Fusion 360 Free Version Scaling Back Features

Like you, I am also at the very early stages of 3D design, having experimented with Sketchup and Fusion 360. With the recent announcement from Autodesk that Fusion 360 is downgrading features of the free personal use license, do you foresee any issues that would prevent hobbyists from printing small detail parts to extensive full-body locomtoives and cars?

Appreciate your insight and research. Thnxs.

3D Slicer

Try Cura 3.7.

VDohar

I use Fusion 360 extensively; if you are only designing and printing parts for the hobby (small details, locos, etc), I don't see any forseeable issues. The recent changes only come into effect if you 1) have 10 or more documents open at a time, and 2) you will be unable to export files (for free) from Fusion 360 into native file formats to other 3D modeling programs. 3D printing will be unaffected. Basically, if you start working on stuff in 360 and find that something else (I'm looking into FreeCAD as an option) might be a better fit, the only export files you'll have available are .obj and .stl, neither of which work well in another CAD program.

Edit: Disregard the second point, as Peter has helpfully informed me that Autodesk (Fusion 360) has reversed their decision on exporting .stp files.

@Juxen

An update on export formats.   The CEO of Autodesk has taken on board community reaction and advised that Step file export will remain available for Hobby users.

See this video:

I have been using Fusion 360 for many years as a hobbyist and don't plan to switch to any of the lesser performing options such as Freecad or Blender.  I perfectly understand the Autodesk approach here - they tried to encourage the Maker/Hobbyist by providing a free version only to be ripped off by commercial users using their free licence.

Peter

I totally agree, people have been abusing Fusion 360 for years. I hadn't heard about the .stp update, and I think it's phenomenal that they are reversing their opinions. I like to keep my designs free for everyone ( https://www.thingiverse.com/juxen/designs), as I feel that the best way to encourage others to step into the 3D-printing world is to make it as cheap and painless as possible. Plus, I never spend more than a few hours on any given design, so the "wasted" time isn't really anything more than a Thursday night while I listen to podcasts.

I'm still going to give FreeCAD a shot, as I've been watching Fusion 360 slowly cut away features every year, and I don't want to rely on proprietary software.

Fusion 360

I'll try to answer several of the posts in one go here.

Vdohar,

From what I can tell, the changes that are coming to Fusion 360 won't really impact my personal designs.  If you aren't doing any complex assemblies or selling your designs for a profit, then I still think Fusion 360 is a good choice.  I'm not going to make any attempt to hide my bias for Autodesk products.  They are what I was trained to use in school, and as long 360 remains practical for my uses, I'll use it.

Oldman,

I've got a couple different slicer programs and Cura so far is my favorite.

Juxen and Peter,

I was not aware that the decision on restricting files was reversed.  I too am glad for their deicison.  Open source products appear to be an increasingly viable option.  Personally, I've got Blender installed and I'm currently learning the ropes on that software.  The biggest issue, from what I can tell, is that every program is different enough that you have to start from scratch anytime a product changes to the point where it's unusable.

The good thing is that there is an increasing amount of competition on the CAD market. 10 years ago Autodesk products were (and in many ways, still are) the gold standard. I suspect that some version of Fusion 360 will remain free and usable for hobbyists because 1) that's one of the most affordable ways to be introduced to Autodesk products, and 2) if all free versions of 360 were discontinued there would be an opening in the market for a similar product to step up.

Rather than worrying about what one company changes, I hope people will just get out there and experiment.  Everyone's brains think differently, and the diversity of software reflects that,  My brain "clicks" with Fusion 360, hence why it's my current favorite.  Yours will likely be different.

BTW, I've been wrapping my head around the new printer and am finally getting around to Part 5 in this little series.  It will likely be the last, since it covers challenges and triumphs of assembling a printer and getting it calibrated to make good prints. So expect to see that in a couple days.

James

Thanks for your insights and thoughts. I love using Fusion 360, but I do want that open-source backup in case things go haywire. By the way, what type of printer are you using?

Printer

I bought a Creality3D Ender 3 version 2 FDM printer about 4 weeks ago.  So far, it has been a joy to play around with and surprisingly simple to operate using the Cura software.  It was about $250.  There are bigger printers, faster printers, and better-built printers on the market, but from my own research in parts 1-3 of this series the Ender 3 seems to be the best balanced.

Good choice!

I've been using a Prusa MK3S since April (my 3rd printer), and I was hearing nothing but excellent things about the Ender 3. I was really struggling to decide between the Ender 3 and the Prusa, but the self-leveling bed and minimum layer height (0.05 mm) sealed the deal for me.

You may want to get some 0.2 mm nozzles, as they can really help your final finish on HO/N detail parts, but there is a significant increase in printing time.