better in depth user manual

[cekuhnen]

 feel the manual area of Fusion is a pretty weak point and needs some improvement.

sometimes I have a somewhat idea how something can work but still guess

and that often leads to frustration and wasted time.

fortunately I am in academia

a commercial person has much less time and will rather not pursure the study 

[O.Tan]

I can think of a few areas that could help users to Fusion 360

1. For those new to CAD (detailed step by step tutorial for users)

2. For those coming from a different CAD (this will probably be more like a quick overview then a detailed tutorial of each functions)

3. Function changes/enhancement with latest updates (this will solve old videos where how the function works is different then the current version)

[cekuhnen]

tuts are nice but a real manual is still needed

too often did I have to guess how stuff works in Fusion

often the tools are great in F but you need to figure that out first

and then you have the 3D sketch and hardly anything is written about
what works and what not - an area that bothers me the most.

[O.Tan]

Hmm, I guess partly why a real manual is not done yet cause of the changes that occur over time in Fusion 360, I expect it to be this way for the next 2 years till most things are matured more. 

Meanwhile, perhaps a Wiki where communities are given rights to edit will be much better? 

[macmanpb]

While the update intervals are short, i think there is now no way to create a fundamental documentation. The changes for each update are to much.
But it is a must have, when the update intervals are longer. 

[cekuhnen]

I question the problem of the update cycle to be honest.

The constraints dont change for the sketch engine - so they can be documented better.

The same happens with the surfacing solid and other tools.

I hardly think that at this point an update would change a tool so much that the manual entry would be useless.

I rather think that if the tool was changed it is only minor and the addition could be easily added to the manual.

Alias has a fantastic user manual and the students use it a lot as a reference.

Fusion here has to be honest nothing and some here and there tutorials are just enough educational material

to guide them not only thourgh the software but also the process.

For Autodesks own benefit I think this would help their adaption a lot.

Duing the class time  I can only so much focus on how to use the software.

[O.Tan]

Would a community managed Wikia work? Or perhaps Autodesk create it themselves and users will be able to edit it?

I'm up for proper documentation and all but I also understand that there's limited resources on their side as well, and would rather them to be focused into fixing and improving Fusion 360 to be better.

[tarjeik]

I wholly agree, a detailed manual would be a most welcome both for reference and as a learning resource. As an example, if you fillet an edge you are presented with an option to use "G2". There is no tooltip and nothing in the documentation. After googling I found this reference which explains it very well. G2 is probably obvious to an experienced CAD user, but not to me 🙂

Fusion 360 is graduating from it's state as an "experimental" product with the launch of Ultimate, and I feel that a proper user manual is in order.

[keqingsong]

Thanks Claas for your idea. We are actively working on providing a more in-depth learning experience that walks a user through the various workspaces and get them the training they need to go from beginners to experts. 

Provided below are 3 links. Here are the instructions of what to do with them: 

1. Click on Dataset to download the zip file of all the sample files associated with each Module. Upload them in Fusion 360.

Dataset

2. Begin the training by going through each module in ascending order (01, 02, 03, etc). You can view them in the browser or download them locally. 

PDF Modules

01 Introduction

02 Sketch

03 Sculpting

04 Model

05 Manage

06 Assemble

07 Render

08 Drawing

09 CAM

3. We also have a YouTube playlist of videos associated with each module. They should complement the modules as you go through the training. 

Video Playlist

This project is still in beta phase (not finished), so feel free to give us feedback on it. We'll continue to refine the experience and make it more streamlined, as well as expanding the level of expertise. 

[cekuhnen]

hi there

I checked the pdfs and they are a good direction but are not very informative for explaining why you have to do something.

currently the pdfs simply show a do this to do that but not why you should do it so the user understands the concept behind it.

for example the sketch tutorial does not explain what construction planes are and how they are used in the process or

for example what constraints are made for and how they can streamline the design process.

for me as an advanced user I know all this and the tut is fine - for a beginner not only the how but much more important

the why has to be answered.

I hope this makes sense.

the assemblies for examples starts well explaining that process and why in the introduction.

[keqingsong]

Thanks for the feedback Claas. I'll be sure to share this with the team. 

[hansvaneven]

100 % agree, this only big drawback for me is that Fusion 360 isn't well documented yet, and tutorials are too basic, I'm relatively new to this kind of modeling and I spend a lot of time searching Rhino t-spline tutorials to understand what's happening in Fusion, that's not really logic 🙂

[bmills61]

I come from an AutoCAD background. I have watched most of your videos. There are multiple narrators. The problem I see is that in some videos the narrator tends to rush through, I guess because it's so basic it's boring. This causes me to continually backup to try to figure out what I missed. Other videos the narrator munbles and I don't understand what is said. And some videos, no matter how many times I backup and start over, I don't get what the narrator does. This becomes very fustrating. Most of the videos ares on free form and very little is on parametrics, which is what I need for 3D printing. A user manual would solve this but your only suggestion is to upload the existing modules. Based on this the learning curve is pretty much straight up for me.

[Mach-Buster]

Fusion 360 has been released for how long, and a decent user manual still is not available.  I'm forced to search the community and Google for answers to my questions when the information should be in a manual.  For example, a basic definition of Sketch object colors.  What is the difference between a Sketch point that is white, solid black, green, pink?  What is the difference between a Sketch line that is solid blue, solid black, dashed organge, dashed black, etc....  I'm new to CAD, but I'm not new to engineering and the current manual available (http://fusion360.autodesk.com/learning/learning.html) is not detailed enough for someone new to CAD.

Maybe it's time.  Also, why hasn't AutoDesk's official printing not printed any books on Fusion 360?  Maybe because nothing is in writing?  Just seems odd that I can find books on all other AutoDesk products but not printed books on Fusion 360.  I would be willing to pay for a decent book on Fusion 360.  This is a revenue opportunity for AutoDesk that they are very much missing.  Does AutoDesk plan to continue with the Fusion 360 product line?

Sorry, but just a little frustrated at the lack of good manuals and printed material.  You can find tons of printed material for Inventor, but nothing for Fusion 360.