Configure parameters of linked models

[Rhaoma]

Hi

I'm generally quite impressed with Fusion, but have been stuck at a problem, which I don't believe Fusion can accommodate.

I'm in the process of modeling a kitchen, wherein I want to model drawers under the countertop. The drawers come in different heights, widths, depths, etc. which allows us to play around with the visuals of the kitchen space. For that, I use parameters, which works fine.

The problem is that since I model the drawer in a separate file, there is no obvious way in which I can import and change parameters of linked models in my assembly.

I hoped Fusions configurations were the answer to my problems, but even this feature is "static". It still requires me to predefine any configuration of parameters in the drawer model file, and i cant make on the fly changes in the assembly.

Why is there no feature in Fusion that allows us to expose certain parameters of linked models, and assign values to them in the assembly?

E.g say I could make the width and height parameters "variable" when linking, then when viewing the parameters window in the assembly, under "Model parameters" and selecting the specific drawer object, I could assign values for height and width for that individual drawer.

Is there any workaround? Maybe configurations with an imported master file for parameters which could control both the assembly and drawer model file? It is not beautiful but...

Any input would be appreciated

Regards

[jhackney1972]

One option is to Derive your external model into your new design.  If you check the Favorites box during the Derive process,, these parameters will be available for use, after you make them into Favorites, in your new model.  You will not be able to change these parameters from the new model but you can change them in the original, save and update them in the new model.

You can accomplish the same thing using Top Down Design methods and the Edit in Place command but this process takes a bit of a learning curve.

[Rhaoma]

Yes, that is basically similar to the fusion configurations right? Just not using the built-in tool. 

I'm just confused that there isn't an option to individually change parameters of linked models.

It seems like a very useful feature, and a problem which most would run in to at some point

Thanks for your input though

Have a nice day 

[Victoria.Studley · Accepted solution]

Hi @Rhaoma,

Another option, if you want to use Fusion Configurations for this, is to create a configurable assembly.

To do this, you can:

• Create a configured design for the drawers.
• Insert the drawers into the cabinet assembly.
• Configure the Insert feature for each drawer so that you can select a different configuration of the drawer for each row in the cabinet assembly's table.

I've attached a quick video (~1m) to show a very simple conceptual example of how you could approach this.

For more complex designs, you can organize the columns into a theme table so you don't have to make the same selections over and over again for every row if several of your cabinet configurations share the same details.

Another nice thing about configurable assemblies is that you can nest them. So, if you create configured drawers, then insert them into a set of configured cabinets, you can then insert those cabinets into a configured kitchen and so on.

We're working to make this system a bit more lightweight and flexible. So you won't, for example, need to predefine all of your drawers explicitly in a table up front in order to swap them quickly in a full cabinet or kitchen assembly. But for now hopefully this helps get you closer to what you need with what's available today.

[Mublio]

Be careful with this approach. I built a system similar to OP's using this method. However, the Get Latest Version option is very, very slow for configured files, expecially when they have out of date derived parameters. 

My file takes about 3 minutes for every individual linked file to update, which is not workable.

[Mublio]

Hello Rhaoma,

I have made a similar system, using this structure. This works, BUT if you have configured components, these currently take ages to update in the Assembly. 

[Rhaoma]

Hi @Mublio
Thanks for your input. I ended up enrolling for a 30 day trial version with my account during which the configurations feature was made available, essentially using the approach described by @Victoria.Studley . This made it possible to contain the design as a single file, which was nice.
The templated approach is a good idea though, and one I actually used for the general project to link all my assembly components together. I just hadn't considered using it for the drawer sizes.

I agree with @Mublio that the configuration feature results in a VERY slow linking process, when changing anything in the design - even on a hefty PC (7800xt). Especially the configured drawer is from a configured cabinet and so on. So for anyone who hasn't got immediate access to the configurations feature Mublio's approach would work very well i think

[Mublio]

Good to hear your experience is that linking configrutaions is very slow, I was afraid it had to do something with my specific file. Hope this gets fixed soon, because configurations is an awesome feature. 

[Rhaoma]

Well I think its the implementation, but it just might be my hail Mary approach to Fusion designing. I only started learning 3D modelling for this "project", so my design choices and general structuring of the project is definitely not optimal 🙂

[leandro_linardos]

Amazing! Thanks!