[tommypants]

Hello everyone:

I am a complete newbie with CNC/Mastercam software but as a former video game artist, I am definitely not new to 3D (I use 3D Studio Max for my present 3D work and I know that is not going to cut it in my new career direction).

My problem is that I have no clue really which version of Mastercam to get.

As a mostly-art guy, the technical side of design has always been a struggle and I am completely overwhelmed by Mastercam's desciptions of the various versions/products on their website and I am hoping that some users here will be able to help me decide which product will suit my needs.

I am wanting to design anything from furniture to ...heck, any sort of consumer products, really. I guess I am still figuring out which direction to go in but furniture designs will definitely be in the mix somewhere.

I just need to know what would be the best version of Mastercam to learn that will enable me to go from the design stage to production-ready files.



I am running:

Windows 7 Professional

4BG of RAM

32-bit

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!
Tom

[JIMMY]

Mastercam X6 is the latest out right now. I would get the latest and greatest.

[JohnWLMT]

There is also a Mastercam for Solidworks. MCFSW version. Sounds like a good fit.

But there are many options for Solidworks. Go to Solidworks website and search for CAM partners.



John

[tommypants]

There is also a Mastercam for Solidworks. MCFSW version. Sounds like a good fit.

But there are many options for Solidworks. Go to Solidworks website and search for CAM partners.



John

Thanks Jimmy!

And John, thank you too. So I may be into having to learn Solidworks as well as Mastercam?

Looks like I will have to be selling a lot more crack to afford all this new software.

[bostosh]

I would get older "free/cheap" versions to learn with.
Then step into the expensive newer versions
if they have glitzy features that you may need.

the basic was accomplished years ago.

[tommypants]

I would get older "free/cheap" versions to learn with.
Then step into the expensive newer versions
if they have glitzy features that you may need.

the basic was accomplished years ago.

Thank you for your reply, bostosh.

Someone on another forum mentioned CNC Toolkit as a free software to check out.

Haven;t had time to try it but have you (or anyone else) used it?

The CNC Toolkit - Creative Toolpath Control

[slowlearner]

Tommy I have been a MasterCam user for nearly 2 decades. Designing in MC is possible but there are many programs that are quite better for this.
SolidWorks and Alibre top my list. Mastercam X6 is the latest and probably the only legal version you can buy now. I am learning it at the moment in order to gain certification for employment. SolidWorks is next on the list to learn. With the type of work you are wanting to do you might want to give ArtCam a demo drive. I own several softwares from Vectric and they are easy and work flawlessly. Good luck to you on finding what works for you.

[tommypants]

Thank you for your reply, slowlearner.

Having learned many 2D programs and a few 3D programs, I know that they all pretty much do similar things but with different terminology for the same functions.

I am assuming it would be the same for many of the more "industrial design" programs, am I right?

Having been a Mastercam user for such a long time would you say if I learned one of the programs you suggested, it would be relatively easy to adapt to Mastercam after I learn one of the more basic/free programs?

I am looking to gain employment eventually with this and I have heard from a lot of people that Mastercam is one of the industry-standard applications. Being an art guy more than a technical guy, I want to be efficient with what little energy I have in my brain to learn technically-daunting software.

[warrenb]

Being that you are coming from 3D gaming you'll probably want to do all your designing in what you are familiar with. You will want to get Mill Level 3 to handle the complex surfaces you will be importing with studio Max.

Hello everyone:

I am a complete newbie with CNC/Mastercam software but as a former video game artist, I am definitely not new to 3D (I use 3D Studio Max for my present 3D work and I know that is not going to cut it in my new career direction).

My problem is that I have no clue really which version of Mastercam to get.

As a mostly-art guy, the technical side of design has always been a struggle and I am completely overwhelmed by Mastercam's desciptions of the various versions/products on their website and I am hoping that some users here will be able to help me decide which product will suit my needs.

I am wanting to design anything from furniture to ...heck, any sort of consumer products, really. I guess I am still figuring out which direction to go in but furniture designs will definitely be in the mix somewhere.

I just need to know what would be the best version of Mastercam to learn that will enable me to go from the design stage to production-ready files.



I am running:

Windows 7 Professional

4BG of RAM

32-bit

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!
Tom

[tommypants]

Being that you are coming from 3D gaming you'll probably want to do all your designing in what you are familiar with. You will want to get Mill Level 3 to handle the complex surfaces you will be importing with studio Max.

Thank you, warrenb.

I may still use 3DS Max for some things but having not used a professional-level CNC application, I am unsure about using 3DS Max.

While you can use NURBS in 3DS Max, I only use polygon meshes with it. Doesn't CNC read NURBS or splines or....?

See?

I am totally new when it comes to what a CNC machine reads so I figure learning on a software program that one can send a finished file to may be the best way to go.

Any further tips/suggestions from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

[warrenb]

Any decent CAM package can read polygons, nurbs, STL, pointclouds etc. Mastercam is a capable program.

I hate to bash Mastercam because it is a fabulously awesome program. But it is also fabulously expensive.

There is a great design program called "Rhino 3D" You can purchase with RhinoCAM for around 3 grand.

Rhino is a much more free thinking program than Solidworks. In fact 3DS models import directly in to Rhino. I do own Rhino and can test if you like so send me a program (I do not have RhinoCAM but I do have friends that use it for CNC programming).

Myself I use exclusively ZW3D for design and CNC programming, formerly VX Cad Cam (About $7k). Very powerful but difficult to learn. I have had no problems importing any format of 3D files.

To be profitable, if you are like me, stick with what you know for designing
(3DS) and spend your free time learning a compatible CNC program like ZW or even Bobcad.

Good luck

Thank you, warrenb.

I may still use 3DS Max for some things but having not used a professional-level CNC application, I am unsure about using 3DS Max.

While you can use NURBS in 3DS Max, I only use polygon meshes with it. Doesn't CNC read NURBS or splines or....?

See?

I am totally new when it comes to what a CNC machine reads so I figure learning on a software program that one can send a finished file to may be the best way to go.

Any further tips/suggestions from anyone would be greatly appreciated.