Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Unconventional Zen Reasons to get Fusion 360 on Black Friday

Black Friday specials - CAD CAM Fusion 360


The Fusion 360 twitter feed posted it, so the rumor must be true. Get a full year of Fusion 360 functionality for $25 on Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Visit Here (Updated Link 11/27/2015)


Google Fusion 360, and you will find blogs, tutorials, videos, forums, channels, hashtags, etc. Clearly people know of the product, its Facebook page has over half a million likes.

Normally Fusion 360 can be had for $300 a year ($25 a month if paying yearly), however on Black Friday, you will be able to get a year of Fusion 360 for $25, or just over $2.00 a month.

What I wanted to do was give some different or uncommon uses for Fusion 360. Some out of the box ideas showing it is the best value out there in what it does. So with special thanks to Lars for some input and without further adieu, my unconventional reasons you should get Fusion 360 on Black Friday. What unconventional use might you have for a CAD product that on Black Friday costs just over $2.00 a month? Comment below.

CAD CAM for Windows and Mac
Seriously, where else do you see all this functionality also available for a Mac?

Install it on as many computers as you want
You are not limited to how many computers you access it from. It works from your Autodesk account. What other software allows you to install on multiple computers?

Tablets / Phones
Use the free Fusion app on your tablet or phone to view parts and take notes on the run. 

CAD Direct Translator
Fusion 360 is available with most popular direct interfaces. It can read in files like Catia, NX, and SOLIDWORKS. It can also output IGES or STEP files. 

Where other CAM systems charge hundreds or thousands of dollars for direct translators, plus yearly maintenance, you can get them for the price of a PowerBall ticket.

Analysis Functions - Find inside radii to know tool sizes
Fusion has analysis functions to help you not only design but also manufacture your model. Functions like curvature, draft, section, and zebra analysis. Color all the areas with a curvature less than X, to help you see what tooling is required for manufacturing. These analysis functions cost less than a fancy, or even non-fancy, coffee.



Use it as a CAD viewer for your Quoting / Estimating
Sometimes all you want to do is visualize a part so you can make accurate quotations. You may want to make some measurements, or analyze the part (see the analysis functions above), but you don't need a lot of CAD functionality. 

Fusion 360 lets you do all of that and more, and all for less than the price of a box of donut holes. Why pay more for a CAD viewer that does less?

Render your Parts to see what it should look like
Most CAD CAM products don't even have nice rendering available. Those that do have it available charge a lot extra for it. Fusion 360 includes it. Visit the Gallery for a lot of cool renderings. Realistic renderings for less than colored pencils to shade your own drawings.



Animation/Simulation
Animate how your model comes together or moves about. Check for interference between components. Apply forces, and see what happens. All for less than the cost of having an intern make a prototype out of cardboard. 

Fabrication
Fusion 360 includes 3D Printing functions as well as CAM milling functions. You can connect directly to various manufacturers to get quotes for your designs. 

Collaboration
Place notes in projects and on parts to share with others for collaboration. 

Robot Wars, Battle Bots, ETC - (My Favorite)
If you are a school or student participating in battlebot competitions, then do not go out on Good Friday and spend $25 for a one year subscription to Fusion 360. Just go HERE today and download it, because it is FREE for students and educators.

Seriously, you can design your bot, render it, animate it, simulate stresses on it, then manufacture it; all from the same program that is free for students and educators. This one is a real no-brainer. 

Community
Fusion has a large community, active forums, and tons of support. 
I'm actually going to a large Fusion 360 event during Autodesk University the first week of December, in Las Vegas. I am looking forward to it, and looking forward to meeting many Fusion 360 users. 

If you download Fusion and use it, leave a comment on what you do with it, and how its working


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