V. 2.0.2938

2D Drawings dimension issue fixed

We fixed a 2D drawings issue where the dimension tool was acting up. In some cases, you reported flickering when you hovered over projected geometry. In other cases, Fusion 360 crashed with an AcCoreConsole process still running the background. Thanks to you (for reporting), we were able to fix these two issue in a jiffy.

March 23, 2017 Update – What’s New

V. 2.0.2937

👇 Jump to a topic or scroll through and soak it all up!

Design & Modeling

Flip option in Web and Rib commands is back

Apparently the Flip Direction option found in Web and Rib commands decided it had to more important things to do and bugged out into the future. Luckily one of you caught it in a tutorial video and notified our support team. We got the future-us to send it back to the present so that it can do the job it’s meant to do.  

Cannot de-select sketch curves during edit issue fixed

Apparently there was an issue where if you were editing a features, you weren’t able to de-select sketch entities by holding down the CTRL key and clicking on the ones you didn’t want to select. This was affecting Web, Rib, Sweep path, and Loft rails. Boom. Fixed.

Sketch dimension issue fixed

JDMather reported some sketch solver wonkiness where if you wanted to dimension a sketch line constrained with symmetrical and coincident constraints, Fusion 360 gave you an error message saying that the sketch entities could not be dimensioned. We dug into this and found some weirdness around how our sketch solver interacted with constraints. Our bad – this is now fixed.

Rendering & Graphics

Rendering quality UI lingering issue fixed

A quick fix here – we’ve seen instances where if you were doing a local rendering and then switched back to the modeling workspace, the quality slider at the bottom right corner lingered around like an annoying guest who refuses to leave at the end of a party. We stepped in and made it clear that you had models to edit and that it needs to go home.

2D Drawings 

PDF Output issue update

Some of you have reported that the PDF output functionality in the Mac App Store version of Fusion 360 was broken. We dug into this and are working on a fix, however the full fix isn’t ready until the next update in April. For the meantime,  if you need to output a PDF, make sure you select your “Downloads” folder for the output to work.

Simulation

Study selector improvements

We’ve improved how the study selector is displayed on higher resolution 4K/5K monitors, corrected a number of typos, fixed some formatting issues with description text, and included a new “help me” option that helps you decide which study is right for your needs and the problem you’re trying to solve for. 
We also moved the study settings access point to the top right corner of the study visual so that it no longer expands the dialog like it did before.

Shape Optimization is now out of preview

Yup – it has now officially joined the family of Simulation studies, and is available as an Ultimate feature. This means that it will not be included in the standard package of Fusion 360. With that said, the functionality offers a lot of value to those of you look for ways to optimize/lightweight your designs.

Nastran Solver updated

We updated our Nastran solver. This fixes a lingering issue that came up since February where results for the same load case differed depending on how many other load cases you had suppressed/unsuppressed.

To reduce confusion, Mass Reduction % is now Mass Ratio %

Previously when you generated a shape optimization report, the percentage showing in the last cell of the Optimization Summary table was pretty misleading since it wasn’t the mass reduction percentage, it was really the mass ratio. Now it’s properly called the mass ratio. Also if you wasn’t aware, these reports are also accessible on the web via Fusion Team. Case closed. 

Stiffness and Target Mass parameters are no longer removable

Why? Because stiffness and target mass parameters are required for shape optimization studies to work properly, and removing them from the list of criteria shouldn’t be an acceptable option. Now they will remain as permanent parameters within the criteria dialog.

Light bulb (visibility toggle) for Local Mesh Controls in the browser removed

We did this because 1. Toggling it on and off had no effect and 2. They weren’t supposed to have light bulbs to being with. So you know, we fixed the glitch and it’ll just work itself out.

Data Management

Open 123D designs in Fusion 360

If you’ve used 123D design before, you’re probably bummed to hear that 123Dapp.com will be closing around early April 2017. The good news is: you can now open Autodesk 123D designs in Fusion 360 by uploading them via your data panel and then opening them like any other design. Just take this 3D printer design (by Shin Eun Seok) for example. Piece of cake.

Export F3D locally even if project list is not available

As a lesson we learned from recent outages, we’ve made it so that if you ever get into a situation where your projects don’t show up in the data panel even when you’re in offline mode, you’ll still be able to file > export whatever you’re working on in the design environment locally and not lose hours of work.

Project thumbnails disappeared – now they are back

There was an issue since the last update where your project icons/thumbnails in the data panel decided to go on strike and not show up. After some tough negotiations, we were able to work things out and have them back doing their job.

Merging 100+ changes from Master to branch weirdness fixed

We found some really funky UI behavior around merging about 100+ changes made on a master branch to another branch. Either buttons would disappear or the merge instance would duplicate itself as if it was a glitch in the Matrix. Luckily we wrote the program, so we got in there

and fixed it.

HSM CAM

2D cutting (waterjet, laser, and plasma cutting) is out of preview

Another piece of functionality has graduated from preview status and found a home in the CAM workspace. You can set up 2D cutting strategies via the cutting command in the toolbar, and create various 2D cutting tools via the tool library.

HSM Kernel updated

We updated our HSM kernel in this update, which fixed a number of outstanding issues around retract linking. It also fixed a 3D pocket issue where toolpaths had weird unexpected gaps, making them look like dashed lines instead of full lines.

Gouging issue fixed

We fixed a nasty turning retract gouge issue we found during a design exercise our QA teams were doing. Apparently the lead-in step was missing. Dodged a bullet right there.

Groove strategies improved

We made Groove toolpaths more resilient and forgiving, giving you more reassurance and confidence of how it’s going to cut.

Turning lead-out issue fixed

Using our eagle-eyes, our developers noticed that the lead out for Turning exceeded the limit. This is now fixed and it no longer goes beyond the limit.

Direct access to our CAM learning content

Learning content is always available on our learning site, but here is a new short URL that will take you directly to our own CAM Learning experience: http://autode.sk/f360cam.

Our CAM guru Mike Mattera has been cranking out solid documentation around CAM basics, how-tos, tutorials, and reference material, so whether you’re a first-timer learning how to cut parts or a machining veteran looking for reference specs, we’ve got you covered.

API

Create custom palettes

No, not wood pallets, Fusion 360 palettes. Little did you know, you’ve been using palettes all along. They are what contains the browser, getting started panel, text commands, rendering gallery, etc.

Palettes are very distinct from command dialogs in several ways:

1. palettes are not associated with a command and do not have the same lifetime rules that a command has. A palette can be displayed while the user runs commands and interacts with Fusion 360.  A palette is not even associated with a particular document.  When a palette is displayed it will remain displayed for the entire session unless you close it.
2. The content of a palette is not defined in the same way as a command. Instead of displaying a predefined set of command inputs like a command dialog does, the content of a palette is an HTML file. This means you can display anything in a palette in any way that you want, as long as you can define it using HTML.
3. Your add-in and the HTML/JavaScript code of the palette are able to communicate with each other via events.  You’re add-in can call a method which results in a JavaScript event being fired that the JavaScript code associated with the HTML can handle and respond to. The JavaScript associated with the HTML can also call a method that results in an event being fired to your add-in so it can react to changes in the palette.

Like a command dialog, palettes can be docked to edges of the Fusion window and to other palettes. Unlike a command dialog, you have full control over this with a palette.

As always, Brian Ekins does a great job documenting what’s new with API for each update over on our learning site.

Other fixes

• Some of you reported that you weren’t able to open Fusion 360 on Mac OSX 10.10. We dug into this and found a regression with how we have instrumented the Fusion 360 dock icon. We did our magic and got it resolved.
• We’ve heard multiple reports of updates not completing correctly, leaving you in a weird unfinished state. We were able to reproduce this ourselves and got this squared away.

That’s it for this update – we’ll be back in mid April for another one!

Keqing and the Fusion 360 team