Totally clueless as to what is going on here

[Anonymous]

So I bought a 3D printer at the beginning of January and tried installing Fusion 360 a few weeks after.  The day after I install it I get an e-mail from some guy at Fusion360 asking me why I downloaded their software.  I tell him that I had just got my first printer and I'd like to learn to use the most difficult detailed program myself so all others would pale by comparison and that I had been told about the hobbyist license and I thought everything was ok. 

The next day I tried to reopen a file and it would open it and let me look but it wouldn't let me do anything BUT look.  I eventually got into a fight with the software about needing mesh mixer enabled and having it enabled and told that I need to enable it but it just acting like it was never and has never been enabled.  Uninstalls and reinstalls, close and open between setting changes, nothing worked.  I did get one thing from TinkerCAD to open in Fusion360 one time about a month ago but I've been hesitant to even attempt to use the software if it doesn't want me to and now I get an e-mail that says my license is about to expire less than 2 months after I applied for it in the first place so..... 

Am I allowed to use this software or what?  What is going on here?  Am I being treated like this on purpose for some odd hobbyist issue?  None of my replies have been answered via e-mail so I'm finally posting here after getting this latest expiration notice.  I haven't been able to design any of the things I've wanted to because TinkerCAD just isn't enough and I don't even know if I'm even allowed to have the Fusion360 software installed legally at this point.  

[jhackney1972]

There are four types of Fusion 360 licenses, they are shown in the screen capture below.  The old Hobby license is no more and it is sometimes now grouped with the Personal License category.  Anyone can download, install and use Fusion 360 with a personal license for non-commercial use.  You have to apply for a Startup license and it has to be approved by Autodesk before a license is granted.  The Educational license is for individuals in school and have a educational institution email address, you have to apply again using this email for a license.  The Subscription is the paid version and you can do anything you desire with it.

The Personal License has some limited features and I would recommend visiting this website to see a comparison to a Subscription License. 

If you are having issues installing Fusion 360, no matter what license, post a forum message on the Fusion 360 Support Forum to solicit help.

[Anonymous]

I did all that.  I had already watched a video comparing the top CAD programs used in FFM 3D printing (Ender 3).  I was already aware of the license change as stated in the video and on the page that you linked.  I followed the personal use route and actually did the application three times over the course of an hour or so trying to get the software to realize that I had that day.  I checked my accounts page a few days later and tried again and at that time I only had the one application on my list, a basic Fusion360 entry that had said it was a personal license but had no date.  The included image is how it looks now since I haven't looked at it since the last time.  I have no idea why there are now 2 entries for Fusion360, one of them saying something about a seat...????, no idea about a few of the others that are there now but some of them are self explanatory on what the name infers so I know why they'd be there for the program.  Also included is the e-mail I got 6 days ago saying that my license is expiring soon.  I'm so confused.  I just need to know what's wrong so I can find out how to fix it or if I should give up.  It would be nice to get help rom a person and not a computer that's going to tell me to take this issues out of this forum and ..... into this very forum and ask for help. *facepalm*  Hi. *waves hand* This is me, in the support forum, asking for support, from the support forum.  I don't know what's wrong and I don't wanna make it any worse by doing random things.

[jhackney1972]

I also have a Fusion 360 Personal license I use for testing.  If I look at my Autodesk Account, for the Autodesk ID I use for this, I see the same thing you do.  You can use either Download to install Fusion 360.  If you have already installed and it will not run, please list your computer operating system and also attach your autodesk.webdeploy.streamer.log file.  If you do not know how to find it, use this website to find it.

About the letter, disregard it unless you want to purchase a subscription.  Even if your Fusion 360 Personal license does expire, you can renew it pretty quickly.  One thing to remember, do not try and renew it BEFORE it expires.  Even if it warns you that it will expire is so many days, let it expire.

[Anonymous]

Thank you.  The software is installed and it does run, it just worked then didn't work and then I just gave up and waited and I actually have 5 e-mails, all from the same person, all on the same day and time, and 2 of them actually say my subscription is ending soon just one month after getting it and here I was thinking it had said it was good for 1 year... omg.  OK, I'll try and actually use the software again and see what happens.  

I expect this kind of stuff all the time.  I tried to pay for an anti-virus one time, payment portal froze on the last page and after an hour I just closed it.  My account online said I had a subscription paid but the program just kept telling me to pay again every time I tried to use it and only let me use the freeware parts of it for 3 months and still charged me like I was getting paid service so I never expect any software to ever work right if it's subscription based now. meh =\  Off to see if it works, wish me luck.

[Anonymous]

Well, program seems to be working but it deleted everything I had before.  Just 3 things, only one I actually kinda needed to keep but I still have the gcode here somewhere.

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

If you get an email again, make sure the sender domain is @Anonymous, if it is, send a reply which includes the screen capture you posted showing your Autodesk Account page.  Turn the tables on them, let them explain it.  Take a deep breath, you are playing by the rules and enjoy the application!

Edit: Remember the forums are here for a purpose, post if you need help, there are a lot of talented users here.