Tapering complex body

[shtanko_andrey]

Good day everyone.

I was struggling with quite simple request: take existing model of straight cylinder-shaped shell with Voronoi pattern cutouts (lamp shade, most likely) and taper it to specified top and bottom diameters.

Initial model looks like this:

Taking into account it's an imported model is mesh object with jigaton of faces due to complex geometry, there seems to be no specific tool in Fusion suited for my task. And googling also confirmed that it's easier to make new one rather than modify such object 🙂

But then I've found tutorial from a good sir describing how to bend solid bodies (never would've guessed that trick): 

I've tried playing around with solid cylinder and free forms and joining them with patient, but, suddenly, without any luck. Closest shot was when I made cylinder that barely fitted inside model and joined it with model, hoping to be able to, say, draft it, but I've got a lot of faces on the sides of object so it didn't work. Making shaping cylinder larger than target will prevent "extracting" final target model after deforming, thus I'm stuck here.

Question is: perhaps there is a similar hidden feature to create "shaping" body, join it with patient and to deform them accordingly, while hiding or getting rid of shaping body afterwards? 

P.S. I've actually used Tinkercad as quick workaround - cloned that model several times while scaling it down and then joined clones, therefore increasing wall thickness, and then removed material as per required shape using slanted cylinders. But Tinkercad isn't that precise and quite slow with such complex objects, so I hope to find a better solution.

[laughingcreek · Accepted solution]

fusion isn't a mesh editing software.  There is some limited mesh editing functionality in fusion, but doing just about anything with a complex mesh is going to a pain, and will likely fail.  

The task would be fairly easy in most mesh editing software.  my program of choice is blender.  there are others also.

[kacper.suchomski]

Hi

STL models are doomed to experimentation and tedious work. If I wanted to experiment with this model towards your goal I would go the following way:

1. Import
2. Conwert Mesh to FreeForm Solid (use the 30-day modeling extension trial package if the third icon in the mesh to solid conversion is inactive)
3. Go to FreeForm environment
4. Select the top chain of edges (perimeter)
5. Scaling (shape editing tool) this circuit (remember to expand the dialog box and select the soft modification option and define the range to the entire height of the object; this way you can get linear scaling, i.e. tilting a cylindrical surface to a cone).

But it's easier to do it from start.
Easily model a cone and use the lantern tools:

https://apps.autodesk.com/pl/Publisher/PublisherHomepage?ID=3RJ3QW8TPBCR

[shtanko_andrey]

So it seems I'll actually have to use right tool for the job and learn Blender rather than forcing Fusion to do what it shouldn't do.

Thank you for suggestions!