Migrating to FreeCAD from Fusion360

Background

This page is intended for users who are interested in migrating to FreeCAD from the Fusion 360 world.

What do I do?

1. The first thing that you want to do is to get your files out of proprietary formats and storage. Start by exporting your models from the cloud to your local machine.
   • A popular method is using this Fusion360 total exporter script.
2. We recommend exporting to STEP format.

Glossary

Reference the Glossary page in general but here is a short list of specific terms that F360 folks may find spefically helpful:

• Tangent constraint - FreeCAD's form of Collinear Constraint. See Sketch_ConstrainTangent.
• Pad - The extrude function in FreeCAD. Read the PartDesign Pad documentation to learn more.
• Toponaming - Short for Topological naming problem. Covered very well in Brodie Fairhall's YT clip].

FAQ

1. What formats do you support in FreeCAD?
   • The native file format in FreeCAD is BREP, boundary representation, provided by the internal OpenCASCADE (OCCT) geometry kernel.
   • FreeCAD supports all formats that OCCT supports, so STEP and IGES at least.
2. What formats should I use to migrate to FreeCAD?
   • STEP is the best format because it is a solid Shape format, as opposed to a Mesh (STL, OBJ, DAE). Example, Importing Step with Colors.
   • Importing an STL is possible, but this mesh format will be difficult to modify further. We recommend converting imported meshes to solid Shapes using Part ShapeFromMesh. Remodelling the object in FreeCAD, while using the mesh as reference, is the best advice.

Tips

• @MPetrika (twitter) recommends installing HakanSeven12's ModernUI Workbench

Learning Resources

• Fusion360 to FreeCAD - Introduction, video by Brodie Fairhall.
• Fusion360 to FreeCAD - Part 2, video by Brodie Fairhall.
• V0.19 Benchmarking--2019 Monthly Challenges, a series of objects created with Fusion360 are remodelled using FreeCAD, by experienced user ppemawm.
• Beginners written tutorial: from first part to technical drawing.
• An online resource for us regular FreeCAD users.

Comparison Videos

• Model a compressor turbine in FreeCAD and Fusion360

Help

Is this wiki page missing something. Please make a request for wiki permissions on the forum to edit this page.

Related

• Migrating to FreeCAD from OnShape

User documentation

• Getting started
• Installation: Download, Windows, Linux, Mac, Additional components, Docker, AppImage, Ubuntu Snap
• Basics: About FreeCAD, Interface, Mouse navigation, Selection methods, Object name, Preferences, Workbenches, Document structure, Properties, Help FreeCAD, Donate

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• Help: Tutorials, Video tutorials
• Workbenches: Std Base, Arch, Assembly, CAM, Draft, FEM, Inspection, Mesh, OpenSCAD, Part, PartDesign, Points, Reverse Engineering, Robot, Sketcher, Spreadsheet, Start, Surface, TechDraw, Test Framework, Web

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• Addons: Addon Manager, External workbenches, Scripting and macros

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• Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub