can't move a sketch

[Anonymous]

I'm struggling to do very basic things in Fusion 360, including moving sketches.  The instructions here do not work for me at all:
http://fusion360.autodesk.com/resources/akn/view/NINVFUS/ENU/?guid=GUID-FFD25CD3-0707-429E-B0E6-B7F9...

For example: I sketch a centerpoint circle.  Then I want to move that circle.  I right click, select 'move,' and the dialogue pops up saying "no selection."  The circle is no longer select-able.  WTF #1.

I change mode from "bodies, sketches.." to "move sketch objects" and now I can select the center point and get the manipulator.  Progress!  Then I move it along the x axis, lets say 300mm, click ok, and... nothing happens.  WTF #2.

Going back, I find the only change I CAN make is rotating the circle about a moved pivot point.  For some reason that actually moves the sketch.  WTF #3.

Clearly I'm missing something...  

[Anonymous]

Funny suggestion, for selecting a sketch in the browser and right clicking on leaves a "move" option in the context menu nowhere to be seen... ???

[Oceanconcepts]

The move option in the browser is only there when you are in direct modeling mode, i.e. "Do not capture design history". If you are using the timeline it's not possible to move an entire sketch.

I find direct modeling very useful for quickly trying out concepts that will be later developed fully in timeline mode. The ability to move sketches is one reason. 

[Anonymous]

I have found a workaround to this problem which has been annoying me also,

Right click on the sketch in the browser, click save as DXF. 

Then insert > insert DXF

You then get a fully movable / scalable version

Initially I didn't try this as Fusion can be a little picky when importing DXF but it reimports its own just fine

[Anonymous]

Oh my. 

I can not believe moving an object could be that difficult in a software. never I had this problem with inventor, catia, solidworks or creo. 

[etfrench]

Moving a sketch is easy.  Just put it in a component, then you can move the component, or even better use a joint to position it.  See Rule #1.

[mcobb]

I was a little adrift in Fusion until I discovered components. I still have a long way to go, but the difficulty moving things seemed a little insane until it was brought to my attention that most meaningful work is built inside components. It’s easy to think “starting simple” is equivalent to embracing familiar workflows inside Fusion. The truth is that can work, but it will set you up to encounter some roadblocks. It’s counterintuitive to start with the thing you find the most conceptually challenging but it is important to realize these new programs would not exist if it was otherwise.

I compare the challenges with sketches in Fusion (which are ongoing!) to working with families in Revit. You can avoid diving deep but if you do, you will probably miss the central point of the new app.

Good luck! It’s a jungle out there. 🙂

[Oceanconcepts]

Yes, I should have been more complete in my reply above. While in history/ parametric modeling mode you cannot select and move a sketch directly, you can freely move components and the sketches within them. 

The core thing that users need to work to understand about Fusion is how components work and how using components relates to the way your designs are ideally organized. Getting the component organization right makes life vastly easier downstream and really enables you to tap into the power and flexibility of Fusion. 

The rule post referenced by etfrench above is core to understanding how to work inside Fusion.  

[adamjames95]

Hi @Anonymous,

Here is a YouTube video I have created outlining the solution:

Hope this helps!

-Adam James

[laughingcreek]

It might be helpful if you talked about the difference between sketch solvers like fusion uses vs static sketching environments most people are use to.  That vast majority of people who ask the question about moving sketches are expecting a solver to act like a static sketcher. 

[Anonymous]

Wow, that is some world class UI design. "lets have a "feature" that when you start a sketch from the most natural place imaginable it locks the drawing down with an invisible constraint, making it impossible to move it, but not telling you why it won't move. After all why would you ever want to move a sketch?

[TheCADWhisperer]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

...making it impossible to move it, ...

---

Sure you can move it.  

Can you File>Export your *.f3d file to your local drive and then Attach it here to a Reply?

[TrippyLighting]

Please research the topic and educate yourself about it before making comments.

We've explained this hundred of times, so the info should not be hard to find.

The post before yours provides valuable hints!

[Anonymous]

Not such an odd workflow. This is a common way to do iterations of an idea.

Often it feels like F360 is a tool for people who already know exactly what they want to make rather than a tool for exploring what you could make.

[Oceanconcepts]

I'm not quite sure what post or workflow reference you are referring to, but most of what I do in Fusion involves exploring design paths, and I never know what I'm going to end up with when I start, apart from maybe some specific constraints and components I know I need to accommodate.

There are a lot of potential strategies available in Fusion, and different workflow strategies may be appropriate for various design tasks. I'm still discovering new ways to use the tools and overall program structure to make designs that easily allow for multiple iterations for the kind of designs I do. No question Fusion is different, and understanding the way it works- as opposed to expecting it to work like other programs- is essential and the overarching theme of this thread. 

Maybe if you could be more specific about what kind of task you are trying to accomplish you could get some workflow suggestions that would help. People on these forums are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. 

[Anonymous]

Your response reminds me of an observation I heard:

"A user interface is like a joke, if you have to explain it, it is not very good."

[Anonymous]

If you have explained it over a 100 times it's bad design. But I must say
the rest of the software is fantastic and you are correct about the
research.

[Anonymous]

agreed!!!!  Ridiculous and not intuitive at all...   Coming from other 3d software like 3ds, c4d, autocad etc... this caused me  a tonne of issues and made me leave the fusion alone for months (frustration 360)  as i refer to it... I am someone who teaches at seminars in the past and demonstrated adobe, maxon, etc... To run into issues like this when all could have been avoided....

[Anonymous]

I too agree that if this is such a common question, it's just not implemented well.  Would it be that hard for instance to display a warning that the object is constrained when you attempt to move it?

For me, I knew about the constraints, because I struggled with this before when first using 360, and it was infuriating.  But this time, the constraint wasn't showing up at all, and I couldn't figure out why.  I selected the center point, no constraints appeared (I had them enabled in the options).  Behold, I had the "Origin" view disabled.  I re-enabled the Origin view, and now the constraint appears.  I disabled the origin view again, and the constraint continues to appear and disappear when selecting/hovering the center point (inconsistently).  A couple of suggestions:  1) that seems like a bug.  Why would turning off the Origin view kill a constraint icon for a sketch.  2) Even after enabling Origin (or subsequently disabling it), clicking on the center point and moving away quickly will not show the constraint or in some cases just clicking it and leaving the mouse over the point would. not show the constraint.  Hovering over the origin will pop the constraint up sometimes, but it wasn't every time.  It just feels very inconsistent to get this constraint to show up.  I feel like it should just always be visible.  I have "Show Constraints" checked, so shouldn't that just show them and leave the rest up to me?  3) a warning message would be great.

[shahriarsifat1802164]

Hi, you can look at this screencast to move the sketch.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/c2eb3d10-57e2-4855-971e-bd9bd00de7f5

Move sketch 
Thank you

[shahriarsifat1802164]

Hi, you can look at this screencast to move the sketch.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/c2eb3d10-57e2-4855-971e-bd9bd00de7f5


Thank you