[GreatLakesWater]

Anyone use it? I have Autodesk Inventor Pro 2012 and wondered if this would be a good option. I have not placed the order for the Tormach yet due to learning the software first. Just about ready to pull the trigger.

[VaderSpade]

My son loves it, and keeps trying to get me to check it out.

[legendboy]

i plan on buying it (express) after my retrofit is done

[dkaustin]

SprutCAM includes an Inventor plug-in that allows it to import Inventor models. It's what I use, and I've had no problems with it.

Don't know what Autodesk is charging for InventorCAM, but you might want to check the price on Sprut as another (maybe cheaper) option.

[GreatLakesWater]

Well I get student pricing on InventorCAM so thats why I was wondering. I got the same on Autodesk Inventor. Watched some of the tutorials last night. I kinda like what I see so far.

[beanbag]

One big advantage of InventorCAM over Sprut is that you can makes changes to your models and the toolpaths get updated right away. In Sprut, you have to start over.

[VaderSpade]

My son will be here tomorrow and he's bringing InventorCAM with him so we can test it on my mill. I let you know how it goes.

[legendboy]

Well I get student pricing on InventorCAM so thats why I was wondering. I got the same on Autodesk Inventor. Watched some of the tutorials last night. I kinda like what I see so far.

mind sharing what the student pricing is?

i have worked a deal on xpress for just under $700

student version come with imachining?

[tonyaimer]

One big advantage of InventorCAM over Sprut is that you can makes changes to your models and the toolpaths get updated right away. In Sprut, you have to start over.

I own Inventor 2012 pro with FEM and simulation. I checked with my autodesk dealer about Inventor CAM and the brochure he sent me stated that it was a 21/2D package. I am a bit confused about this and if anyone can explain how this relates to Sprutcam (21/2D or 3D)? and the question of the number of axes ( 3/4 ), I would be pleased to hear it

Tony Aimer

Johannesburg

[adorsett]

I've spent the past 2 weeks evaluating InventorCAM and have even done a 1-on-1 session with one of their support guys to get me started. Their response time is top notch, at least during the presale. I'm having difficulty getting the tool paths I need though which is pushing me back to SprutCAM. I am also interested to see what deals others have worked out for Xpress. I know for a fact they are doing some good deals right now.

Yes the low-end licensing is 2.5D only which means you don't get 3D contouring but for most hobbiests this doesn't matter. You can create multiple 2.5D paths to accomplish satisfactory results. They took one of my spherical parts and showed me how to do so. You can upgrade to the pro license and get 4/5 axis indexing to match SprutCAM. If you want to pay even more you can get their 3D tool paths. But I'll be honest with options in HSS you can do quite a bit. I just can't figure out how to restrict it and not hit my fixtures or other features...

[legendboy]

I've spent the past 2 weeks evaluating InventorCAM and have even done a 1-on-1 session with one of their support guys to get me started. Their response time is top notch, at least during the presale. I'm having difficulty getting the tool paths I need though which is pushing me back to SprutCAM. I am also interested to see what deals others have worked out for Xpress. I know for a fact they are doing some good deals right now.

Yes the low-end licensing is 2.5D only which means you don't get 3D contouring but for most hobbiests this doesn't matter. You can create multiple 2.5D paths to accomplish satisfactory results. They took one of my spherical parts and showed me how to do so. You can upgrade to the pro license and get 4/5 axis indexing to match SprutCAM. If you want to pay even more you can get their 3D tool paths. But I'll be honest with options in HSS you can do quite a bit. I just can't figure out how to restrict it and not hit my fixtures or other features...

I spent an hour with paul.j (app eng) on go-to-meeting this afternoon. he took my part file and showed me a bunch of different ways to machine it.

looked good to me so i bought it

he was having a bit of trouble with milling the vice he put in the assembly but didn't take him long to figure it out

also had some trouble in a tight pocket, hitting the wall when machining a spherical feature i put in there. there is collision detection in there somewhere, saw it today

[Don Clement]

Assuming that 2.5D is all one needs in CAM software can be a mistake. This thread makes me glad I got SprutCAM with full featured 3D with 4th axis support. I would have been really upset to have bought a bargain 2.5D CAM package only to have to shell out more $$ for CAM software upgrade so the CAM would do what I really needed in the first place. It also appears that one might have to invest just as much time on the learning curve with the other CAM packages while spending way more $$ to get the same features of SprutCAM when buying with a Tormach.

Don

[kevinro]

Assuming that 2.5D is all one needs in CAM software can be a mistake. This thread makes me glad I got SprutCAM with full featured 3D with 4th axis support. I would have been really upset to have bought a bargain 2.5D CAM package only to have to shell out more $$ for CAM software upgrade so the CAM would do what I really needed in the first place. It also appears that one might have to invest just as much time on the learning curve with the other CAM packages while spending way more $$ to get the same features of SprutCAM when buying with a Tormach.

Don

There are nice things about SprutCAM and a LOT of short comings. There is much value in having a package that is integrated enough that you can update your CAD files without having to completely redo the CAM operations. It is one of the things that frustrate me most about SprutCAM. It consumes a large chunk of time.

All of these programs have a learning curve, and most of them are expensive.

I for one am eager to hear the outcome for InventorCAM. As far as I have looked into it, the documentation is much better than SprutCAM. I would like to know if it is more stable. SprutCAM has a habit of crashing on my machine regularly.

[adorsett]

I've only crashed Sprut a few times but I have crashed InventorCAM a whole lot more. I think I'm upwards of 25 or 30 times by now (mostly when trying iMachining). Their claim is that I must be typing in invalid values, my argument is their bounds checking must suck. The complaint I have is that once it crashes there is no way to restart without closing and relaunching Inventor. They do a great job finding their temporary file and resuming from it though.

I really, really wanted to like the package because of the tight integration with Inventor. I found I could easily do my simple parts but that complex parts like a curved ring of a Christmas Ordiment just frustrated the crap out of me. It should have been easier than it was. (It wanted to machine all sides of the ring from the top instead of stopping where it couldn't reach any further)

I had been offered a great end of year price for the 2.5D Pro package and I ended up letting it expire because I just struggled with making it do what I wanted. I've got probably about 8 or 9 hours in toying with it now and I'm not as impressed as I was from watching YouTube videos and reading documents.

I've been struggling with CAM package selection for the past 2 months and I've been evaluating every one I find listed on here. I feel everyone should try the software for themselves to see how it works, but make sure you try a variety of parts from simple to complex and make sure you can do it without calling their support.

[kevinro]

I've only crashed Sprut a few times but I have crashed InventorCAM a whole lot more. I think I'm upwards of 25 or 30 times by now (mostly when trying iMachining). Their claim is that I must be typing in invalid values, my argument is their bounds checking must suck. The complaint I have is that once it crashes there is no way to restart without closing and relaunching Inventor. They do a great job finding their temporary file and resuming from it though.

End user crashes are usually inversely proportional to the quality of the user interface. If values are not apparent, there are a lot of edits, deletes, changes, and retries which makes for a lot of untested variations and broken varaitions.

That is probably why I crash SprutCAM so often as I am still trying to determine what all of the parameters do so I monkey with them a lot. It almost never works as I expect the first (thru fifth!) time. SprutCAM does a lot, but is so poorly documented it is easy to put it in a bad state.

[williamsmotower]

Madcam is a great option that works well with Mach.

[tbaker2500]

I honestly didn't use my machine for prototypes (what I bought it for) for several years, due in part to how incredibly time consuming sprutcam is. I recently bought Vectric Cut 2d, then upgraded to V-carve pro. I have never been more happy. It's so simple, and yet it does everything I need. Being able to "just get it done" is worth so much to me.
My 2c.

[legendboy]

I recently bought Vectric Cut 2d, then upgraded to V-carve pro. I have never been more happy. It's so simple, and yet it does everything I need. Being able to "just get it done" is worth so much to me.
My 2c.

This is how I feel about inventorcam. I have been using inventor since R10 and the solidcam plugin feels so simple and natural compared to all the other cam software i tried out.

V-Carve is pretty sweet too!


I should also mention that i am not a tormach owner, just here for the inventorcam discussion

[paul3112]

Hi, I know this is an old thread, but was wondering if the initial post had been adressed in greater detail. I have the same question. Anyone have first hand experience?? Also found this vid .. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeakMv9eZng&feature=related]Why you need InventorCAM - YouTube[/ame]

Regards
Paul

[kevinro]

InventorCAM looks like a great product, but I can't find any information on pricing that is straight forward. I have no actual knowledge of InventorCAM, but I would like to know the price.

I have found that in general, any product with a website that has a 'Request a quote' page rather than a price is probably going to be > $5000 to purchase.

I have seen a website (InventorCAM - Integrated CAM Software for Autodesk® Inventor™ ) that claims to have discounts of 25%, which will save you $3,000. Extrapolation puts the price at $12,000 for a seat. It also appears that the subscription for updates is in the $6,000 a year range based on another website.

Kevin

PS: Last time I filled in a quote request (from a distributor for a different product), I couldn't shake the company for nearly 4 months of weekly phone calls, no matter how many times I said no I am not interested. Not interested in doing that again.