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Open a design created in another CAD system, turn on Design History, and prepare it for further design work in Fusion.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
7 min.
Transcript
00:03
While it is common to start new designs in Fusion, it is also possible to open and work with designs created in other CAD systems.
00:11
Though you can simply open a wide array of file formats and start working,
00:16
it can be beneficial to prepare a design before you start interacting with it in Fusion.
00:22
To open a design, on the Application bar, click the File menu, and select Open.
00:28
Click Open from my computer, and then navigate to the design you wish to open.
00:34
In this example, an IGS design exported from another CAD system is being opened, but you can open any supported file format.
00:42
Select the design, and click Open.
00:46
Your design opens on the Fusion canvas.
00:49
In Fusion, when you open a design created in another CAD system, by default, you do not see the Timeline, and design history is not recorded.
00:59
This is the Direct Modeling mode—as opposed to Fusion's standard Parametric Modeling mode,
01:05
which is the default when you create a new design.
01:08
To switch to Parametric Modeling mode and use the Timeline, right-click the top component in the Browser,
01:14
then select Capture Design History.
01:17
The Timeline is now visible.
01:20
In this case, you see a Group1 feature in the Timeline,
01:24
and when you click the Plus icon to expand the group, you see the import of the IGS design, as well as the Base feature,
01:30
which contains a solid, or a set of surface bodies.
01:34
Depending on the process used to create and export the original design, you may need to make some minor adjustments for ease of work.
01:42
In the Browser, you see the geometry added as its own component,
01:46
nested within the top design component and named to match the original file name.
01:51
Expand the component node to find a Bodies folder, which may contain solid bodies or an unstitched folder.
01:59
The unstitched folder contains individual surfaces that need to be stitched together to form solid bodies.
02:06
To stitch these bodies together, on the toolbar, click the Surface tab to access the Surface modeling tools.
02:13
In the Unstitched folder, select Body1, then press and hold Shift as you select Body6.
02:20
This selects all the surfaces.
02:23
On the toolbar, in the Modify group, click Stitch.
02:27
In the Stitch dialog, click OK to accept the default settings and stitch the surfaces together.
02:34
A new body is added to the Bodies folder, named Body7, and the Unstitched folder is removed.
02:41
Also, a Surface Stitch feature is added to the Timeline.
02:45
Finally, save the design to a new or existing project, and you are ready to continue with further design work in Fusion.
Video transcript
00:03
While it is common to start new designs in Fusion, it is also possible to open and work with designs created in other CAD systems.
00:11
Though you can simply open a wide array of file formats and start working,
00:16
it can be beneficial to prepare a design before you start interacting with it in Fusion.
00:22
To open a design, on the Application bar, click the File menu, and select Open.
00:28
Click Open from my computer, and then navigate to the design you wish to open.
00:34
In this example, an IGS design exported from another CAD system is being opened, but you can open any supported file format.
00:42
Select the design, and click Open.
00:46
Your design opens on the Fusion canvas.
00:49
In Fusion, when you open a design created in another CAD system, by default, you do not see the Timeline, and design history is not recorded.
00:59
This is the Direct Modeling mode—as opposed to Fusion's standard Parametric Modeling mode,
01:05
which is the default when you create a new design.
01:08
To switch to Parametric Modeling mode and use the Timeline, right-click the top component in the Browser,
01:14
then select Capture Design History.
01:17
The Timeline is now visible.
01:20
In this case, you see a Group1 feature in the Timeline,
01:24
and when you click the Plus icon to expand the group, you see the import of the IGS design, as well as the Base feature,
01:30
which contains a solid, or a set of surface bodies.
01:34
Depending on the process used to create and export the original design, you may need to make some minor adjustments for ease of work.
01:42
In the Browser, you see the geometry added as its own component,
01:46
nested within the top design component and named to match the original file name.
01:51
Expand the component node to find a Bodies folder, which may contain solid bodies or an unstitched folder.
01:59
The unstitched folder contains individual surfaces that need to be stitched together to form solid bodies.
02:06
To stitch these bodies together, on the toolbar, click the Surface tab to access the Surface modeling tools.
02:13
In the Unstitched folder, select Body1, then press and hold Shift as you select Body6.
02:20
This selects all the surfaces.
02:23
On the toolbar, in the Modify group, click Stitch.
02:27
In the Stitch dialog, click OK to accept the default settings and stitch the surfaces together.
02:34
A new body is added to the Bodies folder, named Body7, and the Unstitched folder is removed.
02:41
Also, a Surface Stitch feature is added to the Timeline.
02:45
Finally, save the design to a new or existing project, and you are ready to continue with further design work in Fusion.
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