Mastercam 2017 is released

[gcode]

The email hasn't gone out yet but the download is available here

 

http://www.mastercam.com/en-us/Support/Downloads/Mastercam

 

If you are running MC2017 PC1 you do not need to reinstall

PC1 has a build date of May 27, 3026

and is version # 19.0.7874.0 

That is the same as the RTM that was released this morning

 

if you're running MCfor SW, you will need to do a reinstall

 

 

[Jayson Kramer]

I got a Msg Friday that it was released. They were pushing for this day and hit the date they set for.

So start downloading and using folks. Happy Camming.

[gcode]

^{I got the email about 10 minutes ago}

^{There must be a lot of people piling on, the download is slooooow}

 

^{They got a chook download available called MC Command Finder.}

^{It looks like it will be useful for hunting down commands in the new interface}

[gcode]

man this download is crawling... still at it 25% to go

[oneyankfan1]

^{I got the email about 10 minutes ago}

^{There must be a lot of people piling on, the download is slooooow}

 

^{They got a chook download available called MC Command Finder.}

^{It looks like it will be useful for hunting down commands in the new interface}

I cant seem to find it to add to my quick access tool bar (or any tab for that matter). I placed the MCCommandFinder.dll and MCCommandFinder.ft in C:\Program Files\mcam2017\chooks but its not showing up on any of my commands lists in the options panel. Is there no "add-in" icon associated with this c hook for it to be added to to my QATB?

[Machineguy]

Restart MC and see if its there.

[Mick from CNC Software Inc.]

On  a Windows 10 machine and possibly Win 7, 8 if you unzip a file into your program files folder, in this case C:\Program Files\mcam2017\chooks both files will be blocked. You must extract the files to a temp folder first, right click and unblock each file then copy them to your chooks folder in order for Mastercam to recognize them.

Edited June 20, 2016 by Mick from CNC Software Inc.

[oneyankfan1]

On  a Windows 10 machine and possibly Win 7, 8 if you unzip a file into your program files folder, in this case C:\Program Files\mcam2017\chooks both files will be blocked. You must extract the files to a temp folder first, right click and unblock each file then copy them to your chooks folder in order for Mastercam to recognize them.

Thanks.

[Glorehm]

Terrible configuration change. Time to get off of maintenance!

[Mick from CNC Software Inc.]

Terrible configuration change. Time to get off of maintenance!

 

What configuration change are you referring to?

[Glorehm]

What configuration change are you referring to?

The entire thing. Layout, ribbon bar, some toolpaths removed. The best way I have been able to explain it to fellow user is, Mastercam 2017 is a some where between Mastercam 9.1 and Mastercam X-X9. 9.1 is heavily layered. X-X9 quick button. More clicking to get the destination = less efficient.

[gcode]

The entire thing. Layout, ribbon bar, some toolpaths removed. The best way I have been able to explain it to fellow user is, Mastercam 2017 is a some where between Mastercam 9.1 and Mastercam X-X9. 9.1 is heavily layered. X-X9 quick button. More clicking to get the destination = less efficient.

the interface is new... but to the best of my knowledge, no toolpaths have been removed

some of them did not get a place in the new layout, but all are accessible via right click in the Toolpath Manager 

and all of them can be added to the ribbon bar if desired

[Leigh @ Kodiak]

I was really against the new ribbon layout initially, but anytime I have to go back to X9 I end up wanting to punch someone in the face. while it certainly took getting used to, I actually find the new layout to be much more efficient.

[Goldorak]

The new layout is really close to solidworks dynamic toolbar

 

So for people like me who spend more time on SW than on MCAM, i see the new layour as a major improvement

[gcode]

CNC has put together a PDF titled Making the Switch from X9

Its well done and worth your time to review

I've been running MC2017 since Oct 2015 and I learned a bunch of things I didn't know

 

for example

you can right click any icon in a Ribbon and add it to the Quick Access toolbar

 

 

you can download it here

http://forum.mastercam.com/Topic14583.aspx

[Rotary Ninja]

Thanks!

 

I just switched back to X9. I just couldn't take all the clicking to get to hidden toolbars. Spending the last 6 years getting those toolbars set exactly how I want them has me set in my ways I guess.

[Leigh @ Kodiak]

Thanks!

 

I just switched back to X9. I just couldn't take all the clicking to get to hidden toolbars. Spending the last 6 years getting those toolbars set exactly how I want them has me set in my ways I guess.

 

3 or 4 years from now when there is some "must have" feature available, you might wish you had gotten used to the new layout sooner.. 

[gcode]

3 or 4 years from now when there is some "must have" feature available, you might wish you had gotten used to the new layout sooner.. 

Yeah... a buddy of mine refused to make the transition from v9 to X

We were at X6 and he was assigned a job v9 just could not do.

X6 could handle it easily and he ended up learning a new interface while programming

a very difficult part.  It wasn't pretty. 2 mice died a  traumatic death before the part was finished

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

X1 through X3 were basically unusable; I waited for X4.  While the X series did add phenomenal capabilities, even at X9 there are aspects of the interface that are still slower than in 9.1.  I figure the smart thing will be to wait another year or two for most of the kinks to get worked out, and then trade usability for functionality again.

[hlibhlib]

Somebody make C-Hook for user creation of the tools Panel in the Old style in 2017    Pease!!!

[Thad]

X1 through X3 were basically unusable;

 

I gotta disagree with that. X was so new and different, I wasn't sure if something was broken or that's just how it worked. Either way, I don't recall any major issues with it. I stayed on X2 until X6 came out. X2 was pretty solid, as was X6. I then waited until X8 to update, then X9 which I'm currently still running.

 

Thinking back on it, X and X2 were the only version that I moved to right when they came out. The others, I waited for the first MU to come out before updating.

[gms1]

CNC has put together a PDF titled Making the Switch from X9

Its well done and worth your time to review

I've been running MC2017 since Oct 2015 and I learned a bunch of things I didn't know

 

for example

you can right click any icon in a Ribbon and add it to the Quick Access toolbar

 

 

you can download it here

http://forum.mastercam.com/Topic14583.aspx

 

I just don't get why we need an 18 page document to make things easier. 18 pages needed to explain this? Ive seen all the arguments for and against the ribbon bar back when microsoft decided to foist it on office users and it seemed to boil down to the ribbon interface is easier for the programmer to maintain the ribbon and it has absolutely no quality of life improvements for the user. It seems that way to me but I just stick with my right click menu so most of this ribbon jazz doesn't apply to me.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

I'm a keyboard user.  Adding the requirement to hit <ALT> before every single command has by itself added hundreds if not thousands of keystrokes per day.  Even so, almost every Mastercam user who has watched me program has commented on how quickly I can get through things by keystroke.  Once practiced, it's just plain more efficient than hunting and pecking icons with your mouse, and you can leave your mouse in the graphics window on the workpiece rather than having to drag it all over the screen and back.  I see icons as a crutch for those who haven't learned the keystrokes yet, and a ribbon bar is a crutch for icons.  It may be absolutely great for new users, I'll give you that, but please just let me configure an expert mode with just dropdown menus that I can navigate by a minimum number of keystrokes.  I participated in a 2017 preview, and I forget the exact numbers but it was something like this: In V9.1 it took three keystrokes to do something that in X9 takes five, and in 2017 Alpha was taking seven.  It's stepping backwards in usability each time.

 

In the end, the value of the software is determined by how quickly it enables you to get your job done.

[jimspac]

I will freely admit that I stuck with V9 until I had a couple classes in X2. I never did much in X until I forced myself to work in X4. I really liked that and like X5 even better because you could then change colors on solid faces. Before that I would create an edge curve on the perimeter of the face and fill with a .003 crosshatch to create the color I wanted. After that I ended up in a shop that was using X3 because the company was transitioning to NX, They stopped the maintenance and thus ended the updates for Mastercam. The NX training was good until I heard the instructor say we could download posts from the Siemens website. The company had purchased 4 posts at 10K each from the reseller before telling us about the downloads. Since the posts they purchased were not setup correctly, I had to learn Post Builder to correct them