The latest update from the Fusion 360 crew has us pulling our sock over our knee-caps and throwing our hats in the air. There are a LOT of great new features like fillet weighting, part-level revision milestones, PCB hole placement via references, and more but our favorite is the ability to create text on a…
With all that free-time in the last 4-minutes of your 30-minute lunch break, you may be thinking NAPTIME. But why nap when you could LEARN? If you’ve yet to check out LinkedIn Learning, now may be a good time to finally take the plunge into the vast, virtual pool of knowledge. Aram Goganian is the…
Hey, Solidsmackites If you are looking to learn Autodesk Fusion 360 starting at ground zero, but don’t want to go it alone, then we’ve spotted a series that may be just the ticket! Ben over at 3DGladiator kicked off a guided Fusion 360 series building a super cool vintage military tank. Currently, he is on…
Did you know Autodesk is providing free access to Fusion 360 due to the crisis? Fusion 360 Features Autodesk’s Fusion 360 system is a powerful cloud-based CAD tool that can provide both beginners and full-time professional designers a worthy experience. The system includes a wide variety of CAD features, including 2D sketching, 3D modeling, simulation,…
[WARNING: May lead to extreme tingling and happiness in the fingers.] With coronavirus getting everyone running around screaming with their hands up in the air, people are doing 62% fewer things with their fingers. IT’S TRUE. Think about it. No more hugs, handshakes, or high-fives. No more going into that building or opening that door.…
Read the full article here – Massive Hybrid Manufacturing Machine Pushes Boundaries of 3D Printing
A couple of weeks ago we shared that Fusion 360 users would get access to EAGLE electronic design automation software. At the time, the Fusion 360 January update hadn’t come out, but with the ECAD tease at Autodesk University and the EAGLE announcement, we pretty much knew Fusion 360 was about to get PCB’ed. Well,…
Seems those New Year’s Eve champagne corks over at Autodesk had an electrical surprise attached to them. The January Fusion 360 product update isn’t out yet but notifications are going out about new subscription benefits. If you’re a user of Fusion 360, your subscription now includes access to Autodesk EAGLE, the electronic design automation software…
We’ve all seen the intensely cool robot development coming out of Boston Dynamics. The latest videos from the company show a level of untethered quadrupedal and bipedal agility only previously imagined in movies. It’s a level of tech that seems inaccessible outside of a well-funded company or government research facility, but one company is breaking…
Autodesk seems to be tightening up their rules regarding use of the popular Fusion 360 CAD system. The company moved the product to a subscription-based cloud system a couple of years ago and then simplified their licensing levels. This is a very common practice in the software industry as it provides significant advantages: a near-100%…
It wasn’t too long ago when the concept of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the capabilities of generative design seemed like some far off sci-fi future. Yet, both technologies are alive and kicking in 2019—and they came together recently to test the implementation of generative design and additive manufacturing capabilities in the field of UAVs.…
While drilling a hole is something every CNC machine user can do easily, programming the locations of several holes takes a bit more time and effort. Instead of going through the arduous process of setting the locations of numerous holes, Autodesk recently shared how to use their new hole recognition software in Fusion 360 to…
If you ever wanted to create threaded fasteners for screws, nuts, bolts and the like on the fly using good old Fusion 360, Autodesk has a simple method to easily implement them using the Thread command: Under the ‘Create’ menu, choose the ‘Thread’ command and select a cylindrical shape you want the thread to be…
I know what you’re thinking – I could organize my desk all sorts of ways wit ma 12 gauge shotgun ♫ ♪ But hold your reload and save those shells for dove season. What we’ve got for you is a desk organize made from a beautifully laser cut, single-piece of 12 gauge STAINLESS STEEL. Bryan…
If you are in search of a workflow that will enable you to efficiently prepare 3D scanned data for use in Mechanical Computer-Aided Design (MCAD) software environments, then you’ll want to know about R3DS Wrap 3 (Wp3). In short, Wp3 is a software application that non-rigidly fits a lightweight optimized basemesh to your imported scan…
Another fiscal year, another chart showcasing a company’s earnings. The fiscal year 2018 proved to be another high-earning era for Autodesk, as the CAD company reported in its most recent yearly earnings report. The biggest highlights of the report include a Q4 2018 revenue of $737.3 million and 2018 fiscal year earnings worth $2.57 billion.…
What in the world is a “Squircle” you might ask? Well, its a cross between a square and a circle. Designers the world over admire the squircle because it gives us a lot of form exploration range. If I want a product to be perceived as stately or strong I might adjust the squircle more…
Do your 3D models fall-over when you edit feature dimensions? How about when you use that nifty dynamic drag feature? Does everything go wonky? Well, chances are your geometry is not locked down. What I mean is your model most likely suffers from a poor dimensioning or constraint strategy at the 2D sketch level. If you answered yes…
Autodesk Fusion 360 is bringing in the new year with a User Interface (UI) facelift! Presently the UI is in “Preview” mode so as to ease the masses into the new UI workflow. Yet, as to be expected, many of the power users are taking the leap and donning new UI Diggs. While I’m calling…
It’s 3am. Visions of green and red shapes are swirling through your mind. Was it a bad batch of kombucha? No – it’s Autodesk Generative Design. Autodesk Generative Design provides a surprisingly addictive mix of novelty, somewhat mysterious results, and interesting shapes. If you can justify the cost – try it! Before I dive in,…
Autodesk is making very significant changes to their Fusion 360 product offerings. Fusion 360 is Autodesk’s flagship 3D design tool that is offered in a cloud-based subscription service. The system provides not only CAD, but also CAM, simulations and even generative components. It’s proven quite popular in certain circles. As of October 7th, they will no…
Sponsored by That crust around your 3D modeling joints? Don’t worry. That’s the sign of EXPERIENCE. But we’re about to chip those crusty bits away. We’ve been modeling more or less the same for decades–some use solids, some use polygons, some do it sitting, some do it standing. But, it’s always been US telling IT…
Presented by I’ve been going over What’s New in Fusion 360 and realized there are few things I need to know more about. Working on a model recently, seeing what people have created using Fusion 360 and a backlog of Instructables projects, pushed me to explore a more efficient ways to fill my braincase with…
I feel like I’ve stepped out of reality and back in again, then back out. But it’s real folks. Possibly the most anticipated version of Fusion 360 has been launched and it includes an immense amount of new features (and one in particular) you have been waiting a long time for. Fusion 360 Sheet Metal…
Sponsored by I’m not sure what you think when you hear the term ‘precision manufacturing’ but when I saw the 7+ axis micro-machining capabilities of Swissomation, I was completely floored. They take precision to the ultimate level. The company has over 70 years of experience working with some of the largest manufacturers in the U.S.…
Presented by I know, I know. I sealed off simulation with the 5 reasons I would use Simulation in Fusion 360 months ago. You thought we were all done with that. Well, you were wrong, Mwahaha! After that article, Autodesk released an update to Fusion 360 with so many Simulation features it could make a…
On the ankle-veins of Autodesk announcing they are shuttering T-Splines, they’ve also announced that they’re bringing the family of 123D Apps to the end. Here’s what we know. The 123D apps are being consolidated into other Autodesk products and 123Dapp.com is being shutdown. Outside of specifying “early 2017” and “access and download your content from…
Presented by If you want to find out what Autodesk is up too, Autodesk University is the place to be each year. Last week that happened… yep, I just checked and we were in fact at AU last week. It was a bit of a blur, but I know two things for certain, nay THREE…
While plenty of exciting developments are happening in the product design space, few are as revolutionary as advancements in generative design. The result of artificial intelligence and the simulation of complex scenarios has enabled modern CAD software to play a participatory role in generating forms based on specific inputs provided by a user. The result…
Presented by Here we are, 2016, and as you know, SolidSmack likes to look at what’s pushing product development ahead. Well, to look forward, it helps to look back… unless there’s a large bear, then you just want to skip the reminiscing and jump forward, hastily. We’ve got time, no bears, and a hefty dose…
While it still hasn’t caught on for more mainstream applications, there’s no denying that generative design is both insanely cool and practical across many applications –– with many more to come. Among others who have already put generative design to use on a consumer product is Brooklyn-based artist and designer Che-Wei Wang. With backgrounds ranging from…
The thought put into speaker design is astounding. It nearly makes me forget all about the chipper/shredder sound emanating from my car speakers. We’ve admired Portland-based Grovemade design for a while. They have an awesome habit of showing what goes on behind the design. We highly recommend following their journal (and taking note if you’re…
When it comes to equipping tomorrow’s designers and engineers with the tools they need to create compelling projects today, few companies have been as generous in offering access to software, tools and even fabrication facilities as Autodesk has. While the company’s Fusion 360 design software has always been free to use for students and those…
I’ve been a long time SolidWorks user, but I knew I wanted (ahem.. needed) to learn another 3D modeling software. That’s when I started looking at Autodesk’s Fusion 360. The features that highlight its capabilities and differentiates it is what this series set out to do. They’re features that expand beyond 3D modeling and show…
Unless you’ve been hiding under a (very deep) rock, we don’t need to get into specifics about Autodesk’s Fusion 360. That said, at $40 per month (or $300/year) for a professional subscription, the integrated CAD, CAM and CAE platform isn’t necessarily a bag of peanuts unless you’re committed to using it regularly. For those of…
Presented by The O’Jays. Remember those guys? Probably not, but I guarantee you’ve heard their most popular song, For the Love of Money. Two chords and a repetitive five-word phrase later, and you’ve got a song stuck in your head for longer than you want. Those could easily be five reasons integrated CAM matters to…
Presented by Well, well, well. We have quite a cocktail coming together here. We’ve poured in some Fusion 360 part modeling and assembly features, and squeezed in a little simulation. Now it’s time to add that dash of collaboration. On the CAD capability excitement meter, this gets about a two. The geekiest of the…
Presented by Here we are. Part 4 of this epic exploration of Fusion 360. If you remember our first post, we are working our way through five aspects of Fusion 360 that, which Autodesk suggests, makes it more than CAD. To recap in a sentence, it all revolves around the idea of Fusion 360 as…
Presented by It’s time to talk about everyone’s favorite topic. Mating. (You two in the back stop snickering.) We’re in part three of our under-the-covers *snicker* peek at Fusion 360 and this time, we look at Assemblies. Over the years we’ve passed along tips and tricks, best practices, and overall bad-assery when it comes to…
It started as a prank that went viral and had some wondering if Nintendo lost their minds. The prank in question was centered on a supposedly ‘leaked’ image of a new controller design for Nintendo’s upcoming new console designated NX, which was uploaded to reddit from a user known as Idriss2Dev, AKA David Im. The…
Presented by Two weeks ago we did the unthinkable. We taped back our eyelids, slapped on some CAD spandex (that exists right?) and launched a series of articles on Fusion 360. It’s finally time we took a deeper dive into the toolset and explore: Part Modeling, Assembly Modeling, Simulation, CAM, and Collaboration. This week, we’re…
Presented by You have to hand it to Autodesk, they wiggle their marketing nose and out pops some brand spankin’ new content. I caught their latest What is Fusion 360? video, where they show Fusion 360 doing collaboration, freeform modeling, animation, rendering, simulation, CAD and CAM, claiming, “it’s not any one of those things –…
This weekend, Super Bowl 50 takes place. Panthers vs. Broncos. Newton vs. Manning. One will walk away with the coveted Super Bowl World Champions Ring. Jewelry designer Diego Taccioli, from Slice Lab, and former artist-in-residence out at Autodesk’s Pier 9, imagined what the ultimate Super Bowl Championship Ring would look like.
Although it may not have the field of view that many were originally hoping for, Microsoft’s HoloLens is still no less of an amazing tool on the horizon for many involved in hardware development. Earlier this year, SolidSmack reported on ten reasons why the HoloLens could change product design and the way that consumers interact…
When Onshape came out swinging earlier this year, it was speculated that whether users chose to use the new full browser CAD program or not, it would change the greater landscape of MCAD pricing and licensing structures forever. Needless to say, Onshape sent a ripple through the industry that acted as a wake-up call for…
If you could make a 3D printed car, surely a bicycle couldn’t be much harder? Interestingly, it hasn’t been attempted, at least to the level that Industrial Design students Paul De Meeiros and Stef De Groot want to to take it. OBI 0.5 is the prototype phase, but the aim is simple, a modular, open-source…
Between Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks’ recent announcements of their SolidWorks for Entrepreneurs program (which has created some confusion for existing small businesses and freelancers) and an update to their subscription policy (which seeks to close out or penalize those who don’t upgrade each year), many of the the CAD software’s most loyal users feel as though…
Thanks to a number of new platforms, tools and infrastructures, bringing a viable hardware product to market has never been easier than it has been in the past decade – and the momentum is only continuing to grow. In 2014, venture capital investment in connected device hardware startups alone reached nearly $1.5B – more than…
Since they started coming up in CAD in the Cloud discussions earlier this year, Frame (fra.me) has shown no signs of slowing down their pursuit of allowing users to put any Windows application in their own personal Cloud. Among other reasons why the platform has been of interest is because it will allow users of…
When it comes to learning 3D CAD tools in today’s age – be it SolidWorks, Rhino, Catia, Fusion 360, MODO or most any other – motivated self-learners have more options than ever before ranging from random tips and tricks videos on YouTube to more organized online courses from multiple providers. But as educational tools as…