& Construction
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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing
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Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Apply constraints to sketch geometry to lock down key features in a parametric design.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
7 min.
Transcript
00:04
The constraint features in the sketch environment,
00:07
let you align existing sketch geometry that is relative
00:10
to other existing sketch geometry or the coordinate system.
00:16
There are a number of constraints you can use
00:18
and each is dependent on the selected geometry,
00:21
whether they are lineal radial or point.
00:25
And the aim is to limit the movement of the sketch features based
00:27
on your design intent before applying dimensions to really lock down the design.
00:34
For instance,
00:35
with this line,
00:36
you can currently drag the end points and the line itself in any direction you wish,
00:41
which is good when exploring form.
00:43
Although now you want to start locking things in
00:45
place to limit its movement and refine your design
00:50
to lock this sketch in place.
00:52
You may 1st want to apply a vertical and midpoint constraint
00:56
so that it can only move in a vertical direction
00:58
and is centered around a common point
01:00
that can also be used for subsequent sketches and components.
01:06
Now, if we try and drag the end points,
01:08
you can see they are limited to movement in the vertical direction
01:11
and their respective distances remain equal from the origin.
01:16
Likewise, we cannot drag this line as it is constrained to the origin point,
01:23
you can now see how constraints can help control your design by
01:26
limiting its movement with respect to other sketch geometry or the origin.
01:35
As a best practice,
01:37
you should attempt to constrain your sketch so that it aligns with the origin
01:42
by doing so all other sketches and components
01:45
you create will have a common reference point
01:47
helping to build more unified, consistent and manageable designs.
01:54
In this case,
01:55
you should first constrain this construction geometry as it is a
01:59
central feature which the other sketch entities are based around.
02:04
At first glance, this geometry already appears to be vertical.
02:07
Although if we apply a vertical constraint by selecting it from the toolbar,
02:11
then the line itself,
02:13
we can see a slight shift and a vertical
02:15
constraint symbol which indicates this was not the case.
02:20
This is a note that although geometry may appear to be constrained,
02:23
it is best to apply the constraints to confirm
02:28
fusion will then remain in this constraint type.
02:31
So to exit press escape on your keyboard,
02:36
you can also preselect geometry by left clicking to select the first
02:40
and whilst holding shift on your keyboard,
02:43
select the other feature
02:46
those that have been selected will be displayed in
02:48
the bottom right hand side of the fusion canvas.
02:52
With this pre-elected geometry,
02:54
click the midpoint constraint from the toolbar.
02:58
This will place a construction lines midpoint to sit exactly on the origin point.
03:02
And again,
03:03
with the respective constraint icon now present
03:08
with the base reference feature constrained,
03:10
you can now begin to constrain other sketch geometry.
03:15
One other tip is that if you preselect geometry,
03:18
then right click to open the marking menu fusion
03:21
will only display respective constraints that can be placed.
03:26
For instance,
03:27
here I will select this arc and the line by again holding a shift.
03:31
Then right click to bring up the marking menu,
03:34
you can see the only applicable constraint
03:36
options for these selected geometry types.
03:38
So go ahead and click on tangent
03:49
finally
03:50
by adding an equal constraint to certain features,
03:54
you only need to apply dimension to one.
03:56
And if the value is changed,
03:57
these will automatically propagate all equal instances.
04:03
One note here is that if you ever find your
04:05
sketch becoming too busy with the place constrained symbols,
04:08
then you can always hide these from the sketch palette.
04:14
Now you have your base constraints placed,
04:16
you can now look to add dimensions to fully constraint and define your design
04:26
fusion also has the capabilities to place automatic
04:29
constraints to help speed up your workflow.
04:34
In this example,
04:35
if you draw a new line that is connected to the end of this existing line and drag away,
04:40
you can see this blue perpendicular symbol where the two sketch entities meet.
04:47
What you are seeing is just a preview of the automatic constraint
04:50
as you are currently still free to move this particular feature in space.
04:56
It is only when you click to place the geometry
04:58
with the preview visible that the constraint will be placed
05:02
as confirmed by the respective constraint symbol.
05:06
Now, if you attempt to drag the end point,
05:08
this is locked or constrained to that respective constraint,
05:14
you can do this for any number of constraints in your design.
05:17
For example, with this midpoint and subsequent perpendicular constraint.
05:26
And as a quick tip,
05:27
you can also temporarily disable this by holding control or command on a Mac.
05:31
Then continuing with your design,
05:36
this feature helps you speed up your workflow by
05:38
creating these constraints without any additional subsequent steps.
05:44
Finally,
05:45
if you ever find you've made a mistake or wish to remove a constraint,
05:49
you can always select the respective constraint icon
05:52
or select multiple by holding shift on your keyboard
05:55
and press delete on your keyboard
05:57
or right click and select delete.
Video transcript
00:04
The constraint features in the sketch environment,
00:07
let you align existing sketch geometry that is relative
00:10
to other existing sketch geometry or the coordinate system.
00:16
There are a number of constraints you can use
00:18
and each is dependent on the selected geometry,
00:21
whether they are lineal radial or point.
00:25
And the aim is to limit the movement of the sketch features based
00:27
on your design intent before applying dimensions to really lock down the design.
00:34
For instance,
00:35
with this line,
00:36
you can currently drag the end points and the line itself in any direction you wish,
00:41
which is good when exploring form.
00:43
Although now you want to start locking things in
00:45
place to limit its movement and refine your design
00:50
to lock this sketch in place.
00:52
You may 1st want to apply a vertical and midpoint constraint
00:56
so that it can only move in a vertical direction
00:58
and is centered around a common point
01:00
that can also be used for subsequent sketches and components.
01:06
Now, if we try and drag the end points,
01:08
you can see they are limited to movement in the vertical direction
01:11
and their respective distances remain equal from the origin.
01:16
Likewise, we cannot drag this line as it is constrained to the origin point,
01:23
you can now see how constraints can help control your design by
01:26
limiting its movement with respect to other sketch geometry or the origin.
01:35
As a best practice,
01:37
you should attempt to constrain your sketch so that it aligns with the origin
01:42
by doing so all other sketches and components
01:45
you create will have a common reference point
01:47
helping to build more unified, consistent and manageable designs.
01:54
In this case,
01:55
you should first constrain this construction geometry as it is a
01:59
central feature which the other sketch entities are based around.
02:04
At first glance, this geometry already appears to be vertical.
02:07
Although if we apply a vertical constraint by selecting it from the toolbar,
02:11
then the line itself,
02:13
we can see a slight shift and a vertical
02:15
constraint symbol which indicates this was not the case.
02:20
This is a note that although geometry may appear to be constrained,
02:23
it is best to apply the constraints to confirm
02:28
fusion will then remain in this constraint type.
02:31
So to exit press escape on your keyboard,
02:36
you can also preselect geometry by left clicking to select the first
02:40
and whilst holding shift on your keyboard,
02:43
select the other feature
02:46
those that have been selected will be displayed in
02:48
the bottom right hand side of the fusion canvas.
02:52
With this pre-elected geometry,
02:54
click the midpoint constraint from the toolbar.
02:58
This will place a construction lines midpoint to sit exactly on the origin point.
03:02
And again,
03:03
with the respective constraint icon now present
03:08
with the base reference feature constrained,
03:10
you can now begin to constrain other sketch geometry.
03:15
One other tip is that if you preselect geometry,
03:18
then right click to open the marking menu fusion
03:21
will only display respective constraints that can be placed.
03:26
For instance,
03:27
here I will select this arc and the line by again holding a shift.
03:31
Then right click to bring up the marking menu,
03:34
you can see the only applicable constraint
03:36
options for these selected geometry types.
03:38
So go ahead and click on tangent
03:49
finally
03:50
by adding an equal constraint to certain features,
03:54
you only need to apply dimension to one.
03:56
And if the value is changed,
03:57
these will automatically propagate all equal instances.
04:03
One note here is that if you ever find your
04:05
sketch becoming too busy with the place constrained symbols,
04:08
then you can always hide these from the sketch palette.
04:14
Now you have your base constraints placed,
04:16
you can now look to add dimensions to fully constraint and define your design
04:26
fusion also has the capabilities to place automatic
04:29
constraints to help speed up your workflow.
04:34
In this example,
04:35
if you draw a new line that is connected to the end of this existing line and drag away,
04:40
you can see this blue perpendicular symbol where the two sketch entities meet.
04:47
What you are seeing is just a preview of the automatic constraint
04:50
as you are currently still free to move this particular feature in space.
04:56
It is only when you click to place the geometry
04:58
with the preview visible that the constraint will be placed
05:02
as confirmed by the respective constraint symbol.
05:06
Now, if you attempt to drag the end point,
05:08
this is locked or constrained to that respective constraint,
05:14
you can do this for any number of constraints in your design.
05:17
For example, with this midpoint and subsequent perpendicular constraint.
05:26
And as a quick tip,
05:27
you can also temporarily disable this by holding control or command on a Mac.
05:31
Then continuing with your design,
05:36
this feature helps you speed up your workflow by
05:38
creating these constraints without any additional subsequent steps.
05:44
Finally,
05:45
if you ever find you've made a mistake or wish to remove a constraint,
05:49
you can always select the respective constraint icon
05:52
or select multiple by holding shift on your keyboard
05:55
and press delete on your keyboard
05:57
or right click and select delete.
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