Parametric components - just double checking

[jportway]

I'm just checking out Fusion 360 -considering moving from Solidworks. So far there are very many things I really like, but I've hit a weird dead end:

As far as I can tell there is no way to create parametric components - in other words to create different instances of a component with different parameters.

Can this really be true? Do you have to make a new model of a bolt every time you want one a different length? Do you have to model every standard bit of tubing (with radiuses etc.) every time you want to use one?

I'm especially baffled because designs can have "User parameters" - so allowing parametric instances doesn't seem harder to implement than just allowing people to expose the parameters they want to change as User Parameters, and then allowing them to be edited for each instance. But I've tried every way I can think of, and it just doesn't seem possible. It seems bafffling to make parametric modelling software, and then not bother to use the parameters for something so obvious and essentially useful as this.

Am I missing something really obvious? Otherwise how do you actually cope with what seems to me to be a massive miussing piece of functionality? Is there a totally different paradigm that I'm misunderstanding?

[rushabhthakkar_910]

@jportway, It is possible. Have a look at this..!!

https://youtu.be/3GQHaYdmULs

[TrippyLighting · Accepted solution]

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@jportway wrote:

I'm just checking out Fusion 360 -considering moving from Solidworks. So far there are very many things I really like, but I've hit a weird dead end:

As far as I can tell there is no way to create parametric components - in other words to create different instances of a component with different parameters.

Can this really be true? Do you have to make a new model of a bolt every time you want one a different length? Do you have to model every standard bit of tubing (with radiuses etc.) every time you want to use one?

I'm especially baffled because designs can have "User parameters" - so allowing parametric instances doesn't seem harder to implement than just allowing people to expose the parameters they want to change as User Parameters, and then allowing them to be edited for each instance. But I've tried every way I can think of, and it just doesn't seem possible. It seems bafffling to make parametric modelling software, and then not bother to use the parameters for something so obvious and essentially useful as this.

Am I missing something really obvious? Otherwise how do you actually cope with what seems to me to be a massive miussing piece of functionality? Is there a totally different paradigm that I'm misunderstanding?

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This feature set is called Configurations in SolidWorks and when I used SW more than I do nowadays, I used it daily.

It is currently being implemented into Fusion 360 and we might see first public releases by the end of 2023.

Let me say that I am as baffled as you are! That is all I can share before I blow a gasket, completely loose my s**t and put myself at danger of loosing my Autodesk Expert Elite status 😉

[TrippyLighting]

@rushabhthakkar_910 Have you worked with Configurations in SolidWorks, or Alibre Design or  ZW3D?

Have you used iParts in Autodesk Inventor?

Please do just in one of these applications and then let's discuss whether or not the suggestion you posted fits a professional need.

[rushabhthakkar_910]

@TrippyLighting, Yes. I have used Solidworks and Inventor. I agree with you. But just meant that at-least we have something to work on. Not that Professional, but as you said, a better version will come in near future.. In the mean time, this is what we have. 😊

[jportway]

As far as I can tell that video is just a tutorial on how to use parameters in general.

It doesn't seem to explain how I can embed several instances of a component into my design with different parameters for each instance - or am i missing something?

For instance - I model a bolt, or a girder, once - and have parameters for the length, and maybe also for other dimensions. This is great, because now I have a bolt that can be parametrically adjusted to be any size bolt.

Now I want to use this bolt, or girder, or any other component, in my design. I want to use various different confiugurations of the bolt at different lengths or sizes. How do I do this?

I've hit a wall with re-modelling a Solidworks project in Fusion, because I've realised I'm going to have a silly amount of work (and a silly number of very slightly different component to manage), if I have to model every single instance independently. Just as an example - I have a simple structure made of standard square-section tube. I don't mind modelling the tube once - but do I *really* have to model the profile of the tube etc.  *every single time* I want to add a new tube to my design that's a different length? This seems to make a mockery of the whole idea of parametric modelling

[jportway]

Well, thanks for the (rather depressing) reply. Got to say I'm baffled by this ommision.

I would genuinely love to start using Fusion instead of Solidworks, but unless there's some secret here that I don't understand I'm honestly baffled how people can be productive if they have to, for instance, re-sketch the profile of every tube each time they want to add a new square tube to their design. I guess I could make a kind of "template" design, change the dimensions and then save out the changed version as an entirely disconnected new design - but is that really practical when constructing something out of  maybe 20 or 30 different lengths of tube?

I guess I'm going to, regretfully, crawl back to using Solidworks again. At least until "the end of 2023"

[TrippyLighting]

@rushabhthakkar_910 I apologize for my antagonistic reply. For me on a very personal level, the subject of Configurations has become a very sour topic.

Just look at the date and content of this  thread. That should not need any further explanation 😉

[jportway]

"Configurations" per se.  aren't even required for basic functionality.

"Configurations" imply that not only can you embed things with different parameters, but that these components have "preset" parameter tables, to represent that a component can only exist in certain preset configurations, rather than having freely editable parameters (standard sizes of bolts for instance).

At the moment i'd be happy with just being able to insert something and freely edit its "user parameters" on a per-instance basis.

[TrippyLighting]

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@jportway wrote:

At the moment i'd be happy with just being able to insert something and freely edit its "user parameters" on a per-instance basis.

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That is the most basic feature set of Configurations and I don't know of a way to do it properly.

[TrippyLighting]

@jportway Just out of curiosity, do you have to create BOMs/Parts Lists for your designs and if so, how do you do it?

[jportway]

I don't work on this kind of stuff full time, I just need it for specific projects, so I'm far from expert. Usually I do need to create a BOM, but I often find that things in Solidworks get a bit confusing, so I end up creating them semi-manually.

[gamelife4dns]

In the meantime, there is this not-perfect-but-acceptable-alternative :
https://youtu.be/G6XWmTWO8mg

[TrippyLighting]

Configurations are a feature set that was advertised as part of Fusion 360 8 years ago. I’ve posted this and variations of this for 8 years.

At this point in time, workarounds are not acceptable to me anymore.

[gamelife4dns]

I understand and agree. The more we are to show that this feature is highly wanted and expected, the better I guess.

Steve