Break parametric link?

[welbot]

Hi,

I've been a 3ds Max user for close to 20 yrs now, and just started working with F360 a couple of weeks back, so please forgive if this is dead simple.  😉

I have body in my current project, which was created using a sketch, and the dimensions all come from User Parameters which contain formulas etc. 

I'm happy with the object that it all created, and want to leave it as is, but I also want to experiment with changing certain aspects of the body in a more.... free form way. 

Is it possible to copy the body, but break the link with the original sketch, so I'm left with the geometry it created, but then be free to alter it without any limitations? For example, I'd like to experiment with scaling out the circular base/face at the bottom of the body, but because it's dimensions are calculated with the parameters and sketch, I can't change it without altering the sketch or the parameters, but I want to leave that original sketch/body in its current state.

I tried doing a copy of the object, and there were checkboxes that sounded like they might break the ties with the original, so I left them unchecked, but it still remains linked to the original sketches. Is there any way I can do what I have described?

[etfrench]

If the body and the sketch are in the same component you can copy the component, then use the Paste New command.  You can then manipulate the new body and/or the new sketch without effecting the original.  Otherwise, just making a copy of the body and using Paste New will also allow you to manipulate it without effecting the original.

[PaulMunford]

There was a cool feature in F360 called Branching and Merging which would have helped here... but it didn't make it through Beta 😕

Don't forget that all changes in Fusion are saved, and you can 'roll back' to a previous version at any time using the data panel.

Although, you could also a separate copy of the component to 'play' with.

Paul

[HughesTooling · Accepted solution]

If you want the body with no history at all, create a new component then create a base feature in the new component, with the base feature active select the body from the browser and copy, right click the canvas and paste. With the base feature active you are in direct mode so can edit the body without history or you can exit the base feature and edit the new body independently but record history from that point.

Mark

[welbot]

Ok. I'll have to try this and get back to you to see if it works for what I want to do. I really want to basically take the geometry, and be able to manipulate it without having to use the sketch, as due to the formulaic nature of the parameters, it won't allow me to change anything except the initial 2 inputs. 
Will post back once I've checked!

[welbot]

Thanks Mark! This perhaps sounds like what I want. The earlier post suggesting scrubbing back through the timeline isn't what I'm after, as the parameters I have setup essentially determine the entire dimensions of the object based off 2 numbers, and I can't change those numbers, or the object will be completely different! 
If doing as you suggest allows me to edit the geometry that was created by the initial parameters, without having to use or change any of said parameters (or the sketch), that will be perfect!
I'll post again and accept the solution once I've determined if it does what I need 🙂 

[etfrench]

Have you tried the Paste New workflow???

[welbot]

I have tried both methods now, and neither of them seem to allow me to do what I want, so I'm guessing it's not a parameter/sketch related thing. 
I think my best option may be to either convert the object to a t-spline object, or maybe use Brep>Mesh and then edit the mesh that way. 

I have no idea why I can't seem to just scale up a selectable edge on the model. It's a pretty simple operation. There's a flat circular base, with one circular edge that i can click on going all the way around the outside. I just want to be able to select it, and scale it out along 2 axis to make the circle a little bit bigger, but it only seems to allow me to scale the entire object.

[welbot]

Even though it didn't allow me to do what I wanted, I have accepted your solution Mark, as it did give me a body that was not constrained by or linked to the sketches or parameters, which is technically what I was after. 
I think perhaps my solution lies elsewhere, and the problem stems from being a 3d studio max user for so long, and just being able to scale up anything I want, when and where I want. 

[PaulMunford]

Yep. That's the difference between direct and parametric modelling. With parametric modelling you build the component with the potential to change designed in.

Direct is better for conceptual modelling, but can be limiting when it comes to complex changes - the kind that require a re-build.

However, did you check out F360's direct modelling tool set? If you didn't forsee a change and design it in Parameterically the direct modelling tools can bail you out...