All new to this and having a problem with over constrained, I don’t know what that refers to along with several other terms so is there a glossary somewhere that explains these things?
I can’t find anything on the Fusion site.
Welcome to The Forum.
This is a good list of terms here.
Product design online also makes some very good tutorial videos for Fusion 360 on YouTube.
I’ve also created a small set of tutorial videos that are Fusion 360 langmuir specific workflows.
Once you get rolling make sure you post some pictures of what you’re making and your setup, I’m sure everyone here would love to see some stuff.
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Thanks TinWhisperer, I will dive into that Info. soon. Following the Langmuir bottle opener video and get to the point where they add the dimensions and it tells me it’s over constrained so didn’t get very far in and stumped…
I don’t worry about the constraints, as long as I’m making a complete profile in my sketch environment that’s all I’m really concerned about.
I find the constraint concept confuses things right off the bat when people are just trying to make some simple signs. With Fusion as a whole for sure using constraints is a great practice.
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In the bottle opener video, they intentionally try to over constrain the part and it pops up the over constrained warning. If you’re making art, I wouldn’t worry about constraints like TinWhisperer said. If you’re making functional parts, then you might want to learn how to use them.
Constraints are kind of like rules for your part. If you were to make a simple flat washer, the only dimensions you would need are the outter diameter, inner diameter and thickness. But that’s only true if the inner diameter and outer diameter are concentric (or coincident). There’s an implied rule that the 2 circles are concentric. That’s a constraint. The sketcher doesn’t know that’s what you want until you tell it. If that’s what you want, you need to know how to tell it that.
When you sketch, the sketcher tries to help by making assumptions. Sketch a line, then sketch another line next to it. As you go to place the second end of the line if you move it around, you should be able to see it automatically create a parallel constraint (symbol will appear) when you get the two lines close to parallel to each other. Same happens when the line is close to horizontal or vertical. If you click the end point when the parallel, horizontal or vertical symbol is showing, that line is constrained. If you try to put an angle dimension between the two parallel lines it will tell you that it’s over constrained. You already told it to be parallel and now you’re trying to put a different angle between them. You can delete the parallel constraint by clicking on the symbol and deleting it, then put in your angle dimension.
Keep an eye on your cursor and look for constraints to appear as you’re sketching. Your cursor will turn to a little “X” when you click on another piece of geometry. You’ve now told that endpoint to always be attached to that geometry. Often that’s what you’re wanting. Sometimes not. One that gets me is I’m sketching a line and I want it attached to another line. I click on the line, but I’m right near the midpoint of that line. A triangle will appear, but I often miss it. I really didn’t want it tied to the midpoint, but it is.
A couple of paragraphs isn’t really enough to do constraints their proper justice. You need to watch some videos and practice with the sketcher. A lot.
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Thanks ScaleDoctors, That is really a lot for me to consume but I will try to pick it apart over some sessions. are constraints something that can be turned off or on ? I think I am doing the bottle opener the same as Langmuir but I get the error and they do not so that is why I ask. Trying to actually learn as I go and not just breeze through…
I recommend that you start with PDO’s Tutorial on Constraints. It’s a good introduction. Autodesk has an excellent tutorial, once you understand the basics.
I will TomWS, and thank you. I am at or below the most basic level.