Getting Started Creating ANIMATIONS in Fusion 360 - Beginners Start Here!

In today’s video, we’re going to start talking about the animation tools inside of Autodesk Fusion 360 and how to use them to generate moving animations!
To start off, this is an FBX model I downloaded from Turbosquid for free and imported. I will link to it in the notes below, but there was a bit of re-work involved for this application.
TURBOSQUID HELICOPTER MODEL
www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/...
It’s not ideal, but it will work for this application. One thing to note is that I needed to take the rotor geometry and put it into its own component for this animation to work as the rotors need to animate independently from the rest of the model.
To start off, we’re going to want to change to the animation workspace. This workspace contains a different toolset than the design workspace, which is more focused on helping you create animations.
Intro to the Animation workspace -
- Top bar contains tools
- Left bar contains your browser
- Workspace is where you see your model
- Animation timeline is where you’re going to control your various animation elements
Now let’s create a simple animation. We’re going to start by adding a new transformation at the top of the page. It’s going to ask us to select a component to transform (or move). Let’s select the rotor head that I’ve created.
We can apply a rotation to this rotor, but you’re going to notice that it doesn’t do anything if you select ok. This is because we haven’t set a time for the animation inside of the timeline. What we want to do is start by dragging the little indicator on the timeline to a time associated with the length of the clip we want to create. In this case, for example, I’m going to set it to 4 seconds, which will create a 4 second long animation.
Now if you add your transformation, it will animate this transformation over 4 seconds and add a little clip on your timeline. You can right click on this clip and adjust the duration, edit the action itself, and more.
Add another transformation with the clip set with the end to be at 12 seconds and set our rotation to a larger number, like 4320. This would be 12 rotations over 8 seconds.
Finally, let’s add a movement. Select your whole helicopter as the transform object this time, and set a movement where your helicopter flies off the screen.
Notice you can also set your camera at different points in time by selecting those points on the timeline, then moving your camera to the location you’d like.
Finally, you can export your animation to a video file by clicking on publish.

[@TheFusionEssentials]

Hi everyone! Let me know what kind of animation tutorials you'd like to see for Fusion 360 in the comments below! :)

[@marcobarrosbarreto4703]

Hi, I really liked this tutorial! Great job! Are you interested in doing a tutorial on animations in a 3D environment? For example an conveyor belt with multiple robots working at it. It would be great if you could. Keep making videos :)

[@Rushikesh.Thange]

Please make video on quick return mechanism

[@josiahrodriguez8020]

This was incredibly helpful, thank you for making this video! I like the way you make your videos, its very easy to learn from them.

[@3dprintwiz378]

The shadow is trippy though. Still for an Engineering CAD software, it's amazing it can do that.

[@nuduw]

You have to check solidworks then lol. Pretty much same thing when it comes to motion studies but unlike fusion, you don't need to purchase cloud credits to render animations, you can render them locally. It has two renderers, one of which is just a modified version of Modo, the other one is a standalone program that interfaces with solidworks, apart from rendering capabilities it has a built-in physics engine (not CAE package, it's like game engine physics). Not at all something you'd expect from a CAD software lol.

[@EdwardMichaud1]

I agree, Fusion is pretty funky about their shadows. They render shadows at the minimum z-level for the components you have in your model. I think a fix to this (which I will state I don't think should be necessary to do yourself) would be to include basically a freckle at the bottom of the model. A whole new component so small that you can't even see it in the animation, but that wouldn't move so your shadow would behave a little more realistically.

[@karlz_thrasher]

This was incredibly straightforward... Thank you for this tutorial! I remember I felt confused about the subject and used to procrastinate, but after following your tutorial with my model. I think I can do more. Thank you once more

[@TheFusionEssentials]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lepalakatamahlatsemongalo2242]

Great detailed explanation
. Straight to the point. Thank you.

[@yasmeenxx1884]

This was really helpful, i am working on my graduation project and I was completely lost, thank yous so much

[@leonyegenoglu3035]

Thanks a lot for this tutorial! Clear explanation and to the point!

[@xavviermendoza]

Holy crap! Awesome video! Very helpful!

[@EntertheRift-ct5ms]

Great video man this was a really solid intro into the basics. Fusion can sometimes be tricky because there will be a couple key things that can make or brake a project creation and this defiantly helped with jumpstarting animation creation.

[@SADYT-be5qe]

Thank u for the basics! It was really helpful, i knew u could do animation in fusion but didn't know the basics hahaha

[@gigilam9206]

Thanks a lot~ it’s nice!
This is really helpful

[@quintongroves1239]

that helicopter design is sick!

[@aronandreas]

Just love it 👍

[@LuisLopez-sp2kh]

thanks a lot, great content!

[@maebangchy]

Great !
Thank you.

[@aronandreas]

Just love it

[@wpegley]

Helpful, thx for the Video.

[@hamilton_24]

Nice work my guy

[@JuampiSoraireOk]

Thank you!

[@CoolStuff1]

Thank you!!!

[@j2mccoy]

Again...well done Justin.

[@TheFusionEssentials]

Thanks! :)

[@douglasmckinley-sr1507]

Thanks. Motivates me to try it. Suggestion- put the video at the beginning to get more people interested in spending 12 minutes of their life with you.

[@jimstana1889]

Very helpful. As a newcomer, one issue I have had is that the screen in AVI seems to be cutoff from the screen in Animation? Not sure why. Your explanation of camera view is very helpful and may be part of my issue.

[@kapimataio3139]

I love this video bro, now how do I get rid of the shadow?

[@deonsmit819]

Thank you my friend this comes to closest to what I actually need to learn what I really would like to see is to create I think they call it a design animation like to demonstrate how does a internal combustion engine works I would like to see how parts can be made transparent how you can make certain parts be hiddden during the video and then of course put motion into that. I so hope fusion can do it because I've just mastered fusion I don't wanna go into blender and Maya please tell me you can do it with fusion 360

[@noordinasimi463]

Thank you for such a great and easy to follow video on Fusion 360 animation. However, the tricky part was not explained, would appreciate if you could show how to set the centre of rotation to be on the rotor head please

[@_Viking]

Just select the pivot in the meny box and then you can move it just like any other object or component.

[@metamuhamudnoah2856]

oh wooow this wonderfull
it is very usefull to me as a beginner please do more up to datails please.

[@anthonyviljoen9988]

Cool

[@AndyB1812]

Hi, great video, do you know how to change the frame rate to 24fps? Thanks

[@PossumMedic]

When I'm in the design menu I can easily apply a section view and then select "animate model" from the main joint connection so I can see all the internal parts moving. How can I get this in animation mode so I can record it?

[@AndyB1812]

Great video, do you know how to change the frame rate to 24fps. thanks

[@stilartman9671]

Good job. Possible exported animated from fusion 360 to 3ds max ?

[@HawaiianPineapple]

This is so cool! I never knew you can do this. Can you make one of a car or chassis with wheels turning 90 degrees?

[@tekaruki3674]

Its the same like the rotor in this video but if you want the Car to move accurate to the wheel movement you would have to calculate that movement depending on your wheel size

[@figueiredoikeda]

hey, thank you

[@simoartist6465]

please!! would you make some animation tutorials of spinning cars wheels? and doors rotation? thanks a lot

[@user-pq4dl1qc4k]

Hello, how would you render the animation? Would you require another software?

[@joec9086]

Thanks for this! Would you be able to create an architectural walkthrough animation? I enjoyed your architectural layout tutorial a lot. Very helpful.

[@kingsleykwesimensah]

great.

[@CrankyCoder]

Do animations not take in to account joints? I did the gear demo but when i tried to animate it, it seems the animations don't acknowledge joints.

[@taransaxena2811]

hey can you explain how you made each object a component

[@metamuhamudnoah2856]

oh that is great but the shadow flys with the copter too it looks like just the camera moving but not the chopper flying
can show us how to separate the shadow from the model

[@jsha6604]

sir can u please tell me that can i include bodies in animation or can i record in design??please reply

[@bruceburby4265]

Thanks for the vid's they help allot. I wish it would bring the joints along with it so you wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel. I am making a P&H Page walking dragline and the walking and swing gear drive systems are. grrr. Would love to known a easier way to build a video of it.

[@Tatorhead1234]

Great videos man

[@TheFusionEssentials]

Thank you!

[@jsha6604]

@@TheFusionEssentials
sir can u please tell me that can i include bodies in animation or can i record in design??please reply

[@demitridecastro4504]

Can you share a tutorial on how you built that Black Hawk Helicopter?

[@ambitiousglue3930]

Can you please make a tutorial video on how you modelled this helicopter design?

[@billsmith3934]

Is there any way to shange the shadow as it lifts from the ground?

[@carloscamero8445]

how can i make the floor static so it doesn't move the helicopter

[@sekut_Lenga]

How I can opened-up this video using Fusion 360? Thanks

[@nicolasmedina2936]

Can we import a model from SketchUp? Its posible?

[@eliaskouakou7051]

It would be cool if they add a simulation section.

[@TheDiverJim]

How do you get the animations to be constrained by the joints? This is infuriating me. I just want to do a mechanical study of an assembly articulating the joints.

[@jettrude]

My fusion 360 is kinda weird whenever i click transform and click a component it does not select a component

[@Bufon_Wytkain42]

How can I put the helicopter files into my 360 app?

[@MrTHEORIGINALICEMAN]

How do you set the pivot point?

[@abdurrahim7122]

Animation of power screws and turret press.

[@avinashn9945]

Can I get a cad drawing of the helicopter

[@Esteban-lh7qz]

6_6 but why does the shadow move with the helicopter?

[@fernandobastos6938]

I miss your videos :(

[@amitdnath4776]

boy i just found gold

[@vatsonification]

What about shadow?

[@baimdudut2887]

I met this guy at Sketchup tutor, now i meet him at fusion360.. how he's made?

[@abid6247]

Damn

[@mats_bats]

0:25 Pardon me. The black what...
By the way "Koffein Flummi" is german and means "caffeine bouncy ball"

[@h.mnuman5596]

bro the till rotor are not spinning.ha ha

[@MattMayolo]

Damn 3 years have passed and still fusion 360 is SO BAD at animation, even when Autodesk owns some of the best 3D animation software in the industry