Long list of bugs/issues

[s21Q9J8A]

List of Fusion 360 Problems I'm experiencing below.  Sorry I don't have time to list them separately, but I hope the detail level is helpful for the software team.  I am sorry to say that I am not a very satisfied user but do hope the product will improve at a faster pace.   I have been looking for solutions for most of these issues for >2 years now.

I am generally pretty frustrated with the lack of consistency, stability, performance, and ease of use in the software, and I hope the below information is used to improve that.   I understand that individual bug reports and feature requests is what you may request, however please consider the time I have already spent documenting what I have.  I hope this list is actionable.  Thank you for your support.  Feel free to educate me where needed as I am sure some of the issues I experience might be avoidable.

Software and System information in detail supplied at end.  I am using Windows 11.

1. General: 2 year old issue where sometimes (in Windows)a selected sketch or body is highlighted and cannot be un -highlighted. It has been reported several times by others and has not been resolved.  Restarting Fusion resolves this.
2. General: A messaging/troubleshooting/diagnostic center should be considered: Where I go to troubleshoot timeline or computation failures. How do I identify conflicting geometries or features efficiently?
3. General: Allow me to customize exactly which input changes zoom, pan, rotate. Enough with this "Inventor" or "Solidworks" and other options. Let me be me.
4. General: Allow users to specify how grounding of objects will occur when adding/inserting them. Always grounding to parent is not always wanted, for example.
5. General: Consider rewarding people (subscription credits) when they help others troubleshoot or identify software issues.
6. General: Document Recovery popup (on launch after crash) is almost useless. It should show a comparison between the last saved and recovery version so the user can know what to choose.
7. General: Fix ALL the bugs, inconsistencies, oversights, and obvious omissions in features before introducing new features, especially pay-only features.
8. General: Fusion 360 crashes at least once every time I use it. Usually when dealing with a broken timeline or when the pc does a display change (monitor disconnected, etc.) Please fix.
9. General: Handle display/docking changes gracefully in Windows. The app shouldn't crash.
10. General: Handles to resize dialogues/windows do not appear properly or consistently. Why can't I resize from any corner? Why doesn't the mouse cursor change consistently to show I can resize?
11. General: If I am performing an edit that is specific to a subcomponent, and I do not have that specific subcomponent activated, at least warn me.  Help the user to avoid adding a timeline feature to the wrong component and having to do all of that work over again.  
12. General: if I forget to activate a component, allow me to move timeline features to the intended component. Don't make me delete and start over.
13. General: In some dimension values with handles (rectangular pattern as an example), if a user inputs a variable, the variable value is carried over to the main dialogue instead of the variable itself, causing parameter changes not to update.  Please check all functions for these inconsistencies.
14. General: Inconsistencies in the interface. Sometimes when filling out a text value field, clicking away will store the value, in other instances it will cancel and revert back to the old value.  Please check all functions for inconsistencies.
15. General: The threat of losing a recovery document forever should not exist, which is sometimes implied in the verbiage of this dialogue window/box.
16. General: When changing only the home view in a project, the save button does not activate. Only when closing the project, Fusion will prompt you to save.  
17. General: When inserting components (insert derive, insert, drag drop, etc) it is not clear as to what the limitations are. Sometimes I cannot edit the sketches, and it is difficult to figure out why.
18. General: When inserting components (insert derive, insert, drag drop, etc) the "make independent" option is not always available. It is not clear why. Make it easy for components to be duplicated and made independent. I know about "paste new". Still.
19. General: When inserting components (insert derive, insert, drag drop, etc), even if they are a duplicate linked component, please let me rename it whatever I want.
20. General: When something doesn't work, NEVER just do nothing. Tell me why the thing I asked for didn't work. Don't flash something at the bottom of the screen so fast I can't read it either.
21. Performance: Consider actively detecting long execution times, and suggesting to the user options to the user that may help. For example view detail level or other adjustment that may improve user experience due to long wait times or system resource limitation.
22. Performance: When a timeline is broken, (yellow or red timeline feature), and the history marker is placed prior to those broken features, it seems Fusion seems to still suffer from performance issues when it should not.  Try breaking some timeline features via sketch computation failure, etc to test.
23. Sketch: "Constraints were removed" warning is not enough information to trace back what I may have broken.
24. Sketch: "Failed to solve" is not adequate information to efficiently identify a conflict in a sketch.
25. Sketch: Consider allowing rectangles to be drawn at the displayed rotation angle rather than always parallel to the axes. Currently this requires lines or multiple steps.
26. Sketch: Consider changing the parallel and equal constraint icons so they are more differentiable
27. Sketch: Consider making points changeable to construction geometries in order to assist in displaying/hiding stacked points.  If a line can be a construction geometry, why can't a point?
28. Sketch: Does not seem possible to select a point if it is stacked with another point, then drag the point. This appears true even if no constraints are applied to the stacked points.
29. Sketch: highlighting a geometry blue during hover or highlight in right-click context menu is insufficient for troubleshooting overlapping and/or conflicting geometries or constraints
30. sketch: Make a copy of sketch geometries with constraints and dimensions. The copies will behave completely different and its impossible difficult to troubleshoot. One is fully defined and the other is not..
31. Sketch: Offset: once geometries have been offset, it turns itself into a dimension. This subset of offset geometries, once modified turns into a mess of divorced dimensions. Consider making offset editable similar to rectangular pattern.
32. Sketch: Once a set of geometries is mirrored, it becomes a mess of individual symmetry constraints. The sketch becomes cluttered and edits near impossible. Consider reworking mirror to be editable features similar to rectangular patterns.
33. Sketch: Perhaps introducing a layering approach would help in troubleshooting and differentiating stacked lines, points, etc. The current hover or hold right-click approach sucks.
34. sketch: sometimes hovering over points does not show the associated constraints. If there are no constraints, tell me so.
35. Sketch: There is currently no efficient way to make a copy of sketch geometries and keep them identical. Mirror does not do this. Individual constraints are not practical.
36. Sketch: When attempting to delete stacked points, sometimes nothing happens and there is no indication as to why. I can select the point via right click context menu, hitting delete does nothing. NEVER quietly do nothing.
37. Sketch: When I drag something and it doesn't move, tell me why. Don't make me hunt for a long time to find the constraint(s) that I'm looking for. Very frustrating.
38. Sketch: When linking a projected geometry, and the projected body or sketch changes, try to resolve the conflict on your own. Parametric/variable change should not cause this to break almost EVERY time.
39. Sketch: When trying to fully define a sketch, it is sometimes not obvious what is not defined. Need some help here. It almost seems like maybe the blue lines don't update automatically to black. How to check?
40. Sketch: Make filters for constraints that assist in troubleshooting. You may consider filters for individual types of constraints (filter concentric, parallel, coincident etc.) Make all options available not just a partial list of filters.
41. sketch: selection filters - need to provide all possible options. For example "projected geometries' is not available
42. Timeline: configure vs edit a step is confusing. What the heck is configure and why do you keep trying to upsell me and interrupting my work?
43. Tree navigation/selection: Collapse all, expand all, hide selected components, hide all bodies , show all bodies, show all sketches, hide all sketches, and all permutations need to be available
44. Variables: allow me to change the unit type without having to recreate the variable
45. Variables: allow me to have text variables so that I can use them for text in sketches.
46. Variables: it is inconvenient to want to assign a value or dimension but you haven't yet created a variable, so you have to quit what you're doing, and then go to the parameters table and add it then go back.

Fusion version:  2.0.20508 x86_64

Device name dell9710
Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-11800H @ 2.30GHz 2.30 GHz
Installed RAM 64.0 GB (63.7 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display

Edition Windows 11 Home
Version 23H2
Installed on ‎2/‎6/‎2023
OS build 22631.4460
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22700.1047.0

[Steven_Gao]

Hello @s21Q9J8A

Many thanks to you for providing the list of your problems. It is very helpful and valuable for our development team!

We are reviewing your listed issues and will update them to you later with more details.

There are some quick comments and questions for some items from our initial investigation.

• #8 and #9: We have some fixes on display disconnection/change recently. If you still experience this problem, please sent out the crash report and let us know the report ID and we can do further investigation.
• #13: I tried the Pattern feature, but it seems I cannot reproduce the problem. Refer to the attached video - Pattern with Parameter.mp4. If you see the different behavior or workflow, please help to record a short video to show your workflow.
• #14: Can you help to record a short video to show your workflow? It will help us to confirm the problem.
• #21: Do you mean the improvement of graphics displaying and feature computing? Appreciated if you can give us some examples to show your workflows and expected behaviors.  
• #22: It looks like a bug. Do you have any example or dataset to show this problem?
• #26: Do you mean the icons of Parallel and Equal constraint are low differentiation? If yes, we may consider to improve it later.
• #28: How about using Move/Copy command as a workaround. Refer to the video - Move Stacked Points.mp4.
• #30: After copied/pasted the sketch, then you may be moved it to other place. So some dimension/constraints may be removed and not fully constrained. Can you help to record a short video to show your workflow if it is not my mentioned condition?
• #31: So far, Fusion already supports to change the offset without break it for Chamfer and Fillet features. Do you want to support more? If yes, please let us know more details.
• #34: Can you help to show a workflow to reproduce the problem? It will help us to confirm the problem and fix it.
• #36: If the point is a center point of a circle or an arc, the point is not deletable. But probably we need to show a warning message as your said.
• #38: Yes, this is a robustness issue. We need some datasets to analysis and fix it. If you have some cases met this problem, please help to share them to us for problem diagnostics if possible.
• #41: "Projected Geometries" is in sketch Palette. Refer to the attached picture - Projected Geometries.jpeg. Is this you expected option? If not, please give us more information.
• #43: Yes, many of them not fully supported. Just one comment for “hide selected components”. You may find it is not worked as your expected if some of the selected components are visible but others are hidden. Can you have a try the following workflow? After you selected the components, you can click the Show all Components in context menu and then click “Show/Hide” command, all of the selected components should be hidden now.
• #44: Not support to change the Unit type directly. But you may have a try the following workaround: change the unit to No Units firstly, then change it to other unit type and modify the value expression. Rete to the attached video - Change Unit Type.mp4
• #45: Yes, this a common requirement and we have an internal ticket to track it.
• #46: It seems doable. Rete to the attached video - Create variable.mp4. If you are talking about different requirement, please explain more details of it.

[Steven_Gao]

Additional two videos for the above post.

[FrodoLoggins]

Maybe Fusion should prioritize the thing my mouse is over?:

6 years later and this forum still randomly thinks publicly listed videos are private so here's the link:

https://youtu.be/oTZTm6K2w7g

This is the face my mouse is over:

That's obviously the face I'm trying to select. Not a face that gets blocked by the face my mouse is over. Or sometimes a face my mouse isn't over....

Holding down my LMB to show a list of faces is wasted time and doesn't even list what I want sometimes.

[g-andresen]

Hi,

# 45   Parametric Text

# 46   

günther

[FrodoLoggins]

This body is hidden despite everything having visibility turned on:

You gotta toggle the visibility and eventually it'll appear. Been reported by me and others. Why is this still a bug?

If you watch closely that video also shows another bug:

[FrodoLoggins]

Are browser elements supposed to have this slight glow around them?:

I'm assuming they're supposed to look more like this:

[s21Q9J8A]

Steven,

I appreciate your reply and for looking into the issues and am confident some good will come of it.  Unfortunately, I am unable to spend more time on these problems.  Respectfully and understandably, some of your responses indicate your team may not be familiar enough with the daily use of Fusion.  It may be perhaps necessary for your team to invest in user observational studies in order to observe how these problems manifest themselves and observe firsthand the users' struggles.  As you know, it is difficult to rely solely on forums, problem reports, and user participation to fix/improve the product, especially when there are so many outstanding usability issues.  I would be happy to participate, but like everyone, I can't afford to work for free.  If your company would like to compensate me for additional time spent on these issues, feel free to reach out.

Thank you for your support.

[Steven_Gao]

Hi @FrodoLoggins 

Thanks for the videos to explain the problems. Do you still has the model in the video(https://youtu.be/oTZTm6K2w7g)? I heard some people also met this problem too. I tried to reproduce it but no luck to reproduce the problem with my design files. 

For the body hidden issue, do you remember how to get the initial status of the body(yes, it is wrong at the beginning of the video)?

Thanks in advance!

[jstadt]

@s21Q9J8A my name is Jeremy Stadtmueller I am the Product Manager for Fusion Design. I understand your frustrations and empathize with you. My team is working with Steven to get your issues logged and see where they are in our backlog.

I have read the string and I understand that you have spent more time trouble shooting these issues than you should have.

If you would like to connect when you have free time so I can hear more on your thematic issues and share what we are doing to solve these and the other issues in Fusion I would be happy to set up time with you. 

Jeremy

[FrodoLoggins]

In regards to the hidden body problem:

I believe (but not sure) it usually (or always IDK) happens when switching from the manufacturing environment [where the body/component is hidden as expected as it's not part of the milling setup that I have activated] to the Design environment. 

In regards to the "no, select the thing my mouse is over not the thing " problem:

This program crashes so often I need to save 20x more than with any other program. Luckily this means I probably do have that model saved as an older version. The problem though is that the data panel refreshes randomly while scrolling through each old version. This means to find the exact file I probably need to see my data panel refresh up to 300 times before I find the file. I'm sorry I don't have time for that.

[TrippyLighting]

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@s21Q9J8A wrote:

1. General: When inserting components (insert derive, insert, drag drop, etc) it is not clear as to what the limitations are. Sometimes I cannot edit the sketches, and it is difficult to figure out why.
2. General: When inserting components (insert derive, insert, drag drop, etc) the "make independent" option is not always available. It is not clear why. Make it easy for components to be duplicated and made independent. I know about "paste new". Still.
3. General: When inserting components (insert derive, insert, drag drop, etc), even if they are a duplicate linked component, please let me rename it whatever I want.

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Linking (insert into current design or drag-&-drop) creates a link to an external reference in Autodesk lingo, also called an XREF (decades-old Autocad terminology). When the linked component is edited and saved, either directly by opening it from the data panel or by EIP (Edit-in-place) from the design it is used in, that will update the one linked design file, and all designs that use that XREF will need to be updated to reflect that change.

If an external design is used more like a template and the geometry in that template needs to be edited in the design it is used in, it should be derived into that design. Edits of the derived component in the design it was derived into will only apply to that design; they don't propagate back to the original design in the data panel.

Edits to the original design in the data panel, OTOH, will propagate to the designs it was derived into.

Sketches of linked and derived designs can only be edited in the original designs in the data panel!

[TrippyLighting]

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@s21Q9J8A wrote:

1. Timeline: configure vs edit a step is confusing. What the heck is configured, and why do you keep trying to upsell me and interrupting my work?

---

Configurations are a relatively new feature set in Fusion, introduced around the beginning of this year. That is confusing if one reads the documentation 😕

For your convenience, here's a link to the documentation for Configurations.

[s21Q9J8A]

Jeremy,

Thank you for reaching out.  I am happy to chat with you briefly. Please send me a private message so we can connect.  I was unable to message you due to an account issue relating to permission to send private messages.

Thank you.

[TrippyLighting]

@jstadt good to see you on the forum!!!

[s21Q9J8A]

13 - General: In some dimension values with handles (rectangular pattern as an example), if a user inputs a variable, the variable value is carried over to the main dialogue instead of the variable itself, causing parameter changes not to update.  Please check all functions for these inconsistencies.

Solid function "Create Box" is one of these.  There should be a QA audit to identify all of these.

[TrippyLighting]

13. Please create a screencast to demonstrate exactly what you are doing. I use rectangular patterns all the time and cannot reproduce this.

The box primitive is only semi-parametric and a relic from the very early days of Fusion. Don't use it for parametric workflows! I've argued for many years for it to either be removed or "fixed," but to no avail.

[s21Q9J8A]

Below is a screenshot example of problem 32.  Can you, for example, easily identify the midpoint of the center line in the mess of all the symmetry constraints created by the mirror function?  The simple shape in this sketch is an absolute BEAR to edit due to the mess of constraints, and multiple layers of lines and points.  I know some may say that there are ways to work around the issues, and I do, but I don't believe these issues can't be resolved and I believe this is a huge user pain point.

32.  Sketch: Once a set of geometries is mirrored, it becomes a mess of individual symmetry constraints. The sketch becomes cluttered and edits near impossible. Consider reworking mirror to be editable features similar to rectangular patterns.

[jeff_strater]

@s21Q9J8A - curious what you think the "fix" to this would be.  All the symmetry constraints are necessary - that is the result of the sketch mirror command - to create a bunch of sketch geometry, and create symmetry constraints between pairs of geometry.  A Fusion sketch (and any other CAD sketch that I am familiar with) does not have "features" like exist in the solid world.  All that exists in a sketch are geometries and constraints that are solved together as one big system.  There is no "order" captured for sketch operations.  Commands like sketch fillet, chamfer, mirror, etc are really just quick ways to generate a set of geometry and constraints that could be created manually.

Also, there are very few cases where you should be using sketch mirror on a lot of geometry.  First, the sketch solver struggles with that much geometry and constraints, but, also, as you point out, the sketch itself becomes very messy and hard to work with.  There are almost always cases where you can achieve the symmetry you are after using mirror in the solid world - you will get better performance, and avoid annoyances like this.

[s21Q9J8A]

@jeff_strater 

Jeff,

Thank you for the well communicated question!  Much appreciated.

Let's take for example the function for rectangular pattern. After you plug in all of your parameters and hit "okay", the rectangular pattern is represented by a single icon which can be right clicked and reconfigured.  This could have been done similar to mirror where it generates multiple constraints/dimensions cluttering the sketch.  Rectangular Pattern's consolidation and grouping is handy for reconfiguring and also identification of what was done previously in the sketch.  I believe there are other commands that could be candidates for this type of beneficial consolidation as well, such as mirror, offset, or any other commands that result in multiple constraints being created.

Also, thank you for your points about achieving symmetry in the solid environment versus in the sketch environment for better performance. It's an important consideration and one I'm aware of, but sometimes "you gotta do what you gotta do", and I don't believe it's a good idea to burden the user with computer performance optimization when they're trying to be creative.  I don't believe most users,  will understand how, under the covers, Fusion and the computer will operate most efficiently (myself included with a previous career of 23 years as a UNIX System Administrator).

That being said, I know there are design constraints, and I did mention that it would be great if Fusion detected and notified the user if there were performance issues/considerations, and communicated suggestions on how to resolve/improve them (e.g. decrease display detail settings)  Also, a "troubleshooting center" where the user could go to review software warnings, messages, and troubleshoot computational and performance issues might be helpful.  The latter could be great for the times where, frustratingly, a command is issued, but quietly fails.  

Besides specifics about the mirror command, some other general thoughts to improve the sketching environment are:

1)  Create a layered environment in a sketch where layers can be turned on/off to clarify overlapping and congested sketch entities (constraints, dimensions, overlapping lines, etc that are user configured). This is already partially implemented (in a way) with the sidebar check boxes (for projected geometries, dimensions, etc).  Additional, user defined layers could be considered.  (I would also love to see some software intelligence implemented with this.  For example, have you ever turned off profiles in a sketch, forgotten, finished the sketch, and then have to go back to turn profiles back on so you can extrude a profile?  It would be great if Fusion was smart enough to know that you might need profiles on to extrude, and did it for you.)
2)  Supply selection filter options for ALL types of sketch entities, not just some.
3)  Supply display layers/check boxes for ALL types of sketch entities, not just some.

4)  Better display of computational issues or when constraints, dimensions, or other issues prevent the user from interacting the way they want.  For example, trying to drag a sketch that won't move could highlight the conflicting constraints/dimensions for the user, and/or post a message into a "Troubleshooting Center".

I appreciate the attention to these matters, and would love to see the product improved.  If you'd like more of my input, please contact me via DM.