Change "Operation" default to be "New Component"

[davidcuesta76]

Change Operation default to be "New Component"

(it is not letting me post to idea station.)

If you read any expert advice about Fusion, they all suggest to create components instead of bodies. 

Please change the default Operation command to be "New Component".

An even better thing would be if it remembered your last selections. Right now I am going through 30 objects that all have to be extruded one by one due (to the nature of the model they can't be patterned) , and I am literally having to change all the dialog box to "offset plane" and then ........ "New component" everytime, after the 10th time I am like PLEASE make it stop.

The "offset path" is unique to the model I am doing now, but the "new component" thing I literally have to change it like 100's of times a month.

This is not a new request, several other people have noted it in other feature requests but they did not get enough votes or were nested in other requests or I think possibly not explained properly. Here goes again, please vote.

Maybe some people like creating bodies, but as soon as you start using fusion a lot you realise that the only sensible way to create things is to make them separate components. Therefore it just makes sense that "New Component" should be default.

[Phil.E]

Thanks for the idea.

Just to be clear, Rule #1 is intended for a different workflow than what you are doing. It is intended to create a component first, and then add things like sketches and bodies into it. In your case, you have already made a sketch and a bunch of other parametric information, so Rule #1 is not applicable to this situation. 

What you ask for will cause a separate problem. In your case, the sketch is owned by the root component. When you click "new component" for each extrude, you are creating a component that doesn't own a sketch. If you move those components, they will move away from the sketch that created them. They cannot be exported with that sketch being in the file.

Have you tried this instead?

1. Create a new component.
2. It becomes active by default.
3. Create the extrude using default "body" option. 
4. Result: a new component with a body in it.

Or this?

1. Create a bunch of bodies using your workflow.
2. Convert them to components later, all at once.
3. The result will be pretty much what you are doing right now. The sketch remains at the root, and the bodies are all inside separate components. Only when you do it this way, you don't have to change the dialog setting that is bothering you at all.

Thanks,

[davidcuesta76]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for your response. Thoughtful, very thoughtful.....

The only thing is I have been modeling this way for several years now and never really had an issue with the sketch being in the master component and not in the nested component because of the type of work I do. I don't actually use "components" strictly as you would a traditional "component." It's not like I am creating a component like a screw or a car part that then gets inserted into different models.

The only reason to use components in my setting is to be able to better organise the different parts of a model. If you leave them as bodies then it quickly becomes a mess.

Even when I nest the components into another grouped component later and edit the sketch which remains in the master component, the linked components change. If I really needed to copy the sketch along with it I could copy the sketch in later on. 

Surely the "New Component" in the extrude (or any other create new feature) is there for a reason.  If it was a bad way of working why would it be put there. I have seen lots of people all use that feature every time they make something.

Workflow kind of comes down to personal preference, maybe that is why having Fusion remember last settings, or being able to change the default is a good way to go.

From your suggestion creating the components first seems to be adding an extra step. From a workflow point of view the quickest, most intuitive way of working seems to be click on something extrude it.

I will give you ideas some thought, but as I say if you look through forums you will find people asking for the same thing. 

Also if you look through videos and tutorials, a lot of people even Autodesk staff are like....... draw a sketch, click on a part, extrude it, (p.s. make sure you click "new component")

The other thing this makes me think about, is maybe that there needs to be "something" that is not a component or a body? Like an "object" or something that is default instead of bodies. 

I know that starts becoming like breaking the basic functionality of Fusion and starting from scratch, but I tell you.... the philosophy of components in Fusion took me months to get my head around. I'm cool now but when I first start using it I was like what?????

Component vs Body? Vs Assembly? WHat?

As mentioned really now I never use bodies in the main component any more and I think you'll find most people don't after they use it for a while. So any way.....

Thanks. Think about what I am suggesting you may find its not such a bad idea.

dc

Thanks again. Food for thought.

[Phil.E]

Thanks. I think you should just make and then convert your bodies to components all at once. There will be zero difference compared to the results of using workflow you are complaining about. That's a lot less clicking in the dialog box, far fewer steps.

Regarding your feedback: thanks again. Although I should mention that most parametric CAD systems use concepts of bodies and components. It's not just a Fusion thing. While we could make changes to enable your specific workflow (and others who ask for it), that will not happen any time soon. I'm giving you advice here not to argue with you or disagree with your thoughts, rather, I'm here to give you advice about using Fusion today in ways that are not needlessly frustrating.

[davidcuesta76]

Thanks for your response.

Yeah I do get the idea of components, and it is pretty industry standard.

[mark.alan.good]

I really like this suggestion of making the default configurable or defaulting to the last choice.  I find myself constantly changing the Operation from Body to New Component.  Sometimes I forget, have to undo, and redo.  Creating a component from a body does not seem as clean on the timeline, and I have had problems with this operation when modifying history.

[plattes]

Thanks Phil,

When you combine components into assemblies then you get extra benefits like the ability to create joints and other options when creating drawings, etc. and that is why the initial request makes so much sense and that is why you have the option to extrude and make a component, right? So that you can create assemblies... and get the benefits these give you.

Also your solution involves one more step in the story line, making it longer than necessary.

As far as your comment that most parametric CAD systems use the concept of bodies and components, nobody is saying otherwise. As a matter of fact when you extrude into a component you are still getting a body inside that component, right? 

Thanks

[Phil.E]

Yes, so long as you don't mind that the component doesn't own the sketch that created it.

[plattes]

Thanks Phil for your reply.

That is where the concept of a subassembly comes in.

If you follow the following steps everything is contained in the subassembly and the sketch is within it.

1. create top component (i.e. TableTop)

2. create sketch (with component selected)

3. extrude sketch into component (i.e. Top) - this component will in turn include a body 

These 3 simple steps create the following tree of a sub-assembly with a top component that owns the sketch. It would look like this

TableTop (component subassembly)

sketch 

top (component)

top (body)

[Phil.E]

I'm glad that works for you. As you can see from the responses above, it sort of depends on what you are making as to what your workflow should be. Fusion is designed to support all of these workflow variants, allowing you to make your own unique designs. 

I'm not a UX designer, nor a decision maker about what should be default behavior. I can suggest that if we made Component the default operation that many people would argue that we had just destroyed their workflow. It's hard to please everyone with broad decisions about default behavior when the tool is flexible and the workflows myriad.

Have you considered sharing your input on our Fusion Insider portal?

[joshRHTVY]

Nobody is necessarily asking that component be made the default, just that each user could set their preference. You have made some really good suggestions but letting me choose to make components my default wouldn't destroy anyone else's workflow, they can choose their own default.  Letting us set our own defaults means you don't have to please everyone by choosing a default that everyone must live by. For my workflow, letting me choose setting component as default would be a HUGE timesaver and really doesn't seem like too difficult an improvement to make.

[Phil.E]

The original post stated "Please change the default Operation command to be "New Component", which was the basis for the above discussion.

I think what you want is a new preference. Have you considered joining the Fusion Insider portal to give suggestions directly to product development about this? Suggestions like this are always welcome, and the Insider portal is the best place for them.

[joshRHTVY]

Fair enough.