Hi.
I'm at a point where I need to recommend to my employer which CAM software to shell out $$$ for. I'm working with a new 3 axis Haas mill, and we may eventually get a 4th axis for it. Right now I'm doing only 2d parts, but I need to get up to speed with 3d surfaces etc.
I've been using Surfcam lately, and have had training in it (albeit from 2005). It's working reasonably well for 2D stuff, but I haven't used it for 3D stuff for a few years now, and then not much anyway.
I've also had training (two semesters) in Mastercam, 2009 was the latest. At the time I landed a job where I had to use Gibbscam. I found GC to be fairly good at solids but a real PITA for simple drawing tasks. And it was the leader of the Update-a-week club. Anyway, taking a class in Mastercam at night while trying to absorb Gibbscam at work was a real head twister. So different. At the time I vastly preferred Mastercam.
Have also used the following, with brief opinions: Featurecam (too controlling), Geopath (a bit primitive), G-Zero (interesting approach but not very flexible), Esprit (mill work not its strong point).
Even used Bob Cad Cam for Solidworks for a short while. Not a big fan of that, either.
I've downloaded and tried out Fusion 360, and while it seems pretty adept at solids it's a steep learning curve, and does not seem very appropriate for doing simpler 2d parts. I've yet to be able to get it to spit out code for a simple 2D part, for example. Mostly I've just used to view and dimension solid or DXF files that Surfcam can't handle. The price is right: $300/yr, but I don't expect that bargain will last indefinitely.
So... it boils down to being between the latest Surfcam and the latest Mastercam, I suppose. Both are in the five digit level. Only need a single seat. I'd consider others but only if they don't have steep learning curves. As it is, Mastercam seems a bit more cryptic than Surfcam, but maybe it's just because I haven't used it for about five years.
Any thoughts?