Re:CAM Software Options

Message: 24
Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 17:12:53 -0500
From: CL <datac@...>
Subject: Re: Re: CAM Software Options?

I too, was not all that impressed....well, other than the introductory
pricing.

On the cad side, I thought it rediculous that it would not allow a "nearest"
snap and any other snap to be active at the same time. Way too much button
pushing for me.

[I've had a hard time wrapping my mind around TurboCad's way of doing things
too, but it can be made to work. This program has a lot of legacy behind it,
and many people have become used to it. This is basically a good thing, but
it may make them reluctant to embrace new ways of working.]

On the Cam side, I found it to take way too many steps to get where I was
going. It made me really appreciate the quick "point and shoot methods of
VectorCam (which still needs a dialog to
automatically insert feedrates like most Cam programs and better toolbars) .
I had hoped that TurboCam would have captured the methods of Surfcam.

[Could you enlarge on that a bit? What does SurfCam do right that
TurboCadCam does wrong? I found SurfCam's interface at least as opaque,
myself.]

Saving my money,
Chris L

"j.guenther" wrote:

> IMHO the biggest problem with TurboCADCAM is the lack of documentation for
> the CAM functions AND the just plain s*^&^^y tutorials provided.

[I didn't think the tuts were all that bad, and there's more manual than
usual in products in this price range. Did you find the separate CAM help
menu? While it isn't integrated into the main help menu, it is pretty
extensive. Of course it could be better. I'll relay any constructive
suggestions you'd care to make.]

It may

> turn out to be a nice product but the sure as heck need to spend some
> serious money on the documentation if they plan on getting any substantial
> piece of the CAM market.
>
> John Guenther
> 'Ye Olde Pen Maker'
> Sterling, Virginia

[TurboCadCam has put up a bug-fix service release on their site at
http://www.turbocadcam.com/support/maint.cfm
This should deal with some of the issues in the G-code generation and
simulation functions which people here noticed in the demo. You run this
patch to fix an installed demo or purchased version. The list of bugs
squashed is on the page.]

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com