Category: Fusion 360

Posted on

Fusion Tips using 3D Connexions SpaceMouse

Set up your preset buttons for Home view and direct 3D print

You can buy the 3DConnexion SpaceMouse and CADMouse combination as a single package.   If you haven’t got a SpaceMouse you are missing a major enhancement to your pleasure while using Fusion.  It’s worth every single penny.

The SpaceMouse is a 3D manipulation mouse and the CADMouse is just a conventional mouse.   Originally when bought as a package they shared a common dongle.  I found that servicing the two devices simultaneously via one dongle led to a laggy experience.   The new versions are Bluetooth connected and are not affected in this respect. If you are considering getting one (and you should) then keep an eye on EBay.

There are two programmable buttons on the basic SpaceMouse which can be preset to shortcut functions.  I have my left hand button set to ‘ISO-1 view’ which means I can quickly reset the modelled object on screen to its home view.  You know how it is when you get totally disorientated when spinning and zooming …. Note that there are more complex versions of SpaceMouse with loads of buttons but this would be asking too much of my memory.

To set up the buttons you need to be in the Fusion Design screen.  The 3DConnexion software ‘knows’ what application you are using and which module in the application so this is important.  In a wider sense this allows the SpaceMouse to be customised specifically to every application you are using on your machine.  (Google Earth fly-by is fun with the SpaceMouse).   

To access the settings menu, click on the right hand end of the Windows taskbar and then right click on the 3DConnexions logo to open the Settings menu.   This will bring up the following menu stack. Note that you must have the Autodesk Fusion – Design… as the title.   The available button options are specfici to each of the other Fusion modules. For example I have two other functions set for when I am in the Electronics PCB design module.

If I right click the SpaceMouse button this takes me to the 3D print submenu in Fusion.   This is the same as clicking on the File menu in Fusion and clicking 3D Print.   This will bring up the following 3D print sub-menu.

(Side comment – if you haven’t discovered it yet … the ‘House/Home’ icon shown at the end of the top menu takes you to a wonderful full page view of all your recent modelling activity. Yes I know it has probably been there ages. I always was a slow developer but what joy when I found it).

Note that I have the Application box set to ‘Custom’ and the Application folder below this is pointing to the QIDI Slicer EXE file which is found in Explorer as below.  Note this is in ‘Program Files’ and not ‘Program Files (x86)’.

Click on the little folder icon in the sub-menu and navigate to and highlight the .EXE file location.  You will now have a direct boot to the slicer software you are using.  This will be activated either from the File menu or your SpaceMouse programmed button.

Have fun !

Links to similar or related post are listed below : –

Posted on

Custom Threads in Fusion

Finally managed to sort this out

The Christmas period tends to be a lazy period to sit and wander round the web in front of the log burner instead of getting grubby in the workshop. This is greatly assisted with a glass of something and a large slice of Christmas cake accompanied by a similarly large slice of Wensleydale cheese. (It’s a Yorkshire thing. Try the combination. You might get hooked).

In the course of one of these surfing indulgencies I came across a custom thread creator for Fusion. I am indebted to Matt Beech for this creation. See his GitHub page here.

https://matthewmcneill.github.io/FusionThreadsGenerator/

He has already created XML files for BSW, BSF, ME, BSB profiles. You simply copy the XMLs into the Fusion folder on your machine. This will be found on your machine in the following path : –

C:\Users\*your user name*\Autodesk\webdeploy\Production\<version ID>\Fusion\Server\Fusion\Configuration\ThreadData

Matt’s GitHub page also mentioned ThreadKeeper which is a handy Fusion plugin that protects your custom XML files as they sometimes get deleted when Fusion updates. This little app can be installed from the Fusion App Store and will appear on the Utilities tab in Fusion.

https://apps.autodesk.com/FUSION/en/Detail/Index?id=1725038115223093226&appLang=en&os=Win64

You need to preserve your custom XML files in the ThreadKeeper folder.

Hope that helps someone. Now back to the woodburner, cake and cheese.

Links to similar or related post are listed below : –

Posted on

Upgrading to Windows 11

Fusion will not be supporting Windows 10 installations

After a great deal of thought I bit the bullet and have migrated to Windows 11. This has come about simply because Autodesk will not be supporting any issues with Fusion while running in Win10 and the spec of the machine being used is more critical.

I hate doing an ‘upgrade’ onto an existing machine where you are never clear what baggage is already there and what its impact might be. My existing machine was not hardware compatible and so instead I went for a clean new machine. After some searching I opted for the Geekom GT2 mini PC which has a decent spec and lots of USB ports.

https://www.geekom.co.uk/geekom-gt2-mega-mini-pc

Note the GT2 has embedded Intel graphics rather than a conventional video card that you would fit to a standard PC. How much this impacts I will have to see although Fusion seems to load and work faster and is more responsive using my 3DConnexion Spacemouse.

The pain of a completely new machine is transferring all your old loved apps and trying to remember where the ISOs are and the associated licence codes. I am not the most disciplined in this respect. There is however a panacea to this in the form of LapLinks PCMover Pro. You simply connect the new and old machine together on the same network and leave them in peace for an hour or so and hey presto all your stuff gets transferred. It is not 100% perfect but it does save a lot of frustration and heartache.

Another issue with Win11 is the pressure to use Office 365 which does not appeal. I prefer the old school Windows Office and you can get the 2021 version quite cheaply on EBay.

The final concern with Win11 is all the baggage you get with it that you don’t want/need. There is a nice little app that solves this called quite appropriately CrapFixer. This is well worth checking out.

So most of the upgrade has gone to plan and has been less stressful than expected. There are still one or two apps that are not loading but I’m working on them.

Time will tell ….

Links to similar or related post are listed below : –

Posted on

Fusion Electronics Library Notes and Crib Sheet

An attempt to clear the confusion in my head

After spending many hours going round in circles trying to create new custom library parts in Fusion Electronics (FE) I gave in and posted a plea for help on the FE forum. I received some helpful replies but not sufficiently uplifting to put me at ease with the process.

As ever my nerdy side stepped up and armed with this new knowledge I set about learning the process step by step in a way that I could understand it and more importantly repeat it successfully.

The result of this is a 30 page document that can be downloaded from the link below. This contains the library process, a help crib sheet for using FE and the copies of the original support replies I received from the FE forum.

It may not be perfect and it is a work in progress so feel free to give me feedback on errors and content changes. Remember it is based on Fusion Electronics as of May 2025 with build version 2602.0.71. As I learn more I will update the contents and re-post.

I hope it helps someone, somewhere, sleep better. The length of the waffle will almost certainly guarantee the latter.

Fusion Electronics Library Guide and Crib Sheet v4Download

Links to similar or related post are listed below : –

Posted on

I had a ChatGPT experience

In deep shock and still coming to terms with it.

I am currently working on a timing synchroniser for the local church clock. Being of that generation I had come up with a CMOS based phase detector with monostable timers etc. This logic looks at the relative timing of the clock strike activation and a DCF timecode reference clock. I prototyped the circuitry, proved it and made a PCB for it in Fusion. It works very well and the resulting output slows or speeds up the clock by adding or removing lead shot to the weight tray on the clock pendulum.

I got my ear bent for being so old school and not using an Arduino or similar but I was reluctant to stray from known and proven simple logic with RC time constants. In the end I caved in and out of curiosity thought it might be a good project to get my feet wet with ChatGPT.

It took a little while to find my way round the ChatGPT site and to get to the software support section. Once there I entered in simple language what I was trying to achieve. ‘It’ replied with its understanding of my needs and I agreed this was correct. I then asked for some code for an Arduino UNO.

Out popped 44 lines of Arduino code …. which worked. Oh my goodness, what a revelation. Think I need to have a cup of tea and biscuit to recover. Like Fusion and 3D printing, this is going to completely change my workflow and project practices.

Links to similar or related post are listed below : –

Proudly powered by WordPress
Verified by ExactMetrics