Ideal System Requirements and File Types

[Anonymous]

 Hello Fusion 360 community,

I am new to 3D modeling but have put together a cool design for a Quad cycle that I would like to build one day see (work in progress rendering.) I was using a Macbook Pro from 2011, but was encountering some problems. I have been wanting to get a new computer anyway, so I thought I would try out a new middle ground iMac.

I downloaded this model and opened it in fusion 360, to borrow some fatter tires.  My old computer had a melt down, so I just tried opening it on this new 27" iMac (3.2 GHz Processor, 8GB Mem).  The model is still very slow to load and use.  My question is: is the model just slow b/c I am opening a solid works file or b/c my coputer specs need upgrading?

If an upgrade is needed, would the top of the line iMac do the trick (3.9GHz Processor, 32GB Mem) or is a Mac Pro (fancier processor, 3.9GHz up to 64GB Mem) needed?  I prefer to stick with a Mac as I own a graphic and webdesign and love using photoshop and illustrator with my Mac.  If I was to switch to a PC, is there any that someone can reccomend?

Thanks!

.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

Question,

Why did you put this in the CAM section?

I mean it's more of a modelling thing, since you haven't programmed any CAM paths on it.

Much better chance of getting good responses in this section fo the fusion forum: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/design-validate-document/bd-p/124

[James.Youmatz]

Hi @Anonymous,

Can you send the model to me at [email protected]? That way I can test it on my computer and see if ithe performance issue is machine specific or file specific. One quick question I have is how those tires are modeled. Are there treads on each one of those tires, if so this may be the issue. Treads result in a LOT of geometry that Fusion has to calculate and from a modeling standpoint can be quite useless (until the rendering phase at least). Regardless send me a file and I will take a peek. Also, I can't tell but are there gears on each one of those tires as well?

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Will do. Sorry!

[Anonymous]

Hi @James.Youmatz,

The model is attached as an "IGS" file.  I'm pretty sure, it would work better with a faster processor and more memory.

Thank you very much for your help, I'm having lots of fun with Fusion. 

[James.Youmatz]

Hi @Anonymous,

Whoops, I don't think the iges file got attached to your last post. Can you try it again or just direct email it to me? 

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

@James.Youmatz Looks like the file is too large.  I emailed you with it inserted through google drive or you can download it here: https://grabcad.com/library/concept-dirt-bike-gearless-full-assembly-1

Thank you VERY much 🙂

[James.Youmatz]

Hi @Anonymous,

So I have the same performance issues as well (to an extent). It is really slow to move around and the file (unzipped) is almost 200 MB of information. That's a decent sized file, but there are some unnecessary modeling features that I notice. For example, both tires had some intense tread patterns going on that really cause unnecessary calculations that Fusion has to go through when operating. Also, that chain consists of over 80 repeated components that are each detailed. For testing purposes, by just deleting the tire components (just the rubber pieces not the rims) and all the chain components I was able to significantly improve the performance of the model. I guess the best question here is what is you overall goal with this model. Depending on your answer I may have different suggestions to give such as suppressing components you don't actively need or even isolating the components you actually want to work on. Let me know, thanks!

[Anonymous]

Hi James,

If I wanted to put the tires in for the final rendering, could I simply "hide" them with the light bulb button until I am ready or do they actually need to be deleted completley?

And do you think, that if I updgraded ram or processor that would help?  B/c I would like to insert the treads towards the end without a a 10 min wait.  Cheers!

Thanks,

Andrew

[James.Youmatz]

Hi @Anonymous,

Yup! You can just turn the visibility off on the tires as well as all the chain components. The easiest way to turn off the visibility of all the chain components is to select the first chain component in the list (chain main part:1) and then scroll down to the last one (chain main part:64) and then hold Shift and click it. This will select all the components in between (which are all the chain components). Then with all of them selected, just right-click and select show/hide. Also, a neat trick that you can do is isolate the components that you want to work on. So select all of the components in the browser tree that you actively want to work on (for instance lets say you want to make a change to the chassis) just right-click the component and select isolate. This will then hide all other components. Then, when you want to turn them back on, just right click it again and select unisolate. This should help increase performance. Also, if you go to the help menu in the top left corner of Fusion (looks like question mark) select graphics diagnostic and then check the box that says limit all effects to provide optimum performance. This will also help if you are still experiencing any issues.

As far as hardware goes - it can almost always helps to upgrade, but I can't vouch as to whether or not it is necessary. I personally do not have a mac, but if you have 8 GB of RAM you should be fine. I'm not sure if you change out the processor or HDD's on mac's but I know that I just put a Solid State Drive into my home computer (Windows) and reinstalled the OS to Win10 and it made a HUGE improvement in performance. Again, that is just my personal recommendation, and hopefully some other users have good recommendations for Mac! Hopefully the few tips I gave on the model will improve the performance. Let me know if it worked, thanks!

[TrippyLighting]

Here is a very good recorded class from Autodesk Univeristy 2015 from @Phil.E and @joel.palioca that deals with large model performance.

So here are some of the things that should help you (still, watch the video!) :

1. For the chain, which has a lot of repeating objects, create a slection set that contains all of the chain elements. You can to the same with the tires. theat will alloww you to hide/show a lot of objects at one time.

2. You can then decide whether you want to simply hide the objects or if you set them to "unslectable". If you choose "unselectable" they will simply still be visible, but you cannot slect them with the mouse anymore.

Again, there are many helpful hints in that class. There is also a handout that you can download if you follow the link to that classes web page.

[Anonymous]

@James.Youmatz Thank you for you detailed explanation! 

CHEERS! 

[Anonymous]

@TrippyLighting Wow, thank you for those tips, I will certainly watch the video.

[Oceanconcepts]

As far as performance is concerned, I got a top end 27” iMac last year, and have been very happy with it. For my way of working, the larger screen size is crucial. Graphics memory is important with Fusion, so I got the upgrade.  I also sprung for the “fusion” drive (no relation to Fusion360…) which puts OS stuff on a solid state drive and can echo James’ comments about the value of solid state speedup. I doubt the Mac Pro is required unless you are really pushing limits.