Fusion only using 1 core?

[MTregz]

Hi there,

There seems to have been substantial performance hit over the last update or 2.

When re-calculating a model, joining a component to another or anything really that require calculations the CPU seems to only be using 1 core at 100% while the other cores don't do anything.

Using Windows 10, as of this post fusion is completely upto date. I have reinstalled the program a couple of times but am still encountering this issue.

System is quite new:

CPU: Ryzen 2700

GPU: Quadro P620

Anything that could help would be greatly appreciated.

As far as we can tell this is a Windows 10 specific issue. Mac seems to be utilizing all 4 cores, same with our windows 7 machine.

[lichtzeichenanlage]

This kind of pattern should be executed as a Solid -> Create -> Pattern -> XXX or Surface -> Create -> Pattern -> XXX features. And for those features you should prefer faces / components over features over bodies. If you don't want to adapt you workflow to a software you just want to be angry 😉 

[joeEVLJ4]

So, a solid uses fewer CPU cycles than a set of simple lines/arcs?  That's non-intuitive to me. 

As a designer I'm iterating on a plane to position the entire pattern.  To jump into a solid before I even understand the layout seems a bit heavy-handed.  And I'll be visualizing in solids where there will eventually be negative space.  A disconcerting compromise. 

Nonetheless, thanks for the guidance.  I'll give it a shot.   The app has been locked up since my first response anyway. 

(BTW, this is only one of a long list of issues I've got with this app - with many about performance. This is the only forum where I can vent my frustration.  😉 )

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@joeEVLJ4 wrote:

  But, for this quantity of lines on a sketch to overwhelm any adequate computer is an unacceptable performance for a CAD system.  

 I have 25 years of experience working with AutoCAD,

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Can you File>Export your *.f3d file to your local drive and then Attach it here to a Reply?

I will demonstrate logical reason why this occurs (I wrote a paper on this logic more than 10 years ago - long before Fusion 360 even existed.)

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@joeEVLJ4 wrote:

 That's non-intuitive to me. 

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@joeEVLJ4 

Once the logic is understood - it should all start to make sense.

[g-andresen]

Hi,

Patterns should be created as a solid/feature if only because then, in a parametric construction, a change in the quantity, for example, immediately affects the number of extrusions.
If you create the pattern in sketch mode, you must "tell" in the following extrusion which profiles must now be edited.

günther

[TheCADWhisperer]

That is one good reason - but is not the reason for slow solve performance of sketch pattern compared to feature or body pattern.

[joeEVLJ4]

I did the sketch to solid to array approach.  Built it without too much difficulty (aside from F365's convoluted way of constraining lines to create reference points). 

I made the perimeter piece into a sheetmetal flange.  Then tried to subtract out the pattern array.   Started by selecting the array of solids. The system locked up and pegged the CPU to 100%

Am I asking a unicycle to drive down a highway?  

[joeEVLJ4]

I thought the attachment had been uploaded.  

F365 took an extremely long time to generate it.  Probably only using a single core again. 

[TrippyLighting]

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@joeEVLJ4 wrote:

Am I asking a unicycle to drive down a highway?  

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Ha ha ha, no, you have just not quite gotten the hang of the gas pedal.

Extrude/cut the 1st pattern feature out of the sheet metal body. Then pattern the Extrude/cut timeline feature.

There are 3 different options in the pattern UI that can help speed things up.

[TheCADWhisperer]

I am going home now - if I forget this one tomorrow - bump it back to the top.

[jeff_strater]

the design you shared here does not have any solid patterns that I can find.  It does, however, have a very large sketch pattern:

What you should do to get better performance, is to narrow down your sketch to only the two unique geometries:

Cut those from your sheet metal, then pattern those cuts using a Face pattern (don't use Feature pattern set to "Adjust" - that will also be slow).  My guess is that this will be very fast.

"Am I asking a unicycle to drive down a highway? ", no, but you're trying to drive down the highway in first gear.  You can do it, but neither you nor the car will enjoy it.  Those other gears are there to make the engine's job easier.

[joeEVLJ4]

Success!

I'm glad I figured out that the Faces were the inner surfaces of the extrusion.   

This is still not an optimal workflow for designing. 

[joeEVLJ4]

Another failure.

Now that I unfolded the part and need to post-process the pattern, I projected it to a sketch plane and saved it to another project.   Now I cannot edit it without crashing the program.   I simply wanted to move it from one point to another.  Always locks up the program.   

This used to be a trivial operation in AutoCAD.  

Do I have to re-generate the pattern in this new project to simplify the sketch?

[g-andresen]

Hi,

just to know:

It is also possible to create patterns in the Manufacture Environment.
Then you only need one feature (set of faces).

günther

[lichtzeichenanlage]

Sounds like you're again processing a large sketch. What do you want to achieve? Maybe there is another way here too.

[joeEVLJ4]

I will attempt to do that.  As soon as my system allows me to do so.  It grinds to a halt every time I select anything. 

I'm, ultimately, trying to export for a plasma cutting operation.  I need to get it into a dxf output. 

I'm starting to wonder if the designers of Fusion 360 are intentionally making this difficult (by not accessing sufficient system resources) so that  you upgrade to AutoCAD.  The pain this is inflicting is getting me closer to that decision - and this is for personal use. 

[TrippyLighting]

Can you post your design in progress so far ?

Based on the conversation so far I would expect to see:

That you deleted the unneeded patterned geometry in the sketch.

Fully dimensioned and constrained the remaining geometry in the sketch.

Extruded features.

Patterned Faces. 

I would not expect to see any unconstrained sketches in the design.

[joeEVLJ4]

I did all of that in a prior step. 

Now I tried to export to DXF because I can't use the inadequate post processor in Fusion.  

That failed every time.  No explanation in the error. 

So, I projected the flat pattern to a sketch and copied that to another project - thinking that I could more quickly get a clean DXF out of at sketch instead of an object. 

It exported it, but also offset it from the origin.  No problem, I'll just move it back.   That was 40 hours ago.   No progress because the system crashes after trying to do a point-to-point move.  I can't select the second point without it crashing.   I even left it running for 4 hours to see if it would resolve.  

Now I'm trying to re-generate the detailed pattern after selectively moving each perimeter line to be relative to the origin.  But, unfortunately, I turned on Capture History (why was that even off?) so that I could iterate on the dimensions of the pattern and now F360 will not let me edit the sketch.  Wonderful.   So, I'm now three issues deep into this mess. 

BTW, I eventually need to split up this piece so that I can do two separate operations on my plasma cutter.  That's another reason why I wanted flexibility on how/where this pattern is generated.

[lichtzeichenanlage]

I'm doing my hobby projects on an notebook from 2011 / 2012 and I only have
problems I've I really do stupid things (like creating about a hundred
intersecting pipes).
Most of the time it's fine.

[benNYFFU]

This can actually be improved on the BIOS level. If you disable hyperthreading in your BIOS (splitting physical cores into logical cores), you will realize a SIGNIFICANT performance improvement in single-core modelling utilities like Fusion 360 and Solidworks.