Fusion 360 Changing Personal Use Capabilities

What am I supposed to do, now?

I can’t afford their outrageous $500+ fees.

Any free alternatives that aren’t total garbage?

Thanks!

Got a link to that info? According to the link below, that’s not correct.

I did see another post in this area saying they sent out an email about limiting some functionality in the free edition. Export DFX feature looked like the one that would affect some folks.

There’s videos and posts all over Reddit and YouTube about Autodesk’s announcement. Their website has not been updated yet.

I’m only interested in finding free replacement software, right now. I don’t really care to speculate on rumors and leaks from inside Autodesk, just want to jump ahead and find alternative software as soon as possible.

If anybody can offer an alternative software, please let me know!

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That was the verbatim email I received from autodesk this morning. It is very disappointing to me.

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Here’s the announcement info.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Fusion-360-Free-License-Changes.html

I haven’t dug in to see what pieces we use that won’t be available yet. But DFX export maybe? However the OnShape plugin I believe is still supported which will export SVG and DFX and that’s free.

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I think I’m going to wait till I see what is changed and how it effects my work flow before I get excited.It appears you will still be able to save as dxf from sketch just not export.

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Thanks for posting the link - I ended up buying a subscription when it went on 50% off sale a while back so I didn’t see the notification, but I did read in the notice it said export dfx from sketch was still available, as well as plasma / waterjet / etc manufacturing (2d profiling), so it sounds like minimal impact. Cloud storage has been limited, though, which sounds like it will make folks store locally. Probably not a bad idea for many users anyway. There’s still a 40% sale on - they must be trying to pump up the sub #'s.

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A few design programs I’ve tried:

QCad - didn’t connect with me, but some folks like it.
Solid Edge 2020 2d - I think I’d like it if I spent more time with it, but I use Fusion360 mostly. I’ve done a few small projects in it, and I like some things about it more than Fusion.
For art / drawings / non technical stuff: Inkscape

It’s amazing what some folks can do in Inkscape, so if you need a design program, I’d definitely look into it.

For cam:
Sheetcam is only thing I’d recommend. It’s solid.

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So my new workflow would be to design in Fusion, export the sketch as DXF, and then generate gcode in Sheetcam, and the run in Firecontrol? Thanks for the recommendations!!!

Yep - or design in some other program like Inkscape if it does what you need and import dfx or SVG (preferred) into sheetcam to generate g-code.

…but my reading on the announcement is that 2d profiling is not affected by the limitations and you could use fusion for the g-code as well…

either way will work…

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I liked Solid Edge 2d, but then managed to get a student version of Solid Edge 2020. I really like it, but still on the learning curve. For plasma cutting, the 2D is probably sufficient and is free. The 3D version is great for assemblies (multiple parts designed in one place) or if you’re doing true 3D machining. I use it for all my 3D printed stuff now.

IIRC, Arc Lights has tutorials in Solid Edge 2D as they now provide that with their equipment.

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You are fine it will still work in 2d cut mode for free personal license, more advance 3d milling you need to pay for, you will be limited to the amount of projects you can have stored.

Same… Left F360 for Solid Edge a few months back and haven’t had the slightest urge to look back… That, combined with FINALLY getting around to get the full version of Sheetcam up and running, I’m having more fun than ever!! In a lot less time too!

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Yeah, it’s nice to be able to focus on what you want to accomplish rather than understand some obscure software cipher sequence that only seems to work some of the time.

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You can go the personal route if you don’t use the program for commercial use. You just have to renew each year. Since I only use it for personal reasons I don’t need the collaboration features. There is the startup option if you’re still working on getting your business up and going. It just requires a few additional steps.

I have a 50 watt CO2 Laser and do laser engraving. I use a program called lightburn. While it is set up for laser engraving, the program does allow you to draw in 2d. Perfect for plasma. Once I draw my file it is exported as an .svg file. They load straight to sheetcam for processing. Lightburn costs $40. Highly intuitive and very user friendly. I know how hard it is to learn a new software but for me it’s been worth the effort and wasn’t really that hard. Soon as I received the email from autodesk I had them cancel my account and remove me from the mailing list. Totally done with Fusion.

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Cool - thanks for the tip…
Link: https://lightburnsoftware.com/

Haven’t used it, but what’s the advantage over this vs something like Inkscape?

It’s very easy to learn. They have a 30 day trial. Try it out, give it a fair shake. Remember to “export” your files in svg format. I go from lightburn to sheetcam to mach3. There are lots of youtube video tutorials. My best advice is to download the trial and play with it. I’ll bet you buy the program. at $40 it’s a no brainer. Good luck.

Are you able to draw with dimensions in light burn? i watched some of the tutorials on their website and they mostly just imported already made drawings and shapes. Hopefully i just missed it and you can

As far as drawing a square or circle to a given dimension, yes. You can also scale artwork up or down. I’ve never felt hindered by dimensions using Lightburn. The free trial will answer most of your questions. Have an open mind and be willing to not rely on preconceived notions, (Preconceived notions are my biggest downfall learning new software).