Is Fusion 360 easy to learn? Read on to find our our answer. And, if you're an educator, find out how teaching Fusion 360 with Fabrio can help you.

Welcome to Fabrio! This is our first blog post, and we’re excited to share our insights into Fusion 360 with you. As former STEM students, we know first-hand the complexity of learning a design software, and we believe the current way of teaching CAD, such as Fusion 360, isn't working. The Fabrio team have created resources, materials and videos to aid with learning Fusion 360 software. Fabrio is designed by students for students.

If you’re an educator planning on teaching your students Fusion 360, then this blog is for you. We will answer common questions teachers have about Fusion 360, such as ‘Is Fusion 360 easy to learn?’ and ‘How long does it take to learn Fusion 360?’. Knowing the answers to these questions will help inform your CAD lessons and inspire your pupils. Plus, we will offer you a student download for Fusion 360 you can use in your lesson(s).

We’ll start with an easy question, ‘What is Fusion 360’?

Fusion 360 is a platform created by Autodesk for collaborative 3D design, computer-aided manufacturing and engineering design. This software is used and applied in many fields, such as healthcare, fashion, forensics and engineering.

Is Fusion 360 easy to learn?

Compared to other CAD softwares, Fusion 360 has a user-friendly interface, which makes it relatively easy to use. If you’re a beginner, the answer to ‘is Fusion 360 easy to learn?’ is ‘yes’ but be prepared to find it difficult at the beginning. It will take time for you to familiarise yourself with Fusion 360. We recommend using our Fusion 360 downloads if you’re learning Fusion 360, and utilising our resources to help you master this software quickly.

How long does it take to learn Fusion 360?

The answer for this question depends on what level of proficiency you wish to achieve, and what you want to do with the software. If you want to learn Fusion 360 for solid modelling, it will take roughly a week. If you want to learn all modules, simulation, solid modelling, sculpting, animation it will take between 20–30 days. How long does it take to learn Fusion 360 with Fabrio? Fabrio is here to support modular teaching of Fusion 360 within the National Curriculum. Educators using Fabrio can expect their students to become proficient in Fusion 360 much faster than by using traditional methods.

Why choose Fabrio to aid your teaching of Fusion 360?

As well as providing you with course materials, Fabrio uniquely offers real-time marking within the platform. This means, students can receive feedback instantaneously and as teachers, you are able to track your students’ progress easily and efficiently.

Now that we’ve answered these key questions, here are some top tips for teaching Fusion 360 to students you may find useful:

• Encourage students to give it a go - many people fret about using Fusion 36 and don’t know where to start. While it can be daunting for new users, there is no ‘right’ way to start, so motivate your students to have a go.
• Use shortcuts - Shortcuts will save your students a lot of time, and make the design journey go a lot smoother. We have a great resource, you can use with your students, that will help you learn the crucial shortcuts.
• Remember to sketch first - One piece of advice we want to share is doing a sketch first, and then doing the dimensions. If you begin with the dimensions, the designing process can become more complicated than it needs to be.
• Don’t forget the navigation cube - You’ll find the navigation cube in the top right corner of your screen. With the cube, you’ll be able to orient your workspace.
• Make the most of the Parametric timeline - Arguably this is the most important tool in Fusion 360, as it represents the chronological disposition of every feature through graphs.
• Add life to designs with colour - Changing colours of your design can help you identify the different materials needed, and bring it to life.
• Get your students to group their designs in folders - This is the best way to group and organise their designs.
• Name your projects - Save your projects under a descriptive name e.g. “Fidget spinner”. This helps you remain organised - saving yourself future complications.
• Remember to import models and assets - Make the most of the library Fusion 360 has to offer, where you have the option to import and download assets and objects. By important these assets you won’t have to make all your objects from scratch!

If you think Fabrio would be a good fit for your CAD lessons, then join for free by registering your school. Once you’ve filled in your details, you’ll be able to choose the membership that’s right for you.