Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Rut Row
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/suppo...e-Changes.html
On October 1st, 2020 - Fusion 360 for personal use will be defining clearer lines between what is available in Fusion 360 for personal use versus other offerings in order to align with intended usage, scale for the future, and stay true to Autodesk’s guiding principles of democratizing design.
This document will cover the Frequently Asked Questions around Fusion 360 for personal use. To compare all available subscription and offering types for Fusion 360, visit the Fusion 360 Comparison Page.
To navigate to a specific section, click any of the links below. Use ‘Return to Top’ in each section to navigate quickly back to the top of the webpage.
Feature Comparison per Fusion 360 Offering
Timeline for Changes
General Questions about Fusion 360 for personal use
FAQ - Manufacturing Impact
FAQ - Product and Data Usage Impact
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
It had to happen eventually. We all knew it was coming. I licensed my fusion 360 about a year ago. Can't say I get my moneys worth out of it yet. I licensed it so that when 4th axis rotary was available I would have access to it. Bad news is when it came available it was extra. I would have been ok with it costing an extra $100 a year or something. It's over $2k usd a year extra!
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
...free needles and beer. hookline and sinker
what does F360 do with our designs....?
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
This doesn’t affect me very much at this point. I’ve been intending to start using Fusion360, but I’ve never gotten much past some intro tutorials. Fusion360 can do real 3-Axis and 4-Axis CAM, which is better than the Solidworks CAM that can do 2.5-Axis.
That’s not entirely accurate. The Student version of Solidworks only has 2.5-Axis CAM. More expensive versions of Solidworks has better CAM.
Since I am already familiar with Solidworks, it has been too easy for me to be lazy and just sign up for a Solidworks class every year or so at the local community college. This gets me a Student version of Solidworks for only $125, plus I get access to commercial CNC mills and lathes, and commercial 3D printers.
The Solidworks CAM is really CAMWorks, which I have found to have a weird approach to CAM. But I’ve struggled with it anyways just because it was integrated into Solidworks. I’ve always known that I was going to have to do something else once I needed to run a true 3D toolpath. I had thought that “something else” would be Fusion360 but now I’m not so sure.
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Quote:
Originally Posted by
machinehop5
...free needles and beer. hookline and sinker
what does F360 do with our designs....?
Yeah, I was wondering when the other show was going to drop.
And what DOES F360 do with our models? I’ve always wanted to play around with lower receiver designs, for example, but does F360 just send that info to the government? And if they don’t do that now, who is to say they won’t do it under a future Admistration?
[/tinfoil hat]
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Quote:
Originally Posted by
upnorth
It had to happen eventually. We all knew it was coming. I licensed my fusion 360 about a year ago. Can't say I get my moneys worth out of it yet. I licensed it so that when 4th axis rotary was available I would have access to it. Bad news is when it came available it was extra. I would have been ok with it costing an extra $100 a year or something. It's over $2k usd a year extra!
That is a shame about you not being able to use Fusion for your 4th axis like you planned. Are you going to renew your license?
Now here is an interesting option. Evidently one of the benefits to being a member of EAA - Experimental Aircraft Association is free access to Solidworks.
https://www.eaa.org/eaa/eaa-membersh...esource-center
And get this: EAA dues are only $40 per year.
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
For now I will renew my license at least one more time. I have heard about the solidworks through EAA its been a thing for a while. Does it include CAM? If so I might have to look into it. I moved from solidworks to Fusion 360 a few years ago. I preferred solidworks. I never got used to the interface with fusion and to this day find it to be awkward to use. Both programs are far more capable than I am and the end results are better than I need in either program. I only got rid of solidworks because the cost was just too high. Way to high.
I should point out the awkward part of fusion for me is the CAD. The CAM is very easy to use and the results are great. I think I just got so used to solidworks that the switch was difficult. To be honest if I learned a few more shortcuts I would probably be happy with fusion.
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Quote:
Originally Posted by
upnorth
For now I will renew my license at least one more time. I have heard about the solidworks through EAA its been a thing for a while. Does it include CAM? If so I might have to look into it. I moved from solidworks to Fusion 360 a few years ago. I preferred solidworks. I never got used to the interface with fusion and to this day find it to be awkward to use. Both programs are far more capable than I am and the end results are better than I need in either program. I only got rid of solidworks because the cost was just too high. Way to high.
I should point out the awkward part of fusion for me is the CAD. The CAM is very easy to use and the results are great. I think I just got so used to solidworks that the switch was difficult. To be honest if I learned a few more shortcuts I would probably be happy with fusion.
It looks like all the 2020-2021 Solidworks Education versions now include Solidworks CAM Professional.
https://www.solidworks.com/sites/def...atrix_2020.pdf
So it looks like my statement earlier that my version of Education Solidworks CAM could not do 3 and 4 axis tool paths is incorrect. That was true when I had the 2019-2020 Education SW, but the 2020-2021 Education SW must have upgraded to CAM Professional.
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Titaniumboy
Rut Row
[
Astro!
Where you been, boy?
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Quote:
Originally Posted by
upnorth
It had to happen eventually. We all knew it was coming. I licensed my fusion 360 about a year ago. Can't say I get my moneys worth out of it yet. I licensed it so that when 4th axis rotary was available I would have access to it. Bad news is when it came available it was extra. I would have been ok with it costing an extra $100 a year or something. It's over $2k usd a year extra!
Is your license Fusion-360 "Legacy"? If it is you should not loose the 4th axis CAM nor should the price change in the future. I'm paying $405 CAD/Yr for my Legacy license.
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Yeah my license is "Legacy". I have access to some of the 4th access cam. The tool path I do not have access to without paying extra is "rotary". Click on it and it takes you to where it says you need to buy credits to use it. Its considered part of an "extension" whatever that means. I could get by with rotary indexing for now. I think that is what I used to use with solidworks.
Edit: Thinking about it since all I really need for now is rotary indexing I can probably just add in a few lines of code to rotate to the position I need then do the cutting. Some sort of subroutine then for the number of cycles.
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mountaindew
Astro!
Where you been, boy?
I was going more for a Scooby Doo vibe.
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
I think fusion has been about putting a hurt on the competition while researching what the masses want , and letting the users be beta guinea pigs . I knew that tap was going to choke off and it will eventually stop .
The solidworks deal seems to be a good temporary solution .
Personally I won't buy into subscription based software except for antivirus . I've got a few cad softwares that I use , and bobcad covers most machining that I do . Otherwise I have no trust for any of them . They'll get their hooks into a guy then change their policies and prices .
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Confirming my long standing suspicions.I am pleased I chose to overlook the bait and spent a bit of time immersing myself in Freecad.
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
I still miss my SolidEdge ST4 :( LOL
Re: Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use
Quote:
Originally Posted by
upnorth
Yeah my license is "Legacy". I have access to some of the 4th access cam. The tool path I do not have access to without paying extra is "rotary". Click on it and it takes you to where it says you need to buy credits to use it. Its considered part of an "extension" whatever that means. I could get by with rotary indexing for now. I think that is what I used to use with solidworks.
Edit: Thinking about it since all I really need for now is rotary indexing I can probably just add in a few lines of code to rotate to the position I need then do the cutting. Some sort of subroutine then for the number of cycles.
Your right... no more 4th axis CAM. Not a big deal for me as I don't have a forth axis but a real bummer for you guys that do.
An option for guys wanting to merge multiple Fusion 360 ops into a single multi tool gcode file might be the https://shop.xoomspeed.com/products/fusion-fuser
Looks like it may only be an option if you use his post processor and pathpilot.
