Storing files locally without using cloud services

[bradleydof]

Hi!

I tried searching for anyone posting a similar question and I could not find anything. 

For my personal use case of Fusion I find the cloud services to be undesireable. I much prefer to store the files locally. This gives me easier access to the files without having to export files and then have a bunch of different versions between my computer and the cloud servers. Recently I have been exporting the files instead of saving and that has taken care of one problem and made another. Now the files remain unnamed and it becomes more of a chore to export them.  I am posting here in the hopes that I am just missing a setting somewhere to either disable cloud functionality or to be able to switch the default save location to a local drive or a local NAS. Also being able to have access to my files during a server outage or a local internet outage is a huge bonus. My internet went out last week and I could not work on anything I had previously saved.

Would anyone be able to recommend a solution to the annoyances of the cloud? Maybe even a way to sync a folder on my computer with all the most recent Fusion saves? I don't mind if it's there, so long as I am able to ignore it.

Thanks for any assistance! This is about my only real gripe with Fusion! I absolutely love it otherwise!

[TrippyLighting]

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@bradleydof wrote:

Hi!

I tried searching for anyone posting a similar question and I could not find anything. 

I wonder how intense your search was, because this has been discussed to exhaustion on this forum and other places!

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@bradleydof wrote:

For my personal use case of Fusion I find the cloud services to be undesireable.

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Then my recommendation would be to use a different CAD software. Fusion is built around the cloud. It's always been that way it very unlikely is going to change.

You can simply export files as .f3d files or as .f3z files (assemblies with linked components). However, you lose any of the version history. I cannot comment on other side effects, but there certainly are some.

[piotradamorchowski]

What's with the attitude? I though you said "My patience for users with attitude and aptitude problems, lack of social skills and passive aggressive behaviors is exhausted!" And yet, here you are... with an attitude and being passive aggressive...

[TrippyLighting]

You are posting in the wrong thread!

[piotradamorchowski]

No, I'm not. Are you trying to fabricate probable cause, so you can get me banned because you got your ego hurt? 

[piotradamorchowski]

Yep, I was right again.

[TrippyLighting]

I strongly recommend that you stop stalking me through other threads unless you want to continue to create "probable cause" 😉

Have you read through the community etiquette yet?

[piotradamorchowski]

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@TrippyLighting wrote:

Have you read through the community etiquette yet?

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Have you?

[jhackney1972]

This article may be of some help

[bradleydof]

Apparently not exhaustive enough! Sorry about that!

Thanks for the insights. I just figured I was doing something wrong, as usual. I am just getting started teaching myself CAD, as well as how to properly use forums apparently... I never needed to post very many times before, and the few times I tried different forums usually ended pretty horribly.

Thanks for responding, even though it's apparently been beat dead on other threads. Sorry for wasting that bit of your day!

Take care!

[bradleydof]

I saw that option, however it doesn't seem to change the behavior if the "save" function. In the best of worlds, I was hoping for a way to change the save location to my local PC instead of needing to use the export function and then, consequently, always being told it's not saved, even though I just saved it. As well as the file name never replacing the "Untitled*" on the designs tab meaning that I need to manually enter the filename every time I save (export). Just seemed like I was doing something the hard way. Apparently that's by design though. It's too bad that this is one of my favorite CAD programs as of yet, and just the process of saving and opening files is so cumbersome. I think I am going to stick with it and deal with the export and no file name stuff. I really like the way my works just flows in the software. Very easy and intuitive. I just find myself wishing, every time I use Fusion, that this program wasn't so reliant on storing my files on someone else's computer for no reason (for my use case only, of course).

Thanks for the help, though. Out of the 5 or 10 forum posts I have made in my life, this was by far the best, and most helpful, responses I have gotten. Probably because I am pretty stupid when it comes to forums and you guys must have the patience of saints.

Take care everyone! Stay safe and healthy!

[TrippyLighting]

My apologies for coming across as a little "triggered"! I was, but not by your post 😉
You did not waste a second of my day! 

You are welcome to ask questions, but I have to admit the "issue" of Fusion being a cloud is constantly a point of debate, particularly by individual hobby users, who can only see the disadvantages of the software storing data in the cloud but outright refuse to accept that there are advantages. 

A huge advantage for me is that I work with Fusion professionally and privately from 3 different computers in various locations. I don't have to deal with dongles, licenses, etc., and I don't have to worry about losing data or work.

My work is always accessible, almost regardless of what computer I work from.

In the end, each user must balance the advantages and disadvantages of using a given software tool based on their individual needs and circumstances.

Autodesk stores Fusion data on Amazon Web Servers, and you can set up your account to use 2-factor authentication if security is a concern. In the approximately 10 years I've use Fusion (well .. coming November),  and almost daily work here on the forum I've not heard of a single incident of a data breach.

A hybrid approach, saving data in the cloud mixed with regular "safety" backups to your local computer, might work best for your use case.

[bradleydof]

You absolutely did not seem triggered. I understood what you said and took it constructively. I can appreciate the benefits for professionals with all the interconnectivity, version history, and design collaboration (just to name a few), just as you can appreciate hobby users seeing a lot of that as a wasted effort and counterproductive to a non-collaborative work flow. I was unaware that this was the basis of Fusion and the individual hobby user was never really considered. It makes sense to me from  business perspective, so please don't think I am loudly complaining. I will work with it as it is and hope and pray for an update to make my use case a slightly smoother flow. Thank you for taking the time to explain everything and welcoming me to the forum. I appreciate that a lot! I won't hesitate in the future to ask questions on here. And I'll try to research my question better before asking, as well.

Take care!