Such great videos, exactly what I needed in my quest to create variations on a standard design programmatically. You explain everything so clearly at a perfect pace and never assume that the watcher know something that they should know but may not. Engaging and friendly as well, all the hallmarks of a GREAT teacher. Thank you.
I am a programmer by trade and a fledgling designer. I commend you for your brute force effort to learn API programming and teach other designers as you go. Really great stuff and your channel looks fantastic. Thank you for sharing.
Wow, thanks! I apologize for any non-traditional coding approach taken :) I feel like the information is there but the barrier for a non-programmer seems impossible at times. Thanks for checking the video out and the comment!
Great video! Just something I wanted to add in case people get confused by the error. Once the script has been run and the UserParameter created it, if you try running again it will give you a name error because the name Width was already created when first run. Just thought I'd mention! Thanks for the series.
Very nice Video. Can not wait to write my first code. It is like a magic for a newbie like me 🧙♂🤣. Thanks a lot for your hard work. It is very helpful.
Wonderful video! It's superior to the Autodesk ones. I would like to offer some advice on improvements, if you ever decide to create more API videos in the future. Fusion 360 API is very technical and it requires OOP and general programming experience. You would cover a lot more of the Fusion API at a deeper level if you focused on a developer audience. Without extensive OOP programming experience, the topic is of little utility.
Thanks Bob! The audience I am going for is the non-programmer trying to help understand how to do simple things with API. The first video in the series was just about OOP and some basics of programming with Python(and again I am not a programmer by trade). In that video I listed a bunch of good resources I found on OOP if the user wants to learn more. What I found missing was the link between the basics of Fusion API and Basics of programming for non-programmers. The barrier to entry is a bit steep. I released the 8th video in this series yesterday where we read in a CSV file and saved various configurations of a file by changing user parameters. I could be wrong but I think there are so many people out there interested in creating some basic scripts but just lack the code experience to dive in and most of the resources assume you are already proficient with code and just need to understand the Fusion API. And the sample programs in the help file often are so specific and make the topic more complicated to understand. at least I hope so :) could just be me ;)
@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign A non-programmer would be better served by text commands. The knowledge required just for the programming side is vast and overwhelming. The best they can do is follow along, but they won't grasp what they're doing. The API adds another heavy layer on top of that with a dearth of available information to help programmers get their heads around it. The Autodesk videos are old and not presented in an easy to digest manner. It's more of a big overview of the API without any coding demonstrations. It might explain why there's not a lot of add-ins available for it. I would seriously consider approaching Autodesk to do some videos for them. You can also approach PluralSight or LinkedIn Learning to do a course. They pay well and you already have a incredible portfolio to get you through the door.
Thanks Bob. so I am a contractor and produce videos for Autodesk in many areas. Design, simulation, CAM, generative etc. I haven't done any API stuff because honestly I am not qualified :) Actually diving in and learning Python better had been on my list for a long time(i programed some xmas lights on my house and have done a few micro controller projects but that was it). I put out a video on text commands and intro to scripts basically hacking a sample and people asked for more. so I delivered. If i get to the point where I feel more comfortable speaking truth to OOP I will certainly dive a bit deeper! I appreciate the feedback and advice!
@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign You're offering more than a video, but also a more approachable pedagogy. You're perceived lack of expertise is actually an asset. It gives you a perspective Autodesk doesn't have, enabling you to identify and clarify difficult areas. It might make sense to work with their developers to assist in developing the content. What you've done thus far is outstanding.
Great video, thanks for your great work putting this all together! If I may, I have a question : to define "design" you use design = adsk.fusion.Design.cast(app.activeProduct) in stead of design = app.activeProduct. The latter will work also, however, in that case when inputting design. (dot) the class userParameters is not available in the viewlist , one has to type userParameters.add() manually. Is that a Python or an Autodesk thing?
Thanks. That is a tricky one for sure and to be honest I am not 100% sure exactly what does and does not affect the viewlist that pops up. It is not supposed to be related to casting, but I can't tell you for sure if that affects it or not. If you start a new script with the default message box, typing ui. shows the viewlist for me and nothing is cast there. so my gut is to say that it does not affect it. With casting you will notice the viewList contains a lot more items. When you use design = app.activeProduct you are leaving the door a bit open if you aren't in the design workspace for example. If you are in rendering, mfg, simulation those are the current activeProduct. If you cast the active product to adsk.fusion.Design then you are explicitly telling it that you are expecting a design. That is the way that I understand it.
@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign I will have to look into it. This is my first in Python (using C# and VB for Powermill/Powershape automation projects) and Python seems confusing to me. Maybe my age. Started programming in 1971. As for now I am searching for how to debug Fusion script. It will take time.
@@LucPonsaerts-ec6vo For sure. I stumbled into Qbasic in the 90s and did some C based stuff. descent amount of VBA. Python and any object oriented programming takes mostly the same structure, just the syntax changes. There are loads of OOP series on Python, then its just the nuance of how the Fusion API works. I will say that ChatGPT is a good resource to help debug/explain lines of code. Not super great at just coding for you.
