Autodesk affords one of many all-time nice software program offers with its Fusion 360 CAD/CAM product. Fusion 360 is a particularly highly effective and feature-rich software that skilled designers and engineers use to create their designs.
Fusion is a pricey software to make, a pricey software to take care of, and a pricey software to buy. That is why, when Autodesk additionally supplies it freed from cost for private use, it qualifies as an all-time nice deal.
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Think about, for instance, if you happen to may 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 will be wonderful. That is the equal of what Autodesk is doing with Fusion.
There are, nevertheless, some gotchas. These are largely small pace bumps that make the private use model barely much less sensible than the total industrial model. For instance, you may solely have two designs open for modifying without delay. I like that limitation as a result of it means I can not unintentionally make errors modifying designs apart from these I intend to be engaged on. However if you happen to’re a professional designer, you won’t need that open for edit limitation.
Designs saved within the cloud could also be deleted
Lately, Autodesk introduced a brand new limitation that has some customers nervous. Autodesk calls this a “new Autodesk Fusion content material storage customary,” 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 customary, Autodesk has introduced that if you happen to do not log in to Fusion not less than yearly, “Your Fusion Content material might not be accessible or recoverable.”
Ouch.
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I’ve created lots of of designs with Fusion and have them saved within the Autodesk cloud. They signify an infinite quantity of effort and time. My present venture has been within the works for not less than 5 months, and I’ve constructed greater than 40 customized designs as a part of it.
The very last thing I might need could be for all that work to be deleted. It will be heartbreaking.
To be truthful, Autodesk has supplied 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 fully potential one thing may come up that will trigger somebody to overlook that login deadline.
Fortuitously, you are able to do a couple of issues to cut back the danger.
Possibility 1: Set a repeating calendar entry
The simplest factor to do is ready 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 as we speak after which set a repeating calendar entry for each 11 months (sure, 11), you will be golden.
I prefer to set this form of reminder to 11 months as a substitute of 12. That manner, there’s a little bit margin for error, in case you do not have time on the precise anniversary to do the login. This manner, you may have an automated 30-day grace interval.
Possibility 2: Save your designs regionally
I’ve a couple of hundred tasks, 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 will likely be pretty simple.
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To start out with, mirror the folder construction of your tasks in a listing or folder in your pc. Here is an instance of how I did it for my tasks.
To export a design, first open it. Don’t fret if it is marked as Learn Solely. You may nonetheless open it. Here is my design for an angle mount for a Ring Stick Up Cam, which I exploit to watch my Glowforge. As soon as open, choose Export from the file administration menu.
Be certain to provide the file a reputation that is descriptive (proven at 1). Usually, the Export dialog chooses the title you have already given your design, which works for me. Then select the .F3D file format (proven at 2). This may work for many of your Fusion designs. Lastly, put it within the folder construction you created earlier (proven at 3).
Now, all it is advisable to do is rinse, wash, and repeat for all your designs. Later, if you happen to want to usher in a design from native storage, return to the Fusion 360 file administration menu and select Open.
A phrase about file codecs
Fusion 360 will save tasks in both of two file codecs. Here is how the Fusion 360 backup web 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 incorporates a number of F3D information.
In my expertise, Fusion 360 will robotically resolve if it is advisable to save as a .F3D or a .F3Z. Once I had designs that I imported into different designs (mainly once I use designs as templates), these tasks saved out as .F3Z. These took longer to save lots of, in order that they queued in the course of the saving course of:
Possibility 3: Pay for a Fusion 360 license
After all, you can all the time pay for a Fusion 360 annual license, which is $680. At about $56/month, that is lower than we pay for QuickBooks (not less than since QuickBooks raised its worth but once more). It is also lower than the total Inventive Cloud license from Adobe.
Paying prospects do not have to fret concerning the new login storage necessities or any of the opposite minor restrictions positioned on free customers.
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Then again, neither Intuit nor Adobe supply free full-featured apps the best way Fusion does, so it is most likely value setting a reminder in your calendar and logging into Fusion 360 yearly 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 regionally part of your workflow. It’s kind of annoying for at the moment energetic tasks, 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 suppose? Which method will you employ? Do you pay for Fusion or are you utilizing the private license? Tell us within the feedback under.
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