Selecting elements for Construction tools

[lure23]

Part of the problem I had with Fusion 360 UI initially was that I was selecting first, then using a feature s.a. Construct > Point At Center Of Circle/Sphere/Torus.

(note that the blue ring means the cylinder's edge is selected)

I was expecting the tool to work on the *selected* edge, but instead it clears the selection and wants me to *now* select the particular edge.

 

This is partly learning. I suppose (= guess) that right click menu entries work on selections, and the toolbar menu entries instead clear the current selection.

Here are some things that could be done about this:

1. Nothing. Just mention it in the tutorials.

2. Extend toolbar menus to work on preselections (instead of clearing them). This could be powerful: for things needing three inputs I could preselect them and doing the 'Construct' would work right there, without showing me any menus. Snap. If some selections are missing, I would be shown which types and how many (my other post dwells on this).

3. Dim the toolbar menu entries if there are existing selections (instead of clearing them). This may not be preferable - it's always difficult to figure out why something is cleared.

4. Make a nagging dialog to the user in case there are pre-selections. "You have N elements selected. XX will clear the selection. Ok / Cancel"  This will essentially teach the current behavior to the user instead of trusting him/her to figure it out somehow.

Please have a discussion about this. As long as the UI is *discoverable* (i.e. one can learn it just by playing with it) I'm fine.

[Oceanconcepts]

This caught me at first too- selecting and expecting to activate the tool after.  This would be helpful in situations where complex selections need to be done- selecting behind other objects that need a click and hold approach to select the correct object. If you could get your selections assigned first, that seems easier. It does work that way in Sculpt, Edit Form.

Ron