Creating 3D PCB board

[Red_Ant_Engineering]

OK, so I have an existing schematic and PCB file I have imported into Fusion360 from Eagle, and I've added 3D packages to all the components.  So, now when I go to "View 3D PCB" I can see all the 3D models of my packages in that file.

But what I want to do now is include the PCB details (its just a simple rectangle with rounded corners) into the 3D PCB file.

From what I've read, I'm supposed to create a Sketch of the PCB outline, then "Derive PCB from Sketch".  This seems to get me the desired 3D PCB image.  But when I try and link this to my 2D PCB, Fusion tells me there is already a 3D PCB file linked to that 2D PCB file (which there is of course).  So, how do I get the 3D PCB details into both my 2D and 3D PCB files?

I did try drawing the PCB outline on Layer20 in my 2D PCB, thinking that would automatically transfer across into the 3D PCB file, but that doesn't seem to work (seems like a logical approach to take to me to be honest)

Any ideas?

[yqliu]

Hello @Red_Ant_Engineering ,

Drawing the PCB outline on Layer 20 in the 2D PCB should work.  It would be helpful if you can share your pcb file or a screenshot to see what is wrong.

[Red_Ant_Engineering]

Hi @yqliu 

Thanks for your response>

Seems the problem has magically solved itself.  I had drawn the PCB outline in Layer20, but it took literally hours before that automatically transferred across to the 3D PCB file.  Frustrating.  This seems to be a "feature" of Fusion360 in my experience so far - things will work if you give them enough time.  Not ideal in a commerical environment really - I'd hope Autodesk would have done a little more robust testing on this software before it unleashed it on paying customers and forcing them to act as Beta testers.

Anyway, as a result of all the faffing about I did to try and resolve this issue, I now have a bunch of 3D PCB files that I want to get rid of in my Project folder within Fusion360.  My 2D PCB file isn't (or doesn't appear to be) linked to these unwanted files, as when I click on the "View 3D PCB" icon it takes me to the one I want to keep.  But if I try and delete those unwanted files, it tells me a version of those documents have been referenced to other files (not sure which) and it won't let me delete them

How do I break those links so that I can delete the files?

Cheers,

Mike

[yqliu]

Hi @Red_Ant_Engineering ,

To delete the 3D PCB document, first please make sure you didn't have other mechanical designs reference to the 3D PCB. Then go to the 2D PCB environment, run the "Remove 3D PCB Link" command, then you should be able to delete the 3D PCB.

I don't know why it takes hours to create 3d PCB. How complex is your design? Can you test the sample files and see it's slow for all files?

[Red_Ant_Engineering]

OK, so I removed the 3D PCB link....still won't let me delete any of the old, unwanted 3D PCB files (I've got an ever increasing number of them now!)

Now, when I got to link the 3D PCB file I actually want to the 2D PCB file, using the "Link to 2D PCB" option within the 3D PCB view, nothing happens.  So, my 2D and 3D PCB files are now no longer linked.  Great.

If I go back into the 2D PCB file and select "View 3D PCB", it goes off and creates an entirely new 3D PCB file, leaving the old one still there.  So, now I've got yet another 3D PCB file I can't get rid of!!

To make matters worse, the latest 3D PCB file appears to not have grabbed half the component 3D models, so its actually not of any use to me.

I noticed this last issue with another PCB I was working on in the interim - even though the components in the schematic, when I check their properties, are showing they have an associated 3D model, its not loading when I update the 3D PCB file.

Seriously, how does this POS software get released when its so unreliable???  I'm spending half my day on these forums trying to get basic functionality operational whilst I watch my customers get more and more disgruntled with the ever expanding delays....*sigh*