Fusion 360 - Feedback
I am 53 and I also have used AutoCAD in college to develop and engineer the mechanical components and electronics for the keystone project of my masters degree in mechatronics. I also wrote the software to control all that.
I found the 2D CAD solution of that time while still much better than creating technical drawings on paper very limiting. Later I used Catia also only in 2D. I've used ACAd in 3D and also found it too limiting. Then In 1998 I had the chance to design in Solid Works. Acad was dead for me immediately and I only used it to create 2D equipment and plant layouts of the factory automation solutions I developed.
I've used computer graphics and CAD software for almost 30 years now and at one time have programmed a Bresenham algorithm and fractal algorithms in x86 assembler and later tinkered with progressive refinement radiosity algorithms in Pascal. Nowadays I use a variety of 3D and other software tools to create the things I produce.
In other words CAD and computer graphics are their own specific discipline and require in depth knowledge and experience to expertly operate even today's intuitive CAD tools.
It would seem to me that based on your long IT career history you've set your expectations way to high. I might add that you share that with a good number of other IT professionals here on the forum that find CAD harder than they anticipated. The fact is simply as I've stated above that 3D modeling and CAD are their own specific disciplines that have their own work flows and require specific skill sets.
Maybe give yourself a little break, take a few steps back and ask questions. This forum is one of the most responsive forums I've ever participated.
You've already stated that you cannot afford SolidWorks. I fully understand that it can be very frustrating to move from a mature software product to a new and somewhat entry level software such as Fusion 360. I've had to do that more than once in the almost 30 years I've worked with CAD software.
However, at some point in time you just have to realize that you get what you pay for.
If the software solution you've chosen is too expensive in terms of frustrations, having to re-do work etc.it might be time to evaluate the market for other solutions. For mechanical and machine design Autodesk Inventor for example is a much more mature package. Certainly more expansive than Fusion 360 but clearly not as pricey as SW.
There is a whole host of other very capable CAD apps out there that might not be so omnipresent as SW but offer much better bang for the buck. Due to Fusion 360's lack of surfacing abilities I added another Software tool to my selection of tools and have been very happy with it.
I will continue to work with Fusion 360 in those areas I find it particularly strong in. A mostly Top Down design workflow, as often used in product concept design really suits Fusion 360's workflows very well.
Mechanical design and particularly machine design are areas where 80-90% are bottom up design I find Fusion 360 is very weak. that's why I called AD's marketing approach that aggressively targets SW silly. Actually silly beyond believe!
