Getting started with constraints and handles in sketches

[Anonymous]

I'm a long time Autocad user and have a good grasp of the the Civil 3D environment. I'm doing some mechanical stuff lately and am trying Fusion 360. It a very different approach.

Is there a tutorial or video that explains how handles, constraints, selection/operation orders etc?

For instance, how do I rotate an object around a fixed point? In Autocad I select the object, then the center of rotation and then type in the angle of rotation - I can't seem to figure out how to do that in Fusion. What do the little dots that appear on the end of a line when I pass my cursor over it mean? How come only one end lights up? How do I constrain one end and not the other? When I use the right click grabbers, how do I go from a cartesian move to a polar move? The "Constraints" page in the help has nothing on it about how to apply constraints, and absolutely nothing to say about Fix/Unfix.

This stuff is all second nature in Autocad but not here...

Thanks for the help,

HanswurstNC

[Anonymous]

I'm also looking for a video or information on how the manipulator works. I suspect its pretty easy once you get it but its just frustrating me right now. I can't seem to put it where I want it, and I can't use the radial grabbers once I've accepted a new relocation.

Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

+1 for a thorough explanation of constraints. It seems that the Fix button toggles the entity between being anchored and not anchored, but is there no way of telling when it is and isn't? I don't notice anything change when I click it, but it obviously does nail an entity down. It would make sense if the padlock symbol changed from locked to unlocked depending on the "fixed" status of the entity, but it doesn't.

[Oceanconcepts]

1) Select the Move tool- if wanting to move a body or component, it may be easiest to select the part in the browser at the left of the screen, then right-mouse to bring up the menu with the Move tool.  If you want to move only a face, select it in the drawing. 

2) Select the reorient option (tiny X-Y-Z axis icon) in the little floating toolbar- it will change to a check.

3) Move the manipulator around to snap to the face, point, or feature you wan to be the reference for movement, locus of rotation, etc. If you want to rotate around a point in space you could create a construction feature to snap to. You can adjust the position until you accept it by clicking the check.

4) When the manipulator is where you want it, click the checkbox in the little floating toolbar- it will change back to an X-Y-Z axis.

You can then rotate or move either freehand, or by entering in a numeric value or formula. Grid snap is at the bottom of the screen, and on by default, it may help to disable it.  Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for getting back.

I have an axis on which I have drawn a line, then drawn another line perpendicular to it. I want to rotate the "spoke" around the axis 1.5 deg from where it is now. When I follow your instructions (which is what I had been trying) I can't get the manipulator to snap to the end of the line at the axis - it'll stick to the axis itself but won't grab the intersection. When in relocate mode, the manipulator has handles (arrows) in the x,y,z planes and also shows what appear to be rotational handles in each plane, although I can't actually grab or use them while in relocate. Once I accept the new location, the rotational handles disappear, which is what I want to use, leaving me with only x,y,z options.

In Civil 3D I can pull up a properties window that tells me everything about a selected object and gives me the ability to make edits to those properties in that window. Is there an analogous method in Fusion 360? I can't figure out exactly where the critical elements of a sketched object lie in my drawing.

I still can't figure out how to apply constraints, nor can I find a good description or diagram of Bodies, Sketches, Constructions, and Components - what they are, how they interact, their differences and why it matters. I can't find a good description of the differences in Model, Patch and Sculpt modes - what actions/functions am I supposed to perform in each mode and how they interrelate. I get that you can make really complicated and cool t-spline bodies, there are at least a dozen videos showing that, but I'm trying to figure out how to do very simple stuff at the sketch level and can't find anything in Autodesk's video library or support docs that explain how. Autodesk really needs to do a better job of helping those of us who are used to their other products learn how this new environment works.

Rant from a frustrated noob, sorry.

HanswurstNC

[Anonymous]

So, I've figured out how to make a hole in a cylinder wall (my goal above) - how do I locate it radially or axially? When I use the Create Hole command it asks me for a face, plane or sketch point. I have a construction line as an axis running through the cylinder and another construction line from the axis to the outside of the cylinder at the location where I want the outside center of the hole (see above "spoke"). If I select the end of the construction line it wants to put the hole at 90 degrees to the construction line (parallel to the cylinder face), not along it. If I select the face of the cylinder it creates the hole but not in the right spot. If I try to move the hole by grabbing the center of it while still in the Create Hole command, I can only move along it along the line created by the tangent between the outside cylinder wall and the plane at the location I originally dropped the hole. The instruction video shows that you can select a neighboring wall to define an exact offset to the hole center while you are still in the command, but I can't get it to allow me to pick the end face of the cylinder to do that. If I create a plane at the end of the construction line that is tangent to the cylinder (Model>Construct>Plane Tanget to Face at Point) and use that to create the hole, I can't snap to the end of the line to relocate the hole in the correct location.

argh - three days trying to figure this out.

[Oceanconcepts]

The Hole tool is pretty good at guessing intent when you target a planar face, it seems to me less so when you are trying to place a hole in a non-planar object. Actually, if I correctly understand ( I may not be) what you are trying to do, I would probably create an offset plane at the correct angle, make a sketch on it, and use the extrude (or just Push-Pull) in the model environment to boolean out the hole. Or maybe just make a cylinder and use the Combine- Cut tool. But the first thing would be to create a workplane reference. It sounds like you are trying to do that with the plane tangent at point, but you would also need to create a sketch point to position the hole where the axis line passes through the plane. You are right, it won't find the intersection on its own. 

It seems a little arbitrary sometimes what objects or parts of objects create or don't create snaps in Fusion- as in your case, not the end of a cylinder.  It's been a topic of discussion in the idea station here:  http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Fusion-360-IdeaStation-Request-a/Object-snap-is-really-needed/idi-p/38... And here: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Fusion-360-IdeaStation-Request-a/Improvements-to-the-Measure-tool/idi-...

The different modes, Model, patch, and Sculpt, just correspond to different tool sets and capabilities, Solid Modeling/ boolean operations, surface tools, and T-Spline operations. It's actually really great to have all those things available i one package, but takes some getting used to. I struggled with the distinctions between Bodies and Components, but again, now I see it as very useful. Components are like assemblies, things you want to stay together, You can have anything- multiple bodies, sketches, construction features, etc. within a component- and also other components. It's mainly organizational. 

I agree about the need for better instruction in use of the sketching tools. There are quite a few short videos in the Help section here under Begin modeling Solid Bodies. In the aggregate they will help illustrate the logic behind Fusion's interface for solid modeling.

[Anonymous]

does the line have to pass through the plane in order for the snap to recognize it? Right now I have it meeting the plane at a perpendicular but not passing through and I can't get the Create Hole tool to grab it.

I'm running on the 90 day trial right now, trying to decide on whether Fusion 360 is a better tool for us than Solidworks. After the past 3 days I'm frustrated enough to consider leaving Autodesk after nearly 20 years of using (and defending) their products.

[Oceanconcepts]

As far as I can see the Create Hole tool won't snap to the intersection between a construction line and plane- nor will the Create Cylinder. That does seem like a deficiency- in my opinion, anyway. What you would need to do is to create a sketch on the plane, and project the axis line into the sketch. That will generate a point that you can use to draw a circle of the appropriate diameter. Then use Push-Pull to cut the hole, or use the hole tool. It will see the sketch point and plane.

The Hole tool may be one that hasn't fully evolved- it was added in a version change a few back. Fusion is a very young program, and it hasn't reached maturity- some of the tools may lack features you would find in older programs. But there are compensations. 

FWIW, I opted for Fusion over SolidWorks in my business. For my use, designing pressure housings for elelctronics, it's working out really well. The interface did take some time to get a handle on, mostly because I was used to CAD tools that did things differently.  But it is very flexible. 

[Anonymous]

For what they're worth, a few things I've discovered about sketching (experienced users say all together: "Duh!")

To delete a constraint

Hover the mouse pointer on the constraint symbol next to the entity being constrained (line, arc, etc.). The entity itself will highlight (if it is constrained to another entity, both will light up). That’s OK – left-click the symbol and the entity(ies) should un-highlight. With the pointer still on the symbol, right-click it and options should pop up. Delete will be at upper left.

The “Fix” constraint

When an entity on a sketch is locked with a Fix constraint, its color changes from white to green. For arcs and circles, a black dot also appears at the center of the little centerpoint symbol for the entity. Clicking the Fix (padlock) icon and then clicking the entity toggles the fixed status of the entity on and off.

Trimming/breaking arcs or circles

When an arc or circle has a tangent constraint to another arc or circle, I can’t reliably break or trim to that intersection. I guess this is not considered an intersection, since it is technically a point of tangency? Anyhow, sometimes I can trim and sometimes I can't (the part I want to keep disappears too). I get around this by constructing lines to those points of tangency as necessary so the arc or circle can be trimmed or broken at its intersection with a line.

I hope these are helpful to somebody. If I have anything wrong, corrections appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Ron - I'll wrestle with the hole tool some more. It definitely doesn't like cutting through curved surfaces.

[Anonymous]

Duh is kind of how I'm feeling - I know from experience that learning new environments is often about beating your head against the wall until you bust through. Painful, but acceptable as long as you eventually get through. Fusion 360 just feels like there are too many simple things missing or that have been made too complicated. Or maybe I'm just a dumb noob.

Thanks for the constraint advice. I can't quite get it to work the way you describe but I'll try holding my tongue in a different position next time. I may have inadvertently created some anomalies in the database from my constant deleting of botched sketckes from the browser (started over with clean files several times to clear this).

Thanks on the Fix/Unfix

I've struggled with the trim command as well. It only seems to work for faces and surfaces, not for sketch objects. I use both tools extensively in Autocad and I feel hobbled not knowing how to make them do the same things here.

I'll soldier on, for a bit, and see if it starts to make some sense.

We tried drawing the part I was attempting in Solidworks 2006 - took 20 minutes. Hmmm.

[Oceanconcepts]

If the part, or a screenshot, is something you can share here I expect some experienced users will jump in with suggestions as to workflow. That's how I have picked up much of what I know. And it helps the UI people to see where different types of users run into problems. 

I use the trim command on sketch lines quite a bit, so long as it's a distinct segment I haven't had any problems with it- though you can use Delete as well for many objects. Curious to see what sort of situation where you are seeing it not work. 

[Anonymous]

I'll be away from the screen for a couple of days but I'll post a shot on Friday - thanks again Ron

[Anonymous]

Awesome. Thanks for taking the time to help. I need to digest and tinker
with it some. Be back in a day or two.

[Anonymous]

Addendum to my comment about deleting constraints:

Where I wrote "options should pop up," I believe the correct nomenclature is "marking menu." And actually, instead of right-clicking to activate the marking menu, you can simply press the delete key on your keyboard (another "Duh" for me). I've also found it's not necessary at that stage in the procedure to keep the pointer on the constraint you're trying to delete.

The main trick in deleting these seems to be to hover on the symbol so that the entity(ies) with the constraint highlight, and then left-click. When the highlighting disappears, you know you'll be deleting the constraint and not the entity itself.

[Anonymous]

Chin up, Hanswurst; we'll get there. I come from 24 years using 2D CAD/CAM, so talk about "old dog/new tricks"!

I've been thinking the same thing about starting with a fresh file more often. I tend to randomly sketch and scribble and extrude for a while, then delete a bunch of entities and start over. I suppose I'm asking for trouble by doing that, although it seems the program should be able to easily handle it without crashing, seeing as how complex parts might require much of the same thing. My stuff is ridiculously simple, at least for now.

The Autodesk folks are wonderful, and I'm excited that they have taken on the challenge of affordable CAD/CAM in the cloud. Cool stuff is coming, I think, and it's fun to be part of it. Looking forward to reading more from you when you get back. I too will try to include screenshots when appropriate. The program makes it easy.

[Oceanconcepts]

It's true, sometimes the interface is simpler than previous CAD experience has you thinking it would be- like just pressing delete to remove a constraint- or a fillet, face, or body feature. Or the Looong press to select alternate features. In some ways it may be easier for complete novices to "get" Fusion than for those of us with long standing expectations about how things should work.

[Anonymous]

Hi Ron - I'm back trying to get this figured out.

I'm still struggling with a very simple operation. Working in sketch mode in 2D, I have a line whose endpoint is the center of a circle. I want to make a copy of the line, anchor the end to the center of the circle and rotate the copy about that point by 1 deg. I have tried dozens of different combinations of things to make this happen. I apparently can't use the Create>Pattern.Circular Pattern on a sketched line - the command only works on faces, solid features, bodies and components. I think I'm supposed to be able to do this using the manipulator but I can't get it to show the radial controls once I accept a relocation at the end (only x,y,z).

Simple, yet not. This is really starting to drive me nuts.

Thanks again.

Hanswurst

[Anonymous]

While you await Ron's expert attention, here's the way I just did it, for what it's worth:

Start the second line at the circle center. Drag out to about the same length as the first line and a comfortable distance away from it, angle-wise. Enter the same length you had for the first line and finish creating the new line. Now delete whatever angle dimension was automatically placed on the second line to "un-constrain" it. Select the Sketch Dimension tool, pick one line and then the other, and enter 1 degree as the angle between them.

Edit: Actually, I just tried Circular Pattern in the Sketch menu and it seemed to work fine. Pick the line to copy, click Center Point and pick the circle, change Type to Angle, enter 1 as the Total Angle (or -1 to go the other direction), and 2 for Quantity.