NOTICE: Important OS support information after March 2024
After theMarch 2024product update, Fusion will no longer fully support macOS 11 Big sur.
In order for us to continue developing Fusion for the latest and greatest, we must stay current and end support for older OS versions. We recognize that this change may take you some time to adjust to. That’s why we are letting you know now, so you have time to update your OS to the latest version.
(v.2.0.18477) – March 6, 2024
We fixed an issue where some customers were falsely seeing the Expired entitlement message within Fusionwith a call to Renew/Purchase; despite having an active license.
We fixed a crash issue that occurred when working with joints.
We fixed an issue where Insert McMaster-Carr Component would insert into the root component and not the active component.
We fixed an issue where Fusion would hang when editing a drawing view.
(v.2.0.18460) – February 21, 2024
We fixed an issue where users were unable to get cycle parameters for surface inspection in the Manufacturing Environment.
We fixed an issue where notifications for completed uploads were not presented for any file types other than .f3z.
We fixed a variety of crash issues within the Design and Electronics Environments.
We fixed an issue causing abnormally high CPU Usage in the Electronics Environment.
(v.2.0.18441) – February 6, 2024
We fixed an issue within the Manufacture environment causing the incorrect simulation of moves between toolpaths for 3 axis patterns.
We fixed various crash issues within the Manufacture and Drawings environments.
We fixed an issue within the Design environment causing the creation of Coil solids with fractions of one revolution to fail.
We fixed an issue where file upload for multiple number of files would result in continuous flickering in data-panel.
(v.2.0.18220) – January 29, 2024
Table of Contents
- What’s New Highlights
- Looking forward
- Usability
- Design
- Generative Design
- Drawings
- Electronics
- Manufacturing
- API and Add-Ins
- Join the Fusion Insider Program
- Customer Reported Fixes
What’s New Highlights
The January 2024 update is here, and we can’t wait to share everything with you. From the introduction of Drawings Automation to the addition of new enhancements aimed at up-leveling your manufacturing, everyone is sure to find something useful in this exciting release. Before we get started, let’s dive into some highlights!
Usability
- Better Navigation with Filtering and Search to Discover Files Faster
Design
- Numerous Configuration Table Improvements
- Update References and Assembly Contexts from a Single Location!
- New Insert into Unsaved Designs
- Improved Messaging surrounding Out of Sync Xrefs
- Numerous Performance Enhancements
Drawings
- New Drawings Automation
- New Breakout Section Views
- New Custom Sheet Sizes
- Hatch Pattern Enhancements
Electronics
- Spice Simulator Upgrade and Pspice Model Support
- Selection Behavior Improvements
Manufacturing
- New Blend Toolpath Strategy for Finishing
- New Toolpath Modifications for Deburr and Geodesic
- Machine Collision Detection
- Added a New Turning Groove Roughing Strategy
- New Ability to Create No Build Zones for 3D printers
- Numerous Improvements around Additive Arrangement
API
- Read API Support for Configurations
- Support for New Bounding Box Calculations
Live with the Experts: What’s New in the January 2024 Release
Want to learn more about all the updates coming to Fusion this January? Join us on February 1, 2024 for a LIVE webinar where we’ll dive into improvements around flexibility, control, and programming efficiency, show off some tips & tricks, and open up the floor for LIVE Q&A.
We have 2 sessions running for you to choose from, both identical in content, just at separate times. Looking forward to seeing you there! `
Register for 9am PST | 12pm EST | 5pm BST
Register for 10:00am BST | 11:00am CEST | 2:30pm IST
Looking forward
2024 Fusion Roadmap Goes Live
2023 was a big year for Fusion, and 2024 is just as promising. At AU 2023, we further elaborated on our plan for theFusion industry cloud for manufacturing, which will represent a new era of connected data and collaboration for individuals, teams, and entire organizations to design and make anything. In 2024, we’ll take even more steps in this direction, on both company-wide and individual product feature levels. Get a sneak peek at what’s to come and understand the ‘why’ behind our investment areas in the 2024 Autodesk Fusion Roadmap.
Read more about what’s to come in 2024.
Extensions Packaging Consolidation
This January marks the change in how we package extensions in Fusion. We’re rebalancing and consolidating Fusion extensions to simplify the portfolio of offerings and maximize the value you receive. All current $1,600 USD SRP extensions will now see a price reduction to $1,465 USD SRP. We will also be simplifying the portfolio of extensions offered, consolidating from eight down to five—packing even more features into some extensions for a lower price.
Read more about the extensions packing consolidation.
Usability
Updated Branding Changes
As we progress further towards the vision of the Fusion Industry Cloud you will see a slight shift in branding:
- Icons are now updated with names removing 360
- Mac/Win install/launch/uninstall images updated to reflect branding changes
Read more about the Fusion Industry Cloud.
Better Navigation with Filtering to Discover Files Faster
When navigating to files in projects, you now have the option to provide additional context to discover the files of interest, allowing you to find your files faster than ever! You can filter by time, or file type.
Note: Filtering works only for files & not folders.
New Search Files by Name from Fusion Home.
We recognize the need for an improved search experience in Fusion. That’s why we are excited to announce that with this update, you can now effortlessly locate files of interest by clicking the search bar in Project navigation. The dedicated search results provide a comprehensive overview of potential matches, offering more detailed information to streamline and expedite file retrieval.
Note: The data panel search will continue to work as is.
Performance
Performance remains a primary focus for us, evident from the continuous improvements we’ve made over the past few product updates. Within this update you will see a variety of performance enhancements throughout the Design workspace.
Assembly Improvements:
- Compute joint after edit is up to 45% faster
- Select Joint, Edit Joint, Animate Joints up to 5x faster for large assemblies
- Continued improvements to Break Link of external component, now including sub-components resulting in 2.5x faster for some assemblies
- Insert into current design up to 45% faster in larger assemblies
Modeling Improvements:
- Measure command significantly faster when measuring distances on bodies with very large number of faces and edges
- Open and save is now faster for some assemblies
Design
Auto-complete of Parameters in the Configuration Table
Configuration table cells now allow for auto-complete the same way the parameter dialog offers.
Duplicate the Rows in the Configuration table
You can now duplicate multiple rows within the Configuration table, making it easier than ever to customize your designs.
Display better information in Select Configuration dialog
We made some minor improvements to the Select Configuration dialog that displays a tile for each configuration during workflows like Insert, Derive, Switch Configuration, and Create Drawing.
The tiles now display:
- Version number
- Milestone icon (if applicable)
- Label when preview image is not available
- Label when preview image is from a previous version
Move Columns in Configuration Table Directly from One Theme Table to Another
Initially, if you wanted to move a column in the Configuration Table from an existing theme table to a new theme table, you had to move the column to the top table first.
Now you can move a column directly from a theme table to a new theme table and skip the extra step.
To perform this actionsimply right-click the column you want to move, then select Move To > New Theme Table.
Update References and Assembly Contexts from a single location
When we released Edit in Place and Assembly Contexts userresearch indicated a desire to update assembly contexts independently from xrefs. Once released, customers found they easily overlooked out of sync contexts making it difficult to understand what specifically was out of date. To help eliminate any confusion we implemented a single location to understand out of dateness in an assembly.
This release will bring Sync All Context capability into the Get All Latest command creating a single location to update both Assembly Contexts and References in a single action.
Bubble Up Browser Messages
When a nested component is out of date and the assembly which owns it is collapsed in the browser, we indicate a nested component is out of date with a yellow triangle. This indicator notifies you of an out-of-date component that exists in the collapsed assembly.
In this release we have added the same capability for Missing Xrefs and Out of date context making it easier than ever to understand what is out of date within the assembly.
Moving forward, colors will indicate one or more of the following in this order of precedence:
- Red notifications indicate missing reference
- Yellow notifications indicate out of date references
- Blue notifications in on out of sync assembly contexts
Insert into Unsaved Designs
Previously, you were able to create external components from scratch in an unsaved design, but when building assemblies bottom up, we would block you from inserting into that same unsaved design. This would force you to stop the insert process, save the design, and restart the insert process again to move forward. In this release we have improved the insert command to allow insertion of external components into an unsaved design.
Note: While we’vetaken the first step to unblock the most common insert experience, inserting of a design into unsaved doc, there are still limitations to other insert workflows. Moving forward, we will continue to unblock other insert workflows.
Enhancements to Fastener Libraries
Last October we released Fastener Library, a game changing feature that gives you an easier way to insert Fasteners into your 3D models. Since then, we have been diligently working to enhance the content of the Fasteners Library. Within this update you will see the enhancement of model images, as well as updates to ensure the accuracy of the models of fasteners.
Learn more about Fastener Library
Generative Design
Experimental Generative Solvers and Features Graduate from Preview
With this release, we have reached a major milestone, finalizing the standardization of our technology stack. All load and constraint types, manufacturing methods, design objectives and symmetry are now fully compatible with each other.
You will also notice that the following features are directly available in the UI, without requiring you to be part of the Insider Preview.
- Remove rigid body modes can be found in the Study Settings dialog
- Modal Frequency and Buckling limits can be found in the Objectives and Limits dialog
Improvements to Generative Design Previewer
The Generative Design Previewer assists you in verifying your study setup before generating actual results. This release introduces several improvements enabled by bringing the Previewer onto the same technology stack as a regular generative design solve.
The Previewer is now doing all its work on the cloud and adds support for remote forces, remote moments, remote constraints, point masses, symmetry and setups that are using the remove rigid body modes option. Simply put, you will no longer encounter errors about functionality not being supported in Previewer. The workflows have changed a bit, and if changes are made to setup, you will notice the preview will go out of date informing you to regenerate the preview.
Lastly, on the off chance something goes wrong, we made several improvements to how we handle errors. The messages are now more consistent with what you might see in a regular generative design solve, making it easier to learn how the system works and how to troubleshoot your setups.
Drawings
New Drawings Automation
The moment many of you have been waiting for is finally here!As of this release you will be able to use Drawings Automation, a game changing feature that aims to save you significant time by automatically creating and laying out drawings. Let’s take a look into what Drawings Automation can do:
- Drawing Automation automatically scales and nests views on a sheet
- Places Parts list and Balloons
- Automatically rotates components (generally those modeled in place) to the best orientation for documentation
- Creates Break Views for long components
- Applies Center Lines and Center Marks
- Places Sheet Metal Flat Patterns & Bend Tables
- Automatically retrieves Hole & thread Notes
- Generates dimensioning strategies automatically
Our automatic dimensioning algorithms are best suited to Prismatic components, 2.5 – 3 Axis components, Sheet Metal & Turned components. Drawing Automation works out of the box with no setup, but will work best with your drawing template, where you can store your preferred automation settings & styles. For best results; remove any placeholder views, browser nodes or additional sheets from your template.
Learn more about Drawings Automation.
New Breakout Section Views
Breakout Section Views allow you to create a partial section view of your model, showing the internal details of a specific region. You can use Breakout Sections to show hidden features, reduce the complexity of a view, or highlight important aspects of your design.
Breakout Section Views, by default cut to half the depth of the model, meaning that they can also be used to quickly create half depth section views that have no section lines, perfect for turned components.
Learn more about Breakout Section Views.
New Custom Sheet Sizes
During the creation of a new drawing, or when editing the sheet size (under sheet settings), you now have full control of the sheet size. This new feature comes with an automatic Zone creation tool. We’ve also added the ability to set Portrait or Landscape orientations for standard sheet sizes. If you’ve ever wanted to mix and match standards, you can now create an ISO size drawing sheet using an ANSI template as a start point, or vice versa.
Hatch Pattern Enhancements
You asked and we delivered, “Solid Fill” hatches are now here as of the January update. While we were there, we also revamped the look and feel of the hatch command with new preview icons. Enjoy customizing your section views even further with 15 new hatch patterns.
Electronics
Spice Simulator Upgrade and Pspice Model Support
The update to NGSpice 41 as the new spice engine is a significant enhancement to the Fusion electronic schematic workspace. This latest update substantially expands the range of compatible models that can be used with Fusion. A pivotal aspect of this upgrade is the direct usability of models provided by leading manufacturers, eliminating the need for cumbersome format conversions. You can now use thousands of PSpice models supplied by manufacturers for opamps, diodes, and more!
There is no change in how they are used, just map the model either in library or in schematic and you are on your way. This advancement ensures that you can continue leveraging the spice simulation capabilities in Fusion to verify your analog circuits, assuring their performance aligns precisely with your anticipated results.
New Selection Behavior
This January we’ve rolled out a new selection behavior that will improve your workflow. The challenge of selecting a component from its part’s origin point is now a thing of the past. As you navigate through the electronic workspaces, the assets beneath your cursor will be automatically highlighted, making interaction significantly more intuitive.
This enhanced highlighting supports the selection filter; press and hold to move components or right-click for more options. Drawing from the practices of Fusion’s mechanical workspaces, the marquee selection has been adopted: dragging from left to right encapsulates only the assets fully enclosed within the selection box, whereas dragging from right to left includes any asset the selection box touches. This will undoubtedly expedite and enhance your design experience.
New Long Press Selection
Autodesk Fusion has a long-press selection option that has been a staple in the Fusion design workspace, and our team of developers has been able to adopt it into the electronic workspace.
The long-press selection option is particularly beneficial when working in densely populated areas of your design board. This tool becomes invaluable if you navigate a section with multiple selectable assets. A context-sensitive menu employs a left-long press on the desired area, presenting all selectable elements nearby. This intuitive approach reduces the likelihood of erroneous selections. As you hover over each option, you will notice a distinct highlight. This visual cue ensures clarity and precision in your selection.
Manufacturing
Subtractive Manufacturing
New Blend Toolpath Strategy for Finishing
Blend is a finishing strategy for machining the shallower regions of a part between selected contours with a constant cutting direction. It supports undercut machining in 3axis with lollipop tools.
As of this update, a new way to define Blend toolpaths is now available! The new method produces toolpaths that avoid fragmentation on complex geometries, enabling them to be machined to a higher surface finish more easily. To select the new method, choose the ‘From tip of tool’ option for Stepover section on the Passes page, if you would still like to use the pre-existing method simply select‘On surface’.
Effectively you now have an old and a new blend algorithm to choose from:
- On Surface – Uses the surface of the model to calculate the step over. This option can detect and machine undercuts.
- From Tip of tool – Considers the tools cutting geometry when calculating the stepover. This option is useful for machining areas where the tool cannot contact all the points on a surface because of the shape of its cutting geometry. For example, areas where the internal corner radius is smaller than the tools radius.
Learn more about Blend.
New Machine Collision Detection
Fusion’s machine collision detection feature is designed to identify potential collisions and axis over travel on your machine tool before running the program. By proactively detecting these issues, it helps ensure the safety of your operations, minimizing expensive machine downtime. Moreover, it allows you to validate and fine-tune your programs more efficiently, instilling greater confidence in their execution. With Fusion’s machine collision detection, you can optimize productivity while maintaining a secure and reliable machining process.
Learn how to check for Simulation issues in the Manufacturing Environment.
Learn more about Managing Collision Checks for Machines.
New Turning Groove Roughing Strategy
Groove Roughing is astandalone groove-roughing strategywhich incorporates all the elements youloved in the old Grooving toolpath with superior results. Givingyoumore toolpath control through simplified UI, improved boundary handling, new set of tangential extensions with safer and more efficient lead outs which all add up to a better and more consistent toolpath being created alongside a more consistent superior surface finish.
This strategy can be used for external, internal and face grooving operations and gives youthe option to define the entry point of the groove in relation to the center or the side of the groove to minimize tool deflection or control the swarf being generated.
Learn more about Turning Groove Roughing.
New Rotate Stock Simulation View
The rotate stock simulation view gives a new way of viewing your CAM toolpath simulation, rotating the stock on screen instead of rotating the tool.
This type of view will be very beneficial when programming turn/mill style parts as it more accurately represents the movements the machine tool will take, allowing you to verify everything works as expected, without having to rotate the view to see each different tool angle.
Chain Selection Enhancement
The code behind Chain Selection has been rewritten to make the functionality more reliable and robust than ever. The rewritten functionality was first exposed back in the January 2023 release as preview functionality and has now graduatedas of this update.
In addition to fixing longstanding problems in the legacy implementation, the new code should be easier to maintain in the future.
What that means is Future bug fixing should be easier and quicker.It will also be possible to provide further enhancements in the future in a much more streamlined way. In total, compared to when the original chaining was released, more than 150 bugs have been fixed!
So, what does this new and improved chaining offer:
* It provides more intuitive chaining of open chains
* Better behavior of direction arrows
* Faster performance on chaining on large models
* Handles long chains that previously would be skipped
* Allows Chaining tolerance to now be controlled by the user
The functionality is fully released as part of this January update and will replace the current implementation.In the event of unforeseen problems, it will be possible to revert to the ‘legacy’ chaining through the Preferences>Manufacture>Optional Features dialog.
Learn more about Chain Selection.
Post Processor and Machine Simulation
Looking for the latest post processors and machines updates? This January we released a ton of new updates and improvements to many of the open-source Post Processors and Machines we offer for free. Within this release you will find improvements to post processors including Generic Post Processors, Milling Post Processors, Mill-Turn Post Processors and Waterjet/Laser/Plasma Post Processors. Additionally, we added new machines to our Machine Library, updated our Workholding library, and improved functionality around the Autodesk CAM Post Processor engine.
Learn what’s new for Post Processors and Machine Simulation thisJanuary.
Missed the December update? Learn what’s new for Post Processors and Machine Simulation from this pastDecember.
Manufacturing Extension
New Advance Swarf
Advanced Swarf allows straight-sided walls to be machined with the side of the tool.This new strategy can create 3-, 4- and 5-axis toolpaths.It has options to control whether the tool is allowed to gouge the drive surface, and to influence the synchronization of the tool axis with the drive curves.Advanced Swarf provides control for categorizing surfaces as swarf surfaces, floor surfaces, or surfaces to be avoided, giving great control over the toolpath.
Learn more about Swarf.
Toolpath modifications for Deburr and Geodesic (Manufacturing Extension)
Trim, Delete Passes and Move Entry Point toolpath modifications can now be applied to Deburr and Geodesic toolpaths to optimize machining or remove unwanted or incorrect sections of a toolpath.
Learn how to modify a toolpath.
Additive Manufacturing
New Ability to create No Build Zones for 3D printers
Each 3D printer model is unique with its own build volume dimensions. Some 3D printers also have areas where the manufacturer does not recommend utilizing as they may be reserved for other purposes such as, storing thermal monitoring equipment, or bolting the platform to the printer. These regions are commonly referred to as No Build Zones.
With this release Fusion users can now edit machines in their local or cloud libraries and designate a no build zone using a 3mf file.
No build zones are visualized in Additive setups that use those machines as red volumes. They are also listed in the browser so you can control their visibility. If you create an additive setup with a machine that contains a no build zone, various 2D and 3D additive arrangement commands as well as the Fill Build Volume command will avoid positioning components within the no build zone.
Generating and Splitting Setter Supports
In an additive manufacturing setup, you can generate all sorts of support structures ranging from Bars to polylines to volumes all the way to setters. You can then choose to slice and print your parts directly or separate the support structure from the part so that you can 3D print it on its own. This is common for setter supports as they are not needed during the printing process but rather used during the sintering process as a fixture so that the 3d printed parts do not sag in the sintering oven.
With this release you can now split support structures from their source body with 1 click. Fusion will then generate a new mesh body to represent the support structure and will place it in the selected component. Please note that this functionality requires the use of manufacturing models when creating the original additive setup as creating a new mesh body is only available in manufacturing models in the Manufacture workspace.
With this release we are also making the setter supports available to all commercial users of Fusion. In the past this functionality required access to the Additive build functionality.
Combining the ability to create setter supports and splitting of support structures to new mesh bodies will enable you to have a seamless workflow for preparing your prints and post processing steps for metal binder-jet printing with Autodesk Fusion.
Learn how to add setter supports.
Learn how to split support structures.
Remove Excess Components from Active Setup
After arranging parts within the build area or build volume of your 3D printer automatically, youmay end up with excess parts that cannot be printed. In thosecases, Fusion places them in row next to the build plate. Before generating support structures or creating the additive toolpath for the active setup, it is good practice to remove those parts from the setup, if we do not intend to print them in the same build. Using the new “Remove Excess Components” feature located on the right click menu of the active setup, youcan now easily eliminate them from the active setup.
Additive Arrange improvements: Select All Components & Monte Carlo Packer
Additive Arrange is used to nest multiple components in the build volume of a 3D printer in as little space as possible, all while avoiding collisions. 2D packers are great for Additive processes that require support structures. 3D packers are used for self-supporting processes such as SLS and MJF. With this version we are releasing a new 3D arrangement type called Monte Carlo.
During the Monte Carlo packing process, you have the option to control the initial orientation of components. Once the orientation is calculated, parts stay in that orientation throughout the process.
The packing process is similar to vibrating parts on a shaker table within the build volume of the printer, where parts move into open gaps. The goal of Monte Carlo packing is to move the components as low as possible in the build volume, to minimize the arrangement build height.
The Monte Carlo packer prevents interlocking problems as parts bounce off of each other during the shaking process.
To make the selection of multiple components easier, we also added a select all command to the Additive arrange dialog.
Learn how arrange components for additive manufacturing.
Automatic Orientation Studies Now Consider the Available Build Volume of a 3D printer
When trying to 3D print large components, it is important to find an orientation for our parts that will fit the build volume of our printer. With this release, the automatic orientation tool has the option to calculate and display part orientations that will fit your printer’s available build volume.
Additive Arrangement Statistic Preference
There is now a new preference within the Additive part of the in the Manufacture section that controls the additive arrangement statistic outcome allowing you to visualize the results by build volume or build height.
- The build density value shown in the browser when the “By build height” preference is selected is calculated based on a partial volume of the 3D printer which considers the highest Z layer of the arranged components.
- The build density value shown in the browser when the “By build volume” preference is selected is calculated based on the entire build volume of the 3D printer regardless of the part placement in Z axis.
API and Add-Ins
Read API support for Configurations
We now provide Read API support for Configurations by allowing configurations in a Configured Design to be accessed and used elsewhere in other designs.
Support for New Bounding Box Calculations.
The new boundingBox2 method on the Component and Occurrence objects supports an argument to let you specify which types of entities you want to include in the bounding box calculation.
The new preciseBoundingBox property method only considers B-Rep geometry, but instead of using the graphics; it uses Autodesk Shape Manager to calculate a more precise bounding box and is supported by the Component and Occurrence objects.
The most exciting enhancement is the new orientedMinimumBoundingBox. This has been requested for many years, and now, as a result of new functionality in Autodesk Shape Manager, Fusion can provide this capability. All the other methods compute a bounding box aligned with the coordinate system. This function returns an OrientedBoundingBox, which can be in any orientation and is calculated to fit the geometry as tightly as possible. This property is available on the Component, Occurrence, and BRepBody objects. The picture below illustrates two examples of the bounding boxes returned by the three different functions for the same occurrence. Typically, there is little to no visible difference between boundingBox2 and preciseBoundingBox. However, you can see the big difference with the orientedMinimumBoundingBox method.
Manufacturing Data Model API V2 – Now in Public Beta
We are happy to announce the evolution of our cloud data APIs for Fusion with the Manufacturing Data Model API V2. The launch of this new version of the GraphQL API we are introducing new capabilities and establishing a foundation for the future of the Manufacturing Industry Cloud. As part of this Beta version of the API we are also introducing several new capabilities, including the ability to createCustom Propertiesvia GraphQL API that will be visible to Fusion users.
This is an exciting project that will be evolving over the coming year, but we invite you to get started with this capability now to help shape the future.
Read more about the new Beta.
Learn more about the Manufacturing Data Model API.
Read the Manufacturing Data Model API Documentation.
Http Requests is Now Supported by the Fusion API
Support for HTTP requests is now natively supported by the API. Making HTTP requests is a relatively common and straightforward task. However, including a library with your program to make the HTTP requests becomes complicated. Now, you no longer need to worry about that and can make and handle the requests using the new HttpRequest, HttpResponse, and HttpEvent objects.
External API Partners
Configuration-specific Custom Properties in Bommer
Well that was fast! Our friends at Bommer are already hard at work using the new Configurations API to add configuration-specific custom properties in Bommer. Jesse, the co-founder, has put together a short video to introduce this new feature. They’re about to kick off an open beta test of this new functionality. Head over to https://www.getbommer.com/ and give them a shout. They can’t wait to show you what they’ve been working on!
Join the Fusion Insider Program
Want to engage more with the Autodesk community, use previews, and test out the latest build one month before it’s released to the general public? Check out theFusion Insider program! The Autodesk Fusion Insider Program enables you to access the next version of Fusion and all the new features, improvements, and fixes, 3-4 weeks before the general public. As a member, you’ll gain inside knowledge of when we are deploying an update, what’s new, and what’s coming next . You will also have the opportunity to join exclusive events, try pre-release functionality, and give feedback straight to the product teams.
