Units of Imported Files

[Anonymous]

I imported some sldprt files that I designed earlier in Solidworks.  They come in with metric units.  I designed them in Solidworks in inch units, but also, my defaults in Fusion 360 are set to inches.

It appears that Fusion 360 does not honor the defaults for an imported file.  Is that the case?  I can sort of understand how this would be due to the way files are imported at upload.

Why does Fusion 360 not get the proper units from a Solidworks file?

Can it be made somehow that imported files respect the unit defaults?  The unit preference is stored in the cloud afterall isn't it?

[keqingsong]

There's a difference between setting your default units in the preferences and setting them as active units in the units folder in your browser. 

Did you have this changed to inches as well? 

[Anonymous]

@keqingsong, Yes, I know to change the units from the browser.  It wasn't an issue of knowing how to change the units as much as it was an issue about the units being wrong.  Plus, the fact that I would expect my defualts to apply during import, or even as an option on first open.

It's not just units.  I got a few edits done and then realized I wasn't capturing design history.  So I started over.  I have my defaults set to capture design history.  I suspect there are other, maybe all, defaults that don't get honored.

Importing a file and then opening it should be just like starting a new file in my opinion.  Is there a better workflow for those who wnat their defaults applied to imported work?  For example, should I start a new design and then somehow import the model into that design?  Or, is there a way to apply defaults to a file after the fact?

[PhilProcarioJr]

I always start a new design set my units, then drag my imported model into the new design and it seems to work correctly all the time. I have tested this with Solidworks part files too.

I do the same thing with DXF files and they come in at the correct size.

The only thing it doesn't seem to work with is SVG files although this could be an Inkscape issue..not sure.

[bob_holland]

@Anonymous,

Thank you for pointing this out.

I have been able to replicate your results and I have now sent it to our development staff to resolve.

For your future reference the issue id for this is:  FUS-20382

The sizes are correct.  All you need to do is set your units for that document to be Inches.

Thank you again and we look forward to seeing great designs from Fusion 360.

[serviceRTDVA]

Has this fix been made?  I am seeing the same issue, where all my imported designs end up in mm in Fusion, despite my preferences all being set to inches.  This happens across all file types, with or without included units.

[yang.zhou]

 Hi serviceRTDVA,

Thanks for raising this issue. You could change the unit in document setting for your imported designs.

Do you expect the unit of imported design to be the original unit in your upload file or the unit in your preference?

Thanks,

Jerry

Fusion Development Team

[serviceRTDVA]

Hi Jerry, when I change the unit in the drawing, the drawing is scaled instead of the units just being changed.  So I can change units, then scale to get to where I need to be but it seems unnecessarily difficult.

I would expect the Fusion 360 to take the units in the imported drawing, if any; and if the import is unitless, I would expect Fusion 360 to use my new file defaults.  I have no mm defaults anywhere, that I can find, but for some reason all imported drawings get set at mms.

Perhaps I am doing something wrong, any suggestions you have are much appreciated.  Thanks for your time!

Rachel

[actionsecurityiron]

2015 thread, still the same issue today. Come on people. Really hard to convice the bean counters that Fusion360 is a good direction when there is a constant bemoaning of WTF coming from my office. You have to get this stuff tightened up.

Don;t know yet what changed, update, now switching to inches after import ( AS this tread states, we should not be needing to do that) is now producing conversion of MM. Well, the original import was not drawn in Metric, so you can see where that is an issue. 45" becomes 4500mm, then converting that 4500mm into inches, no more 45"....Fix the small stuff.

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@actionsecurityiron wrote:

2015 thread, still the same issue today. Come on people.
45" becomes 4500mm, then converting that 4500mm into inches, no more 45"...

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Can you Attach proof files?

[TheCADWhisperer]

@actionsecurityiron 

Where did you go?

I need examples for creating a YouTube video on handling units.

[savanMDGNB]

is it an stl file? try insert mesh instead of import.  this lets you set the units before it inserts it into your model

[wes_mTCQL9]

Years later and this is still a problem with DXF's. I upload a DXF that I know was made and saved in inches. Open the DXF file to extrude it into a solid body for a variety of reasons and the file is in mm. My defaults are set to inches.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! The earlier DXF files (before 2000) are not unit aware. Basically it store the value based on the exporting system. It is subject to the importing system to assign a unit.

Starting from 2000, DXF files can carry unit. Open the DXF file in Notepad and look for "INSUNITS" keyword. That is where the measured units are set. Without the keyword, it means the DXF file is unitless. The importing system has to assign the unit properly.

Many thanks!

[TheCADWhisperer]

@wes_mTCQL9 

Zip and attach the original dxf file here if you can't figure it out.

[wes_mTCQL9]

If I export a dxf from fusion, select inch as the units, then reupload the dxf into my project folder it should default the file to inches as that is the units the dxf was exported. Instead fusion converts the DXF to mm. It is still scaled correctly. My default units are set to inches. Fusion should open that DXF as an inch based file.

[wes_mTCQL9]

Here is a screen record of what I am referring to.

[TheCADWhisperer]

@wes_mTCQL9 

Are you saying that you have figured it out, or do you still need help?

[wes_mTCQL9]

I need autodesk to fix their importer to respect default units or the file units. Currently all DXFs default to mm when you import them into your project. If I import a DXF that is known to be in inches, then the file should be in inches. This is not the case. It imports in mm.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I see the behavior now. Regardless of the default unit set in Design or Manufacturing environment. The DXF seems to be imported as mm. However, the true length is honored correctly, i.e. 1 inch = 25.4 mm, not 1 inch = 1 mm.

At the moment, you will need to change the Document Settings to inch after the import.

Many thanks!