How can I open 3D DXF files in Fusion 360 ?

[thibaudmp]

Hello !

I'm a engineering student and I've been using Fusion 360 for 3 years. I need to open 3D DXF files to modify them in Fusion 360 but when I upload the file and I try to open it the file seems to be empty...

Thank you in advance for your help !

[paul.clauss]

Hi @thibaudmp

Thanks for posting! It looks like you are experiencing difficulties while trying to upload a 3D DXF file into Fusion 360. 

Where is the 3D DXF file you are trying to import from? What workflow did you use to create it? There are some differences between specific DXF file types - Fusion 360 uses R14 DXF files by default, so it may be that you are creating a different version that Fusion cannot recognize.

I have shown the proper method with which to upload a 3D DXF file into Fusion 360 in the screencast below - is this the same process you are using? If so, please attach the DXF file that is appearing empty to this forum thread and I am happy to have a look! Please let me know if you have any questions.

[thibaudmp]

Hello

First, thank you for replying fast. The DXF file is on the desktop of my computer, and I used the « upload » button to add it.
I’m going to try importing is with the proper method and I’m going to verify the type of DXF I’m trying to import.
I found a way to open the file: I convert it to OBJ before importing it.

Where is the 3D DXF file you are trying to import from? What workflow did you use to create it? There are some differences between specific DXF file types - Fusion 360 uses R14 DXF files by default, so it may be that you are creating a different version that Fusion cannot recognize.

I have shown the proper method with which to upload a 3D DXF file into Fusion 360 in the screencast below - is this the same process you are using? If so, please attach the DXF file that is appearing empty to this forum thread and I am happy to have a look! Please let me know if you have any questions.

[tomo1230]

Hi!

This site is distributed in 3DDXF format data.

WebPlamo (HONDA Japan)

www.honda.co.jp/hondafan/plamo/

But, even if uploading with Fusion 360, the contents will be empty.

Is this not supported?

[paul.clauss · Accepted solution]

Hi @tomo1230

Thanks for posting! Your DXF file looks like it contains 3D sketch and surface(plane) geometries - unfortunately neither of these are supported in DXF files uploaded or inserting into Fusion 360 at this time. If you could use an intermediary program to convert this file to IGES format, you may be able to get it into Fusion. You could also try opening it in AutoCAD, converting the faces to solid bodies, and then bringing it into Fusion.

I apologize for any inconveniences this may cause! Please let me know if you have any questions.

[tomo1230]

Hi! @paul.clauss ,

I understand.

Thank you for answering my question.

[HughesTooling]

---

@paul.clauss wrote:

Hi @tomo1230

Thanks for posting! Your DXF file looks like it contains 3D sketch and surface(plane) geometries - unfortunately neither of these are supported in DXF files uploaded or inserting into Fusion 360 at this time. If you could use an intermediary program to convert this file to IGES format, you may be able to get it into Fusion. You could also try opening it in AutoCAD, converting the faces to solid bodies, and then bringing it into Fusion.

I apologize for any inconveniences this may cause! Please let me know if you have any questions.

---

@paul.clauss This is not correct. The attached file Temp.dxf contains 3d sketches, 3d meshes and 3d surfaces and it imports fine using the data panel. I opened the file @tomo1230 linked to in Rhino and resaved as a DXF and that also opens fine in Fusion. The file is just a mesh so I'm not sure why Fusion can't import the original version but can the Rhino version, they are both meshes.

Here's the car body imported into Fusion using the attached DXF. You might want to get the translation team to take a look at the original.

Mark

[paul.clauss]

Hi @HughesTooling

Good catch! I had a look at the original files from the website @tomo1230 linked and that you exported from Rhino and found that they are in different DXF formats. I believed Fusion was unable to import 3D sketch geometry and solids, but it appears the DXF format that Rhino exports will include 3D sketch geometry as well as mesh bodies and surfaces. I apologize that I was unaware of this!

If we open the DXF file originally downloaded from the website (which contains an empty file when uploaded to Fusion), we see the header below:

0
SECTION
2
HEADER
9
$ACADVER
1
AC1008
9
$UCSORG

When we do the same with the DXF files that would upload from Mark, we see the results below:

  0
SECTION
  2
HEADER
  9
$ACADVER
  1
AC1018
  9
$ACADMAINTVER

I believe this means that the original file is in the R11 DXF format and the file from Rhino is in the 2004 (Autodesk created) DXF format. There must be some translation tool in Rhino that is more capable of aligning the original DXF file with Autodesk expectations for the DXF data - and it appears that saving out of Rhino will allow us to open the upload and open the file in Fusion.

I've logged FUS-36639 with development to look further into why this is occurring - we appreciate you bringing this to our attention! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

[Anonymous]

Hey there. 

I've got a similar issue with importing a DXF file. From the solutions discussed above I can guess my problem: Either I've got a DXF file that isn't exactly the same format as that supported by F360, or the original file contains some kind of illegal combination of items. My file was generated by processing data through the Processing language, which will spit out a DFX file if you ask it to, but at the moment I do not know what kind of DXF it is... The object is composed of loads of spheres, and to me is a large file (79mb), though I have no idea what counts as "large" in the world of 3D. 

To be clear: I go through the import steps correctly, and the object seems to be in my panel. Double clicking or inserting it brings the top-left text info in (Document Settings, named view, origin), so it looks like I ought to be able to see my object. But nothing appears, nor does it give me any error messages. I attach a screenshot of the object produced by Processing.

Any hints would be appreciated!

[HughesTooling]

Can you create a test with fewer spheres? If you still have problems then at least you can attach it here for people to see\test.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Brilliant idea, Mark.

I've done as you suggested, and I attach the 3.3mb .dxf file here. It certainly seems to import just fine (no error messages), but... if it is there it is somehow permanently invisible! I also attach a screenshot of what the thing looks like (window size of 600 x 600 pix, with spheres around 40-50 pix each). 

Thanks a lot for your time!

[HughesTooling]

OK I think the problem is your spheres are meshes in your sample file. Not sure how Fusion will perform with that amount of data, I made a test file using Rhino and created 100 Nurbs spheres and the file was only 11Mb so a lot less data. Can the program you're generating the spheres in produce Nurb surfaces.

Fusion can import meshes in DXF files but not sure when they're this big.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Ok, Mark! Really appreciate the assistance. I'm going to do more digging at the production end (Processing) to see if I can lower the sphere res, and look into other ways to translate the files into another format - I have no need for the 3D dxf format, that's just what Processing gives me. In fact, it would be much better if I could just turn the darn things into STL or something, as they're going to end up at a 3D printer anyway.

Again, thanks for the help, and if you have any hints on good file translation tools, let me know!

Also - I'll post my eventual result here for anyone else going from Processing's DXF into 360.

[HughesTooling]

Rhino will import and convert to STL see attached file. All the overlapping spheres are joined, not sure how to fix that or whether it matters to you. Another option for conversion might be blender, a quick search says it can import DXF files.

Mark

PS. Can you use the Photos option to embed images rather than attach so people don't need to download to view.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Mark. 

I did try blender, and while you can use it to open a .dxf file if you change the user prefs, I had no luck with my small test file. Then I tried Cloud Compare, which is free and extremely easy. It opened my test case immediately, and I was able to save it (or rather it's faces) as an .stl in seconds. (Anyone else using it - just note that "Save" is actually "Save As", and it will give you several formats to choose from). 

Now my only trouble is to go from 10 spheres to something like 200 spheres. CC wasn't eager to open a file that big, but likely this is a question of my computing power rather than software. 

As for the overlapping spheres - this is actually intentional. Sufficient overlapping spheres will create a single continuous object, which I ought to be able to print. I have yet to discover a way to delete the unnecessary shapes INSIDE each sphere. I'm thinking there is likely a tool in maybe Meshlab?

Anyway, thanks again for your help! 

[HughesTooling]

@Anonymous Can you get the output as just point and diameter in a text file? If you can and you have any experience with Python you could create the spheres in Fusion as surfaces.

The code here gives an example of how to draw spheres and the Import Spline CSV add-in that comes with Fusion should give you an idea how to read in your data.

Mark

[Anonymous]

I am attempting to import kitchen sinks into Fusion for modeling a kitchen.  I am getting typically three formats: Revit, 3D DXF and SKP.  I am assuming the latter is SketchUp.  I have been successful in getting a 3D formatted file to open in Fusion, however when I click on the mesh, nothing happens.  Do I need to convert 3D DXF into another format in order for me to modify it in Fusion?

Allan Steinkuhl