Fusion
You can use the offset costruction plane command and then offset another plane from the first offset plane.
I note that the status of the precise input Idea is set to accepted and that this feature enhancment is back-logged.
Manually entering in 1000's of XYZ coordinates seems like it would be prone to error and very time consuming. I mentioned a script in our previous discussions (below) you can use to auto-matically import points using a CSV file.
http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/design-validate-document/enter-point-location-using-xyz/m-p/5677580
Did you ever get a chance to try this out? I attached a custom script that was modified to create sketch points from the CSV file instead of a sketch spline.
The CSV file must be comprised of numeric values of the X coordinates in column A, Y coordinates in column B, and the Z coordinates in column C.
Below is a screencast showing how the default ImportSplineCSV import works.
Nathan Chandler
Principal Specialist
Does the microscribe software have the ability to generate a mesh file format like STL or OBJ?
I know you can insert a mesh file into Fusion 360 and easily start to reverse engineer from a mesh file. This may be an alternate route you could take.
I was also noting these comments on the below microscribe page:
http://www.3d-microscribe.com/MUS%20Page.htm
If your application supports command line or dialog entry of 3D coordinates, this utility might already work or can be easily made to work with your application. If you would like your application to be supported by MicroScribe Utility Software, please contact us. MicroScribe Utility Software offers a way of interfacing your application to the MicroScribe with little or no change to your application.
Perhaps Mircoscribe would be able to create a script that is tailored for Fusion 360 that does exactly what you are looking to do. Fusion 360 does have a API resources to help automate tasks like this. I hope this information is helpful.
Nathan Chandler
Principal Specialist
@Anonymous
Select the 3 points when your in the sketch and hit the P key.
Phil Procario Jr.
Owner, Laser & CNC Creations
@Anonymous
Actually there is a way to do this, although it's not ideal.
If you create a point at the origin 0,0,0 then hit the move key you can move that point to an exact X,Y,Z location.
Just make sure 3d sketching is enabled.
Phil Procario Jr.
Owner, Laser & CNC Creations
Just to clarify what's actually needed. Do you want a command that creates a single construction point but that allows you to specify the X, Y, Z coordinates of the construction point? You want to enter the coordinates manually, point-by-point? I believe a small script can be written to do that.
There's another alternative that doesn't use a script and is simpler that creating a lot of other construction geometry, but is still a couple of steps so it's not ideal either.
If you're capturing design history you need to first create a "Base Feature" using the "Create Base Feature" command in the "Create" menu. The reason for this is that Fusion doesn't currently support work geometry in a parametric model that isn't based on other geometry. You can't have a point that's freely positioned in space. However, in a non-parametric model, or in a base feature you can do that.
In the non-parametric model or with the base feature active, create a construction point using the "Point at Vertex" option and either in the graphics window or the browser, choose the base Origin point. Now you have a construction point at (0,0,0).
Run the "Move" command and select the construction point just created. Now in the Move dialog you can specify the x, y, and z coordinates to reposition the point.
Here's a Screencast that demonstrates the workflow. The base feature needs to be active anytime you want to add a new point.
The Base Feature command is only available when you're capturing design history (parametric modeling). It lets you have an island of direct modeling within a parametric model. If you're not capturing the design history (direct modeling), which is sounds like this is the mode you're in, then you don't need it and can skip the Base Feature steps so it's a simpler process. Basically, create the construction point on the origin point and move it to the desired location.
This link shows how to enable and disable design history in a design. This is how you can toggle between a parametric design and a direct modeling design.
Hope that helps!
Nathan Chandler
Principal Specialist
There's a Fusion update coming this weekend that adds base feature support in the API. With that I'll be able to write a script that will work for both parametric and direct modeling models. I'll post an update here when the script is available.