Autodesk presents one of many all-time nice software program offers with its Fusion 360 CAD/CAM product. Fusion 360 is an especially highly effective and feature-rich software that skilled designers and engineers use to create their designs.
Fusion 360 is a pricey software to make, a pricey software to take care of, and a pricey software to buy. That is why, when Autodesk also provides it free of charge for personal use, it qualifies as an all-time nice deal.
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Think about, for instance, if you happen to might get Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Professional, and After Results at no cost, if you happen to had been utilizing them solely for private use. It might be wonderful. That is the equal of what Autodesk is doing with Fusion 360.
There are, nevertheless, some gotchas. These are largely small pace bumps that make the non-public use model barely much less sensible than the complete industrial model. For instance, you’ll be able to solely have two designs open for enhancing directly. I like that limitation as a result of it means I am unable to by chance make errors enhancing designs apart from these I intend to be engaged on. However if you happen to’re a professional designer, you may not need that open for edit limitation.
Designs saved within the cloud could also be deleted
Just lately, Autodesk announced a new limitation that has some customers apprehensive. Autodesk calls this a “new Autodesk Fusion content material storage commonplace,” and it has to do with how lengthy your designs are saved within the Autodesk cloud.
Fusion 360 is a cloud hybrid app. The code runs in your pc, however the designs are saved in Autodesk’s cloud. With the introduction of the brand new content material storage commonplace, Autodesk has introduced that if you happen to do not log in to Fusion no less than annually, “Your Fusion Content material could not be accessible or recoverable.”
Ouch.
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I’ve created lots of of designs with Fusion 360 and have them saved within the Autodesk cloud. They symbolize an infinite quantity of effort and time. My present undertaking has been within the works for no less than 5 months, and I’ve constructed greater than 40 customized designs as a part of it.
The very last thing I’d need could be for all that work to be deleted. It might be heartbreaking.
To be truthful, Autodesk has offered free entry to very highly effective software program and free storage. All the corporate asks is that we log in as soon as each twelve months to show we nonetheless care. However life additionally has a manner of getting in the best way, and it is completely attainable one thing might come up that may trigger somebody to overlook that login deadline.
Luckily, you are able to do just a few issues to scale back the danger.
Possibility 1: Set a repeating calendar entry
The best factor to do is about a repeating calendar entry. Autodesk says its 365 day countdown resets each time you open Fusion 360. So if you happen to log into Fusion in the present day after which set a repeating calendar entry for each 11 months (sure, 11), you may be golden.
I prefer to set this form of reminder to 11 months as a substitute of 12. That manner, there’s a bit margin for error, in case you do not have time on the precise anniversary to do the login. This fashion, you’ve got an automated 30-day grace interval.
Possibility 2: Save your designs domestically
I’ve just a few hundred initiatives, so the preliminary cross of saving all my designs to my native drive took me the higher a part of a day. However, now that it is carried out, holding it updated shall be pretty straightforward.
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To start out with, mirror the folder construction of your initiatives in a listing or folder in your pc. Here is an instance of how I did it for my initiatives.
To export a design, first open it. Don’t be concerned if it is marked as Learn Solely. You’ll be able to nonetheless open it. Here is my design for an angle mount for a Ring Stick Up Cam, which I use to monitor my Glowforge. As soon as open, choose Export from the file administration menu.
Make certain to present the file a reputation that is descriptive (proven at 1). Usually, the Export dialog chooses the identify you’ve got already given your design, which works for me. Then select the .F3D file format (proven at 2). It will work for many of your Fusion designs. Lastly, put it within the folder construction you created earlier (proven at 3).
Now, all it’s good to do is rinse, wash, and repeat for all your designs. Later, if you happen to want to herald a design from native storage, return to the Fusion 360 file management menu and choose Open.
A phrase about file codecs
Fusion 360 will save initiatives in both of two file codecs. Here is how the Fusion 360 backup page describes it:
- .F3D: Archive file of a single design workspace
- .F3Z: Archive file of a distributed design, which incorporates all exterior design references. An F3Z file is a ZIP file that comprises a number of F3D recordsdata.
In my expertise, Fusion 360 will robotically determine if it’s good to save as a .F3D or a .F3Z. Once I had designs that I imported into different designs (principally once I use designs as templates), these initiatives saved out as .F3Z. These took longer to save lots of, in order that they queued throughout the saving course of:
Possibility 3: Pay for a Fusion 360 license
After all, you could possibly at all times pay for a Fusion 360 annual license, which is $680. At about $56/month, that is lower than we pay for QuickBooks (no less than since QuickBooks raised its worth but once more). It is also lower than the complete Artistic Cloud license from Adobe.
Paying prospects haven’t got to fret concerning the new login storage necessities or any of the opposite minor restrictions positioned on free customers.
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Alternatively, neither Intuit nor Adobe provide free full-featured apps the best way Fusion 360 does, so it is most likely price setting a reminder in your calendar and logging into Fusion 360 annually to save lots of $680.
Make it a part of your workflow
My advice (to me, in addition to to you) is to make exporting designs domestically part of your workflow. It’s kind of annoying for presently lively initiatives, the place you may wish to transfer designs round from folder to folder, however it works. One other method is to by no means really matter on cloud variations of something and open and save designs from native disks such as you do in different functions.
What do you assume? Which method will you utilize? Do you pay for Fusion 360 or are you utilizing the non-public license? Tell us within the feedback beneath.
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