One of my favorite pieces of software, Canvas from Denaba systems, long since absorbed by ACDsee. Started out needing next to no resources at all. I could create very complex 2d graphics and produce very accurate CAD drawings and 3D Orthographic. In fact I used it in Highschool while taking a drafting class. But after it was absorbed by ACDsee the development was handed off to a bunch of guys who cared more about making it work than accuracy. Thus two lines rarely made contact unless the user specifically directed their placement, which was not easily accessible as it was in say AutoCad2000. Their argument was simply it didn't need to be accurate, or even that it was the users fault. A user could even zoom in to the maximum and line up two points, then zoom out, and back in. The program would have generalized one of the two entries and they will no longer line up. Snap points was added at some point to help but would often snap to a point not specified by the customer.
Today I have just witnessed Fusion360 doing the same thing. Some kind of generalization happening after the user has set a point. It's so bad a user cannot replicate an object with even semi complex geometry saved in another version. Why does this matter? It means the software is INCAPABLE of handling resolution above 0.001mm. Infact as stated by observation it's worse than that now as it cannot replicate a body previously created and get the same dimensions.
What great struggle had carried me to this point?
I needed to generate a footprint for KiCAD, a place holder to serve as a keep our zone for a NEMA17 motor that will be mounted to the top of a PCB... Honestly its a design I need to move away from, but the developer of the hardware I am using did this, so I am importing the work as a boiler plate. I have previously replicated more than 99.99% of the machine into Fusion360, including the NEMA17 motors, and outlines of the PCBs. So using those as starting points I have taken the end side of the NEMA17 motor and made it into a sketch. No these are not simple square objects with rounded corners, they are a semi complex geometry in that they are made up of maybe 37 plates. Each plate is a Circle with 4 sides sliced off. This creates 8 corners, 4 flat sides and 4 semi rounded sides. I needed to get the specifications for the circle and the square. mind you I don't really need .001 for this but I am finding the points wont attach or line up. So i am zooming in as far as I can go to set the start line, the angles and the lengths. Then at the intersection create a point. From there I can ascertain the dimensions needed. If of course the program would stop second guessing my work. Because as I zoom out and back in, what should have been 1 line is now two. And it literally refuses to allow me to place a line more accurately.
See the black dot on the bottom center? It was set to the starting point of the line that extends directly out to the left, 27mm. This would intersect the one from the center left. Combined with the same strategy above I would get a perfect square. But instead the point where those starting points intersect the edge of the body keep shifting slightly. The circle which was drawn center out refused to line up with the center points on the edge meaning that center is not really center at all. Even though the whole thing was constructed around the original general circle so many years ago. Years ago I did not have issues with points not lining up. So I finally set the circle with two points, and dragged it from the bottom center up to the top center. This was done with Fusion360 zoomed in as far as it can go to where the circle and the square should meet at the base in the center. This also having drawn a line from center down, no angle. When I zoomed out now the first point has moved and the zooming back in it no longer intersects with the line at the top as specifically designated.
This is not a show stopper but if it starts effecting the accuracy of more work at lesser resolutions, it will quickly become necessary to find use of another product that isn't taking shortcuts.
By the way Fusion was just updated. And apparently it it is no longer trade marked Fusion360.
2.0.20256 x86_64
Active Plan: Subscription
Windows 10 Pro N 22H2 (19045.4780)
This is a fresh screen shot, I promise, no Photoshop. Or rather I have not edited it in Canvas.
Better yet I was greeted with an advertisement post update:
Look, Fusion has always had all kinds of issues figuring out geometry and getting stuck. Its gotten better. Now it's having issues just making sure lines match up and even replicating old work. Never mind that you cannot launch Fusion360 online, and thats a whole other ticket.
So whats this new functionality? Points that don't line up? Some kind of AI thats supposed to be helping by taking shortcuts? I just need this stuff to be stable and work. And this is after dumping $1772 into the product over 4 years as a hobbyist, so this makes ZERO dollars for me.
If it cannot be accurate, then it should not even be an Autodesk product.
End of Rant.
Edit: Content edited by Server AI to remove invalid HTML?? This document never contained any HTML than the data injected by the server to format the page. I am not going to waste my time creating a bug ticket for that nonsense.
