Autodesk Fusion 360
Tools Needed:
1. Laptop
- There is no specific brand of computer needed to run Fusion, but it must be a full laptop (not an iPad & Keyboard or other tablet configuration).
2. Mouse
- This is not required to run Fusion software, but it can be extremely helpful to navigate the 3D design space well.
How - To:
1. Download the Autodesk software onto your computer.
2. Open Fusion360 Application on your computer
- This may take a minute to come up - Fusion tends to run slow when it is just starting up!
- This is what your computer screen should look like when it comes up:
3. From here, the designing begins!
- There are hundreds of different ways to design within the Fusion space. It is centered around how you view objects and think about design! From, here, I will break down the most common tools to kickstart ease of design.
Basic Tools & Use:
1. The sketch tool
- This is the most important tool as it allows you to begin designing.
- Once you press this sketch button, it will give you the option to choose an Axis to begin designing on. I always choose the bottom axis that way I feel most oriented. The axis you choose will determine the direction your design is oriented.
2. Now that you are in a sketch, your toolbar should change to look like this:
- Your toolbar may look slightly different depending on what you have pinned to it.
- To see a full list of tools, click “create” and this drop down menu will appear:
- From here, it is fairly easy to design and model. All objects are made up of lines, squares, circles, etc. Use those tools to build your design!
- Advice: to begin designing, think of the basic shapes that make up the object you are designing.
- Once you have designed a complete object, you can bring it into the 3D world by using a tool called “Extrude”
3. Extrude:
- Once you click this button, your screen should look like this:
- Using the blue arrow, you can pull the object to be as tall as you want.
- Here, I have made a rectangle that is 5in tall
- This process can be repeated for many shapes and can be built upon to create more complex objects.
Other Resources:
For a more in-depth look at Fusion, see the AutoDesk Website:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/article/11-Fusion-360-Tips-Tricks-2019