fusion 360 help

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ecdez

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I downloaded fusion about 6 months ago but havn't had a chance to sit still and play with it until today and after a few hours I'm posting this thread in frustration so please excuse any shortness.

I can tell from what I see everywhere that it's an awesome program but obviously I've done something wrong and it's behaving badly as you'll see in the video linked below.

I was trying to follow along with the "Sketch" tutorial video on this page http://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/ to get my feet wet. Here's a quick video of what I've been up against. I know it's not even close to what's in the tutorial but as I kept doing it over and over again I made it simpler and simpler to save time and try to sort out my problem.



Fusion did all it's updates when I opened it. I checked my system to make sure it meets the minimums and I looks like it does. I've also posted this on the Fusion forum but don;t know the response time and I'd like to have a little success today so I'm posting it here too.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
 
I tried to watch your video, but it doesn't work, stating this "This video is unavailable". I also tried to view it on YouTube with the same result. Did you make it public?

Ted
 
Sorry about that. I was trying to keep it off my channel and only available through the links. I changed it to unlisted; it should work now.
 
The video works fine now. I was hoping I would be able to help, but I really don't have a clue! Fusion is an awesome program, so please don't give up on it...

When I use Fusion, the screen/grid is a light, almost white color. I don't know if it's just your video that makes it gray or if that is an indication of something wrong. I have it on two PCs and mine are both light colored.

If I was having this problem, there are a couple things I would try. First, I would re-boot the PC and try again. Re-booting is the master fixer of a lot of problems. If that didn't help, I would go into Fusion's preferences and try some different graphics settings, but remember where they are when you start so you can set them back if needed.

Do you have another PC you can install it on to test?

That's all I can think of right now. Hopefully, they will respond to you with help soon.

Good luck and hang in there... it's a great program and I love it!
Ted
 
Suggestion: Go down to the bottom of the screen and there is a display icon that looks like a computer screen. Click it and check out some of the settings. One thing to check for sure is the "Object Visibility" and make sure everything is turned on. If this isn't it, check some of the other settings.

Good luck,
Ted
Display Settings.png
 
ecdez,
The second thing you did (after clicking on "sketch") was to click on "top". Don't do that!

After clicking on sketch you will see 3 little panels appear in the center of the screen. They will be kind of orange. They represent the 3 planes, ZY, YZ and ZX. Select one of these to start your drawing on (it really doesn't make much difference). Then start your drawing while viewing the same plane.

I think what you did was to select the XZ view (by clicking on "TOP") but are actually drawing on the YZ plane (the first click in the drawing area - when you thought you were starting your rectangle was actually selecting the plane to draw on - in this case the YZ plane). So all you can see is the side view of your drawing.

I don't know how to record a Fusion 360 session, but Lars Christensen (who kind of works for Autodesk) has some excellent videos for beginners as well as seasoned users. Try this link

The Autodesk learning site is really good too (where you are). Don't just watch the videos though, scan the text. And watch the videos in full screen. There are usually a lot of extra mouse movements - but then one or two that are not explained but are important - like choosing on an axis to draw on!
Hope that helps. Don't get frustrated, just keep asking questions.
 
I understand what GroundHog is saying and he has a good point(you can't see a rectangle if you looking at just the edge of it), but I think you have something else going on because you can see the rectangle when running your mouse over it and did a Press/Pull and it still doesn't display only showing a shadow when you run your mouse over it. You definitely have a 3D object there, but it isn't displaying properly.

To eliminate any possible user error, go to the data panel and move to the Samples Project <Basic Training> and open one of the sample files. See if these display properly. This would help narrow things down.

Ted
 
I have been learning and using Fusion recently. I too ran into much frustration until I discovered Lars videos. His Beginners youtube is very, very good.

There are bunches of youtubes out there but I can second Groundhog's recommendation of Lars' videos without reservation. The one he linked above is a great place to start. There is also a followup to that specific one that Lars did that explains some things that he left out in the first. He goes thru some setup information and gives you the basics. I watched his Beginners video at least three times as I ran up against issues trying to model - it is all about planes and origins!

Lars does a live video most everyday at 1:00 p.m. central time. If you miss it, it is recorded.

If you have a setup with two monitors, it will help you immensely. You can watch the youtubes on one and follow along in Fusion on the other. "Learning by doing" is the best way to learn of course and Lars videos will allow you to do that. I have a second monitor hooked up to my laptop and that gives me two screens.

Unfortunately the other thing I have learned is that you need a computer that has enough RAM to run Fusion. My laptop is somewhat borderline. I ordered a new desktop Dell late last week from Costco for the sole purpose of continuing my journey learning Fusion. I am developing an interest in 3D printing so I am really enthused with Fusion. I am using every opportunity to model things that I need to make in Fusion and generate drawings for the shop. Real applications have helped a lot, create learning opportunities, and keep me enthused.

Keep pushing!
 
I’m trying to learn Fusion 360 as well. I have worked with Autodesk Inventor and it is similar but not the same.
 
When I use Fusion, the screen/grid is a light, almost white color. I don't know if it's just your video that makes it gray or if that is an indication of something wrong. I have it on two PCs and mine are both light colored.

If I was having this problem, there are a couple things I would try. First, I would re-boot the PC and try again. Re-booting is the master fixer of a lot of problems. If that didn't help, I would go into Fusion's preferences and try some different graphics settings, but remember where they are when you start so you can set them back if needed.

Nah, mine is dark just like the video. That was the first problem I noticed but I pressed on anyway. The reboot did not help.




Suggestion: Go down to the bottom of the screen and there is a display icon that looks like a computer screen. Click it and check out some of the settings. One thing to check for sure is the "Object Visibility" and make sure everything is turned on. If this isn't it, check some of the other settings.


Checked it, everything is as it should be.





ecdez,
I don't know how to record a Fusion 360 session, but Lars Christensen (who kind of works for Autodesk) has some excellent videos for beginners as well as seasoned users. Try this link

Thanks for that link. It only took about 2 minutes of video to see that I'll be watching more; good stuff!




I understand what GroundHog is saying and he has a good point(you can't see a rectangle if you looking at just the edge of it), but I think you have something else going on because you can see the rectangle when running your mouse over it and did a Press/Pull and it still doesn't display only showing a shadow when you run your mouse over it. You definitely have a 3D object there, but it isn't displaying properly.

To eliminate any possible user error, go to the data panel and move to the Samples Project <Basic Training> and open one of the sample files. See if these display properly. This would help narrow things down.

Ted

I'll give that a try.





If you have a setup with two monitors, it will help you immensely. You can watch the youtubes on one and follow along in Fusion on the other. "Learning by doing" is the best way to learn of course and Lars videos will allow you to do that. I have a second monitor hooked up to my laptop and that gives me two screens.

Unfortunately the other thing I have learned is that you need a computer that has enough RAM to run Fusion.


I checked the RAM and it has plenty. I wish I had a second monitor but I don;t even think my desktop has that ability. I need to check into that because I had it at my last job and it was awesome.




Thanks to everyone for the responses thus far!

As stated in the first post I put this up on the Autodesk forum as well. One of the guys there suggested checking my graphics card to make sure it was updated and of course it wasn't so I'm downloading that now. We'll see if that fixes the problem or not.
 
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