Autodesk Inventor Fusion is a great 3D CAD modeling application that allows you to produce professional-quality models using simple tools. The main purpose behind this application is to aid you in making mechanical designs but can literally be used to make any sort of model you want. These models can be as simple as a cube, or as complex as a car. However, this application does fall short on a couple of aspects.

Autodesk has packed a ton of 3D modeling features into Inventor Fusion. In addition to creating realistic 3D models, you also use sketch tools to create 2D models. This can be incredibly useful if you prefer to draw an object before you attempt to make a 3D model out of it. What’s great about Autodesk is that they feature a ‘push and pull’ type of editing system. This means you drag certain parts of the model with your mouse to adjust them. This makes adjusting the size of certain parts of your model very easy and logical. In addition, if you are creating a mechanical model, you get Real Time Visualization. This will allow you to see exactly how your model will move, giving you complete confidence over the integrity of your work. Autodesk also has a cloud feature which will allow you to share your designs with anybody you want to. This feature also works well if you need to easily transfer your design to another location.

Unfortunately, there a couple design aspects I wish this application included. For starters, if you are resizing a part of your model, it can be very difficult to specify a specific size. While the ‘push and pull’ method is great, you can only adjust the size to offset instead of using a specific measurement. This makes it very difficult to get precise measurements from your model if that’s what you are going for. In addition, this application can be rather frustrating when you want to undo an action. Let’s say you just created an indent in a part, but realized you didn’t make it deep enough. Pressing the undo button will remove the entire indent so you are forced to start all over again. This lack of saving feature becomes overwhelmingly present throughout the entire application.

Generally speaking this application is fantastic given that it is free. I was able to adequately use this application without having much modeling experience. It is great for both professionals and hobbyists because it really does sport professional-quality tools. While there are some odd quirks, most of them probably won’t even be noticed by people who don’t use this type of software often. Autodesk Inventor Fusion is a great tool no matter what type of model you’re building.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 1.0

Supported OS: OS X 10.7 or later, 64-bit processor

Download size: 740mb

Autodesk Inventor Fusion Homepage