Solidworks to Fusion 360 Learning curve

[Anonymous]

Hi all, 

Wondering what the learning curve is like form being a proficient SW user and about to start with F360. Is there anything in particular that helped you cross over?

The extensive menus of SW doesn't intimidate me but the lack of buttons and menus in F360 makes me hesitant as to knowing/working out where everything lives.

Can I do everything in F360 that I can in SW?

Cheers

Jake

[huszak.marcell]

There's a lot of similarities, and differences. You can do most of the things in Fusion 360 that you could do it in Solidworks but sometimes in a different way, and you there will be things you could do there and can't here, and vica versa. About the learning curve, it will be way faster, than starting from the beginning, as someone who never used a CAD, the thinking during a project is very similar, and most importantly there's a lot of interesting links and tutorials to start on Autodesk sites.

Like articles:

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/from-solidworks-to-fusion-360-my-first-2-weeks/

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/from-solidworks-to-fusion-360-time-dependent-mates...

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/from-solidworks-to-fusion-360-distributed-design-t...

Tutorials:

http://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?learn=solidworks

And youtube videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68G8Igl1jKM

Hope thes will help 🙂

[cekuhnen]

@Anonymous @huszak.marcell

I hate saying this but I feel I should - Fusion is very easy to lean but SW outperforms Fusion when it comes to sketch engine stability and surface modeling.

So make sure that what you want to build can be done in Fusion first before making a switch.

For the rest I find Fusion very easy to learn and operate. In some areas it works different - I as a designer like the way it takes a new approach to assemblies and such.

Otherwise both apps are parametric modelers so you just need to know where is what tool.

The UI is different the process/tools less.

[TrippyLighting]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Can I do everything in F360 that I can in SW? 

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It is hard to answer if YOU can do everything in Fusion 360 that YOU have done, because we don't know your background and experience in SW.

However, if the question is really if generally Fusion 360 can do what Solid Works can do then the answer is: no, not by a long shot!

But, then again, if that maters to your work really depends on what you want to do.

[PhilProcarioJr · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous

I have used Solidworks for over 15 years.

Short break down is:

Fusion can Not handle large assemblies.

It doesn't do surfacing as well.

The sketch engine is not as good.

Some referencing can get broken without ways to fix it like in SW.

No mold tools.

It only has some of the analysis tools for inspecting models.

Solidworks Simulation can handle a lot more types of sim.

Rendering in SW is way better.

Drawings in SW are light years ahead. Fusion's drawings are still very limited.

History tree is easier to read and organize in SW.

etc...

Fusion is easy to learn and model with provided the functionality you need is in it. Without more info on exactly what you want to do with Fusion it is hard to say if it will fit your needs.

[cekuhnen]

@PhilProcarioJr@Anonymous@TrippyLighting@huszak.marcell

Yeah it really comes down to what you want to build and also how.

the problem currently is that the sketch engine offers tools you need but they break easily limiting the usability of the timeline (parametric modeling)

in Direct Modeling the issue is much less noticeable.

we tried Fusion for various medical products but gave up on it because the modeling tools and sketch engine issue did not provide what was needed.

but instead doing the usual sketch model we implemented more a heterogen approach using T-Splines for organic surfacing.

I had one project at the Detroit car show on display and the physical model produced was flawless.

everything that is rather linear can be very easily modeled and build.

I work together with a different designer and found that for his needs fusion delivers every tool.

i also do a lot of furniture design and it rocks.

I am a product designer so I don’t do large assemblies.

[Anonymous]

Cheers mate, getting stuck into them now. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, it's good to know what problems I might face before they frustrate me without realising why. The limitations and bugs in sketching are a great heads up!

Jake

[Anonymous]

I understand I didnt specify, I learnt SW back at uni and have been using it every day at work since - so about 12 years full time. I do a lot of mechanical modelling, small assemblies and not a lot of simulation or FEA. But knowing that SW is still more powerful will help a lot - when I hit a limitation in a Fusion model it might be a limitation of the software not my abilities (but maybe me initially).

Jake

[Anonymous]

Very helpful Phil! I'm about 15 years deep in SW too.

I'm not as optimistic now. Sketching, referencing, feature tree and even drawings would be the most common tools so I would have thought they were all sorted out first. Thanks for taking the time mate. I can do without some of these features but take them all for granted in SW.

Jake

[Anonymous]

Hi Claas

I'm a product designer too, my assemblies aren't generally bigger than 10-12 parts. I not looking forward to sketches breaking though. I don't do a lot of surfacing but that's good to know. 

Thanks for the boost that as a furniture designer it's all you need. I'm a kids toy and furniture designer.

Jake

[cekuhnen]

@Anonymous

As a toy and furniture designer you think will have plenty of design tools in Fusion making it a great tool.

Truth is there is always a better app. For me as a designer currently the only sour area is the sketch engine 

which as stated has some serious bugs and problems. The team is however working on it but as it is with

software it takes time.

The mix of surface, solid, and T-Spline can be quite useful for Toy design as well as Furniture.

In one project I started with modeling the final fabric surface, CNC milled the model 1:1, adjusted the fabric

and then projected the foam inside and based on that planed the wood structure.

T-spline was used for the fabric, the sketches and solids for the wood.

This was a great experience.

Particularly because of components it was easy to get all the drawings done internally

Previously Rhino was used.

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@cekuhnen wrote:

.... the only sour area is the sketch engine which as stated has some serious bugs and problems. ......

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Isn't this the heart of the tool?

If I purchase a new car I am kind of reluctant to leave my driveway if I can't trust the engine to work reliably and predictably.

Tesla automobiles are based on new technology - do their engines (motors) work?

Could they compete against 100+ year old mature technologies with serious bugs and problems in the "engine"?

For me to purchase a new car - I expect more reliability than the car it is replacing - plus a bit more, a reason for purchasing. 

Even if I am downgrading to a lesser model!

[cekuhnen]

@TheCADWhisperer

I agree - however I am testing a different CAD app since 2 years too and they also struggle with their own made sketch engine.

It is a tricky component as it seems to get right when dev resources are also split considering how big of a platform Fusion is.

Annoying yes but it seems also not uncommon reality.