Which is the best Cad-Cam Software?

Message: 3
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 10:46:05 -0700
From: "Kirk W. Fraser" <kirk@...>
Subject: Which is the best Cad-Cam Software?

I bought a MaxNC which is on my kitchen table but I can't seem to get BobCad
to do much even after taking their CD-Rom training and some support
interaction. It seems quite a convoluted program. Is MasterCam better?
There are some programs aimed at jewlery like Cimigraphi but it is very
expensive. I'm sure there are several more packages (including the prospect
of writing my own which I may attempt if there's no better option).

[If you're planning on making jewelry, there are a few more programs
specially geared towards that you might check out, like Jewelspace from
Caligari http://www.caligari.com and Digital Goldsmith/Matrix (which is a
plug-in for Rhino)http://www.gemvision.com/matrix.htm. These are CAD
(design) programs; you'd still need a CAM (toolpath-generating) program to
tell your MaxNC how to cut any models they'd produce.]

What are the software rankings by name, price, function, and ease of use?
Or if nobody has a list, then what works with 3D solid models, is easy to
learn & use, and is affordable?

Thanks,
Kirk Fraser

[Are you already making solid models, in a program like Solidworks? If
you've got a solid modeler, you might consider getting a surface modeling
program like Rhino to complement it. If not, Rhino is teaming up with
IronCad to offer a deal on Innovate and/or Rhino. Innovate is a separate
package which offers some of the features Rhino lacks, like solids,
shelling, parametrics, and drag/drop mechanical detailing. Rhino by itself
heads many people's lists of CAD software, based on the factors you list
above, and adding this other program at a reasonable price makes it useful
for even more purposes. See http://www.ironcad.com/rhino/rhino.asp for
details.

If you've already got the models, and just need a CAM program that can
interpret them, BobCad isn't going to do the job. It works best on models
constructed within BobCad, and has little or no ability to deal with
imported files. Instead you might look at DeskProto or STLWork, both of
which can construct toolpaths from STL files (which Rhino and many other
programs can produce), but have no design functionality. DeskProto 3.0 will
write paths that take advantage of a rotary 4th axis, while the inexpensive
Lite version can do 4th axis indexing. For more information on these, visit
my site (below). And if you do decide to write your own program, please keep
us informed of your progress. I'm sure you'll find many enthusiastic
beta-testers here.]

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com