Best file format to import

[nkloski]

Hi all.....I am going to have a contractor make some designs for me, and I desire to share them later on with Fusion 360.  The contractor does not use Fusion 360, but can use other Qutodesk products, Solidworks, etc.......does anyone know what the best file format would be to later import seamlessly into Fusion 360?  I am looking basically for the easiest conversion from some other program to Fusion 360.  And, I have a number of contractors to choose from, so if one software package is better than the others, I will use a specific contractor familiar with that specific software package for this specific project.  Thanks!

(P.S. - none of the contractors I currently work with have access to Inventor, so that one is out 🙂

[AndrewSears]

A lot of formats are acceptable for import into Fusion.  We understand that our customers will work with many other companies using different CAD packages so the goal is to give customers as much flexibility as possible for importing designs.  We really don't have a best one because all of them work. 

Are you getting some models that are not importing correctly?  

FYI - In case you did not know, here is a screen shot of what file formats are allowed for import allowing you to design with/around.

Let me know if you need more info.

Thanks,

Andy 

[nkloski]

Thanks!  Great to know!  Just want to tell my designer to choose the best format for him and for importing before I pay them to use a format that is not supported easily...thanks!

[AndrewSears]

Sounds good.  If you get any data that is not translating correctly or some file formats you want for import are not available please let us know.

Thanks,

Andy 

[autodesk]

Importing stl files doesn't work very well currently for me, so I would steer clear of that one.

[jakefowler]

What problems were you encountering with STL imports? The primary limitation of imported STL data is that, since STL files only hold mesh body data, the model will be imported as one or more mesh bodies. Our toolset for manipulating mesh bodies is somewhat limited at the moment (this is something we're working on though!), so generally it's best to do some work in Fusion 360 to convert the mesh bodies to T-Splines or BReps, which can then be manipulated with a fuller range of tools. Let us know if you need any help or advice with this.

For general translation of solid model data from other CAD packages: in cases where the files saved from the source software can't be opened directly by Fusion 360, I would recommend using STEP (.step/.stp). IGES (.iges/.igs) is also a popular 'neutral' translation format, but some standards of IGES do not maintain all face-edge relationships from the original model, which could result in the model coming in as a set of disconnected surfaces. STEP generally does a very good job of maintaining model fidelity.

Hope this helps!

Jake

[schneik-adsk]

I would ask for STEP203 Data. You can import this just about anywhere, including Fusion 360. Any good 3D CAD tool can write it out. This then lets your contractors use whatever is fastest for them. With contractors, faster usually = less money.

If it were me I would also ask for the original CAD data to to archive. 

[marklusk82]

I have a Fusion 360, I had a designer make a CAM file .nc extension. He used Autocad and exported it as the .nc file.

The issue we have, is in conjunction with Fusion we use a CNC machine called Boxzy. Apparently, the .nc file from Autodesk is in the wrong format, exported from Fusion would be in the correct format. I am not sure why there is a difference, but what I would like to do is import the .nc file to Fusion, and then export the .nc file so that its in the correct format.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks.

[flowertops213910]

I am trying to import a file into fusion 360 as well but I can not seem to find a way to convert my 3D scan into a file type that fusion 360 can read. I can create the file as a GIF, OBJ, STL, X3D, PLY. I can convert them by using the function "save as" or "export as" in adobe illustrator, or photoshop but I havnt found a file type there

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@AndrewSearswrote:

A lot of formats are acceptable for import into Fusion.  We understand that our customers will work with many other companies using different CAD packages so the goal is to give customers as much flexibility as possible for importing designs.  We really don't have a best one because all of them work. 

Are you getting some models that are not importing correctly?  

FYI - In case you did not know, here is a screen shot of what file formats are allowed for import allowing you to design with/around.

Let me know if you need more info.

Thanks,

Andy 

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that fusion 360 will open yet

[nkloski]

Wow, this was an old post of mine (from 2014) that was resurrected, long time no see!  🙂

You can import OBJ and STL from the Insert --> Insert Mesh menu.