Leaving Fusion might have been a Mistake

Leaving fusion 360 for plasticity. Here are the 3 features I miss the most.

My Designs:

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[nickkallen]

We are working on section analysis and curvature combs for the next release. While Plasticity will never be parametric, the specific example given here (changing the radius of simple holes) is easily done by selecting all the holes you want to change and using the dimension command, which has the = (equals) keyboard shortcut. So you just type "=10mm" for example.

[dennissimon]

I really liked your video about plasticity, it also made me give it an honest try and I ended up buying it after the trial ran out.
Here are my 2 cents about parametric vs non parametric modelling:
I used to be working as a design engineer and I worked with companies that used inventor (big brother of fusion) and creo elements (professional non parametric engineering CAD, but aimed at engineers, so no complex geometries like in plasticity). During my engineering studies I was only taught parametric modelling and non parametric modelling in creo was completely new to me, but it felt way more natural and as I learned how to use it, I got a lot more done in less time. Especially new models are finished way quicker without parameters, and if you have a little bit more complex models and try to change it with parameters, it often fails, because the structure of your parameters did not account for that specific change you wanted to make and it breaks. So in the end most models have been way more work to finish with parameters, and even if parametric models could shine, because you want to reuse a model, they don't, because the model breaks. And changing a non parametric model isn't as slow or hard as people like to pretend it is, especially if you mastered the tools the program brings with it. In my personal experience parametric modelling never lived up to the claims and non parametric was not as bad as everybody wanted it to be.
To be efficient with non parametric you do have to change your approach to modelling, that is for sure, but to me it was worth it.
The only reason I went with a parametric program after changing careers was, that I didn't know about a non parametric program that was viable/cheap enough for playing around with models for hobbies, and blender was just to far from what I knew. Fusion has a non parametric mode as well, that is not bad btw.


I have not worked long enough with plasticity to give a qualified statement, but I have already changed a lot on downloaded models and it worked very well, missing the sketches might just be a remnant of your "parametric upbringing". The solution you showed to changing hole sizes in a non parametric model was a pretty clunky one, plasticity has many options to grab faces and move them around/change dimensions inside the part, and it worked well for the changes I made in some models.
To me parametric design was a very powerful tool for very few niche use cases, that is used way to much. If you have parts that come in tons of slightly different variations, parametric is probably better for you, but if you design stuff from scratch a lot or make rather drastical changes to models, non parametric is probably the better long term option. Right now with all the skills that I have, I would even design a part that would be ideal for parametric design in non parametric first and then come up with a good parametric structure after the geometry is figuered out.

[nordic]

This feels like misinterpreting the intended use case of Plasticity a bit. I don't think it was intended to be a competitor to parametric packages like Fusion, rather it was a way to blend the modelling features of NURBS with the flexibility of something like Blender. It's always been billed as "CAD for artists". I'd definitely still make mechanical models like your dock in a parametric package. But for bashing out concept 3D work or visualisation models Plasticity is more flexible.

[DreamFreeFPV]

I find it weird that people say "i left" software... it's not like you're only allowed to use one piece of software on you machine

[mauriciolee]

Thank KevBot for your HONESTY. I love it when you point out the 3 disadvantages of Platicity: being NON-Parametric, NO Sectional analysis, and primitive sketch organization. I totally agree with you on the advantages of this software.

[Kuechmeister]

First I missed in Plasticity some features from Moi3D a bit, but Nick asked me, what I needed and he try to realised it in Plasticity, today it feels like a "nextgen Moi3D"

[AnryRyu]

Great content - keep it up. Just to mention my current recommendation - as a professional mechanical engineer I worked with a bunch of parametric CAD systems and I currently lead towards FreeCAD just because I can also use it for my private projects and got a great CAM module.

[maconSTUFF]

I moved from Fusion to Shapr3D a couple of months ago... pretty happy so far

[DComparison]

Thanks for your wonderful insight about Plasticity compared to Fusion. Fusion is great as it combines both parametric CAD with freeform design (T-spline).

[llampwall]

good on ya for making another video instead of just moving on without updating. i watched the first video a while back when i was thinking about it and i anticipated you might have to come back.

[ondrejstindl]

there is analysis in newest release of plasticity..
New Section Analysis Command
Section Analysis
Section Analysis is a feature that allows users to slice through their 3D model to reveal its interior structure. This helps identify whether internal components are properly aligned or interfering with each other. It is especially useful for architectural, engineering, and design visualization.

[AndrewSink]

This is a really comprehensive comparison between the two different software packages. Nice work, thanks for showing all the use cases!

[LightFromThePast]

Sectional analysis is a valuable feature to have in Plasticity. I never knew that such a thing existed before watching this video!

[RISCGAMES]

I’m sure Plasticity will update with time to allow for exactly what you’re missing. I think the downsides far outweigh the flipside costs, especially annually.

[Theprofessor]

I would switch to plasticity in an instant if it had sheet metal module. Thats the only thing keeping me with fusion.

[arnebornheim]

I think for fusion there's a startup plan. It costs far less for like the first 3 years if I remember correctly 😊

[BrianTimm]

I watched the other Fusion video and then this one and I think this is highlighting an interesting point about design approaches.

Parametric modeling software like Fusion, CATIA, SolidWorks, Siemens NX, etc... are all designed primarily around hard edged models (as those were the first kinds of models we could make on computers. There's a reason the F-117 is a bunch of planar shapes assembled into an airplane, limitations of CAD/analysis software at the time)

Blender, Plasticity, Moi3D from what I'm reading (I've only ever used Blender) are design tools that came out of a different design methodology that was oriented to computer graphics.

They are just two different approaches to the problem from a fundamental standpoint. And I'll gladly give props to the plasticity team for reaching across the gap from their side to accommodate the more parametric minded design strategies that a lot of 3D printing hobbyists and designers use.

The interesting point about your Fusion video was the complaint about organic shapes. It is not as readily simple as in blender and it's something I'm trying to develop my skills with, but there's a whole surfacing and a separate mesh workspace... You could design an outer shell for a product in blender (or maybe with Fusions mesh tools, autodesk made meshmixer after all), import the mesh, convert to solid, and then use parametric tools to create the cavities and split lines you need. Or design with surfaces in Fusion which are the closest parametric modeling really gets to a Blender like level of design freedom. I've gotten pretty proficient with sweeps and lofts as well which can be very helpful in giving a part a more organic feel.

I do think there is a point where your designs will drive you towards one software or another.
I integrate a lot of existing/3rd party parts, i design my own electronics or integrate modules as needed, I've done some CNC machining in addition to all my 3D printing work. And at that point, Fusion becomes a much stronger choice. I'm able to leverage Fusion to do everything but the slicing for my 3D printer (they have a slicer but I'm not going to try it). parametric modeling allows you to create and use parameters, create configurations and variants, tools that make the task of... designing a series of PTC hose fitting wrenches, a LOT easier and updates automatically move across to other sizes.

I love seeing everyone's take and approach to 3D printing. I come from and work in the world of engineering so I'm not surprised I have a hard parametric bias. And it has informed and sometimes limited my design language as I continue to learn to leverage my tools to the max when bringing my ideas into the world.

At the end of the day, it's awesome that we have so many choices and as someone who's been doing CAD since before 3D printing got big, it's been cool to see how everyone approaches CAD with their own perspectives towards what they want.

The software that works well for you, works well for you and that's good enouch. I'm glad to see plasticity is finding their home in this space. I'll have to give it a try sometime.

[jamesbrady]

I started creating trimsheets in plasticity and find it pretty decent, if a bit cumbersome withouit being to have a "history" of your edits. so I work sectionally, and keep t hem flush togethr and splice/cut as needed depending on what type of hard surface trimsheet I am trying to make.

[ajeesh]

Which feature did you use to create that turbocharger casing kind of thing????

[justcraziii]

Thanks for the video, I'm likely going to go for Plasticity as a long term Blender user. I used to Maya back in late 2000s and am sick of poly modeling for 3D printing applications. I do miss Fusion as well, and wish it was competitive to these other softwares.

Instead we get "enshittification" of things these days.