How do you deactivate a component?

How do you deactivate a component?

Anonymous
Not applicable
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68 Replies
Message 1 of 69

How do you deactivate a component?

Anonymous
Not applicable

I can 'activate' it, which I have no idea what the point is honestly... but I cannot deactivate it. Sooo if I want to see what this thing actually looks like I have to go into render. I'm confused. How can I deactivate it?

Accepted solutions (1)
73,781 Views
68 Replies
Replies (68)
Message 41 of 69

Anonymous
Not applicable

I would correct not to now, but do not find edit...

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Message 42 of 69

Anonymous
Not applicable

My originbal post was REPLY top post 12, but it did not link it?? nothing works  

You can activate the root of the browser.

There is really no UI mystery here.

 

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Message 43 of 69

TrippyLighting
Consultant
Consultant

I would recommend you complete one of the tutorial courses here before continuing.

Component activation is such an essential and basic skill, it should be understood before starting any design


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Message 44 of 69

Anonymous
Not applicable

I have been using Fusion 360 for over 4 years, countless designs, and countless workarounds for functionality like this. 

 

If it was not clear once again super frustrated with Fusion 360 "cleverness" I will never again press that activate button.

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Message 45 of 69

TrippyLighting
Consultant
Consultant

I've been using CAD and 3D modeling software professionally for 30 years. I added Fusion 360 to my toolbox in 2014 and use it daily, often alongside SolidWorks (at work) and ZWS3D (private).

 

If you don't understand component activation and its purpose it does not matter how long you've used Fusion 360, you need to take a step back and learn and understand its purpose, it is that essential.


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Message 46 of 69

Anonymous
Not applicable

And just to add, once again doing a workaround as I find no obvious way to break links between components that where cerated with circular pattern, luckily this is just 3 components...

 

So after doing the circular pattern I copy all bodies to Bodies of the two created components then delete the created two components and then create a new components from the bodies. Just to get them independent components as they should be by default. But there must be some better way to break the links between components???

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Message 47 of 69

Anonymous
Not applicable

"If you don't understand component activation and its purpose it does not matter how long you've used Fusion 360, you need to take a step back and learn and understand its purpose, it is that essential."

 

I do not want to understand this, I have no need for this workflow. I just wanted to recover from pressing Activate Component. And if there is no simple way to recover from that, without going to some tutorials, something is seriously wrong.

 

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Message 48 of 69

TrippyLighting
Consultant
Consultant

There is indeed no way to make patterned component instances independent and copying bodies from one component into another is actually also not doing that. You would have to either copy/paste-new or save a copy into the data panel and then re-insert.


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Message 49 of 69

TrippyLighting
Consultant
Consultant

@Anonymous wrote:

 

I do not want to understand this, I have no need for this workflow.


In that case, I wish you good luck in your further endeavors with Fusion 360, you'll need it and then some.

I am out!


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Message 50 of 69

Anonymous
Not applicable

So there is no way to recover from pressing Activate Component? or it is so complex that one needs to understand the whole component concept to do that?

 

Anyway never mind, I have now recovered the design and never again will press that.

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Message 51 of 69

TrippyLighting
Consultant
Consultant

@Anonymous wrote:

So there is no way to recover from pressing Activate Component? or it is so complex that one needs to understand the whole component concept to do that?

 


The component concept is at the very core of Fusion 360. Each Fusion 360 design is already a component. A component is a container for all those things that contribute to the design of the discrete part. Sketches, construction planes, axis, solid bodies, surface bodies etc.

 

If your design contains more than a single discrete part, then those parts should become individual coponetes as soo as it makes sense.

 

To ensure that the "stuff" actually goes into the right folder in a given component (bodies folder, sketch folder, etc) , you activate a component and when you add, say, a sketch to a component it will end up in that components sketch folder.

 

When you want to work in another component you can simply activate that. Modifying the geometry of an existing component often does not require you to activate it. Fusion 360 is smart enough to understand to associate a fillet feature with the component the body is placed in that you filleted.

 

Are you familiar with Fusion 360's R.U.L.E #1 ?

Just to be clear, if a design contains only one discrete part, for example to be 3D printed, you don't need to create a new component. Each fusion 360 file starts as a component.  


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Message 52 of 69

Anonymous
Not applicable

So how exactly do I recover from pressing  pressing Activate Component to the state it was before?

 

 

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Message 53 of 69

TrippyLighting
Consultant
Consultant

You activate he top level or root component. Every Fusion 360 design has a root. In the screenshot below that's the "Computer Desk v106" :

 

TrippyLighting_0-1638970039550.png

 


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Message 54 of 69

Anonymous
Not applicable

I tried that but it did not provide expected result. some of the originally visible components did not come visible and refused to do so.

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Message 55 of 69

Oceanconcepts
Advisor
Advisor

Activating components, so your work on that component is stored with and tied to that individual component, and deactivating them to work within other components- the whole system of how Fusion is organized in terms of components- is essential to being able to use the program effectively. At least if you are doing anything beyond single item / single body complexity. If you don't structure your design in terms of components, you will have huge problems down the line. It's like trying to put up walls on a house without a foundation structure. 

If you truly don't get the way Fusion is organized in terms of components, and how to proceed with a. design while keeping your components organized, then stop now and go back to that part of the tutorial or documentation. If you issue its something else, maybe you could explain more fully. 

- Ron

Mostly Mac- currently M1 MacBook Pro

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Message 56 of 69

Oceanconcepts
Advisor
Advisor

In Fusion you are always working inside an activated component. It may be the root component. Is it possible that you have created some of the components you don't see as sub-components? In that case they would not be visible in the browser unless you expanded the higher level component. The component structure is hierarchical. 

 

You comments suggest that you don't understand this most basic level of Fusion's structure. Sure, you may be able to do some designs without effectively using the component structure of Fusion. But it's not that hard to understand the component structure, and components will define your approach to structuring every design in Fusion.  You are using the tool in a way that will handicap your ability to do designs of any complexity, and that removes the ability to utilize many of the most powerful features of the program, which depend on effectively organized components. 

 

- Ron

Mostly Mac- currently M1 MacBook Pro

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Message 57 of 69

kim.jansonT4WYD
Explorer
Explorer

I get that a lot here and usually at the end the opinion that Fusion 360 is not for me.

 

Just wish it would be a tool that does what I tell it to and nothing else.

and the timeline gone, or at least possibility to turn it off

 

But it is what it is as am I. I have no interest to learn the Fusion 360 way. 

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Message 58 of 69

Oceanconcepts
Advisor
Advisor

If you want to work without the timeline, you simply go into direct modeling mode. I do it often when working on early design ideas. 

Right click on the root component, select "Do not capture design history".  The timeline is gone and you have somewhat more freedom in some ways since you are working without parametric constraints. 

 

The fact that you have been using Fusion for years but appear to be unaware of basic elements of the program's structure and use highlights the problem. While it's possible to just pick up Fusion and get some kind of results without any learning or understanding, it is a powerful and complex tool, you need to understand at least the most basic level of how it is structured to avoid having problems down the line. These aspects of Fusion are not hard to grasp, but they are key. They are called out in all of the basic tutorials and documentation. 

- Ron

Mostly Mac- currently M1 MacBook Pro

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Message 59 of 69

kim.jansonT4WYD
Explorer
Explorer

"The timeline is gone and you have somewhat more freedom in some ways since you are working without parametric constraints. " That is not true, it just moves to the browser and saturates it to unusable at the end.

 

So I do occasionally save as Step to get rid of the grab. so sad.

 

The Fusion 360 has potential for much more than it is, and that is simply by being less. 

 

 

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Message 60 of 69

TrippyLighting
Consultant
Consultant

@kim.jansonT4WYD wrote:

 

The Fusion 360 has potential for much more than it is, and that is simply by being less. 

 


I don't think you have the "tools" to make that assessment!


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