Set bottom face for 3D print

[odolyte]

You do not always 3D print a piece the way you build it !

So it would be cool to be able to choose the face that should be the bottom.

Better would be to choose the construction plane that should be the bottom and if there are angles <45° that the export to STL panel show options to directly build supports (meshmixer type 😉 )!

This would save us a lot of time.

In fact Fusion 360 SHOULD HAVE a 3D print mode (like sculpt, sketch or form...). It already has a CAM mode why not a 3D print mode ! 😉

Thanks !

[daniel_lyall]

just turn it around

and you use meshmaker for 3d printing so why add to fusion when that what meshmaker is for

[odolyte]

When you have complex models that needs to be split up before printing like i do i don't want to tear it apart in order to print it. I want to be able to keep it in place but also to print it the way it should.

If you know Meshmixer, building support for 3D models is not its purpose but it happens that it has a good support construction. The two functions that i would take from meshmixer is suports + Stability for models to stand straight up.

I thought that Fusion 360 wanted to make the bridge for makers, engeneers and designer to directly go from modeling to building (if not why the CAM mode ?). If so i think that letting 3D printing apart is a huge mistake.

Lots of us 3D print models, so yeah having a 3D printing mode in Fusion would save us (or at least i think a lot of us) a lot of time and would be exactly in the philosophy of Fusion 360 : 1 tool to make (almost) everything (i didn't say one tool to rule them all 😉 ). Bridging between Designers, Modelers, Engeneers, makers...

[daniel_lyall]

good come back I will except that 

[odolyte]

Thanks for supporting this Daniel !

[daniel_lyall]

3D printing is something I don't do and probably wont but your idea make sense fusion being a almost all and all program since I am getting use to using it since I can do cabinet making with it now it surpasses sketchup for me now 

[odolyte]

I agree. I really love Sketchup, but it really can't compare to Fusion 360. Fusion has a more difficult learning curve but has so much more to offer.

Now i nearly only use Fusion 360.

[roambotics_scott]

just turn it around

and you use meshmaker for 3d printing so why add to fusion when that what meshmaker is for

I know you changed your mind and am not trying to pick on you here but I'm sorry this is a lot like saying «if you don't want it to crash, don't try to split a body using a face as the tool». Sure.. it'll work, but it doesn't remotely address the problem.

Philosophically / for me, the IdeaStation is for talking about how things should work.

Yes - I can plug in a mouse and orbit without going to the view cube, but that's stupid and shouldn't be necessary (especially given that that used to work with a trackpad and for some reason was yanked).

There are work-arounds for lots of things, but this place shouldn't be focused on «if you want to work within what the program is now, do this» so much as «when a new user wants to do X, here is how it should work».

If we're just satisfied with the way things are and not focused on how they can be then there is no hope for improvement. 

I do not think they asked why they were dying, but why they had lived. When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!

[dismounts high horse]

Back on topic.. this would be huge.

If you have an FDM printer, getting the part orientation right is absolutely essential - and all it'd take is a little bit of metadata for each part to auto-translate and rotate the exported part with the proper orientation.

If you're going to Shapeways doing SLS and you don't get the orientation right, (purely hypothetical example: you have a drive gear with a planar surface cocked 5º) you can get an awful staircasing effect.

If you're getting something CNC milled then there is a prefered orientation, and if you're getting molded parts made, it's extremely useful to have the orientation right (if it's not then a perfectly drafted part can look unmanufacturable).

[roambotics_scott]

and you use meshmaker for 3d printing so why add to fusion when that what meshmaker is for

[colin.smith]

Thanks for your suggestion. There are a number of ways that a part can be oriented on a plaform and this idea is worth investigating.

With regards to a dedicated 3D Print workspace in Fusion360 - that work is underway right now and should be released in the second half of this year.

Colin

[odolyte]

Thanks Colin,

This is good news !

[Anonymous]

Hey Colin,

Just wanted to add that meshmixer supports haven't been adequate for when you need a truly flat overhang. Please look at Simplify3d's supports as they allow very accurate overhangs to be placed on top and they are extremely easy to remove.

Thank you

Luke

[odolyte]

@lukepighetti : true out of the box but simplify 3D consume a lot (really a lot) more filament for the supports than meshmixer. If you set the right parameters you can reach very flat surfaces with meshmixer too (slow bridging + little under-extrusion + high fan cooling). Simplify 3D is more "easy access" than meshmixer, more... surgical...i'd say...

[Anonymous]

Well, for some reason, on Yosemite I can't even change parameters to adjust the support structure! It just goes 'bonk bonk bonk' when I try to generate custom support geometry. 😞

I have had poor luck with the 'default' support strategy... either way, supports would be an awesome addition to fusion! (I draw them in by hand right now)

[odolyte]

@Anonymous : "either way, supports would be an awesome addition to fusion! (I draw them in by hand right now)" > completely agree but hopefully Autodesk is setting this right... Let's wait and see 😉 !

[cekuhnen]

Wow great news Colin!

[roambotics_scott]

Yeah even though we haven't been doing FDM in a long time, that's great to hear (and will very useful for any kind of prototyping / manufacturing if it's done right).

[jeff_r_latham]

I agree. 3D printing should be included in the CAM workspace. It can generate toolpaths for subtractive manufacturing, why not additive manufacturing as well? 

I know that Autodesk Print Studio is trying to fill this role; however, it does not have the ability to set several crucial/non-trivial/must-have settings for 3D printing (such as extruder temperature and telling the print head to lift off of the part before traveling). So as of right now, Autodesk Print Studio is a very pretty yet completely useless piece of software, which is sad because I want to use it.

So, Autodesk should focus on making Print Studio a functional application, but there's also no reason to not include additive manufacturing toolpath generation within Fusion 360 itself. This would take it to the next level!