Rendering = Making life-like images/videos in a digital workspace
Rendering can include adding lighting/shading, coloring, texturing, and backgrounds
The advantage of rendering is being able to visually illustrate your designs in a realistic setting without having to:
Physically make the design, and...
Put the physical design in a physical setting
Rendering is very common in industry, as it can "sell" a design without having to invest significant time & money on making anything other than a CAD model(s)
This means companies don't have to invest in production tooling, setup, materials, etc. before they even know if their design will sell and be profitable
Rendering also allows you to easily visualize different iterations of the same design in a realistic setting, without having to physically re-tool or re-make objects
Rendering is likely more common than you realize, as many commercials use life-like renderings
For example, none of the things in gifs shown above & below exist in real life - they are all rendered
To render a design that you have created in Fusion 360, you first open that design's file, then change from the "Design" Workspace to the "Render" Workspace
Within the Render workspace, you are creating a "Scene", by doing the following:
Change the Material & Appearance of components, the same way you would in the Design Workspace
Change the background & lighting for the scene, via "Setup" → "Scene Settings"
You can create & use custom backgrounds for your Scene, to make things even more realistic
Add images to object surfaces as "Decals" - think stickers, logos, etc.
Change the angle & distance you view your object from
Once you've adjusted the scene, you can "Capture Image" to save a high-quality image of what you've rendered!
You can choose to save either to the Cloud or locally
Read the article provided below for insights into how Rendering can be used and made better through efficient use and implementation:
Assign accurate appearances to all the components within your Toggle Clamp Assembly, then:
Create as realistic of a rendering as you can make (aim to make the render look as close to the image above as possible)
Feel free to use a background image, so long as they are school-appropriate and make sense for the assembly
Once done, upload documentation of your progress (text/pictures/gifs/videos) to your previously-created "Toggle Clamp Assembly" project page on your portfolio website, including:
Your rendered toggle clamp
Descriptions/summaries of what you did/learned