Fusion 360 is a free 3D CAD/CAM design software.
Pros of Fusion 360:
- Cloud enabled collaboration platform
- Has version control, so each individual change is tracked, and so you can restore any previous version.
- Has both free form and solid modelling tools integrated into one application
- Simulation software
- Choosing different materials in objects
- Lots of community support, with endless tutorials and How To’s on youtube.
- Very good at for designing complex models
- Can directly export stl files
- Free for educational use, all you need is a .EDU email account
- Easily downloadable from the Internet
- Similar to SolidWorks, but easier to use.
Cons of Funsion 360:
- Requires several hours of tutorials before being able to effectively use it. So it doesn’t lend itself to quick and small changes to an .STL downloaded from thingiverse.
- Can’t directly import STL files. They must be imported using the Insert Mesh function, with a few changes in the settings. You can find the tutorial for that here.
- Not very user friendly.
Tutorials:
- Fusion360 for Absolute Beginners (hands on projects that introduce much of Fusion360’s capabilities) can be found here.
- Additional tutorials on Youtube
Fusion 360