limited to mostly non commercial use but it has most of the 3D functionality.  It's limited in ability to produce CAM output and manufacturing drawings, and it doesn't let you use the fusion 360 cloud stuff.  It's pretty popular in the 3d printer community for this reason.

If you don't qualify for the personal use, then paying for a single month subscription is probably the best option.  You can load the design, check it out, and export it to whatever format you want. 

[peter-h]

If the full version owner sends me the design, can I export it in some format to  Chinese CNC shop in the free version?

Otherwise I will need him for anything other than viewing it - is that correct?

I thought IGES was universal, but the free version does not AFAICT export in IGES.

In the 1990s I had a load of injection mouldings designed and have the IGES files.

[langwadt]

If the full version owner sends me the design, can I export it in some format to  Chinese CNC shop in the free version?

Otherwise I will need him for anything other than viewing it - is that correct?

I thought IGES was universal, but the free version does not AFAICT export in IGES.

In the 1990s I had a load of injection mouldings designed and have the IGES files.

afaik the free version can still export step/stp files which should be what the cnc shop wants

[peter-h]

OK. I've realised that IGES is not editable as "objects" so if e.g. you have a hole 3mm dia you cannot change it to 3.5mm dia. To do that you need the design in the CAD native format, whatever that is.

So it is funny that the injection mould designer in the 1990s only gave us IGES. We have to go back to him for any real changes (he's long gone of course).

Can a CNC shop make a part from IGES? I've been reading on Fusion and the free version disables tool changes, to prevent it being used by CNC shops. Does this mean that the CNC shop, forced to use IGES, needs to process the IGES data with some program to determine which cutters to use for which parts? BTW I have a turret mill and a lathe (DRO but not CNC/servos) so I know how "engineering" works

If the above is right then disabling tool change in the free version would have no effect on NC shops using it.

I also note that IGES is probably OK for 3D printing, or does the free version have some way to drive a 3D printer directly? I don't have a 3D printer and really just need aluminium CNC machining. But I know people with printers...

What is the best format for going from the full version to the free version? Presumably some native format.

The free version, installed this morning, says I have 30 days left. What does this actually mean?

Thank you all for any input.

[langwadt]

disabled tool changes is only something the affect making an actual CAM program, so unless you are going to make the part yourself on your own machine it doesn't matter

the step file is just the part it doesn't have anything to do with setup and tool changes, the shop figures out how to make the part when they make the CAM

[peter-h]

OK so I need the .f3d file to do anything. Can the free version edit this? Sounds like it can for 30 days only but it can view it without a time limit.

[langwadt]

OK so I need the .f3d file to do anything. Can the free version edit this? Sounds like it can for 30 days only but it can view it without a time limit.

yes the free version can edit/design/make parts the limitations are mostly things like not having more a few projects open and only cloud storage and some machining operations missing making things slower (which doesn't matter if you are not making the parts)

I don't know where got view only from, and I suspect the 30 days is that you get 30 days trial of the full version when you install it first time, after than you'll need to get paid or free license

[Doctorandus_P]

I did a quick check at:
https://www.pcbway.com/rapid-prototyping/manufacture/?reffercode=BA

And the file formats they support apparently are:
File size < 200 MB (3D CAD: *.step, *.stp, *.x_t , *.iges, *.igs, *.sldprt )

I'm not exactly sure, but I think that STEP files are more common and prefered these days compared with IGES.

I am also not surprised at all that the "free" version of any sort of software made by autodesk is barely useful and does not support any file format that could break out of their own walled garden.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but in these modern times, writing good software is not very high on the priority list of software companies anymroe. They use all sorts of enshitification to extract more money from customers while putting the least amount of effort into keeping their software "usable", and without too many customers walking away to their competitors.

[Psi]

Pretty sure you can export step in the free versions, but I could be wrong.

One thing to keep in mind for any software package when you want to output a special file type. There's usually a 'Save As' menu but also an 'Export' menu and they are totally different. 
Save is used to save all your work so you can continue later. Export is for generating output files that you might need for something but they don't contain all the data. (eg. step files are just surfaces, there's no texture data, sometimes no color data either)

The reason I'm mentioning this is because I've seen people conclude a software package doesnt support saving file type 'X' because it wasn't listed in the Save As options. 

[langwadt]

I did a quick check at:
https://www.pcbway.com/rapid-prototyping/manufacture/?reffercode=BA

And the file formats they support apparently are:
File size < 200 MB (3D CAD: *.step, *.stp, *.x_t , *.iges, *.igs, *.sldprt )

I'm not exactly sure, but I think that STEP files are more common and prefered these days compared with IGES.

I am also not surprised at all that the "free" version of any sort of software made by autodesk is barely useful and does not support any file format that could break out of their own walled garden.

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/changes-to-fusion-360-for-personal-use/

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but in these modern times, writing good software is not very high on the priority list of software companies anymroe. They use all sorts of enshitification to extract more money from customers while putting the least amount of effort into keeping their software "usable", and without too many customers walking away to their competitors.

yeh people paying for a product getting more than those who get it for free, what an odd concept /s

and if you are making stuff professionally <700$/yr for a tool like fusion is so cheap it might as well be free

[peter-h]

I don't normally do 3D design or manufacturing. Many years ago, paid some 30k to a design firm to design a load of injection mouldings and these are still running after 30 years! As I said, they gave us STEP or IGES files only. The injection firm has done mods to the tools but they just did it internally.

This project is a one-off. It is like a diecast box with a DB25 hole at one end. Someone offered to do the design for free but for some reason is taking ages (many months) to finish it, so I will try to retrieve it and if necessary find somebody on freelancer.com to finish it. Then I need a viewer, which the free Fusion will do for sure, and probably I should find a machine shop to make the CNC thing, hence I want to be sure the free version can do that. Otherwise the whole exercise is pointless because I don't have the time to learn Fusion from scratch.

I happily buy software I actually use but paying for the full version would be a waste of money in this situation.

According to google,  free personal use version of Fusion 360 allows you to export designs in a variety of formats including .f3d, .3mf, .ipt, .iam, .dwg, .dxf, .fbx, .igs, .iges, .obj, .sat, .skp, .stp, and .stl. You can also export sketches and flat patterns as .dxf files. The specific formats available for export depend on the context, such as exporting from a sketch or flat pattern.

[peter-h]

What is not clear to me is whether Fusion 360 for personal use" is just the download trial version which has expired.

[tszaboo]

Just ask for drawings for the CNC, and not 3D models.
Or have it exported to STEP files, that's the most universal 3D format.

[jc101]

What is not clear to me is whether Fusion 360 for personal use" is just the download trial version which has expired.

The personal free version is described here: https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/personal

I think you may need to create an account, not linked to a company e-mail address, then apply for the personal use licence. Or just buy a months access as and when you need it and use it as a business.

[peter-h]

Just ask for drawings for the CNC, and not 3D models.
Or have it exported to STEP files, that's the most universal 3D format.

I have asked for the .f3d file.

Or have it exported to STEP files, that's the most universal 3D format.

Is that object-editable? I don't think so. Like IGES, it seems to be the low level shape data, which CNC shops can then process with some other software to work out how to machine the part, using various tool sizes etc.

The personal free version is described here: https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/personal
I think you may need to create an account, not linked to a company e-mail address, then apply for the personal use licence. Or just buy a months access as and when you need it and use it as a business.

OK. That downloads Fusion Client Downloader.exe 13429 bytes which downloads the exact same program every time, which is Fusion with a 30 day expiry. Under Help/About I see

2603.1.15 Active Plan (Trial)

[jc101]

I suspect you will need to contact them to request a personal licence.

[peter-h]

OK I will see what this one does in 30 days' time

It's a weird program. Keeps asking me to enter auth codes sent by email. Just now it popped up a QR code for use with a phone app. All I did was to try to sign in, when I could not find any samples to open/edit.

[tszaboo]

Just ask for drawings for the CNC, and not 3D models.
Or have it exported to STEP files, that's the most universal 3D format.

I have asked for the .f3d file.

Or have it exported to STEP files, that's the most universal 3D format.

Is that object-editable? I don't think so. Like IGES, it seems to be the low level shape data, which CNC shops can then process with some other software to work out how to machine the part, using various tool sizes etc.

The personal free version is described here: https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/personal
I think you may need to create an account, not linked to a company e-mail address, then apply for the personal use licence. Or just buy a months access as and when you need it and use it as a business.

OK. That downloads Fusion Client Downloader.exe 13429 bytes which downloads the exact same program every time, which is Fusion with a 30 day expiry. Under Help/About I see

2603.1.15 Active Plan (Trial)

Every machine shop always will go sometimes in this order:
The data file isn't good
But if you send it in the good format, we cannot use it anyway
Hurr durr, the engineer doesn't know what he is doing.
This feature cannot be machined, we don't have a 12 axis CNC. What, just use a different machine? That sounds like work.
It's going to be 1570 EUR, plus setup costs.

I'm convinced that paperclips and nails are impossible to make after talking to these people. They are somehow leftovers from an alien civilization.

[langwadt]

Just ask for drawings for the CNC, and not 3D models.
Or have it exported to STEP files, that's the most universal 3D format.

I have asked for the .f3d file.

Or have it exported to STEP files, that's the most universal 3D format.

Is that object-editable? I don't think so. Like IGES, it seems to be the low level shape data, which CNC shops can then process with some other software to work out how to machine the part, using various tool sizes etc.

The personal free version is described here: https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/personal
I think you may need to create an account, not linked to a company e-mail address, then apply for the personal use licence. Or just buy a months access as and when you need it and use it as a business.

OK. That downloads Fusion Client Downloader.exe 13429 bytes which downloads the exact same program every time, which is Fusion with a 30 day expiry. Under Help/About I see

2603.1.15 Active Plan (Trial)

Every machine shop always will go sometimes in this order:
The data file isn't good
But if you send it in the good format, we cannot use it anyway
Hurr durr, the engineer doesn't know what he is doing.
This feature cannot be machined, we don't have a 12 axis CNC. What, just use a different machine? That sounds like work.
It's going to be 1570 EUR, plus setup costs.

I'm convinced that paperclips and nails are impossible to make after talking to these people. They are somehow leftovers from an alien civilization.

tried some of the Chinese online services where you just upload a step file, choose material, and get an instant quote?

[peter-h]

Can anyone recommend a good Chinese CNC shop for 3 axis work? By 3 axis I mean a box with holes in the side of it. It has no undercuts (i.e. it could be injection moulded, without a side action tool, if one added draft) except it does have a recessed DB25 connector in the side.

Paperclips and nails are made by very clever machines. There are videos out there. Same with springs of all kinds of weird shapes.

I've just read somewhere that Fusion keeps your design on their server, not on your PC. Is that really true??

[jc101]

I've just read somewhere that Fusion keeps your design on their server, not on your PC. Is that really true??

Kind of. Files are kept in your Autodesk account, but you can download to a local cache and work off-line too. You can export the Fusion file as a local backup, or if you don't continue the sub and the cloud files get deleted (I presume that do, eventually).

[peter-h]

I think the "cloud" feature stops when the 30 days expire.