[Suggestion] A sketch constraint for selection set to be moved/rotate and so on as an entity

[CapGuy]

Hello everyone,

On the subject of sketch constraints, I can't find any way to simply constrain an entire sketch, so since Feedback Hub is only open to Autodesk employees, I write this here like a bottle in the sea, crossing my fingers this will interest anyone in F360 dev team.

It could be cool to be able by double-clicking on one line (which selects all the lines in contact) and by applying a constraint like : "stay in this exact relative drawn shape even in the event of displacement of one of the points of the drawing or angular orientation of the assembly, and so on... "

(NB: I of course already know how to constrain an entire drawing by constraining each entity, but I'm looking for a quick way to do it in a single operation without going into the setting of the details of the constituent elements of the drawing.)

[NOWADAYS SOLUTION]

Selecting (by double-click) the drawing that you want to process in its entirety without deforming it, then right-click and "Move / Copy", and finally assign it the necessary pivot and validate it.

Then we can move the whole as we want without deforming the parts, impose a rotation on it, etc.

[SUGGESTION]
So all the needed exists already in the software, but It should be more practical to be able to "freeze the selected set" with a constraint provided for this purpose which makes it possible to move, rotate, etc. the selected entity without any deformation.

If you think this could be useful, please implement such a constraint !

Thank you very much for your time reading,
Cordially,
Guy Capra

[TheCADWhisperer]

Sounds like a Sketch Block is what you are after.

[CapGuy]

@TheCADWhisperer ok thanks, but what do you mean with that ?

I searched "sketch block" in the documentation without any success, and no similar things seem to be available, so where to find what you talk about ?

Else, nobody thinks that this idea can be interesting ?

Best,
Guy

[g-andresen]

Hi,

 rightclick sketch > FIX/UNFIX  > Sketchlines change to green(fixed)

günther

[CapGuy]

@g-andresen alas I do not need to freeze the set, I need to move and rotate it !

The goal is to be able to take a selected portion of a drawing and to try it in different places within the drawing, without to have to re-do all the constraints each time.

For now I select the lines, then I use "Move/Copy"... But I would like to be able to "set up" a selection set to take it without to have to re-do the same selection, pivot setting and so on each time.

Best, 
Guy

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@CapGuy wrote:

@TheCADWhisperer ok thanks, but what do you mean with that ?

I searched "sketch block" in the documentation without any success, and no similar things seem to be available,

so where to find what you talk about ?

---

Autodesk Inventor Professional.

There are no Sketch Blocks in Fusion 360 at the time of this post.

Here is a reference if the Fusion developers would like to "walk across the hall" and communicate with their Inventor teammates on how it's done.

Another option that might (and I stress "might") work for your use is to go ahead and sketch in a Component, exit the Component and treat it as a sort of Sketch Block substitute.

Meanwhile, we can wait for the developers to take note of your original suggestion post.

[g-andresen]

Hi,

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@CapGuy  schrieb:

 I need to move and rotate it !

---

I'm sorry I didn't see that.

My way to realize it

günther

[jeff_strater]

@CapGuy - it all depends on what kinds of constraints you use, and what you dimension to.  If you keep a "unit" of sketch geometry only constrained/dimensioned within itself, Move should not remove those constraints, even for Rotate (assuming you are staying in the sketch plane here).  Take a look at the screencast below.  The first rectangle uses only Vertical/Horizontal constraints.  Those are kind of a "global" constraint.  Hopefully it is obvious that you cannot rotate a vertical line and keep that constraint.  So, yes, Fusion removes them (it's either that or block the rotate).  However, the rectangle on the right only uses perpendicular constraints which are relative to other lines in the rectangle.  So, if you rotate that rectangle, all constraints can be satisfied, so they are not removed.  Similarly, if you have dimensions to other geometry that is not being moved, those will sometimes be removed, as well.

I cannot say that there are no bugs in this logic, but the basics do seem to work, as long as you build your "units" so that they are only self-referential, you should be able to move/rotate them

[CapGuy]

Thank you very much.
I hope our Fusion 360 dev team folks will take our (yours and mine 😉 ) suggestion in case !

Best,
Guy

[CapGuy]

You're welcome, and yes, for now I do the same (look when I write "I use Move/Copy" and so on...).

As TheCADWhisperer said, I hope folks will take in account the need of "sketch blocks".

Best,
Guy

[CapGuy]

Thank you very much for your answer Jeff, and yes, I already do this (look at my "Move-Copy" related talk) even if as you tell the logic is not perfect yet.

But I hope "sketch blocks" like in Inventor will do the job ASAP in Fusion360 ! O:-)

Best,
Guy