topic Fusion 360, STL file, open & Insert Mesh in Fusion Support Forum

Fusion 360, STL file, open & Insert Mesh

downy06 — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 06:03:48 GMT

I would like to know the difference between opening an STL file using Open in fusion 360 and opening it using Insert Mesh and the difference in algorithm.

Re: Fusion 360, STL file, open & Insert Mesh

TheCADWhisperer — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 12:00:14 GMT

Open is simplified technique - assumes no units assignment or change in position. Opens as is.

Insert provides additional options like specifying units (scaling) and positioning.

Full disclosure: I figured this out only by observation. I have no knowledge of the algorithms. Once opened (or inserted) stl is stl. Faceted planar triangular mesh. No curves. None. Well technically in mathematics a line is a special curve - lots of lines.

Re: Fusion 360, STL file, open & Insert Mesh

jeff_strater — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 15:02:48 GMT

There is no "algorithm" at all to either of these. They both just read in the mesh as specified in the STL file. The main two differences with Insert are:

you can specify the units. STL is a unitless format, so you have to tell Fusion how to interpret the coordinates
as its name implies, you can insert a mesh into an existing design that already has stuff in it. Open will create a new design that just has the mesh in it.