Missing holes in PCB Board outline

[davide4.marzorati]

Hi all,

I am trying to replicate the example shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ny4kWdhTbg&t=3s&ab_channel=AutodeskFusion360 (Creating an Enclosure from a PCB Board in Fusion 360). The problem I am experiencing is that my mounting holes, which are present in the 2D PCB, are shown only in the 3D PCB, not in the 3D PCB outline sketch which I need to derive in my enclosure:

3D PCB2D PCB3D PCB Board Outline

In the YouTube video the holes are shown in the 3D PCB outline sketch.

3D PCB Outline sketch from YouTube video.

How can I achieve the same result of the video? So far, the only thing that work was to use the command Circle on Dimension Layer to get the holes in the 3D PCB outline sketch.

Thanks in advance.

Davide

[panpan_fan]

Hi @davide4.marzorati 

I hope you are doing well!

The PCBHole is a new feature in the Fusion 360 October Release.

The change is that we remove the Hole in the Sketch. Instead you change the size and position of Hole in 3D PCB by double click the PCBHole feature in the timeline. The Reference selection make it easy to put the hole in the place you want.

By the way, now you can also add the PCBHole in 3D PCB. The command is in the menu bar.

For more update for the October Release for Fusion Electronic, please see the video here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Trrs-zgFFQ

Regards,

Panpan Fan

[davide4.marzorati]

Hi @panpan_fan , thanks for your reply!

Just another question. Even with what you suggested to do, the holes are not shown in the sketch outline, right? So the only way is to reference them and use those measures in another sketch in the enclosure project.

Thanks.

Davide

[panpan_fan · Accepted solution]

Hi @davide4.marzorati 

Now we remove the Hole in the Sketch in the October release. 

And for your request, I think you can try the follow steps. I use an empty 3D PCB to do the demo. See the video here https://autode.sk/388NuZK

1. In Fusion Design 2A -> choose Insert Derive command -> Choose the whole 3D PCB 1A instead of only choose the Sketch of the 3D PCB

2. Create a Sketch -> choose a panel -> choose Project command -> Chose the 3D PCB to project the sketch 

Then you can have the sketch you want. And I do Extrude next in the video, it can extrude without the hole

You can have a try to see if it works well for you.

Regards,

Panpan Fan

[davide4.marzorati]

Hi,

thanks! Now it is clear. I think that the YouTube video from Autodesk should be updated as well to show this new workflow.

Thanks again,

Davide

[panpan_fan]

Hi @davide4.marzorati 

Thanks a lot for your suggestion and we will add more videos for the new features.

By the way, you can check all videos of Fusion Electronic in the play list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5gm4c86h-Q&list=PLmA_xUT-8UlI0k9YsKK23onh_0VV2_DP5

And if you have any other questions, please let us know. Thanks!

Regards,

Panpan Fan

[wspitts2]

How about redoing this video with the new tool flow please? Or link us to one that is on the Fusion360 channel that talks about it... this video here does not talk about the insert derive method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCntaivZtw0&list=PLmA_xUT-8UlL80Xm8Gxz98YNum3I9GInr&index=3

What is discussed in the video:

1) Draw PCB (Insert Derive Function) -- Only mentioned
2) Independent (Existing Enclosure) -- Discussed in detail
3) Associated (Existing Enclosure) -- Discussed in detail
4) Edit In Place (Preferred for Existing Enclosure) -- Discussed in detail
There should be something in Fusion that allows you to identify what needs to be part of the outline for this. I mean, why not create multiple sketches: outline sketch and a sketch for drills and a sketch for holes? Heck, you could do one sketch for each of the active layers in the PCB design and give the user the power to choose. 

It is hard to teach this to students when the resources keep changing functionality.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @wspitts2,

I hope this message finds you well. Insert Derive is not mentioned because it does not work inside of Fusion 360 electronics. In fact we are still working on getting the sketch tools that make sense into the Electronics environment. We were recently able to get inferencing so more of those workflows will come in over time.

Those videos cover the current state of Fusion 360 electronics as it is today.  As more mechanical workflows come in and are possible the videos will be updated.

Hope this helps. 

Best Regards,

[chrismasto]

In that case, please take down that video. It is only 3 years old, it comes up when you search for how to make a PCB enclosure in Fusion 360, and it appears to be the official video from Autodesk on how to do this. Several people in the comments have gotten stuck on this step with the holes, and I just wasted a lot of time between watching the video, struggling to follow the steps, and searching around for answers. It's not helpful to have a prominent piece of documentation pointing people in the wrong direction.

I would also suggest having some sort of QA or regression testing process that includes steps recommended in official tutorials, so that, for example, when you change the way sketches are generated from Electronics that break documented ways of doing things, you either reconsider backwards compatibility or update the documentation in tandem with the release.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @chrismasto,

Everything in that video is still valid, can you clarify what part of it is not working? For you. I read through the comments but one was about the lack of proper drawing tools in the 2D PCB and the others discovered that the Edit in Place is a paid for feature.

I don't mention Insert Derive in the video at all, though some user in this thread throught that's what drawing the 2D PCB directly was about.

Let me know what is still creating confusion.

Best Regards,