Associate sketches with a component created from body

[nick.prsha]

It would be nice if when you made a body a component it would retain its associativity with the sketches that made that body.  I find the whole component/body difference minor and clunky to use.  Another solution would be to make it easier to drag sketches into a components folder.  I often find that a body or component I create in one assembly would be great to use in another assembly, but you cant save a body out to the projects folders and if you create a component from a body it makes it a dumb solid with no retained information.  Direct modeling could fix this but I personally do not like direct modeling at all except in the sculpt mode.

[daniel_lyall]

if you start with a component in the first place it fixes this problem. it is not best practise to just do a sketch then do a body then create components from bodes it disjoints it, ADSK need to remove the ablity to do a sketch out side of a component unless it's in DM mode

[nick.prsha]

You're right and that is generally what I aim for but even if you create a component from a sketch it still does not associate the creation sketch with the component.

[roambotics_scott]

I like the idea of doing this automagically - that'd almost never be the wrong thing and it'd keep the sketches folder(s) from looking like mine

[daniel_lyall]

@roambotics_scott that's ugly that's why I always start a component first or many then it's easy to hide them.

@nick.prsha if you start a component first then activate it, then do your sketch, your sketch is in the components folder then if you make a body's from that sketch then the body's are in the same folder, then you don't need to make components from those bodies, they are in a component. this also make it easier to copy and past new, it keeps it together, also if you copy a component into a new sketch it brings it's parameters in with it, then if you need to make changes to the imported component you do it where it came from, then you just update it or break the link and change the parameters in the sketch.

but if ADSK change fusion so when you start a new design it has a component ready to go when you are in time line mode it would save a lot of problems.

it's not need in DM mode

I have been doing it like this for quiet sometime and it works very well, just doing a sketch then bodys then components from bodys is a giant pain in the rear as it can become disjointed, then you have to start again

[roambotics_scott]

This time was actually me using components and activating them, @daniel_lyall. If I hadn't, there'd be hundreds at the same level

[nick.prsha]

Yes @daniel_lyall I understand how to create an effective workflow with components, what I am saying is that it is not a very intuitive workflow nor is it easy to fix if you go down the wrong road or have a model you never intended to use in this way.

[nick.prsha]

This isnt a forum post on how to use components its a request to change the way they are used

[roambotics_scott]

Not only that but [as I learned recently while trying to do the unintuitive component selecting], if the thing crashes and you reopen it, it forgets whatever component you activated and activates the global level so if you're not careful, you still end up with a bunch of them at the top level anyway [and no good way to clean up without wrecking havoc on the timeline]

[roambotics_scott]

This isnt a forum post on how to use components its a request to change the way they are used

That /\ to the 10¹⁰²⁴

[daniel_lyall]

well have fun

[roambotics_scott]

That's not a personal attack, @daniel_lyall. It's just irritating / borderline insulting when someone suggests an improvement and you come back with a work-around 🙂

[daniel_lyall]

@roambotics_scott that may be so but it is not a work around it's a way that a lot of other user's do it and it works and it does not fail how do you think I found out how to do it and a lot of what OP wants can be done as long as all the parts are together for the give sketch or body other wise it will fail you cant take a sketch for 3 body and move it into a component without moving all the parts that go with the sketch.

I learn from the EXPERT user's and staff and some of them are like you from the start of fusion and 20 plus years, if someone shows me how to do something that does not fail and works as it should 95% of the time I will do that and say to other users about it, even if it was from you why experience.

[roambotics_scott]

It may be the way lots of users do it but it's still a kludge.

Nick said he knows how to do it that way. I know how to do it that way.. but it's unintuitive and unnatural to manually activate components. I had to force myself to do it and even when I did that carefully, I ended up contaminating the global level of sketches. Nick proposed a simple way to clean things up. Can't it just be that ?

It's great that you can still get things done but why is it so wrong to want to make the program better ?

It's like you like carefully dancing through the yard full of rakes and when someone steps on one that smacks them in the head and says «maybe you guys should pick up those rakes», you're telling them «just don't step on them».

Yeah you can avoid them but why not pick the rakes up ?

It's worth it if only so the next person who visits doesn't get (predictably) smacked in the head.

[nick.prsha]

@daniel_lyall my main point is that if you forget to create the component and then activate it before you start working on that part it becomes very difficult or causes you to undo your work and re do it.   In other CAD softwares fixing a mistake like this is easier.  Doing a bottom up workflow in Inventor, for example sake, it is very easy to place a component, start a sketch on that component or project geometry from another component and then make a body from that.  Once you have the body or bodies you can then create a component from them, which to me feels the more natural way to do things.  I as well have been on the forums, tutorials, ideastation, etc and have talked to other users and employees of Autodesk.  TBH, I know some of them personaly, it doesnt mean that it is the best way to do things.  Fusion has decided that it is trying to merge a lot of softwares into one.  One of the byporducts is the weird meld of part files and assemblies.  IMHO, it doesnt handle this as well as their other softwares or anyone elses.

[daniel_lyall]

@nick.prsha it may changes in a few years, at the moment yes some things are difficult to fix , but if its one sketch one body it should heal OK, 95% of the time it does you just drag and drop and redo the plane, ( or you dump all the bodys associated with that sketch in the same place) it will fail if there is one or more bodies associated with the sketch or the sketch is associated with a body where the sketch is, yes it  would be good if the sketch would just heal it self by bringing the sketch into the bodys component folder if it has other associations, but it does not. 

it may do this in the future but fusion is diffrent to other programs so what ever yes its a good idea but yea.

[HughesTooling]

I didn't read all the post but I have question, what do you want happen if you use the sketch to create more than one body.

Mark

[nick.prsha]

@HughesTooling In other softwares you can share a sketch to other components or bodies.  I would even be satisfied with a better way in the backend to move sketches from the global list to a local list or even to copy them to a local list.  My main discrepency is with the lack of detail that gets associated with a part once you make things components.

[HughesTooling]

One thing I've found is rather than use create component form body, first create an empty component drag and drop the sketch or sketches that make the body into the empty component, the body will be brought along automatically. It doesn't work every time but it usually works on those occasions when you've started a new design and made the first body then thought oh no forgot to start in a component.

Mark

Edit it seems to work if you just grab the first sketch associated with the body.

[nick.prsha]

@HughesTooling Yeah we have discussed this in the rest of this thread.  I know how to do it, I do not find it natural and coming from Inventor find it very annoying.  I know how to fix it too, I would just like it to work differently hence why I am asking for a feature change and not posting fotr advice in the forum.  Thanks for weighing though.

[roambotics_scott]

One thing I've found is rather than use create component form body, first create an empty component drag and drop the sketch or sketches that make the body into the empty component, the body will be brought along automatically. It doesn't work every time but it usually works on those occasions when you've started a new design and made the first body then thought oh no forgot to start in a component.

It's true - you can do all of this.. but (a) that's not going to be obvious or intuitive to a new user and (b) it adds unnecessary busy / clarical work.

A design tool should let the user focus on design and take care of as much bookkeeping as possible itself.