Surface turns from grey to brown, everything vanished when I attempt to sketch

[Anonymous]

Somehow two different circles sketches got created (incidentally, at other times I couldn't get a single sketch to remain on a surface after I modified another sketch such as by using it to make a hole), which were positioned slightly differently. Aside from having no idea how that happened, as I measured those I was creating, positioning them relatively using the 'sketch dimension' tool, after I deleted them all to begin anew, the surfaces they were on became, it appears, brown-tinted as opposed to grey. Now, when I try to sketch on these surfaces, the entire project vanishes and I am just left with a, first orthographic, then perspective view of grids in the x,y, and z dimensions, and I can't seem to find any part of the drawings I have created again, until pressing 'ctrl+z' several times. What's more, now I, suddenly can no longer even make attempt to make a sketch on these surfaces. Every time I attempt it the circle gets created in space, on a plane that is invisible to me, between where I am viewing from, and aforementioned surface.

[ToddHarris7556]

I'm trying to follow exactly what you're seeing, but my best guess so far is that it sounds like you might have gotten somewhere down the timeline, then wanted to make a change to an earlier sketch. When you click in that sketch to edit it, then all of the features that come after that would not be available. (Or, appear to 'vanish')

Any chance you can share your model?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the attempt to help, Todd. My part was supposed to be confidential, because I am thinking it is a novel concept which I was planning to patent. I guess I'll have to think about that. I don't know how far I will have to go back to re-do this, if I have to take that approach, after refusing to share my model! For now, I'll add that a bunch of components disappear on the left, where they are written (the browser?) when I click the surface (that which I described before that had the multiple circles on it where it wasn't clear why there was anything but one circle-sketch I had placed there with sketch-dimension) on attempt "edit sketch", they simply vanish. One component remains, which isn't the component the surface I was attempting to use a surface of to sketch upon. Incidentally, that was the "top right" component that remained; the "top left" had disappeared from my drawing for unknown reasons. Incidentally, it was a sub-component,  created by mirroring "top right" after the original "top left" had a threading error, where the threads disappeared on one half of the hole, threads which I didn't want there anyway, and may have placed them there only to test it, and didn't disappear when I finally was able to delete that particular, the only one at the time, threading command (again, leading me to delete the entire component, since it could easily be re-created as a mirror image of another component). Sorry that it's a bit wordy, and doesn't add much, but that's the scenario as best I can describe it.

[ToddHarris7556]

I do understand and respect IP protection, and you're certainly free to share or not as you see fit. I will, however, offer a couple of thoughts:

1) Most folks here are focused pretty specifically on solving Fusion 360 challenges. If you share a part, and don't give any context/clue as to what it's for, then I suspect few people are actually going to care or take the time to try to figure it out. IMHO.... I'm not sure it's a big risk.

2) It's going to be easier to commercialize if you can actually get it to work 😉

HAVING SAID THAT - 

Another approach is to just create and post a quick dummy part showing the issue. A couple of features & sketches that demonstrate the problem, and maybe that's enough for folks to guide you in the right direction.