Hi Everyone,
Is anyone else using Fusion 360? I have always been a bit overwhelmed by the learning curve for software. Design in one package and then change to another package for manufacturer. It looks like this might be the future.
http://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview
I love the fact that any changes you make update the rest of your design and that also changes the CAM aspect of the software. It’s also free and has excellent learning materials and videos online.
It really does look like fantastic software. A real shame it’s locked to the cloud though. Give me standalone software or give me death! etc 
I was using it offline the other week, I don’t think you need to be online to CAD or CAM. It is software you download but the collaborative needs an internet connection.
I’ve been using it a little but not done a whole lot of CAD in my time, though I have tried out Solidworks and Rhino, but this is the one I’ll stick to - similarly a bit put of by learning curves but Fusion/Autodesk seems to be targeting designers/makers rather than full on engineers with this so loads of tutorials, nice interface etc. Best thing is that it’s free if your not mass-producing stuff plus its for both osx and windows (though as usual not linux sadly) and they are releasing updates for it very regularly.
Basically, it gets my vote. Reckon Autodesk would come and do a workshop day?
They claim to support makers so we can ask!
Need to chase them up over the free license they promised us…
They explicitly support non-profits and small businesses up to a certain turnover. No validation required - just tick the box 
I’ve switched from Sketchup to Fusion as I think it is a lot easier to use and so far have created 3D drawings that are ready to print without problems.c With Sketchup I have to be very careful or I have to fix the STL file before the slicer will work with it. Like all new programs there is a lot to learn to get up to speed. In saving that there are a lot of tutorials on utube to help.