Dirk, the engineer, talks about Autodesk Fusion360. Dirk thinks that every DIY designer, CAD/CAM hobbyist and even professional should know about this. Dirk describes Fusion 360 as a hybrid direct parametric modelling software tool provided as a cloud-based subscription.
Described by Dirk as a free service, Fusion 360 is only free for students (for three years) and startups generating less than $100k/year in total revenue or wholly non-commercial hobbyist users. For non-students and professional users there is a subscription fee that is business-like, so don’t expect to be playing with Fusion 360 – you will need to get to work to make it pay for itself. As other commentators have pointed out there are also some other issues regarding access to model data could erode the value somewhat rapidly. That said, Fusion does have a lot to offer the mechanical designer in terms of design features, collaboration and CAM output. The whole cloud-based application and subscription service combination will put a lot of people off, but this might just be something that you’ll have to get used to in future.
Hear more from Dirk in this video.
Autodesk Fusion 360 for Hobbyists
