modify a component without affecting its copies

[velissariosvoutsas50]

Hi,

how can I make modifications on one component without affecting its copies? 

Thank you.

[TrippyLighting]

When creating the copies, instead of using "copy/paste" use "copy/paste new".

In direct modeling mode there is also a "make independent" option.

[velissariosvoutsas50]

Hi Peter,

thank you for answering. Where is the "make unique" option? Does it appear when I am in 3d mode or not?

[TrippyLighting]

It is only available in direct modeling mode, so with the timeline turned off.

[velissariosvoutsas50]

Does that mean you loose all your history?

[TrippyLighting]

If you turn it  off, yes.

[velissariosvoutsas50 · Accepted solution]

Thank you Peter, I find this very... clumsy for a sofisticated software like Fusion. I started fusion a couple of days ago and this is the second awkward feature i encounter. The first was the inability to display the dimensions of a 3d body, like a cube or a cylinder.

Have a nice day

Velis

[dstevenslv]

You are likely to find several things that are not as you've experienced and could indeed feel clunky and unnatural using F360  It frustrates me as well sometimes.  I try to keep in mind that F360 is a new paradigm when I encounter things like that and not try and directly compare how the features and workflow is implemented in other packages.  While concepts of extruding or sketching or modeling are the same it's the implementation that's different.  To be an effective user of F360 requires accepting that which is different, learning it and moving on to the next thing.  I find some of the paradigm changes welcome but others seem to be changes just for the sake of changing and don't seem to offer me any advantage.  I find if I bog down in the "why does it do it this way when others do it that way" rather than learning it and getting on with it I'm much less productive and far more aggravated.  

[velissariosvoutsas50]

OK, nobody is perfect! Having that in mind I will follow your advise,
forget what I know from other packages and try to familiarise with Fusion
that I find very very interesting. I appreciate you spent your time
answering me.
have a nice day
Velis

[velissariosvoutsas50]

OK, nobody is perfect! Having that in mind I will follow your advise,
forget what I know from other packages and try to familiarise with Fusion
that I find very very interesting. I appreciate you spent your time
answering me.
have a nice day
Velis

[lindsay.fowler]

Okay,

So what if I want to make two very similar components and one has a slightly different feature that can be applied at the end?

What is the best work flow?

I don't accept that I have to give up the history of my project because I want to be able to edit it properly in the future - that's the whole reason why I am using a computer and not building this thing out of clay and firing it in a kiln.

Thanks 🙂

[TrippyLighting]

I've made a 15 minute tutorial about copying and pasting components in fusion 360 covering direct modeling and timeline mode.

That should explain what you need to do. 

In essence if you copy/paste a bode in timeline mode, it is linked to the original body. If you wasn't to add a feature to the copied body you can do that after the copy/paste operation and it will belong only to that body (put that 2nd body into an empty component).

If you edit existing sketch/features on the first body, they will also state in the second body.

If you want to add features to the first body that you as want to have represented in the second body, then roll the timeline back to before the copy/paste operation.

[laughingcreek]

What your describing would be the ability to have different "configurations" of single component.  And why not, would be hugely useful, and can be found in some other cad packages.  I think I saw an Autodesk employ comment somewhere that something like that is in the works.  But not for now.

There is a bit of a work around, though like all work arounds it can be clunky to implement.

Even when you "past new", named user defined parameters travel with component.  You can change the parameters that need to be different to a new user defined parameter, and leave the others the same, so those would be global.

Down side is if you can't magically guess everything that might need to have a user parameter before you start the copy process, you will have to go into each copied/paste new component to add a user parameter to say, the radius of a fillet (for example).

Gaa.  reading my above paragraph, I don't think I'm explaining it very clearly.  I can make an example if you don't get it. 

[m.luessem]

Hi,

I reopen this toppic for another question on it.

I have a component made by parameters (length, width etc.). If I copy / paste new this component, the copy does not react on changing the parameters. Is there a way to fix this?

Thanks

Michael / germany

[chrisplyler]

Select and activate your source component in the browser tree. Right-click on it and choose Copy.

Select and activate the top-level project line in the browser tree. Right-click on it and choose Paste New. Drag the new component away from the source component in the workspace and then click Okay.

This will create a new component that is exactly the same as the source component that you copied. They are not linked. You can now activate either one of them and edit sketches or bodies without having any effect on the other one.

[m.luessem]

Thank you, that was quick and easy.

Then just one more question: is it possible to insert the copy of a component in a distance controlled by parameters (e.g. parameter for distance ist 10 cm - the copy should be inserted 10 cm on x-axis away from the original. Changing the parameter should have an effect on the inserted copy)

Thanks a lot!!!

Michael

[TrippyLighting]

Yes, you can use the "move" command to do that. Be aware though that only the two I have highlighted in the screenshot below are parametric.

[m.luessem]

Hi, did exactly what you wrote, but it doesn't work. Changing the parameter for the move-command after I have inserted the copy of my component does not have any effect on the distance between the original and the copy????

Watch here: screen-video

Any ideas??

[chrisplyler]

I've figured out a rather convoluted solution...

I made a third component. I created a sketch in it that just has one line. That line is dimensioned to a parameter. That line gets a Joint Origin placed on each of its two endpoints.

The two components I want to control each get a Joint Origin placed at their centers (or on faces if that's what you want to control the separation of). Make sure these Joint Origins have the same orientation as the ones placed on the sketch line earlier.

Now do a rigid joint between Component1 and one end of the line, then another rigid joint between Component2 and the other end of the line, making sure to select the appropriate Joint Origins in turn so that each component moves and locks itself onto the end of line.

Now you can change the parameter, the line lengthens or shortens, and the two components locked to the ends of the line get farther apart or closer together.

I'm an idiot, so I'm sure there MUST be a better way, but this does work.

Take a look: http://a360.co/2sn4XKL

Open the parameters and change the value of the only user parameter in there.

[m.luessem]

Thank you! That sounds good!!!