Moving sketches by selecting from the browser tree - Why can't you do this?!

[Anonymous]

Am I doing something wrong here? I have been using fusion for several weeks and have just kind of let this slide so far but it's really starting to slow my workflow as I get to more complicated stuff and I am bringing in outside dxf's and drawings. The problem is after I begin extruding and extrapolating shapes from these sketches I am locking myself away from being able to select some of these now buried sketch faces.  The only way I can select them is to turn off bodies that are in the way and directly select them by either grabbing each line segment or draging a box over them which often grabs other sketch entities that are unwanted. It's a lot of toggling bodies on/off to get things out of the way temporarily etc...  I have set opacity low on my bodies so I can see the sketches within/behind, I should be able to select them from the tree at this point once identified.  I know what I want, let me select it.  I should note that these are sketches with no bodies relying on their position further down the timeline.  It's not like moving them will cause conflict.    What is the preffered method here?

You should be able to:

-  Open Move dialog, select sketch from tree.  Move sketch, done.  This works with bodies but not sketches, why?

OR

-Right click on sketch in tree and select 'move'.  Also available to bodies but not sketches.

Also, you are unable to first select sketch segments and THEN open the move dialog.  Selections are lost.  This again works for bodies but not sketches.

The "Move bodies, sketches...." Button that is default selected within the move dialog in fact does not allow you to move sketches as far as I can tell.  You need to select the rightmost "sketches" button only....

I guess really the question is why the behavior difference between bodies and sketches when it comes to the move command?

Overall I love fusion so far but some of these inconsistencies are distruptful. 

[jeff_strater]

Hi @Anonymous, thanks for the question.  I admit that it is a bit confusing the way it is today.  

Move, today, really does 3 completely separate things:

1. Move Components
2. Move Sketch geometries (lines, arcs, points, etc)
3. Move Bodies

Move Components changes the position of a component.  It does not create a feature in the timeline, but does create a "moved component state" as shown by this UI:

Move Body repositions a body within its component.  This version creates a Move feature in the timeline:

Move Sketch Objects is used to move individual curves within the sketch itself (similar to just dragging them, or changing their position with a dimension.  This does not create any feature at all, it just edits the sketch.

It's a valid question to ask why these are combined into one command.  It's a decision that I, personally, did not agree with, to be honest.  But, the UX folks did not want 3 separate commands with almost-similar names, which is a valid point as well.  So, they are combined.

So, to your specific question:  Why can't you just select a sketch in the browser?  The answer is that Move Sketch Objects is not looking for an entire sketch, it is looking for individual sketch curves or points.  Reading between the lines, I think that the operation you really want is "Move entire sketch".  Unfortunately, this is a command that we just have not gotten around to implementing yet (it exists in a direct modeling design, just FYI, but not yet in the parametric world).  It's on the list, but not really very high priority at the moment (not that many people have requested it).

We could, of course, allow sketch browser selection in the "Move Sketch Objects" mode, (so that it just selects all the curves in the sketch), but that is not the same operation (for example, any fixed or fully constrained sketch curves still would not move).

So, I agree - it's confusing and inconsistent at times.  But, I hope this helps clear up some of your questions, even if it doesn't really address the root of your problem.

Jeff Strater (Fusion development)

[PhilProcarioJr]

@jeff_strater

This is a big problem in Fusion 360, by that I mean the inconsistency of using the UI.

This annoys me to no end and I have heard multiple complaints about this inconsistency.

If you work on the user interface of a program then consistency and easy of navigation should be top priority.

Ok they didn't want 3 separate tools/buttons, fine. But if I click on a body in the tree then the move command I shouldn't need to tell the tool I want to move a body. It should know already that I want to move a body or a sketch or whatever.

Also if I want to move an entire sketch I should be able to select that sketch in the tree and hit the m key and move it. If it is constrained then the constraints that are holding it in place should automatically be removed. (This is usually just a coincident to the origin) Or at least pop up a warning and ask if I want them removed.

This is something other CAD apps excel at.

Just my 2 cents

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Jeff. That does help clarify a bit.  I would throw a vote in the ring for the 'Move entire sketch' feature' if you're keeping tally 😉   That would actually satisfy 90% of these situations I mention.  Thanks for the reply!