Hi, so I've said before in previous treads that I'll create a new seperate thread addressing a specific topic about data management and F360.
The Situation
Right now F360 does an excellent work when it comes to conceptual and design stage (there’s still some features that need to be added and bugs to be fixed out but in general, it’s usable for production use). However when it comes to manufacturing, though some of the features is there (CAM), most is still either non-existence or cringe-worthy (drawings)
So in this thread, I’m just concentrating on data/drawings management as documentation is more important at the later stage which is the manufacturing part.
The Problems
As of right now, I’ll state a few common ideas that I kept seeing in the IdeaStation.
And a few additional problems
The Solution
What I’m thinking of is a new kind of data panel, one that’ll give the user more control over their projects/files and it’ll live in its on panel/tab, so the current data panel is still available for those who want quick access to their files.
For starters, it’ll probably look something like this, to access it, clicking on the icon underneath the data panel will open it. It’s something like a Pinned Tab in Chrome
Once that is clicked, the UI will probably look something like this:
Project Status (yellow box) contains a quick glance information on the statuses of projects (it’ll be in icons), mainly:
So once a Project is selected (Project Secret in this case):
Allow me to explain on some points which I feel that needs explanation:
Project Status (editable) : this is where the user is able to customise the project status(see above)
Drawings : User is able to see if drawings for component has been created or not and is able to create one by clicking on the + icon.
CAM : User is able to see if there’s a CAM program for the component, user doesn’t need to open create a new component to create a CAM program, clicking on the + icon will automatically do that.
Generate BoM: Will open a new page which is similar to the table above except drawings and CAM will not be seen and user is able to print from that page.
Export Selected Drawings: Includes printing as well. Allows the user to do batch printing or export as PDF without having to open each of the components (imagine having to open 100 drawings one by one)
Backup Project: Allows the user to keep a local copy (only openable in F360 with the user account (depends on permission? or user level? that created it)
A few additional notes:
Case Study:
Notice in this diagram, the user created a CAM program for Component 1_MIR but only dimensioned for Component 1. Also that the user needs to create a drawing for Component 3. So having a table like this gives the user a better idea on how his/her projects is and will result in less mistakes.
Conclusion
I hope the F360 team will consider strongly some of the points above. And feel free to discuss on and to ask if there’s some points that isn’t clear enough. Also should I post this up in the idea station? or create a link in idea station to this thread or what?
And I probably missed out some points but this is already a long thread post and hopefully we'll get some real useful feedbacks
Omar Tan
Malaysia
Mac Pro (Late 2013) | 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 12GB 1.8 GHz DDR3 ECC | Dual 2GB AMD FirePro D300
MacBook Pro 15" (Late 2016) | 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 | 16GB 2.1 GHz LPDDR3 | 4GB AMD RadeonPro 460
macOS Sierra, Windows 10
You say "If assembly has multiple components, user is required to create a new component in order for CAM to work." Have you tried multiple setups, here's a simple example.
Mark
Mark Hughes
Owner, Hughes Tooling
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Omar Tan
Malaysia
Mac Pro (Late 2013) | 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 12GB 1.8 GHz DDR3 ECC | Dual 2GB AMD FirePro D300
MacBook Pro 15" (Late 2016) | 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 | 16GB 2.1 GHz LPDDR3 | 4GB AMD RadeonPro 460
macOS Sierra, Windows 10
No you make a setup for each component or body, you can orientate the origin for each part. Have a look at the link.
Mark
Mark Hughes
Owner, Hughes Tooling
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When you say multiple components do you mean several of the same component or an assembly with lots of different components. If you are talking about several of the same part I think they are adding an option to CAM to make patterns from one base part.
Mark
Mark Hughes
Owner, Hughes Tooling
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Here's a work around that probuces 2 parts using 1 body using 2 setups. Here's the output as a back plot.
And the part in Fusion
Mark
Mark Hughes
Owner, Hughes Tooling
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I can absolutely get behind a well thought out project interface.
Of note is that I absolutely abhor A360 through the browser. I think it's hilarious that I cannot create a new folder in Fusion unless I go to save a part, then I can make a new folder, and from opening A360 it takes about six clicks to be able to make a new folder.
I'd much prefer part files be individual instead of jammed into a slow assembly, and have individual drawings, with part changes updating in the final assembly and drawings......... like every CAD program since the dawn of the 21st century? 🙂
CAM I would much prefer to be on an individual part basis.
I like where you're going.
But yeah, you can do multiple setups with different parts in a single file, but don't let that detract from your overall message which is excellent. Thanks for taking the time to post this, hope we can get some good conversation about it.
O. Tan,
First suggestion....add one more column for the 'Branch Version' that holds the component (coming soon?).
As Luke said, I like the direction you're going . Spreadsheet navigation isn't very sexy, but it is straight forward and very effective. It's taken me a little while to understand and warm to the idea of a central design file with satelliite containers for component's CAM, component drawings, assembly animations, etc. Now that I'm getting there, ease of navigation, folder creation and the like, become paramount.
My hope is that someone from Autodesk will comment and either provide some encouragement that this is possible/likely OR that it's not going to happen for technical reasons or otherwise. In the latter case, I can proceed with designing some sort of folder structure to contain the various elements of my projects.
Thanks for taking the time to present a system to address these issues.
Fred
Omar Tan
Malaysia
Mac Pro (Late 2013) | 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 12GB 1.8 GHz DDR3 ECC | Dual 2GB AMD FirePro D300
MacBook Pro 15" (Late 2016) | 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 | 16GB 2.1 GHz LPDDR3 | 4GB AMD RadeonPro 460
macOS Sierra, Windows 10
Omar Tan
Malaysia
Mac Pro (Late 2013) | 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 12GB 1.8 GHz DDR3 ECC | Dual 2GB AMD FirePro D300
MacBook Pro 15" (Late 2016) | 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 | 16GB 2.1 GHz LPDDR3 | 4GB AMD RadeonPro 460
macOS Sierra, Windows 10
Omar Tan
Malaysia
Mac Pro (Late 2013) | 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 12GB 1.8 GHz DDR3 ECC | Dual 2GB AMD FirePro D300
MacBook Pro 15" (Late 2016) | 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 | 16GB 2.1 GHz LPDDR3 | 4GB AMD RadeonPro 460
macOS Sierra, Windows 10
Tan, et al,
Thank you for your considered and thoughtful inputs on the data management experience inside Fusion 360. The Fusion UX team does take your feedback very seriously and it's reassuring to us that a lot of the topics you raise validate the same topics we're discussing within the Fusion team and how Fusions experience should be evolving.
Some of the key points you raise regarding basic data management were due to a technology limitation of the backend we were using for hosting the data; things we take for granted in typical desktop OS's, like copy and paste, rename, etc. were limited by our own technology stack. This is why we have designed a new data service infrastructure, as Kevin indicated in his Roadmap blog post. This new data service sets the foundation for us to implement not only basic functionality that you expect, like: rename, copy and paste etc.; it also gives us the right system to implement more advanced and robust capabilities (in a meaningful way): content libraries, distributed designs (cross referenced parts, assemblies and sub-assemblies), and our pending branching and merging strategy as Will explained in the Future of Collaboration in Fusion 360.
So on that note I can speak to a few of your problem statements:
Versions:
Offline:
CAM, Drawings and other data elements:
BoM:
General Management:
When we removed the A360 front end (or “dashboard”) from Fusion we wanted to streamline how Fusion users were getting to their data and how easily they were accessing the various workflows (modeling, CAM, drawings, etc.). With the new data panel experience we are trying very hard to be deliberate in curating an experience that is not overwhelmed with functionality and that is serving, in a very narrow amount of real estate, the most common and meaningful tasks users need to get their work done.
As we move towards more advanced data relationships, management and workflows the burden of that small panel is being stretched; it’s akin to an overstuffed suitcase, sure it’ll hold everything, but that zipper’s going to fail at some point. So the UX point of view has always been to give users a full window view into your projects and let you do the kinds of management that you need to do and for Fusion to work the way you want. As branching starts coming online you’ll see that flexibility start to take shape and we will certainly want to absorb your feedback as Fusion progresses down the road
So thanks again for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We are listening and much of what all of you say does make it into the product. Keep the feedback coming.
BoM is something that I don't think should be overlooked. Most uses wont need a full PLM tool, but being able to export a comprehensive parts list (much like how you can export a Setup Sheet in CAM) is a good thing to work towards.
I actually found the exportable setup sheet in CAM to be one of the things that made me want to buy Fusion when I was testing it out. Those are the sorts of things I used to spend an hour or so writing by hand and trying to keep updated. No need anymore, huge time saving.
Omar Tan
Malaysia
Mac Pro (Late 2013) | 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 12GB 1.8 GHz DDR3 ECC | Dual 2GB AMD FirePro D300
MacBook Pro 15" (Late 2016) | 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 | 16GB 2.1 GHz LPDDR3 | 4GB AMD RadeonPro 460
macOS Sierra, Windows 10
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