Fusion 360 help needed

My understanding (I haven't done it but looked into it in depth) is that you should register as a non-profit or startup user (<$100,000 per annum) after one month.

Neil

It is quite clear if you read the T's & C's at the end of the trial. Registering with Autodesk as a student, hobbyist or low profit business will give you a years free use. At the end of the year you will be asked (in effect) to confirm that you are still in one of the same categories of user. I have now been using the software for 3 years or so and all of the updates and improvements to the software continue to flow.

What you will get are periodic emails to your registered address telling you of special purchase offers. There is no need for you to pursue those but I anticipate that some folk will get fooled into purchasing.

You are also not fully locked in to being reliant on F360 as your models (as components) can be exported as various other CAD formats. 2D drawings obtained from 3D models can also be saved as pdf files.

I move models between F360 and TurboCAD as each programme can be slightly better than the other for some operations.

Finally, although some are wary of 'the cloud' and having to be online, F360 files are/can be, stored locally on your computer and work carried while not internet connected. When back online the system automatically syncs to the cloud.

If you register as a hobbyists it's free for a year then you re-register as a hobbyist again for another year and so on. From what I understand there are no plans for them to start charging hobbyists, non profit organisations or businesses with a turn over of less than £100,000.00

Mick

Swarf mostly typed quicker 

Edited By Micky T on 14/10/2017 19:46:52

At the moment Fusion360 is free as described above and Autodesk have said they expect to continue that arrangement.

BUT the terms include these clauses, my bold:

Autodesk reserves the right, from time to time in its sole discretion, to

(1) modify or release subsequent versions of the Service,

(2) impose license keys, authorizations, or other means of controlling access to the Service, and

(3) change or discontinue the Service or the products, functionality or services comprising the Service, limit the availability of a Service to any geographic area or language at any time.

So there's no guarantee that Fusion360 will be free for ever. However, as there are good commercial reasons for making the product available free to amateur and educational users, I would be surprised to see the privilege withdrawn. I've just started my second free year. It's a good tool.

If the possibility of Fusion360 suddenly costing money is a worry, have a look at FreeCAD. Even though it's still in development it works rather well. OK for single parts, the main shortcoming is that it can't do Assemblies and Joints. Despite having Fusion I still use FreeCAD quite often to model single parts because I find it slightly easier to use. But that's probably a personal thing.

Dave

In a similar way to SOD's comment, I still use QCAD for quick 2D sketches for the workshop. If the idea works out then I import the dxf file into F360 and build the 3D model directly from it.

I do find F360's cloud storage a benefit when I can work on a model at my desk, just pop into the workshop and the design is sitting there on my workshop computer. If I then find a need to modify things a bit I can do so on the workshop computer and when I return to my desk the updated drawing is there for me to continue developing. No nonsense with transferring files across the network or having to remember to carry the USB stick back and forth or indeed worry about which file on my network is the latest one. Versioning is automatic.

Lots of advantages and still growth and facility improvements to come. The ability to interact with the design team and have your needs and ideas considered and more often than not addressed/incorporated is great. The forum works well but of course the Autodesk aim is to get the likes of us and the student or small business to become tied in to the product. Ransoms may come in the future but so far the business model is, I believe, sound.

Me too! QCAD is excellent for all things 2D like templates, checking dimensions & geometry, layouts, profiles, and floor plans etc. I also use it lots to redraw bits of published plans to make sure I've understand them. Not all published plans are, ahem, completely accurate. Probably the greater number of of my CAD drawings are done in QCAD. Whilst mostly simple 2D drawings are still very useful and often 'good enough'.

But when the planned thingy gets more complicated, I find it helpful to switch to a 3D package because it's much easier to visualise objects in 3D, and because you can experiment with dimensions without breaking the design. FreeCAD is good for creating single parts, like a crankshaft.

Fusion360 is better than FreeCAD for creating single parts in that it has even more ways of constructing them, but it really shines when you want to model an object, like an engine, that has many fixed and moving parts.

If enough hobbyists keep saying how good it is, they'll cotton on and start charging you for it

Neil