How to change the position of a Primitive ( Box, Cylinder, coil, etc... )
Things will get much clearer after less than 50 minutes of video 😉
A well placed click on that elusive "Learn" button would also do the trick.
There are many ways in Fusion (align tool, joints tool, dimensional constraints) to position objects. What is best depends on you particular needs. In some cases if you want to dimension or use the Align tool on a particular shape, it may be necessary to create a construction feature, such as an axis, first to give something to snap to.
As Trippy says, some time spent with tutorials will illustrate how Fusion differs from other CAD programs, and how to use its many options to reach your goals.
Mostly Mac- currently M1 MacBook Pro
Hi,
Indeed, I whish it was the case. Let me explain more in details what's missing in my understanding.
The cylinder on the top left of the box is a sketch, and that's all fine because I can setup dimensions to the sketch to position is exactly from the top left corner of the underlying Box.
However, the Current selectes Cylinder in the main screenshot, that is not made via a sketch but actually from the "cylinder" option in the Create menu, doesn't have any mean for me to tell it where to be position from the top right corner of the box... I can set it's diameter, it's height, but not its "Placement".
and that I can not find in any of the tutorials and videos I watched so far ( more than 90 mn or it 🙂 )
so, in short, when using sketch, I can define it's position, not just its shape, but when I create primitives, I can not, and I'd really like to know how to do this. I tried creating construction points, but it seems you must select a Plane, which means the primitive you creates is just "ruffly" placed on that plane, which is not acceptable, I want to setup parameters that will adjust the placement of these primitives and similar tricks.
Does my issue is a little clearer? and maybe/hopefully there is a tutorial or learning material that covers this case, but I haven't find it yet, so if you know the one thanks for pointing it to me 🙂
Thanks,
Bye,
Jean
One way:
Edit your sketch, create a sketch point (initial position doesn’t matter) and use sketch dimensions to position the point where you want the cylinder center. Use the Align tool under the Modify menu to snap the cylinder to this position. You could also use joints to accomplish the same thing. This will be editable parametrically.
Another way:
Make the Cylinder primitive into a component. Activate the component. Under Construction, select axis through cylinder, cone, torus. You can then use the Measure tool to measure the center of the primitive against the edges, and move appropriately using the Move tool.
There are probably many other ways, but these pop to mind first. These techniques are all covered in tutorials in the general sense, but the challenge for all of us is putting together the tools to accomplish our goals.
Mostly Mac- currently M1 MacBook Pro
I would recommend "the other" way @Oceanconcepts suggested. Actually the first thing you should to is create a component and activate it. Since the latest update a newly created component is automatically activated which indicates the significance of activating components before adding anything to them or modifying their geomerty.
Then you can go several ways.
One of them is to create a sketch with dimensioned points and you can use the actions in the"Assmble" menu to join the objects to these sketch points.
Another way is to add one or more joint origins in your example to the block annd move those into place and then join the cylinders to these joint origins again, using joints in the Assembly menu.
This is not convoluted! It provides you with a lot of flexibility, which you will appreciate as you get more confident and adventurous in your designs in Fusion 360.
Also, you can use primitives. the primitoives only create geometry/bodies and you can make thes into components. Righ-click on the body and selec make components.
For some applictions using a primitive is much quicker than using the sketch extrude, whatever method. If you ned to see how a populated PCB fits into an enclosure and you need to model 10 resistors and 20 capacitors etc. it's much quicker doe with primitives.
Also, again, as you get more experinece with Fusion360's tool set you will understand when it is advantageous to work with multiple bodies in a single component as that also has it's applications.
Aha, that is what you want to do.
- You create a component and activate it.
- You start a sketch ("Sketch" menu) for the base profile of the box and dimension it. Then you push/pull it to extrude it to the thickness you want it. You can also use a primitive from the"Create" menu for the box.
- Then you create a new sketch on to pf that box surface and start sketching a center pont circle, for example.
- Dimension the location of the center point using the dimension tool from the "Sketch" menu.
- Then you push-pull the circle into the cylinder of your liking. IIRC the push-pull command will ask you if you want to join the cylinder to the box or cut a hole or create a new cylinder body.
The default is join if you pull the circle up into open space. If you pull it down into the cylinder it turns red indicating that it will cut a hole into the cylinder. You can change these defaults to your liking. - Then you can fillet or chamfer the ege between the cylinder and the box.
Then you have your first component 😉
Please watch the introductory videos that show that workflow over and over again.
Fusion’s workflows often differ from other CAD packages. But there are good reasons, it’s definitely not arbitrary. Some confusion flows from Fusion designs not really using a single origin for the entire drawing, but each component having its own origin. Because Fusion works for everything from rough concept design to engineering and CAM, every workflow needs to be considered. You can be very precise and tightly define a part using sketches, or you can throw up a lot of shapes and try to piece them together freely. I use primitives a lot when doing concept designs, and find that using Align, Joints, and move tools becomes very fast and natural. If you already know what you want to do, and it’s just a matter of building the parts and maybe tweaking dimensions parametrically, then sketching as described by Trippylighting makes the most sense.
One tool in Fusion I use a lot is Move- then changing the manipulator position (click “show manipulator” in the dialog) to the face, edge, or surface I want to align with, starting a drag, then snapping to align to any face or point in the design- it’s quick and precise. In most cases it works with faces as well as with bodies and components. In your case, I might well have just used the Move tool, set the manipulator to the center bottom of the cylinder (I’m assuming it is still a separate body), snapped the cylinder to an edge, then moved orthogonally the distance I wanted to offset from the edge.
If I knew I wanted to place the cylinder at a point, you could also just place that point on the sketch and use it for the center of the primitive when creating. There are many ways to approach this.
Making a component is not a one way street. You can combine components together, creating a single component. Then you could do your chamfer.
Mostly Mac- currently M1 MacBook Pro
I’m a little lost as to what you are trying to accomplish, and exactly what you are meaning by “primitive”- maybe you could post some example screenshots or a screencast?
I think what you are seeing is one of the differences between direct modeling and modeling with the timeline. In direct modeling it is possible to select a feature on a body, such as a single face, and edit it an a variety of ways. Within the timeline it is necessary to go back to the sketch to change a basic feature of a body, though you can add features or edit the body in many ways, such as drafting a face or adding fillets. But I may not be understanding your question.
Mostly Mac- currently M1 MacBook Pro
No, in fact that's not odd.
The purpose of the primitives is to be mainly used for direct modeling. To stay with your exampe of the cylinder, in order to change the diameter you'd select the cylindrical surface and use the push-pull command. Direct modelng as the name suggests does not store previpous information, all changes are in relation to the currnt dimensions.
If you wan to change the location of such a cylinder you'd use the move tool.
If you do want to edit the sketch the you have to model parametrically. In essence you'd create a sketch and then extrude, refolve etc. to create the desired shape. Then you can go back and edit the sketch to change the iameter of the cylinder for example.
I am less concerned with wat you would do.
I am more concerned with what you should do. That I described in my last post.
I don's see missing feature implementation. You simply need to use the right tools for your work.
If you have an idea of how to improve on the existing tools please post them in the Idea Station.
You're correct, it is not purely a direct editing dialogue when you are in timeline mode. In direct editing mode there is no edit option as there is no timeline
But then again, if you feel so strongly about it, please put it into the idea station.
An alternate workflow that is very easy to apply, creating a sketch first and then extruding it is not a workaround. It is simply an alternate workflow allowing for more flexibility.
