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Equivalent of Loft in Inventor Fusion?

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Message 1 of 15
frankwu
2654 Views, 14 Replies

Equivalent of Loft in Inventor Fusion?

I am trying to create a shape (Image B) that perfectly fills the space between two rectangles on perpendicular planes (image A) in Inventor Fusion.

 

I know if I were using Inventor I could use Loft, but I can't figure out the equivalent in Inventor Fusion. 


I can do it crudely (image C) by 1. creating a plane between 2 parallel lines; 2. drawing a segmented LINE (Red box) on that plane; and 3. PATCHING the segmented line to make a facet.  Then repeat with other facets.

 

The problem, though, is that the LINE does not SNAP to the corner of one of the rectangles - so the corner of the new facet I'm creating isn't perfectly aligned to the corner of the existing rectangle (which has to fit with other shapes).  This creates sloppy geo.  If I could get a line to SNAP to a corner of a rectangle, I could use this workaround.

 

But... is there a simpler, easier, more accurate way to do this in Inventor Fusion?

 

(Also, I am using 443.1.0 (or so says the "About Inventor Fusion".)

 

Question XXX 2.jpg

 

Thanks for your help.

 

And my condolences to all other Yankees fans out there.

14 REPLIES 14
Message 2 of 15
schneik-adsk
in reply to: frankwu

Yes, this is not so fun today.  To address your current workflow problem (until we get loft) you can use project command in the sketch menu to project the points from one sketch to another, this then lets you precisely snap to them.

 

Thanks for your patience while we work on getting loft into a future update.

 

Kevin Schneider
Message 3 of 15
frankwu
in reply to: schneik-adsk

Thanks for your reply, Kevin.  I very much appreciate it.  I will try to use project command.  I did, however, figure out a workaround, which is to important the Inventor Fusion model into Inventor and then use the LINE tool to snap a line between points, and then use the PATCH tool to fill in the polygon.  So that worked.

 

I do want to report another weird crashy thing in Inventor Fusion.  There are two particular co-planar and adjacent rectangles and whenever I click on either one (to select it as a plane to define more rectangles), Inventor Fusion beachballs.  The beachball spins for 5 minutes until I force-quit and restart the program.  Repeat several times and it doesn't help.  Rebooting the computer (17-in MacBook) doesn't help.  Going back to an earlier version of the file doesn't help.  Sometimes clicking on other rectangles to select as a plane also causes crash.  Now avoiding those killer rectangles.  Oh well.  Workaround is obviously to build other rectangles elsewhere, but I thought I'd report it.

 

Overall, I have to say that Inventor Fusion is a joy to work with, and really easy.  I LOVE the fact that there is such a small number of menu options that it's easy enough to simply go through all the options and click on each one.  Hmmm... COMBINE? I've never used that before.  I wonder what it does - WOW!  It does exactly what you'd think it would do, and easy, too.  Thanks, Inventor Fusion. 

 

Years ago when I trying to learn Maya, I was completely overwhelmed with option anxiety and button overload.  I just couldn't remember where any of the commands were.  And I asked my wife Brianna if there was a simpler program wherein you could just do modeling (so there weren't all those pesky and confusing animation commands).  She said no, and I was sad.  But now there is, and everything's good again.

Message 4 of 15
Matt432
in reply to: schneik-adsk

Any idea when Loft will be joining us?!  

 

Thanks for your replies.

Message 5 of 15

Thought I'd bump this thread to see what the Loft function in IF for Mac is doing. This thread is more than a year old and there still seems to be no signs of one? unless I am too blind to see it?

 

Also, why are there no Polygon options in IF? I have to draw a hexagonal screw head line by line by hand. I don't understand. These are some of the most used tools.

 

Any replies would be very appreciated.

Message 6 of 15
Phil.E
in reply to: frankwu

Thanks for your feedback. These are currently limitations in Inventor Fusion for Mac.

 

Have you seen Fusion 360? It too runs on Mac and has many more features. Have a look!

 

Here are some links to videos and the user gallery.

 

http://fusion360.autodesk.com/resources

 

http://fusion360.autodesk.com/gallery

 

Thanks,

 

HP EliteBook 8560w Win 7
13" MacBook Pro, mid 2009 OS X 10.8.4
Portland, Oregon

 

 





Phil Eichmiller
Software Engineer
Quality Assurance
Autodesk, Inc.


Message 7 of 15
alex.becker
in reply to: schneik-adsk

So I may be a couple years too late to respond to this forum but it's now 2014 and I've yet to see a loft function in the Mac version of Inventor Fusion. I use Inventor because of school; of course my school is al windows based opperating systems, and my family is anti-pc. Is there something I am missing. I would expect it to be under the "solid" drop down. I would have also expected that this pronelm would have been resolved within the two years that this was originally answered. Any help would be great, because I have to constently use this program for homework.

 

Thanks

Message 8 of 15
Phil.E
in reply to: frankwu

Alex,

 

Have you considered using Fusion 360? I think you'll find the features you want there!

 

Thanks,





Phil Eichmiller
Software Engineer
Quality Assurance
Autodesk, Inc.


Message 9 of 15
jeffjvick
in reply to: Phil.E

Phil,

I just installed Fusion 360 on a mac and I do not see the loft feature under model -> create. Am I missing something?

Jeff
Message 10 of 15
Phil.E
in reply to: jeffjvick

 

Loft is not currently supported for history based modeling. 

 

When you start a new file, use Direct Modeling rather than Capture Design History.

loft is in here.png

 

If you have a design started and wish to convert it, you can right click on the top browser node and pick "do not capture design history". Parametric information will be discarded on this action.

 

Thanks!





Phil Eichmiller
Software Engineer
Quality Assurance
Autodesk, Inc.


Message 11 of 15
jeffjvick
in reply to: Phil.E

Phil,

Thanks for the quick response.

When in the Dashboard I click on Create -> Design but I do not see any
option to select Direct vs. Capture history. It only lets me add a name
and designate which project to share with. Where is this selection?

I was able to right click on the top browser node and turn off history
capture though and now I see the loft selection. Thanks!

As a side question, this is my first time using any CAD software. I'm
trying to design some parts to be 3d printed. I started with your 123D
Design product on the mac and it literally couldn't run for more then 2
mins without crashing so I switch to trying Fusion 360. This seems more
stable but has already crashed at least once losing about half of my work.
Are these products more stable on the Windows platform and I should just
use that?

Also, since I'm just getting started and have no idea what I'm doing I'm
trying to use http://fusion360.autodesk.com/resources for help but it
doesn't seem to be aimed at the beginner. The "Get Started" video for
example does not help you 'get started' at all and should really be titled
"Here's what you can do after you've used this program for a few weeks".
There are some decent videos sprinkled in the menus on the left but they
are haphazardly listed and don't build upon one another. Are there
step-by-step, sequential tutorials available somewhere that start from the
ground up? Most of these are created more as a showcase of the various
software features assuming you already know why you would need these
features.

Thanks,
Jeff
Message 12 of 15
Phil.E
in reply to: jeffjvick

Jeff,

 

Sorry, I forgot you need to change your preferences. This is done as shown below.

 

change to direct.png

 

For your stability issues, I need to ask a few questions if you don't mind.

What Mac do you have?

Version of OSX?

Your video card specs?

Do you use the trackpad?

 

If you crash please fill out the CER (crash error report) with as much detail as possible.

 

For learning, we are currently working on a more in-depth training page. If you like videos, there are lots of tips and tricks on our YouTube channel. For basic instructions you can try iGetit, however this is not an Autodesk site.

 

Also, this forum is for Inventor Fusion, so you can also check out (and drop us your joy, complaints, questions, and suggestions) on the Fusion 360 message board.

 

Hope that helps!

 





Phil Eichmiller
Software Engineer
Quality Assurance
Autodesk, Inc.


Message 13 of 15
jeffjvick
in reply to: Phil.E

Phil,

 

Thanks for showing me how to change this in the preferencs.  I'll post future Fusion 360 questions in the appropriate message board as well.

 

As for stability, I have:

MacBook Pro, 13-inch, Mid 2012

2.9 GHz Intel Core i7

16 GB 1600mhz ram

Intel HD Graphics 4000 with 512 MB ram

OSX 10.8.5

I was not using the trackpad, i have a wireless mouse.

 

Obviously there is no graphics card but I wasn't really doing anything complicated.

 

I will check out the youtube page and igetit.

 

Thanks,

Jeff

 

 

Message 14 of 15
Phil.E
in reply to: jeffjvick

 

Just to wrap up this thread:

 

Sounds like a great machine, and we have tested the graphics chipset you are using without any obvious problems found. 

 

Couple of suggestions that might help:

  • Try turning off some of the effects (look for the monitor icon in the center bottom tool bar). Turn off anti-aliasing and ambient occlusion if they are on.
  • Try turning off gesture based navigation, i.e. the trackpad controls. Restarting Fusion 360 for the setting to take effect.

turn off gestures.png

 

I'll forward this to support to see if they have any input on your stability. And please fill out the CER reports, that's the best way to track this kind of issue.





Phil Eichmiller
Software Engineer
Quality Assurance
Autodesk, Inc.


Message 15 of 15
Phil.E
in reply to: jeffjvick

 

Kudos to Nate in support, he reminded me of this page.

 

There are a couple of other things to try there. Good luck!

 

 





Phil Eichmiller
Software Engineer
Quality Assurance
Autodesk, Inc.


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