problem selecting files to upload

[kayem360]

Hi

I am just getting started with Fusion 360 and I have not been able to upload any files / folders / projects to the cloud. The problem is that when I click on the upload button a new (upload) window opens with a button to select files to upload. But clicking on that button only opens up a list of files on my computer and no files connected with Fusion appear in the list. There is another way to select files to upload by dragging and dropping them in the upload window, but the problem is that opening the upload window causes the main Fusion window to become inactive and nothing in that window can be selected or highlighted until the upload window is closed. So the question is how do I select files / folders to upload.

Thank you for any help you can offer me.

Regards

kayem360

[jhackney1972]

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@kayem360 wrote:

But clicking on that button only opens up a list of files on my computer and no files connected with Fusion appear in the list. 

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When you select the Upload command and then Select Files, it is suppose to open up folders on your computer.  The folder it opens can be changed.  You then select the files to upload and then select Open from the dialog box.  Depending on your Fusion 360 license you may or may not have the ability to upload certain files.

Please update your question by telling all the type(s) of files you are trying to upload and the Fusion 360 license you have (educational, personal, subscription, startup)

[kayem360]

Hi jhackney1972 thank you for your reply.

The files I have tried to upload are project folders (empty or with content) , 3d extruded models and 2 d drawings created in Fusion on the computer I am trying to upload from. The problem is that the list that pops up is pretty much the same as if I access the C: drive through windows. But in spite of setting options to show hidden files I cannot find any Fusion files on my computer with the possible exception of a few odd ones with strange names in a temp folder. I have come across other posts saying similar things and asking how to find fusion files. I have a personal licence that I have just updated to get the latest version. For what I am doing, if I could access the files on my computer (so that I could back them up) I wouldn't be bothered about storing them on the cloud. But If they are the strange named files in a temp folder there would be a reasonable possibility of something clearing the temp folder one day and losing all my work. I have been using PC's since the days of DOS but I have never come across having something that is installed and working and storing data but does not show up anywhere before.

Regards

kayem360

[jhackney1972]

Take a look at this article and it will explain the "weird" folder you spoke of that stored "local" cached files.  I have also created a Screencast showing how to create files on your local drive, upload them to a folder of your choice in your "cloud" database and also to open them from the local folder.  There are two types of files in Fusion 360, which you will see in my Screencast.  A .f3z file is a zip file containing an assembly which contains "linked external" components.  A .f3d file is a single component or an assembly that "contains" numerous components, that are not linked externally to the assembly. 

You mentioned working on files "only on your computer".  Well if you are doing single components which have no relationship to any assembly or other components, you may get away with this method.  I believe you will be better off using your cloud database, create One project and using folders under it to save your various files, you will be a lot happier and enjoy Fusion 360 a lot more.

[kayem360]

Hi jhackney1972

Thank you for your reply, you have gone to a lot of trouble to put that together for me. I have been having a bit of a play, but it is getting late here now ( 1:40 am) so I will have another go when I am fresh in the morning.  What I am finding is that I am going round in a circle. You are starting with an assembly from your computer, exporting it to your C: drive then uploading it back into a new project folder that you have just created in fusion. What I have been doing is following tutorials where I start by creating a project folder then creating a model and saving it into that folder. So If I then export the model onto the C: drive then upload it back into the same folder (that is not stored on the cloud yet) it just creates another copy of the same component in the same project folder,  and I am not sure that going round that loop gets me any further forward in getting the project folder (with the model) into the cloud storage. 

[jhackney1972]

You are correct, I did go in a circle with my files.  I did this to try and show you all the paths.  What you want to do is stop at any step that seems to fit your situation.  So for example create a component and export it to your local drive or place it in the cloud, it is up to you.  You indicated you want files on your local drive so export them there and do not save them to the cloud.  If later you want a local file in the cloud, upload it to the folder of your choice.  There are a lot of possibilities, choose the one that suits your needs.  For example, I create a lot of Fusion 360 files to help answer questions on this forum.  I never save them to the cloud, I only export them to my local drive so I can quickly attach them to the forum question, have access to them is needed but not "junk up" my cloud database.

I will caution you again.   Do not create a new project for each design, you will run into a problem with your database since there is a limit, I cannot tell you what it is, to the number of projects you can create.  As I suggested, create a few projects and make "Folders" under them to store your various designs.  I only use one project and at the present time I have 40 or 50 folders separating my designs. 

[kayem360]

Hi jhackney1972

Thank you again for your latest reply.

I have been trying a few things and searching for solutions to the problem again but have not had much luck with either. Following your replies yesterday I have now exported a file to the C: drive and uploaded it back again to the folder it came from. But although having a copy of the component on the C: drive allows me to select it for upload there is no option to select in the upload destination box that looks like anything to do with the cloud. After trying a few things I checked and it is still saying I have no data stored on the cloud. I think I have two versions of the cloud now, A360 and Autodesk Drive but I can't find any reference to either in Fusion360. Do I have to  install or activate them somehow. I think I am missing something pretty basic or have some settings / options wrong somewhere. Having to use the export option everytime  sounds a bit risky as it is creating multiple copies of the same file and if I am working on a component and regularly save it (as advised) but on one occasion forget to export it to update the copy, the versions will get out of step.  It is helpful to get you out of a mess sometimes but I can't believe this is the way Fusion is meant to be used.  

[MRWakefield]

I may have misread your posts so please forgive me if I've got this wrong! I get the feeling that you believe that when you create a project and save your designs to it, it saves it to your computer's file system, and that you have to go through an 'Upload' procedure to get it into the cloud. This is not the case! All projects and designs are automatically saved to the cloud by default, you would have to explicitly export a design if you want it to be on your local file system. Having said that, F360 will create a local 'temp' copy of your design (those are the files with the weird names that you've managed to find). The 'Upload' facility is generally used if you've got a file from another CAD system or you've got a local copy of an F360 file that someone's emailed to you or that you might've downloaded from the forum etc.

One thing I don't understand is why you're not seeing any data but my guess would be that you're looking in the wrong place(s). At the top of the Data Panel you'll see some large text, if you click this text it will open up a page in your browser showing your F360 cloud storage and should show all the same projects and designs you see in the Data Panel. Here's a link to an AutoDesk video which explains some of this. I'd suggest going through the other videos in that series of lessons to get a better grounding in the basics if you haven't already.

I hope this helps.

Apologies again if I've got the wrong end of the stick!

[kayem360]

Hi MRWakefield

Thank you for your help. It might be that you have just answered my query, I have been thinking that it must be something basic that I have not been aware of otherwise everybody else would have the same problem. When I click the large text in the top left hand corner I do indeed get a list of all the files and folders that show up in my data panel. So it would appear that I have been trying to do something that happens automatically in the background. The only doubt I have now is that when I go into my account and click on manage products & downloads then click on cloud services usage then A360 it says I have zero GB of data stored and when I log into the A360 drive it says I haven't uploaded any data yet. Can I prove it one way or another by logging into my account on an Android tablet and trying to access the files, One of the advantages of the cloud is that I should be able to access it anywhere, but to prove it is not finding information stored on my laptop I would need to access it using a different device.

Regards

kayem360

[MRWakefield · Accepted solution]

Great, I'm glad that was of help. Now for the A360 confusion!: Your Fusion projects and files are stored in their own storage area completely separate to A360 and that is why A360 is saying you've not uploaded any data yet. A360 is a general cloud storage service similar Dropbox, Google Drive etc.

[Anonymous]

Go to the A360 web share your Fusion projects and files have sent to mail and download and save it in a computer or general cloud storage service similar to Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. And upload from there where you want.

[martindesouza2]

Hi there

when my upload screen opens,the select function does not work at all.

I can not click or drag or open anything exept the files in my cloud.

but when you hit the select function it doesnt do anything3

Thank you