SynthesisFusionGltfExporter

A cross-platform Autodesk® Fusion 360™ add-in to export assemblies into the glTF file format. Synthesis-specific data like mechanical joints and physics properties are serialized in the exported glTF files using the “extras” tag, a feature in the glTF spec for including miscellaneous data.

Usage

The SynthesisFusionGltfExporter add-in is installed into Fusion 360 automatically by the Synthesis installer.

The add-in should run automatically, adding a tab labeled "Synthesis glTF Exporter" after an assembly has been opened. If not, here's how to start the add-in manually:

• Navigate to the "Tools" menu in the Design workspace.
• Click on the "Add-Ins" button.
• In the window that appears, navigate to the "Add-Ins" tab.
• Click on SynthesisFusionGltfExporter in the list under "My Add-Ins".
• Click the "Run" button with the green arrow.
• On the first time the add-in is launched, it will attempt to install the python dependencies, which will take ~30 seconds. If the installation fails, check your internet connection and try again.
• If the installation succeeds, a new tab will appear in the Design workspace named "Synthesis Gltf Exporter".

Using the add-in:

• Open the design you want to export.
• Navigate to the tab labeled "Synthesis Gltf Exporter".
• Click the button labeled "Export to Gltf".

Development Installation (Windows)

Getting Started

See the wiki for an overview of the exporter and links to relevant documentation.

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/
• Visual Studio Code Python plugin
• Fusion 360
• protoc.exe from the Google Protobuf library (add the folder with the protoc executable to your system path) https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/latest

Optional

• Jetbrains PyCharm
• Fusion 360 Scripting plugin for PyCharm https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/11343-fusion-360-scripting

Installation

• git clone https://github.com/Autodesk/synthesis --recursive
• Open Fusion 360
• Navigate to the Tools Tab > Add-ins > Scripts and Add-ins...
• Click the Add-ins tab and click on the green plus
• Navigate to the location of the repo and select the folder .../synthesis/exporter/SynthesisFusionGltfExporter
• Click on SynthesisFusionGltfExporter which will appear in the My Add-ins list
• Click the "Edit" button to open the VSCode editor
• To debug the Add-in, go back to Fusion and click on the dropdown next to the "Run" button, then click "Debug"

Releasing

• Open Fusion and test the add-in functionality.
• Zip up the project directory SynthesisFusionGltfExporter

Installer (Windows)

• The installer should place all the files in zipped release folder at %AppData%\Autodesk\Autodesk Fusion 360\API\AddIns\SynthesisFusionGltfExporter

Installer (Macos)

• The installer should place all the files in zipped release folder at $HOME/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/API/AddIns/SynthesisFusionGltfExporter

Troubleshooting

Protobuf-related error:

• Restart Fusion 360
• Make sure the protobuf python file has generated in the gltf/extras/proto subdirectory

Visual studio debugger crashes with socket timeout:

• Open task manager and close all python processes
• If problem persists, uninstall Fusion 360 and reinstall