Fusion 360 won't import to Preform or Cura 2.5.0 (windows)

[priscillank2020]

When trying to import an object from fusion 360 to Preform, Preform will open but the object is not displayed. When importing from fusion to Cura, an object can be imported, but multiple objects can not. When I try to import the second object a new instance of Cura is opened.

[paul.clauss]

Hi @priscillank2020

Thanks for posting! I had a look into this with both Cura and Preform and was able to get this working, albeit with some caveats in Preform. I have shown my workflow in the screencast below - please let me know if this helps you work with these 3D printing utilities and Fusion 360.

I did notice that, when importing to Preform, if I clicked through the initial import screen very quickly, the model would not be shown. If you wait a minute for Preform and allow the program to gain focus it did work for me. I also noticed that the model would sometimes not be shown in Preform if Fusion had to open Preform when exporting the STL file - but if Preform was already open the file could be sent over and shown properly.

Please let me know if you continue to experience difficulties or your workflow differs from mine - I am happy to continue troubleshooting!

[priscillank2020]

This workflow does work, however when the bodies are imported to Cura I can not format (rotate, lay flat, move) each body on it's own. When I try using the same process for each individual body instead of importing them all together, a new instance of Cura is still opened for each body.

[paul.clauss]

Hi @priscillank2020

Thanks for the response! As STL files do not segment bodies, it is expected that the two bodies will be moved together when the file is imported to Cura. To work around this, please ensure that the relative position of the two bodies is set up correctly in Fusion before exporting to Cura. You could even model the bed of the machine in Fusion as an assembly file to ensure that the bodies are positioned correctly relative to one another before export. This should allow you to work around the Cura limitation of being unable to include more than one design for 3D printing in a single instance of the program.

For greater control in your 3D printing utility, you may want to have a look at Autodesk Netfabb, which should allow you to insert multiple bodies as separate files into a single 3D printing setup. 

Hopefully this helps! Please let me know if you have any questions.

[priscillank2020]

Hi @paul.clauss

Thanks for that info! While I do understand that STL files don't segment bodies I was wondering if there was a way to fix the issue with Cura 2.5.0 not letting me import one body at a time into the same instance of Cura. I have done it this way many times on my Mac using Cura 2.3.1. In our protolab we have many students coming in to print using our software and it would be easier if we didn't have to model the Ultimaker bed in fusion for each student especially when some come with STL's created using other design software.

Thanks in advance,

Priscilla

[paul.clauss]

Hi @priscillank2020

Thanks for the response! As Cura is not an Autodesk software, I am unsure what may have changed between version 2.3.1 and 2.5.0 that is causing this issue. You may want to contact them about this to resolve the issue - they will be better at providing insight into any Ultimaker softwares. All Fusion does in this workflow is export the STL file and this process was not changed by the Cura update.

As an easier workaround than modeling the entire printer bed, you could easily sketch a rectangle representing the size of the printer bed in the file to position the parts.