Simple Sketch Question Probably

[Anonymous]

Hi there! Coming to Fusion 360 from Solidworks, I'm pretty familiar with that and a few other 3D modeling programs. This seems like a prettty easy question but the key-words in it are related to so many other things that I'm having trouble finding an answer. 

In the sketch below, I want the blue line to be co-linear to the side of the extruded body. However, when I click on the various sketch constraing options, I can't select any of the solid bodies to constrain the sketch to. Seems like there should be a simple solution since constraining sketches to existing 3D geometry is a common practice. Help? 

[jeff_strater]

You have to first project (using the Project command) that edge into the sketch.  

Here is a quick example:

Hope this helps.

Jeff Strater (Fusion development)

[Anonymous]

That's what I ended up doing, but it felt like a work-around. XD

It would be nice if there was a way to constrain your sketches to 3D parts directly. Oh well! Thanks for answering so quickly. 

[donsmac · Accepted solution]

'Project' the edge of the body to the sketch. Or choose 'include 3D geometry'. Now apply the collinear extraint. 

 edit: I just tried applying a colinear constraint to a piece of geometry that was created using 'include 3D geometry' but it did not  work.

Jeff beat me to it 🙂

[Anonymous]

Yes, that's what I was looking for! Thanks! I knew there had to be a quick fix. 😄

[StephenWolf]

We also have a set of sketching lessons that might help if you're coming to Fusion 360 from SolidWorks—including topics like projecting, adding dimensions and constraints and fully defining sketches. Hope they help!

[Anonymous]

Yes, I have watched those. I've been binge-watching tutorials for about a week now. XD

A few things are still tripping me up - like spline handles rotating wildly when I move their spine point along a coincident line, or being unable to break internal spline continuity (I really miss that! Is there some way to make that work in fusion?) And is there any way to, uh, 'prioritize' what gets selected? I often try to click the handle of a spline and end up moving the whole line itself. Still trying to figure out the best way to handle fully 3D sketches too... 

This is a really old video, but here's the sort of thing I get up to in Solidworks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQGqu3cWGNc

 (Warning, loud music)

I'm hoping to get the same capability out of Fusion, as well as being able to bring in some of my mesh models from other programs... I'm a toy designer, you see. 🙂 

[jeff_strater]

Nice video @Anonymous.  Really cool designs.

I'd be interested to see a video of the "spline handles rotating wildly" problem.  Sounds like a Fusion bug,

Regarding "break internal spline continuity", are you talking about splitting a spline into two pieces?  There is the sketch "break" command:

This command works like Trim, except it does not delete any of the curve sections.

Regarding selection prioritization, there isn't really any way to prioritize handles over the curve itself.  I tend to just zoom in a lot, or use Select Other (hold down the left mouse button for a bit to see this:

Then I can select what I want, and then use Move to control it (rather than just dragging, which is hard to control.

Jeff

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the tip about holding the left mouse button to choose what I want to select - very helpful!

I made a simple video demonstrating the wobbly spline handles here:

https://youtu.be/gDaxg9r5dHM

If there is some way to avoid them flipping around like that, it would be great! Often times I have a spline that's just the curve I want, but maybe move one of the points a weeeee bit... and then it all spazzes out on me. XD

Note: This doesn't happen when the point isn't coincident to anything. 

[Anonymous]

Yes, this behavior is totally a workaround and adds extra unnecessary steps. The sketch begins to get cluttered with purple lines and circles.