Fusion 360 vs Solidworks

[Anonymous]

I was about ready to purchase Dasi Solidworks and then became aware of Fusion 360. My question for those of you folks that have experience in both programs, does Fusion 360 have the same capabilities as Solidworks?.

[Oceanconcepts · Accepted solution]

I’m sure some SolidWorks users will jump in with more pro and con details, but no, in some areas Fusion has fewer features, and in some areas (integrated CAM, t-splines in general, collaboration tools) it has more. Fusion is a new program and doesn’t yet have the depth of options in many areas (sheet metal, drawings) as SolidWorks, or Inventor, for that matter. It’s also pursuing a somewhat different goal- not trying to be a SolidWorks. It’s clear Autodesk sees Fusion as a big part of the future of the company, as their “next generation” CAD product built to fit the way things will be made in the future.  Fusion is evolving at a very rapid pace, and draws on Autodesk’s deep experience in development.  Whether Fusion is right for you now will depend on your needs- for instance if you need pro level engineering drawings you will find- at present- it is not going to give you that ability. 

I was in exactly the same situation a few years ago, ready to spring for a seat of SolidWorks, when I discovered Fusion and thought to give it a try. For my purposes, as a part time CAD user needing to design housings for underwater electronic instrumentation, Fusion has been great. I have not regretted the decision. I find that Fusion is a much easier program within which to quickly and easily develop concepts, partially for organic shapes and particularly if you don’t quite have a specific design worked out. A huge bonus for me is that it runs natively on the Mac. An intuitive user interface and the ability to log on anywhere and the collaboration tools are other pluses. 

I think if you say something about what specific needs you have you will get good feedback on Fusion’s capabilities. This community is very active. 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the expeditious response. The only experience I have in cad cam is a product called Bob Cad Cam. I’ve been pleased with the program and have been working with it for approximately five years. Bob Cad is a great entry level tool for design and engineering, but for complex designs it is cumbersome to use. In Solid Works for example, if I have mating surfaces that bolt together but there designed separately, all you have to do is highlight the two surfaces and with the click of a button the surfaces come together. Or if you have a gear train you have the ability of sliding the gears in and out of the gear case within the cad drawing. These are a couple of the things I observed at a Solid Works presentation. In Solid Works you have the ability to readily add threaded holes and bolts without having to engineer the threaded hole.

Prior to retiring from a flying career a short time ago, I purchased cad cam software, a Tormach 1100 (3) axis milling machine and I already owned a metal lathe and my plans were to design, engineer and have the ability to machine products and prototypes for customers. I have a website called (machiningcreations.com).

The one capability that I like about Fusion 360 is the cam aspect, that is the ability to generate tool paths and create g code files, which Solid Works does not offer.

Based on the information you have provided me I believe I will give Fusion 360 a try. I have a concept design and I will use Fusion 360 to develop it, after which I will know if that cad cam program is robust enough to do what I want.



Thank you very much.


Tom Kittredge


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[daniel_lyall]

if you have any question just ask. the biggest thing for me with fusion is if you wont to make a product you will only have to machine a couple of diffrent version to get it right, other programs not quite and the cam it's bonnkers and it is to easy to use, 

[Oceanconcepts]

Tom, sounds good- the features you describe- joining objects and making threaded holes- are things that are very easy to do in Fusion. I would strongly recommend going through the tutorials, particularly on joints, as that’s how you would align components in Fusion. If there is one word of advice I would give to someone new to the program, it is to understand the distinction in Fusion between “bodies” and “components”, and how and when to “activate” components. . Bodies are modeling tools, things you create to arrive at a shape. Components represent actual parts that will go into a design. Many actions, like adding joints (how components are assembled in Fusion) are only possible between components. It may seem confusing at first, but it is a very powerful and logical workflow. Fusion is a great pairing with the Tormach. 

Ask questions freely- the forum and Autodesk are very responsive. 

Here is a link to some materials from an excellent class recently taught at Autodesk University on managing designs workflows . It may be helpful.

http://aucache.autodesk.com/au2015/sessionsFiles/9991/8277/handout_9991_CP9991%20Fusion%20360%20Work...

[PhilProcarioJr]

Hi Tom,

I use SolidWorks everyday at work and have for 10 years, I use Fusion 360 at home for my projects, so here is my take on your situation. As Ron already stated, SolidWorks is more robust in some areas and Fusion is more robust in others. So there is actually a lot to consider.

SolidWorks:

Cost $3,000 to $9,000 to buy depending on your needs, excluding discounts you might be able to get

Maintenance cost per year $1250 to $3500

So you might say I don't want maintenance, well if you don't get it and you want to upgrade your software you will have to pay all backdated maintenance fees up to the cost of a new license to get current.

I throw cost in first because if your not making good money from your work this just became an expensive hobby.

Next in line with cost for solidworks they require you to have a workstation gfx video card in your computer or they will not help you with crashing problems.

Cheap workstation gfx cards will give you poor performance in SolidWorks unless your doing simple parts.

There are a few other things on the cost side but I think you get the picture.

Features:

Robust Sketching tools.

Ability to make just about an kind of prints you could want or need (although I might add its not perfect).

Solid Modeling tools are robust and feature rich.

Surface Modeling tools are also robust and feature rich (although they can be pretty picky).

Organic Modeling is a pain in the rear and has to be done with surface modeling.

Only parametric models that are imported can be edited

Analytical tools are very robust, IE being able to check continuity of surfaces, draft, mass so on.

Rendering requires an add on

CAM requires an add on

Simulation very basic unless you buy an add on

Fusion 360:

Free if you make less then $100,000 a year, $300 a year if you make over that.

No added maintenance fees

Runs great on $150 Gaming cards, I suggest at least 2gb of video memory

Features:

Print making needs a lot of work in my opinion its still very basic and clumsy to work with.

Solid Modeling tools are fast and intuitive.

Surface Modeling tools are decent still need some more features added, like continuity types...still very capable of getting the job done.

Organic Modeling is a very easy and it just works.

Many model types can be imported and edited

Analytical tools are a bit lacking and need more stuff added.

Rendering is decent and is being worked on

CAM is pretty solid and just works

Simulation was just added but is already well on its way to being a very useful option.

Stability:

Well this could be debated all day long but it seems it depends on what type of system you have.

SolidWorks has its own set of crashing problems and if you look at the SolidWorks forums you will see a lot of griping and complaining....A lot

Personally Fusion has only crashed on me one time and it was because I ran CCleaner while it was open and couldn't save my work.

Others around here have problems I don't so they can chime in on that.

So I guess to answer your question, it depends on what you need to be able to do.

Just my 2 cents

Cheers

Phil

[TrippyLighting]

I have worked for 25+ with CAD and rendering software and 10+ years with Solid Works but have not used it fot the last 4.

That was Spot On!

[cekuhnen]

I never usedf SW but what I can see from the youtube videos is that it has more complete surfacing tools. That area Fusion is weak at.

However this coming year and advanced surface modeling tool set is to be introduced to Fusion.

At the end A vs B isless important then checking if Fusion has the tools you actually need to make the designs you want.

Check that very seriously!

If you do not need SW for commercial work with complex designs I can imagine that you will be fine with Fusion 360.

Claas

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much for all your help and I will visit that link.






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[Anonymous]

Hi guys
I’m an “old school” Fabricator / manual machinist.
I Still hand draw parts to be water/laser jet , OR to be machined for example. I HAVE ZERO CAD EXPERIENCE!
I would like to have paper ISO drawings, or send files to water jet guy, CNC guy, or 3D print.

YES!...Its time for me to learn CAD of some sort!

On a whim ...I downloaded fusion 360 a month ago
, im doing as many tutorials as i find on line, and trying to learn.

My question; Is Fusion 360 for Me?

Thank You in advance for your input

,Frank H

[Anonymous]

Hi Frank,
I was kind of in the same situation as you several years ago. Had a manually operated knee mill in my garage and a Logan metal lathe. I was getting close to retiring from flying and decided if I was going to engineer and manufacturing projects in my garage I would need to learn cad, as well as, I needed a CNC mill. I started with Bob Cad/Cam and having no previous experience with cad, I liked Bob Cad. I engineered Ipad holders for the cockpit of the Boeing 767 that I had been flying on for 5years and eventually sold them to the company. That was my first experience at cad, as well as CNC milling. Bob Cad got the job done but I needed a more robust design platform. I was about to purchase Solid Works when my son told me about Fusion 360. Solid Works is very expensive initially and to keep it up to date is at least $1000 per year if I remember. That being said, Auto Desk Fusion 360 has met all my expectations and more and not just it’s capabilities, but the support network as well, which includes the folks at Auto Desk Headquarters, plus the product doesn’t cost you and arm and a leg every year. What I love about Auto Desk is that these guys are willing to hold their product out there for guys like me who can’t afford the expense or Solid Works.
I hope this helps with your decision. Take care.

Tom

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your input Tom..
Im sold!
,Frank

[Anonymous]

Phil Procario,

I recently downloaded the student version of Fusion 360. I tried to open a Solidworks file (**.SLDPRT) without success. The Fusion 360 tutorial showed several supported file types. However, I am unable to open these files from my computer. The student version of Fusion has some limitations. Is this a limitation? I can only open DXF, IGES, OBT, STEP, STL, and 123D file types.

Sincerely,

John McGlynn

JMcGlynn@SundquistCompany.com 

[TrippyLighting]

I am not sure whether or not the Student Version has this limitation, but the free version of Fusion 360 certainly does!

[g-andresen]

Hi,

just tested > ok

maybe try the upload via datapanel:

Datapanel > select your folder > upload > select sldprt file > upload > open as f3d from datapanel

günther

[HughesTooling]

Not sure 2021 version of Solidworks is supported yet.

Mark