Hello,
There's a fairly well-known workaround in Fusion 360 whereupon AnyCAD is used to upload files to a Fusion 360 Team using the Fusion 360 Team web interface, avoiding translation. At Focus, we use this for uploading STEP files and SLDPRT files from customers for use in CAM files.
The desktop Fusion 360 application interface cannot be used to upload the files, otherwise a .F3D file will be automatically created containing the native file (translation). The reason the workaround is used is that the .F3D file creation breaks the geometry associations when replacing a model with a new model. In an assembly, CAM workspace or other environment, the .F3D file creation tends to break every reference.
The workaround was working fine for us, but after the latest update, we're noticing that STEP files uploaded using the web interface that have toolpath references in the CAM workspace aren't maintaining the geometry references properly. After uploading a new file, most (not all) geometry references break following very small, simple geometry changes. These are for STEP files authored using Fusion 360, so nothing funny is going on here, and everything should work.
This has very grave implications for the amount of work that needs to be done to support a customer revision of a customer model. It will be (is) devastating to have to go into the CAM and re-pick all of the geometry every time that a customer provides a new model.
Were there any breaking changes or re-factoring in this area or related to STEP file geometry/architecture that were introduced after the most recent update(s)? Does AnyCAD functionality and the web upload workaround get testing and support when updates happen?
The AnyCAD "workaround" avoiding translation needs to become a mainstream supported workflow with proper documentation and ongoing support on how to use it and what's supported, so that users like us can properly leverage the feature. I wasn't able to locate any written documentation whatsoever on the workflow. There's information buried in a 90 minute video from 2020 . https://www.youtube.com/live/DnY0QLHsQiM?feature=share&t=1056
What would be the timeline on changing this from a "workaround" to a "feature"?
Does anyone else have any experience with this, or has experienced similar problems, or have any tips and tricks? Your feedback and help would be greatly appreciated!
Regards,
Andrew
Fusion
