topic Switching from Personal License to paid user - and back. in Fusion Support Forum

Switching from Personal License to paid user - and back.

saccade — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 11:28:18 GMT

Hi - I'm using Fusion 360 for a very complex personal project at the moment, and I'll likely need the additional capabilities (configurations, more than 10 editable projects) of the paid version. I don't mind paying for a subscription during the duration (perhaps 6-months to a year) of the large project.

My question is: is it possible to then switch back to a personal license when I'm finished with the large project? After I'm done with this large project, I will still need Fusion 360 for occasional use for small projects. Months may go by, however, without me using Fusion, and (no offense A'desk) I'd rather not be paying a subscription at that point.

Has anybody actually reverted from a paid to a personal subscription? What happens to all your projects, your custom materials library, etc.?

I'd really like to hear from someone who's actually discontinued their subscription but continued to use the project under the personal license.

Thanks!

Re: Switching from Personal License to paid user - and back.

saccade — Sat, 27 Jan 2024 22:10:08 GMT

Since nobody responded, I'll pass on what I learned after shelling out ~$400:

One of the main reasons I signed up was I was working on a large project where the new configuration feature looked really useful. This is only available in the paid version of Fusion 360.

I signed up and surprise! Configure wasn't in the tool bar. After digging around a bit, I discovered configurations are only available if you are set to a "Teams" account, not the "Personal" account you created before you subscribed. The only way I was able to access configurations for my existing projects was:

Log into the autodesk360.com web site (these steps happen there, not in the desktop app)
Create a new "Team" account with myself as the admin and sole member.
Go back to my personal account (click on your avatar top-right to switch between them).
Create a new project (a folder of F360 files) for the files you want to use with Configurations.
For each F360 file you want to use with configurations, copy it to this new project. (Roll the mouse over the file you want to copy, and look for the 'v' next to the version number. Click on this to get the menu with the Copy command).
Now go to the overview page for all your personal projects and roll the mouse over the new project full of files you want to configure. A 'v' icon for a drop-down menu appears at right. Click on this, and you'll see a "Transfer" option. Use this to transfer it to your new Teams Admin account. Make sure this completes, it may take a few minutes. These files will no longer be available in your personal account - that's why I suggest making copies.

Now, when you go back to the desktop Fusion 360 app, you'll see a pop-up menu at the top-left of the data panel. You can use this to switch from your "Single-user Storage" to your new Team account. When you open your project in the team, you'll see the configuration tools.

BUT - this appears to be a one-way street! There's no way (that I can see) to transfer a project back from the Teams account to single-user storage. Since Team accounts are only a feature of the paid version, I suspect you'll lose access to that storage if your subscription lapses. So at a minimum you export copies to your Mac/PC, but I don't know if a Personal addition can successfully read a .f3d file with configuration settings. Anybody know?

Re: Switching from Personal License to paid user - and back.

jhackney1950 — Sat, 27 Jan 2024 22:41:19 GMT

Fusion 360 Configuration models are saved out as an F3Z file. Since it is an F3Z file, you have to upload it to a folder in the Cloud. I have a Personal License and even though I use a Team, for storage, this is the message I get when I try and upload a Configuration file to the Cloud. So the answer is NO, you cannot open a Configuration model using a Fusion 360 Personal License.

Re: Switching from Personal License to paid user - and back.

g-andresen — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 10:02:57 GMT

Hi,

Just for information:
In November 2022, it was pointed out that single user storage would end in spring 2023.
This has not yet happened.
But:
New licenses no longer include a single user option.

günther

Re: Switching from Personal License to paid user - and back.

saccade — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 10:05:15 GMT

Thanks for the confirmation. Poking around further, I notice the paid version's File > Export allows exporting a "Configured Design" as a .f3z file, or the "Active Configuration" as a regular .f3d. So I guess one route back from Paid/Teams to Personal is to export your favorite configurations as .f3d's in the desktop app, then import them back into your single-user storage.

Hmm, I wonder if a .f3z file is simply a Zip folder of (multiple?) .f3d data along with the configuration info.