Fusion 360

Fusion 360 is a free 3D CAD or CAM design software for students, educators, and academic institutions. Fusion 360 offers critical features such as subscription services, documentation, data management and collaboration, simulation, design, advanced manufacturing, generative design, and advanced simulation.

The subscription services include continuous updates, forum, email, and phone support, and flexible subscriptions with cloud credits. In the continuous updates, Fusion 360 updates the process continuously to allow users to access the latest technology at no extra cost. The subscription services also offer annual and monthly subscriptions that include cloud credits with purchase.

The design feature provides sketching that allows users to create and edit sketches with sketch constraints and dimensions as well as turn sketches into 3D objects. The parametric modeling tool in the design feature allows creating history-based features that update with design changes. The freeform modeling tool enables users to create complex sub-divisional surfaces with T-splines, and increase the density of T-spline faces.

The documentation feature offers 2D manufacturing drawings that enable users to document manufacturing specifications using integrated and associative drawings for parts and assemblies.

The animations tools allow users to communicate their designs with 3D exploded views and animations to show design assembly. With the documentation feature, users can use the renderings tools to create photo-realistic images of the model to leverage local or cloud computing. The data management and collaboration feature offer version management that enables users to view or promote previous versions with automatic or manual version control. Users can use the live design reviews to see edits made to the design live within Fusion 360.