Fusion 360 Roadmap - First half 2015

[schneik-adsk]

[edited May 18, 2015 to reflect changes to May updates and client update moving to June.  Post June roadmap updates comming soon.]

[edited May 12, 2015 to reflect changes to Ultimate capability moving to Fusion 360 and preview of CAM waterjet in May update and new mobile app release]

[edited April 17, 2015 to reflect May Date and Contents. Added additional links to resources and topics. Moved change-log to top of page]

[edited Feb 13, 2015 to reflect new Drawings enhancements for April release]

[edited Jan 7, 2015 to reflect move of December date to Jan  and Feb/April release contents]

[edited Feb 6, 2015 to reflect move of Feb date to 28th and April release contents]

[edited Nov 12, 2014 to add measure improvements and keyboard shortcuts in December update ]

Part of our planning is talking with you and others like you every day. We are designers, manufacturers and makers ourselves. As we learn what you like, don’t like and need from Fusion 360 it helps us to be focused on the three pervasive problems we are trying to solve.

Explore and iterate on product ideas quickly from concept to production

• Explore aesthetically pleasing designs faster
• Avoid loss of digital data from concept to production
• Integrate concept, mechanical and electro-mechanical 

Enable project teams and stakeholders to collaborate effectively in the product development process

• Assemble and manage virtual project teams without overhead
• Easily manage, access and share data from anywhere, anytime

Reduce the barrier to entry for a new generation of designers and engineers

• Reduce cognitive overload and learning curve
• Support for Mac
• Approachable

These help guide us as we work through the idea station and all the other sources of great ideas for Fusion 360.  Here are the details on what is coming in December, January, February March, and April June.

January 15th

Complete What's New here: http://help.autodesk.com/cloudhelp/ENU/Fusion-WhatsNew/files/GUID-8334824C...

• Measure improvements
• Phase 2 of sketch Improvements following up on our Nov 15th update
• Support Spark Printer software ecosystem
• Support Autodesk Ember Printer
• Additional drawing view types
• Drawing title block improvements
• CAM tool library parity between Window and Mac
• IDF Import

March 14th

Complete What's New here: http://help.autodesk.com/cloudhelp/ENU/Fusion-WhatsNew/files/GUID-8334824C...

• New data service Infrastructure. This lays the groundwork for many new features that improved performance, reliability and new capability in managing data.
• Content libraries that contain read-only fasteners and other common components
• Improved data transfer infrastructure (should see improvements in reliability)
• Drawings support Parts List and Balloons
• Improved upload
• Improved rendering to cloud
• UI Consistency improvements
• Sketch performance and phase 3 of continued sketch enchantments
• CAM tool library parity between Window and Mac
• API Add-ins

May 12th

Improved Autodesk 360 IOS ( Now called Fusion 360 ) App supports commenting and viewing of Fusion items (3D and 2D) iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fusion-360/id991074843?mt=8

May 30th 

Changes this May will be only be to the web and server side capabilities.

• Fixed for issues customers were having with Email changes preventing access to their hubs
• Syncing Profiles
• Updated web viewer with rendering improvements
• New Comments cabailities ( Fusion designs support latent until client update June 20th)
• Backend changes in preperation for Fusion's June update to suport distibuted designs
• Minor Bug fixes

June 20th

Just some of the improvements coming in the June update:

• Commands remember last value
• Distributed Designs aka X-refs to create designs that reference other designs and manage the versions as those designs change.  Details: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-product-roadmap/distributed-design-in-fusion-360/b...
• Appearances service to make aquiring new appearances easier in Fusion 360

• Move and copy items from side pane

• 3D Print supports Spark Print Studio Application, part of the new Autodesk Spark 3D Print Initiatives

• Create driven sketch dimensions

• Sketch robustness improvements
• Timeline support for patch Unstitch
• Timeline support for patch reverse normal
• CAM patterns
• CAM browser improvements
• CAM "Preview"  for 2D watejet/laser toolpaths

• Drawing Detail Views

• Drawing Preferences improvements

• Create New Drawing dialog

• Drawing Navigation Bar improvements and gesture support

• Drawing Section View Hatch customization

• Drawing Dimension Tolerancing
• Drawing Baseline and Chain Dimensions

In addition to the capabilities above we have several big projects underway which don’t fit nicely in 6 week cycles so their exact timing is still work in progress. Our goal is to have most if not all as production software or tech preview by mid year.

• Synchronous design review to allow multiple people to review a design in a shared session
• Design branching for CAD! This allows branch and merge of your designs and projects. It will enable design variations and even better multi-user editing workflows. Details: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-product-roadmap/the-future-of-collaboration-in-fus...
• System defined keyboard shortcuts
• API Script Record
• Drawings support exploded views
• Mesh Modeling targeted at clean up and repair of imported meshes
• 3D print tools for pallet management, print readiness analysis and support generation
• FEA Multi-body statics and thermal simulation. Details: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-product-roadmap/simulation-for-fusion-360/ba-p/55...
• Sheetmetal
• Mill turn
• Joint support in Animations 

Further out projects:

• 5 Axis ( Fusion 360 Ultimate only)
• DFM allows for thin wall plastic part checking. It can identify weld lines and surface finish problems among other issues. 
• S4D (simulation for designers)
• Integrated 2D and 3D paint

This is not complete. With each update we learn more from you and adjust our plans by adding or updating projects. Obviously some of this will change but with the interest in roadmap we knew people would enjoy seeing what's coming. Let us know what you think.

Roadmaps are plans, not promises. We're as excited as you to see new functionality make it into the products, but the development, release, and timing of any features or functionality remains at our sole discretion.  These roadmaps should not be used to make purchasing decisions.

[macmanpb]

Thank you Kevin for this roadmap overview.

I am glad to be a little part of this big project. 

Many thanks to the team that is working hard for filling our wishes. Thumbs up!! 

[tarjeik]

Lot's of great features coming! I'm missing a couple of items though:

• I'm a bit let down that the roadmap doesn't mention the single most requested feature from the IdeaStation. Configurable keyboard shortcuts would increase productivity by an order of magnitude and is a standard feature of just about all the software I use. Assuming you use the QAction class then adding configurable keyboard shortcuts shouldn't be too much work?
• What does the roadmap look like for the public API? I'm really looking forward to the Python API in the next release. A more fully featured API (and better UI integration - shameless plug) would give F360 users a great way to add missing features ourselves, as well as provide a way to prototype/mock up more ideas for the IdeaStation.

[charegb]

Hi tarjek,

Good catch, we are working on so many things that we missed the shortcuts in the blog post. We will support system configured keyboard short cuts in Dec and customizable onces in a future update after that.

In terms of the API, we have Python scripting comming out in Nov, along with support for basic data management like design open, save, save as, rename and delete. The big feature we are adding in Feb is support for Addins.

The goal is to have API support for every single aspect of the product and you will see more feature and envronment coverage coming in each release. Are there any specific areas that blocking you right now?

Thanks,

Bankim

Fusion 360 Product Manager

[tarjeik]

@charegb

Hooray! Thanks for the update. As I'm a hobbyist and not a professional user I wouldn't say anything is really blocking me, but off the top of my head I couldn't find a way to access the polygon sketching tools through the API when trying to create a script to add a honeycomb pattern to a face (not critical as hexagons are easy enough to draw from polar coordinates). My API experiments are on hold until the Python API lands as this is a language I'm very familiar with as opposed to JS.

Addins sounds interesting as well (also missing from the roadmap btw ;-)). Do you have any details on how Addins will differ from user scripts? (I assume they will both rely on the same API).

PS.

The title of this post reads "Fuson 360"... :-) 

[LibertyMachine]

Is there any realistic timeline for increasing the useability of a 3D mouse? I've got the 3Dconnexion Space Navigator and it's not quite working as intended. It starts off working ok, but I flip the model around and it gets confused, almost as if things are in reverse. If I re-orient the part, it comes out of it, but it seems to me that it is buggy. Also, I've got buttons on this mouse, and I can't bind what I want to them (in my case, one button would zoom out to the ISO view, the other would be for CTRL or some other function)

[schneik-adsk]

gearsoup;

How recent a model is the spacenavigator? What driver are you running and is is OS X or Windows?

I have a 3D connexion device and have not seen these issues. Any other details you can share that might help us reproduce the problem?

[O.Tan]

I'm using the SpacePilotPro and I find it to work a lil finicky with Fusion, with the model tend to freeze when I use the 3D mouse to rotate/move/zoom the model and that for the Mac App Store version of F360, it appears the sandbox broke the mouse link to the app. Odd thing is I can see F360 appear in the mouse LCD, but moving the mouse doesn't affect the model in any way.

Another thing I would wish is the ability to assign F360 commands to the buttons available on my 3DConnexion device 

[LibertyMachine]

schneik;

I just got the mouse a month ago. I did download the latest software from the 3Dconnexion website, perhaps I should just try the software that comes with the "mouse".

I'm running Win7 Pro

At work, I program in Esprit and design in Solidworks. Same mouse (actually, it's a year old now) and everything is smooth, I can flip parts around, move things off screen and back, and no issues at all.

At my home workshop PC, I've had to crank the sensitivity almost all the way down and as mentioned previously, at some point in it's movement, controls end up getting......swapped, for lack of a better term. What would be rolling along the Y axis is reversed with turning around the Z axis. If I reset the view with the little house icon (please, for the love of all things holy, let us bind that to a hotkey) it works fine after that. I also found that opening up the 3d mouse setting page also resolves it.

Dunno, perhaps the problem is in the mouse?

[schneik-adsk]

gearsoup,

I'm assuming is us not you 🙂

I'll ask a few more people if they know or have seen a problem like this. Thanks for your patience.

[scottmoyse]

I back Gearsoup's experience with the 3D mouse. I have the latest drivers and both models of SpaceMouse hardware.

I love that you are sharing the roadmap like this! All Autodesk products should do this, so it can be debated and thrashed out with the userbase ahead of time. 

[quaverf]

It is nice to see a road map but I would suggest that the first milestone should be achieve operational stability with the currently released version of Ultimate. I and many other users have had a poor experience with Ultimate since its release.  In my opinion the package was not ready for release.  I experience multiple crashes per week, close to a 30% rate. When it doesn't crash there are several functional issues within the normal environment. Rapid evolution is nice, stability is far better.

[ningman]

I agree with the last post.  I've been a user of mainstream CAD for over 20 years, and I've learned to never upgrade to the next year's release until the last service pack is out, meaning I'm always a year behind on my CAD version, but way ahead in terms of productivity.  Stability is worth way, way more to me than getting the latest "bells-and-whistles" right now.  This issue must create a lot of tension for the Fusion 360 team, because there is so much excitement and anticipation among the user community who are waiting to see just what F360 will look like "when it grows up", so you're naturally working very hard to beat the clock.  However, I would urge caution against trying to deliver feature enhancements too fast at the expence of a stable, reliable user experience.  If you tell me up front that I'll have to wait a year to get that extra capability I think you should already have, I'll probably be patient and just wait until it arrives; on the other hand, if the software I paid for (no matter how good a deal it is) crashes 10% of the time or more, I'll drop it fast and move on to something else.

[yoshimitsuspeed]

I am glad you guys setup a roadmap but it's december 30th and I still can't find an actual release date for the December update.
The whole point of a roadmap is to give estimated (fairly accurate) release dates that are updated regularly.

[schneik-adsk]

yoshimitsuspeed,

We are looking at a mid Jan right now.  The delay is pending us reviewing the quality of a big project.

I'll update this post with dates middle of next week, once we have locked them down.

Cheers,

[bverboort]

Really looking forward to April!!!

Best,

Brian

[cekuhnen]

What about the surfacing and sketch engine short commings?

I would be great to list those in the road map as well.

Fusion has most of the modeling tools but I feel few quite important features are missing.

Here is a short list:

Solid edge fillet G2 has not G1/G2 scale

Loft G1/G2 deforms inflates the surface

Loft rails cannot offer G1/G2 flow

Patch G1/G2 tool drapes and is not comparable to Alias square tool or Rhino Curve network

Sketch engine has no blend curve

Sketch engine has no draw tangent perpendicular line to one or between two curves

Sketch engine smooth constraint hides curvature handle

So for us product designers I think a special focus on the surfacing sketching toolbox would be important.

A mature and featrue rich modeling system for me is more important than other features because without being able to build the surface I want the other awesome things about Fusion 360 are less usable because the model creating can be the bottleneck.

[hansvaneven]

I really love Fusion 360, while had a hard start in the beginning I'm really liking what I can do with it, so congrats!

• However I'd like to see better render and more render options especially on the material and environment side, right now it's a little bit basic to work with. 

• Also would like to be able to export with materials to a good 3rd party render.

thanks,

Hans

[casperhofstede]

@hansvanevenhave you checked out the plugin/combination with KeyShot? Its works seamlessly with design updates and exporting. Mind you Keyshot is very expensive for the average hobby user. Link: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/design-differently/fusion-360-keyshot-made-for-each-other/ba-p/4497199

[hansvaneven]

Hi Casper, yes I checked out the Keyshot plugin, but it was a pain to install and it crashes Fusion 360 when you enable the plugin, also it's a little expensive. Thanks to a forum member I found out about SimLab which works very well, but now I still have an issue to get the models smoother, especially the cordilar forms come out a little jagged, if Simlab could support F360 format then I would be in heaven 🙂 thanks

[timdrink01]

Mid year is approaching quickly.  How are the larger projects progressing? Any updates? I'm eagerly awaiting sheetmetal.

[daniel_lyall]

road map needs update to reflect changes made

[skrubol]

Is this going to be updated post June update, or is there a new thread on updates for the second half of the year?

[HuubSlingerDesign]

Sheetmetal, please... 

[laughingcreek]

Is there an updated road map?

[skrubol]

Roadmaps are here:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-product-roadmap/bg-p/79

Should be at the top of this page as well.