Selecting bodies for moving by clicking on them does not work

[markD2LV3]

When I want to move a body and I single click on it, the body does not get selected but, instead, a face on it does. Double clicking selects the component the body is a part of. So in order to move a body I am forced to click on the body in the design explorer rather than the body itself. That's cumbersome and inefficient. Am I missing something or doing something wrong?

[TrippyLighting · Accepted solution]

When you invoke the move command you can change what you want to move in the UI dialogue:

[laughingcreek]

-Is the first field in the move dialog box set to "bodies"?

-a side note, it's probable that moving a body isn't necessary.  If your moving a body to position it, there is probably a better way.  Can you post your file?

[markD2LV3]

Yes, I know, but I'm trying to be fast and efficient.

As to posting my file, I often first rough in my ideas in a creative way -
so for example I'll create 15 spheres of various sizes and I want to
quickly move them in positions that will create a random looking
"constellation", like stars in the sky. I should be able to do it in a few
seconds. Having to go to the move dialog box each time make the process
much slower.

So based on your reply, I assume there is no way to click on a body to
select it... I wish there was, perhaps by holding the option or control
button while clicking.

Thank you for your response.

[TrippyLighting]

You can do that with components though.

[markD2LV3]

Yes, you're right. But, still, it seems to me an oversight on Fusion team's
part to allow us to select components and faces by clicking, but not
bodies. I think it should be fixed. They could even make it possible by
using 3D Touch - my touchpad has that capability, and I find using it
instead of a mouse makes modeling much faster.

[markD2LV3]

I know, thanks.

It's still slow and inconsistent. 

Why can't I select bodies just by clicking on them, without the dialog box, if can select faces and components by clicking? It could be a shift+click or something like that.

But okay, it's not possible. Not a biggie but another bump in the road.

[janikmdietz]

I'm "struggling" with this as well .. would love to see the shift click or similar added as a feature! 

[TrippyLighting]

If you re struggling , then you may take a step back and ask yourself whether or not you are using the tool properly.

If you start a new thread and explain the struggles perhaps using screenshots, screencasts and/or by providing a model we can assist you.

I am pretty confident that this "feature" will never be implemented.

[janikmdietz]

By putting "struggling" in quotation marks, I assumed it being clear that this expression was to some extent exaggerated. I am "truly" sorry that I did not clearly and unambiguously elaborate on this very extent and therefore, through my writing, did not precisely hone in the intricacies of my experience with Fusion 360 caused by the lack of the above described feature. I must admit myself having naively and rashly expressed solely my wish for the existence of such a feature and through this the support of this already existing thread without further context. Now, after careful consideration, I feel rather guilty for such a "terrible crime" and thus am preparing to face severe consequences for my actions. 

As I was hinted to elaborate my position, I would like to describe my situation as occasionally feeling the need for a feature through which I was able to select individual bodies merely through a combination of keyboard and mouse inputs, such as the combination of the alt key and a mouse left click. This need is primarily rooted in the lack of such a feature and the usefulness such a feature may give. I am afraid I am not able to precisely determine how often my need for such a feature occurs and what amount of "struggling" it presents myself with, but I would describe both with the frequency and funniness of German humor - "yes". 

To illustrate, I am happy to present an example: 

When having a larger number of bodies within one component (such as after creating a large pattern of one or multiple bodies) it would be very useful to have the option to add multiple of these bodies into a selection solely through keyboard and mouse inputs - for example to put them into groups within the component or change their material or appearance. With these larger numbers of bodies it is time-consuming and impractical to search them out from within the side menu. 

If visual aids or other media are of need to further investigate my example I am happy to provide screenshots and else. 

Until then, I wish thou a happy new year full of surprises. 

[TrippyLighting]

I don't think this is what you are looking for, but you can set the selection filter to only allow selection of bodies.

Then you can only select bodies.

 You can then create a selection set with such selected bodies.

That also allows you to assign materials to that selection set.

The selection filter on the other hand is not particularly convenient to use ...

Moving bodies is in many cases not the right workflow in a parametric CAD system.

[janikmdietz]

Thanks for the ideas and alternative options. 

I don't use the selection filter much, but happy to give it a shot again. From my little memory using it though, I agree with you that they are not the most convenient. The selection sets certainly aren't what I'm looking for. 

And yeah, moving bodies is not the right way in parametric CAD, which is why I'm neither doing this nor referring to it with my feature request of a shift-click or alt-click body selection ..

Maybe to explain my point of why I'd love to have this feature, a comparison to creative software like the Adobe or Affinity Suite might be beneficial. There, I often have two, three or even more ways of accomplishing what I'm trying to do. Among these options are keyboard shortcuts, touch shortcuts, menus, buttons etc. The idea behind that level of redundancy is not by accident, but in order to allow different workflows. People work differently, tasks need different approaches and it's hugely advantageous to allow this.

Fusion has great openness to users creating their own shortcuts, but I have not found a way to do the body selection in a simple way (without extra steps required every time I'm using the now not any longer "short"-cut). It would be great if the Fusion Team could have a look at this feature request and maybe explain if and why it would or wouldn't be possible. At least I myself don't see how it would hurt anyone.

Obviously priorities are a thing and this shouldn't be the highest point on the list of features to add, but then again, it also doesn't seem like an overly complex feature to add (and here I might stand to be corrected). 

[laughingcreek]

you can put the "select body priority" setting on your tool bar.  it acts as a toggle for selection filters.  click it, select your bodies, then click it again and your selection filter will toggle back to what ever the previous settings were.