Surface Bodies in Drawings

[r_goulter]

I am interested as to why surface bodies are not included in drawings. Coming from other cad software this is not a concept that I have struck before.

[ClintBrown3D · Accepted solution]

Hi @r_goulter 

Surface support was not something that was part of the original drawings implementation.

BUT it is very much a feature on our roadmap. Like everything, it's a matter of prioritization. When the drawings environment was originally developed, there were not a lot of surface models around, so investing time in developing support for surface models did not make sense at the time.

Times change and our customer needs evolve, as such we are looking into implementing surface mode support. If you check out our public roadmap: https://bit.ly/2DRoadMapFusion you'll find "Support for Surface Models" under "New & Improved Views".

Every customer request that we get, from meetings, emails, forum posts etc. gets collected and categorized in our feature request database. This information is used to prioritize the features that we build next. I've added your request to our database. Keep an eye on the roadmap for updates.

If you are interested in speaking to me about your need for surface model support, I'd be keen to talk to you.

Here is a link to my calendar, please book a session with me, and we can chat over Zoom.

[TrippyLighting]

@ClintBrown3D Tanks for sharing that road map! 

I wish other Fusion 360 PMs were that open and organized!  

[mark.lugowski]

@ClintBrown3D I enjoy Fusion360; however, this issue is causing a problem as many of the more complex models that we receive from suppliers are surfaces and converting them to solids is a time consuming process. I know that many CAD platforms do not have this issue and the time required to solve the issue in Fusion360 justifies the price of more expensive software. I hope this feature gets promoted within the backlog!

[ClintBrown3D]

Hi @mark.lugowski 

Thanks for sharing. Surface model support is one of the features we are considering for implementation over the next year. We are currently looking into technical feasibility.

I'd be interested to talk to you, as I'd love to gain an understanding of your use case and the sorts of models that you are receiving from suppliers. If you're up for it, here is a link to my calendar, please book a session with me, and we can go over this on Zoom. I'd also be happy to share some of our near term plans with you, I may even be able to share a bit more on where we are with surface model support.

To anyone else reading this post, if you would like to connect with me to talk about surface model support, please feel free to book a session using the link above.

I look forward to chatting soon

[jeast]

I did not see it on the roadmap.

This is a requested feature. We do a lot of assemblies working with other drawings, and when we get surface bodies, it is really time consuming to get it fixed, if we can. I typically have to work with our supplier, and get them to resend the drawing as a solid body if they have the capability.

[TrippyLighting]

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@jeast wrote:

I did not see it on the roadmap.

This is a requested feature. We do a lot of assemblies working with other drawings models, and when we get surface bodies, it is really time consuming to get it fixed, if we can. I typically have to work with our supplier, and get them to resend the drawing model as a solid body if they have the capability.

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[ClintBrown3D]

Hi @jeast 

Take a look under "New & Improved Views", this is a feature that is starting to get quite a few requests. Keep an eye on the roadmap this year.