any advantage to fusion 360 if I'm currently using sketchup?

[Jim Barstow]

I uses sketchup for all my design work. I'm far from an expert but I can build a reasonable model. Has anyone tried fusion 360 instead? It looks like it might not have some of the idiosyncrasies of sketchup but it really is a cad tool, not a design tool. I suspect I'd get bogged down in the cad requirements that sketchup ignores.

[lowell holmes]

Why don't you get the free trial version and see if you like it.

I used AutoCad for 40 years. so not much intimidates me concerning cad. If you use Sketchup, you should do fine.

I have legal copies of AutoCad just for the record. I also have Sketchup.

[John Densmore]

Once you get up to speed on fusion 360, you"ll realize what a toy SketchUp is. It's like a sawstop vs. table top ryobi.

[Andy Giddings]

I've used both and agree with John - Fusion (natively) is much more powerful. You can get a bunch of extensions which make Sketchup closer. Both are relatively easy to learn but they are different so jumping from one to the other is not straightforward. In terms of which is better for your needs, only you can determine that. Both are free for hobbyist users so the only thing you have to lose by trying them out is your time and effort.

[Joe Jensen]

Fusion 360 is free if you do under $100K per year in revenue using the tool.

[Jeffrey Klisiewicz]

Andy is correct, jumping from Sketchup to Fusion is a bit of a mind bend. I use Sketchup for larger "builds", designing sheds, shops, houses, etc. I use Fusion 360 for smaller sized projects, desks, chairs, boxes, etc. I find myself using Fusion more as I am trying to force myself to get better at it because I plan on getting a CNC machine in the future and this is where Fusion really excels, you can go from design to CAM in the same project, all the way to g-code. Fusion is very powerful.

I will note that both Sketchup and Fusion allow you to build cut lists for projects(add in on Sketchup). Who doesn't love a cut list of a project they designed from start to finish. You can even add-in a program that will give you the best layout for boards and sheet goods. Very powerful.

Plenty of Youtube vids for both, my wife is a youtube widow these days.

[Victor Robinson]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I'm looking to move to Fusion from Sketchup as well, since I'm in the early stages of heading down the CNC road.

Are YouTube videos the best (no doubt cheapest) way to learn Fusion, or are there other resources out there folks have found helpful?

[Andy Giddings]

Victor, there are plenty of learning resources for Fusion on their web page. I found that if I followed the step by step approach to learning (Principles, Sketch and so on) it was a lot less confusing if you've used Sketchup. The learning resources are also linked in the tool so once you have it up and running its fairly easy to find. Its a powerful tool so I found I had to invest some quality time to get the most out of it.

[andrew whicker]

I use Autocad Mechanical (2D) at work and I've used SketchUp for some furniture stuff. I think AutoCAD is waaaay smoother to use. I'm looking forward to trying Fusion once I get a home / non work computer.

SketchUp seems clunky to me. You can't type your commands and there are a limited amount of hotkeys. Want to use the protractor? Gotta click the button. Lame sauce. Want to draw a line at 75 degrees that is 10 inches long? Two steps in SketchUp. One step in Autocad.

If you have to learn only one, I'd stick with learning the 'real' tools personally. I'm sure other 3D big names are good too, I've never used them.

My friend also sent me this link to build your own desktop computer:
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/wiki/builds

'The Crusher' is what I'm thinking if I don't buy a laptop (<$500).

[Bob Lang]

I started out drafting by hand, moved to AutoCAD and currently use SketchUp. I've tried fusion and the advantage I see is that you can input the exact thickness of parts and other parts will automatically change. I didn't care much for it as it seemed to lean more to parametric modeling and engineering as opposed to design. I used to think that SketchUp was a less serious program until I really learned how to use it and what it can do. I find it incredibly versatile because I can quickly rough out a design, then use that same model to pull out as much information as I need about each and every part. SketchUp is different than other programs and you need to learn its language and how objects behave in SketchUp world. I had to get over trying to get it to act like AutoCAD before I could get anywhere.

[Dave Richards]

You can't type your commands

You're right. SketchUp doesn't use command line controls. Few users care.


and there are a limited amount of hotkeys.

You're only limited by the number of keys on the keyboard.


Want to use the protractor? Gotta click the button. Lame sauce.

Unless you use a keyboard shortcut.


Want to draw a line at 75 degrees that is 10 inches long? Two steps in SketchUp. One step in Autocad.
If you need this ability, you can add a free extension that provides the capability. I have that extension installed but in over 14 years of using SketchUp, I've never needed it.

Fusion 360 is cloud based which means you need an internet connection to use it. SketchUp installs locally so no internet connection is required to use it.

[Victor Robinson]

Victor, there are plenty of learning resources for Fusion on their web page. I found that if I followed the step by step approach to learning (Principles, Sketch and so on) it was a lot less confusing if you've used Sketchup. The learning resources are also linked in the tool so once you have it up and running its fairly easy to find. Its a powerful tool so I found I had to invest some quality time to get the most out of it.

Thanks much Andy

[Art Mann]

For those of you who plan to use your knowledge of Fusion 360 to quickly become productive with a CNC router, you are likely to be disappointed. It is different and more complicated than what you might think. For most users, I don't think either of these programs are very good. There are much better alternatives but they aren't free.

[Dave Richards]

Hmmm....

Designed and drawn in SketchUp for CNC cutting.
http://blog.sketchup.com/sites/blog.sketchup.com/files/article_images/Sawhorse_HERO.jpg
http://blog.sketchup.com/sites/blog.sketchup.com/files/article_images/Sawhorse_2.jpg


Also designed and drawn in SketchUp. Wooden parts cut with CNC, player's bodies, score counters and other plastic bits 3D printed from the SketchUp model, playing surface and player silhouettes drawn in SketchUp and printed to scale.
https://cdn-enterprise.discourse.org/sketchup/uploads/default/original/3X/d/4/d4ec194e720f13620310e9166153908038afb596.jpg
https://cdn-enterprise.discourse.org/sketchup/uploads/default/original/3X/d/4/d4ed54e48d5f28a5fe28d660db2dcae7f7f66d02.jpg

SketchUp Wikihouse (https://blog.sketchup.com/sketchupdate/fabbing-friends-wikihouse-world-maker-faire)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-FBXlFSj-fOY/UjfsRRrE9KI/AAAAAAAADMY/oIbMjPWCDgotvWFPYR108elw0O_ErhYqwCL0B/w1000-h699-no/WH-Perspective.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zod8Rc2cijQ

[andrew whicker]

I didn't find the hotkey for protractor. What is it? Or is there a way to set your own hotkey?

Also, the number of keys on a keyboard is limiting.

[Bob Lang]

In the SketchUp Preferences window you can set a shortcut for any command. I believe you can set shortcuts that use a combination of keys.

Bob Lang

[Dave Richards]

I didn't find the hotkey for protractor. What is it? Or is there a way to set your own hotkey?

Also, the number of keys on a keyboard is limiting.

You can make your own keyboard shortcut for the Protractor tool. Go to Preferences>Shortcuts and look for Tools/Protractor. Start typing protractor in the filter line to make it easier to find.

360200

As Bob said, you can also use key chords. On Windows that is Shift, Ctrl and Alt. On Mac, Shift, Option, and Command. You can also use most of the F keys. F1 is hard coded in the Windows OS for Help so don't use that one. Also don't use other OS hard coded shortcuts because they won't stick. And finally, to set keyboard shortcuts for commands that show in the Context menu, you'll need to have something selected in the model space that would cause that menu item to show.

[andrew whicker]

You guys are awesome, thanks!

I'll give it another college try

[Keith Hankins]

I was making the switch to 360, but no real printer support so kinda killed it for me as I use that a lot to visualize. may be diff now, but that was last year.

[Andy Giddings]

Don't know if its changed, Keith, but I output to a PDF which can be printed or shared easily

[Keith Hankins]

Don't know if its changed, Keith, but I output to a PDF which can be printed or shared easily

Won't help if its not to scale (at least for me).

[Brian W Evans]

Dave,

I need to start using some software like Sketchup or Fusion and thought I had decided on Fusion in case I ever wanted to do CNC work in the future. Your posts have led me to rethink, for about the twentieth time, that decision.

I don't have any experience with CNC, so please forgive me if this doesn't make sense. My understanding is that Fusion 360 will help create the commands that a CNC machine needs to do its job. You obviously have some way of getting that code from Sketchup. Can you briefly describe that process? Do you have any thoughts on whether doing this from Sketchup is more or less arduous or error-prone than with Fusion?

Thanks.

[Dave Richards]

Brian, I sent you a PM.

[Andy Giddings]

Keith, it would be to scale and you can also choose which scale to print a PDF

[Art Mann]

You certainly have a good point there, Dave. That looks like a good application for Sketchup. I use it sometimes for furniture and jig design. My opinion comes from looking at the CNC work of dozens of people on this and a couple of other popular forums. In my observation, this kind of work isn't very common.


Hmmm....

Designed and drawn in SketchUp for CNC cutting. ........

[Bob Lang]

For the benefit of everybody, most CNC programing starts with a DXF file. This is an AutoCAD format file that is vector graphics. In my experience there is a secondary program that comes with the CNC machine that translates the vectors in the DXF file to G-code. It's generally as simple as specifying a cutter diameter, cutting depth and which side of the line to cut on. G-code is the language the CNC understands. In SketchUp Pro you can export DWG and DXF files as simply as you would save a SketchUp file. In the free version, SketchUp Make you can only export raster graphics. Fusion might be able to export G-code, but that's a guess on my part.

Bob Lang

[Andy Giddings]

For the benefit of everybody, most CNC programing starts with a DXF file. This is an AutoCAD format file that is vector graphics. In my experience there is a secondary program that comes with the CNC machine that translates the vectors in the DXF file to G-code. It's generally as simple as specifying a cutter diameter, cutting depth and which side of the line to cut on. G-code is the language the CNC understands. In SketchUp Pro you can export DWG and DXF files as simply as you would save a SketchUp file. In the free version, SketchUp Make you can only export raster graphics. Fusion might be able to export G-code, but that's a guess on my part.

Bob Lang

Bob, never used Fusion for CAM but, as I understand the overview of its capabilities, its a lot more than exporting a DXF and G-Code. Here's an overview from the Learning section for those who are interested http://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?learn=cam

[lowell holmes]

I started out drafting by hand, moved to AutoCAD and currently use SketchUp. I've tried fusion and the advantage I see is that you can input the exact thickness of parts and other parts will automatically change. I didn't care much for it as it seemed to lean more to parametric modeling and engineering as opposed to design. I used to think that SketchUp was a less serious program until I really learned how to use it and what it can do. I find it incredibly versatile because I can quickly rough out a design, then use that same model to pull out as much information as I need about each and every part. SketchUp is different than other programs and you need to learn its language and how objects behave in SketchUp world. I had to get over trying to get it to act like AutoCAD before I could get anywhere.

I understand your take on this issue. I've used AutoCad for 30 years. I tried Sketchup when it first came out and have the 2016 version on my computer. I like SketchUp and use it a lot.
I use the software according to the mood I'm in at the time. I don't feel inclined to try another cad software.:)

[andrew whicker]

well, after all my bragging about AutoCad (2D), I just wasted an hour trying to figure out why all my dimensions didn't scale in size (dimscale). I have no idea why it works now, but it does.

Anyway, I'm way faster on Autocad, but the truth is that it can do way more than I need it to do. It's way more complicated than it needs to be.

[Wayne Jolly]

I have used Sketchup and Fusion 360, and I am going to start using Fusion more than Sketchup. Fusion has more features, and I find some things easier to do. Sketchup may be relegated to the quicker, simpler things.

Not to muddy the waters (well maybe a little), if you are a veteran you can get SolidWorks for $20. At least you could. Maybe check into it to see if the offer still stands. You will need to send them a copy of your DD-214 and some people don't like that idea. When I sent my copy, I blacked out SSN and service number.

Wayne

[Chris Padilla]

I've never used any sort of CAD design stuff until Sketch-Up showed up on the market and because it was free and seemed cool, I dove in head first. It was a little frustrating to use at the beginning but once you learn its nuances, you can generally get done what you want with little issue. I think whatever software route you choose, as long as you spent some time to learn it, you're likely to be generally happy with it. One boost for Sketch-Up is Dave Richards, a master in SU, and who regularly peruses SMC and pretty much answers all SU questions. He even put out a little video that really opened my eyes into using SU more easily (it was one I paid for...on sale an X-mas or two ago).

[Wayne Jolly]

+1 for Dave Richards. He was extremely helpful to me.


Wayne