🌸🗒️ Introducing Axalea Notes Add-in: Add notes in timeline and on objects

[axalea_thomas]

I'm working on an Fusion add-in for Windows called Axalea Notes. It lets one add notes to the model that show up in the timeline. I have just finished the core functionality and would like some feedback.

I'm eager to get feedback on the user experience. E.g. placement of menus and contents of dialogs are in a very loose state at the moment. I'm also interested in hearing about any bugs that pop up.

Anyone interested in taking it for a spin?

Features:

• Model Notes. Place notes on 3D objects and have them show up in the timeline.
• Sketch Notes. Place notes in the sketch editor.
• Unique note IDs. Unique note IDs are generated for each note in the document, making it possible to refer to them from documentation and other files.
• Snapshot file. A backup copy of the notes are saved in a text file in the design folder.

Current beta version:
https://axalea.se/downloads/AxaleaNotes-1.0.0-Windows.zip

Before the add-in is published in the Autodesk app store, it does not have an installer, so please "install" the zip file using this guide: https://axalea.se/addins.html

2024-12-27: The add-in is now submitted to Autodesk for review! Below is the previews of the product page and the help document page:

Product page preview (Download link does not work)

Help document preview

Screenshots

 

 

FAQ:

What about readers without the add-in?

A file named "<document name> - Notes Snapshot.txt" is automatically uploaded next to the design document when the document is saved, if notes have been added or updated.

Why do the notes don't have note icons in the timeline?

I would love to have note icons - and I even have a proof of concept - but that feature is still marked experimental by Autodesk and I don't want to risk people's notes by using an experimental feature.

Why does the beta version have trial limitations (text length and number of notes)?

The add-in is already fully functional and I plan to sell licenses, so I don't want to give it away for free.

I might give away some licenses to users that test the add-in thoroughly.

Does the add-in work with the built-in comments in Fusion?

Unfortunately no. The built-in comments in Fusion are not accessible by add-ins.

[tiktuk]

Hi,

Great idea! I have been missing something like this in Fusion for years. I would love to test it but unfortunately I don't run Windows.

Is it very platform specific or could you imagine a Mac version?

[axalea_thomas]

Hi, the overlay feature is platform-specific and would need a custom implementation for Mac, while the rest of the add-in is more generic. The biggest blocker for a Mac version of the basic features is that I don't have a Mac system, so I cannot build and do proper maintenance for a Mac version. Even if I could just get the add-in built for Mac without doing any testing, I could not sell it with a straight face.

I would love to publish my add-ins for Mac as well, but the cost is not worth it at the moment.

I estimate that 20% of the Fusion users use Mac, based on open source add-in download numbers.

[axalea_thomas]

Axalea Notes v. 0.0.5 just uploaded. Link in the original post.

New features:

* Sketch notes! Add markers in your sketches. Hover with the mouse or double-click to see the contents.

* Timeline Note has moved to CREATE and View All Timeline Notes have moved to MODIFY, to unify with sketch note creation (found under CREATE).

[graham.wideman]

What are you using the term "overlay" to mean?   Is there some special significance to the term "overlay" that the end user needs to be aware of?

Are you just referring to making your annotations visible? If so, maybe just refer to this as "visibility", or "show/hide"? 

[axalea_thomas]

Hi, thanks for your question.

I think (hope) it is a good term, but let me try to explain what I mean by it.

Here we see TNOTE:0010. It shows up as white point on the corner of the slab. The mouse cursor is next to it. This uses Fusion's built-in graphics.

Now I hit Toggle Overlay. The dot is now "overlayed" by a lilac marker. (English is not my first language, so it might be the wrong word for the color.)

Moving the mouse over the overlay marker pops up a box with the contents of the note.

If I hide the note using the eye button, the white dot will disappear. So will the lilac marker.

Some additional info:

As this is a "Timeline Note", it shows up in the timeline. This is the note type that is available for putting notes on bodies (on their vertices).

I choose to implement notes as a feature (as in "Extrude feature") because a) I have seen requests for notes in the timeline and b) visibility on the model. At the start, I did not have the overlay functionality, so then the white dot was the only way to see the notes on the model. Finally, the white dots will be visible to someone without the add-in, but they will not be able to read the note text - just the title.

If I deselect the vertex in the note edit dialog, the note will be attached to the component's origin, but set to not visible (same as the "eye button") by default.

Finally, sketch notes has no feature counterpart in Fusion, so they are always rendered as "overlays" as they would otherwise be invisible - whether the user has turned overlays on or off. (I should probably clarify that in the command name. Maybe "Toggle Timeline Note Overlay")

I'll see if I can update the documentation text to be more clear. It's always easy to miss explaining things when being in the midst of it.

And feel free to suggest a better term - or say if the functionality seems counterintuitive. 🙂

[graham.wideman]

Thanks for your very extensive answer, though it mostly concerns the features in general, and not why "overlay" is the most suitable term for how these features appear.

I get the impression that you're distinguishing Axalea features that are implemented and rendered in two different ways.  One type of feature involves Axalea adding normal Fusion objects to the model to represent Axalea features (Example, the white points.)  Other features involve graphics explicitly rendered by Axalea, which happens after Fusion renders its content, and hence Axalea's additions appear in front of Fusion's content -- these you are calling "overlays" (examples: lilac decoration on Axalea-added points, and also the notes boxes.)

I suspect users will not care very much about those implementation details. They would just want to know whether the Axalea visual annotations are shown or hidden. 

I'll suggest some terminology:

• "Note Anchor Point": The white point that Axalea adds for a note.
• "Note Anchor Point Highlighting": The lilac markers that makes it easier to see the Note Anchor Points. These can be shown or hidden.
• "Note": These contain some user-added text, and are associated with the Note Anchor Points. These also can be shown or hidden (or do they only appear on mouse hover?).  They appear in front of the normal Fusion objects  (... which is obvious when you see them, and necessary for them to be useful.  No need to specially emphasize that they are "overlays", in my view.)

Later edit: For comparison, how do we talk about pop-up tooltips?  These appear on mouse hover, like the Axalea notes. Nobody refers to these as "overlays", even though they are rendered in front of the main application content.

I realize you also distinguish, I think, between sketch notes and timeline notes, and I haven't quite grasped the details of those.

[axalea_thomas]

Thanks for your feedback, you make good points. I have mulled over the terminology for a bit and I basically ended up using your suggestions.

I have updated the usage instructions in the first post and also uploaded a new version of the add-in, with some terminology tweaks and small bug fixes. (0.0.6)

The basic idea behind the different note types, which I have tried to describe a bit, but might need to make clearer, is as follows:

* Timeline notes. Show up in the timeline. Can be anchored to objects in the 3D model.

* Sketch notes. Show up while editing a sketch. The notes are specific to that sketch and attached to the sketch plane.

I intend to have fullscreen screenshots of the two note types.

edit:

The reason that I have used the term timeline note is that these notes always appear in the timeline. However, for a user it might be more logical to differentiate between a "model/body/object/vertex note" and a "sketch note".

edit2:

I'm leaning towards renaming timeline note to model note.

[axalea_thomas]

Version 1.0.0 is now submitted to Autodesk for review!

Timeline note renamed to model note. Some small fixes.

Product page preview (Download link does not work)

Help document preview

Also available as a Zip file in the original post.

[emgl1995]

Keep us updated please. Great work!

[axalea_thomas]

Version 1.0.2 of Axalea Notes is now available in the Autodesk app store!

https://apps.autodesk.com/FUSION/en/Detail/Index?id=1370791138521927601&appLang=en&os=Win64