Quick question on sketch locations?

[CABix]

I have a quick question? 

Where should you generally keep sketches? It seems to make sense to do it at the top level under "sketches" or should you do it within each component folder? 

I seems easier to keep it all in one high level folder.

Thoughts? 

Thanks in advance...

[g-andresen · Accepted solution]

Hi,

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@CABix wrote:

Where should you generally keep sketches? It seems to make sense to do it at the top level under "sketches" or should you do it within each component folder? !!

BLUE!

günther

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

If you create a Component first then create sketches, it is all taken care automatically for you.  If you need to go back and add a sketch and new body to a component, be sure you activate it before sketching or the creation of any bodies.  Think of the component as a container holding all sketches and bodies for that component.  Then if you Save it independently later, this information goes with it.

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

If you create a Component first then create sketches, it is all taken care automatically for you.  If you need to go back and add a sketch and new body to a component, be sure you activate it before sketching or the creation of any bodies.  Think of the component as a container holding all sketches and bodies for that component.  Then if you Save the component separately everything needed to edit it is contained within.

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

A lot of this is personal preference, and design style preference.  If you are doing a full top/down "skeletal" design, it might make sense to put at least some sketches in the root component.  But, most people who are creating multi-component designs prefer to keep the sketches for each component in the components themselves.  Lots of reasons for doing this, but the main one is that the sketches then follow along with the component, when it is transformed, if it is saved as a separate design, etc.  This convention has been most famously labeled as "R.U.L.E #1" by @TrippyLighting :  fusion-360-r-u-l-e-1-and-2 

[CABix]

Thanks of COURSE I did it opposite 🙂

[Anonymous]

(added afterwards: meant to address Günthers posts, sorry, new here. Guess I should have picked "quick reply"...)

I hear you. Saw some tutorial stressing "always start by making a new component, then add sketches and features where in!" But is that "always" dedicated to assembly?
Now, for example, I have completed a part, just a body, which I know will never be part of anything else. And of course, I dared not do anything but start by making a new component and work in it. But was this necessary? The only effect it had was that I got scared I made a mistake sometimes when I opened the file, changed something and then noticed that I forgot to activate "Component1: 1"

(Not sure if this is the right place to ask my question)

[davebYYPCU]

For Assemblies, yes.

one Component, per finished part.

One part files, the top - root of the file is also a component.

So sounds like you didn’t need a new component to begin, but it won’t hurt.

Might help....

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Now, for example, I have completed a part, just a body, which I know will never be part of anything else. 
(Not sure if this is the right place to ask my question)

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@Anonymous 

It would have probably been better to start a new thread with a link back to this thread as reference.

But that is all water under the bridge now...

So to answer your question...

It sounds like in your example, there is no need to create a component if it is not an assembly of components.

As far as where to place sketches - all depends.  Not one answer.

Edit: @davebYYPCU types faster than I do.