Save Components To Use In Different Assemblies
You can simply use "Save as". This will save these components in the data panel in their own files.
However, to save all the design information that was used to create these components hopefully you have consequently applied Fusion 360's Rule #1:
Before doing anything, create and activate a component (Actavation is automatic with newly created components)
When editing a component to add new objects such as sketches, construction planes, joint origins and a few others, activate the component before doing so.
Following this guideline will ensure that these objects and all the timeline actions created while that component was active, are created in that components data structure and will also be exported with the component when it is saved in the Data Panel.
If you've got plenty of sketches in the top hierarchy that were used to create bodies that then were converted into components, these components can still be exported and used in other designs, however, thay lack part or all of the design creating information.
Nope, unfortunately not.
I've post d an idea for that in the idea station moths ago.
I am a veteran user of SW myself, but don't have access to it in my current job. There are functionalities that I am really missing in Fusion 360 such as this one.
Yes, linked components are static. You currently cannot edit them in the context of the new assembly that they are linked to.
You can edit them, however. To do so, right click on the linked component in the browser and select open.
It then opens just as any other file in Fusion 360 and can be edited and don't forget to save. This, of course creates a new version.
When you go back to the assembly you'l get notified then one, or more components are out of date and you can then retrieve the updated data either component by component or all together.
If this sounds convoluted and limiting, that's because it is. External referecnces were added at a later stage to Fusion 360 and improvements are being worked on, but I personally don't expect substantial changes to happen for quite a while.
As such, at the current timeI'd suggest to work with linked components only when absolutely necessary:
1. If the component is really going to be used in another design AND
2. if minor changes adn adjustments are expected to teh component AND
3. if the component is mature enough, so that changes really are infrequent.
You mentioned that you want to use referecne geometry for assembly/joining components. As you cannot simply hide/unhide sketches and othe entities in a linked component, ther is one entity that you can do this with and that's a joint origin. So instead of hidign/ unhiding a sketch add one or more joint origins to the linked component. That will allow you to align and assemble the linked components without having to continuously edit it just for the purpose of hiding/unhiding referecne geometry.
May I inquire what the nature of your startup and it's products are ?
I am just curious. I make lighting systems.
As you are a SW veretran SW, there is something else to wath out for. When cliking on things in the viewport a single click selects pints, edtes, lines, faces, bodies, etc. It does not select a component.
If you want to select a component you need to double click on it in the viewport. This is particularly important to remember when using the move tool. I most cases you want to move the component, not the body within that component.
You can create a component and use it in a different design. If you create a single component in its own design file this does not really work so different from SolidWorks (I've worked with SW since 1998).
If a component is part of another design file, which holds and entire assembly then you can derive that component out of the assembly design and use it somewhere else. I would, however, hold off on using that functionality (derive) until you have a little more experience with the Fusion 360 workflows.
You can use Fusion just like you would use SW. If you have a component you want to share, create it as a separate design (like a part in SW), and insert it into your top-level design (like you would insert a part into an assembly). If you choose to use local components (because they are convenient and easier to create), then yes, there will be limitations in those components. Plus, there are workflows that allow such a component to be shared with other designs (Save Copy As or Derive), so I don't quite see what the outrage is all about.
Jeff Strater
Engineering Director
