Cplanes in MC2023

[Thad]

Say that I create a custom plane. Then I want to create some geometry from the front of that custom plane. In version X9 and earlier, I would click Planes at the bottom of the screen, select Front, and it made the front OF THE CURRENT PLANE the Cplane. In 2023, it makes the original Front plane the Cplane. How do I access the old functionality?

I recently updated from X9 to 2023 so I'm just now seeing this. Am I missing a check box somewhere?

Thank you.

[AMCNitro]

You have to pick the FRONT PLANE, not the FRONT WCS

[Thad]

18 minutes ago, AMCNitro said:

You have to pick the FRONT PLANE, not the FRONT WCS

I did.

Just some clarification...

The screen shot above is what I used to click on in X9. That popup is from clicking Planes at the bottom of the screen.

In 2023, I click on CPLANE at the bottom of the screen but selecting Front there sets the CPlane to the original part Front, not the Front of the current plane.

Does that help?

[crazy^millman]

That process is gone. Now that is controlled through the planes manager.

[#Rekd™]

@Thad Set your plane rules as per the photo. Then when you select a G-View the C&T planes will follow.

 

[Thad]

@#Rekd™ That kinda sorta does what I want, but it also changes the Cplane when I don't necessarily want it to.

It seems that I'm having a hard time getting my point across (not directed at you, John.)  

[Thad]

1 hour ago, crazy^millman said:

That process is gone. Now that is controlled through the planes manager.

Ron,

Reading the tool tips, etc in the Plane Manager, I'm not seeing how the behavior can be reproduced in 2023 (short of creating a new plane from scratch where I want it).

[AHarrison1]

Aside from making custom planes, I generally create my wireframe using the standard planes.

I am aware that this only lends itself if the part is created with a face normal to standard planes.

 

[Leon82]

I miss having that.

[David Colin]

@Thad @Leon82

When 2017 was released I missed how 'red plane icons' worked in X9 too. So i made a netHook, still use it daily with 2023, check my signature or here is Topic

 

[Thad]

26 minutes ago, Leon82 said:

I miss having that.

 

17 minutes ago, David Colin said:

When 2017 was released I missed how 'red plane icons' worked in X9 too. 

 

That's what I was afraid of. 

[crazy^millman]

Yes we all made comments about the reduction in capabilities ,but we were rebuffed as this is the new direction and you will either like it or not.

David's chook is good, but I have transitioned my plane creation process to support the take it leave process we are using currently.

[cruzila]

I think you want to create a relative plane to the "current plane?

 

In the planes manager, right click your plane and select "relative" then follow the prompts..... You can create any possible combo related,  you can link it so if you change the original, it follows. and even use fixture offsets to an extent.

[David Colin]

I think Chad's issue is not only to create the planes but rather setting them quickly as 'Cplanes' once they have been created.

The 'WCS' relative plane creation commands of X9 has been removed from status bar but it still exist in the plane manager (or can be added to QAT/ribon/RMB)

However they have been simplified and the smart logic existing in the X9 commands has been removed. A logic was implemented so that if the plane already existed in the plane manager, it was automatically selected as 'Cplane' and done. Post X9, if the plane already exists (same matrix and same origin), the commands systematically prompt you to create a new plane (duplicate).

NetHook I shared above has this logic and it's a time saver in my workflow.

 

 

 

[Thad]

12 hours ago, cruzila said:

I think you want to create a relative plane to the "current plane?

 

In the planes manager, right click your plane and select "relative" then follow the prompts..... You can create any possible combo related,  you can link it so if you change the original, it follows. and even use fixture offsets to an extent.

Thanks, but I know how to make planes. I was wondering where the two mouse click feature went. As usual, it turned into a 10 mouse click feature.

I see you live in Livermore. Livermore, CA? If so, any chance you know Mike Blair from Livermore? Unlikely, but figured I'd ask.

[Thad]

2 hours ago, David Colin said:

I think Chad's issue is not only to create the planes but rather setting them quickly as 'Cplanes' once they have been created.

Bingo!

@David Colin I appreciate the work that you've done on your NetHook. Is it something that needs to be installed or is it just a matter of copying some .dll files to my MC folder? The reason I ask is because IT has a tight grip on what gets put on the computers. And they often take forever to get done if they need administrator privileges. In the long run, it's just not worth the hassle. 

[David Colin]

I don't think you need admin rights. There is no installation it's just a matter of copy/paste files in Documents folder.

You need to copy NetHook files (PlanesRelativeWCS.dll and PlanesRelativeWCS.ft) in '../my Mastercam 2023/Mastercam/Add-ins' folder.

Then you'll need to restart Mastercam and you should find commands to customize your ribbon/QAT/RMB.

 

[byte]

1 hour ago, David Colin said:

I don't think you need admin rights. There is no installation it's just a matter of copy/paste files in Documents folder.

You need to copy NetHook files (PlanesRelativeWCS.dll and PlanesRelativeWCS.ft) in '../my Mastercam 2023/Mastercam/Add-ins' folder.

Then you'll need to restart Mastercam and you should find commands to customize your ribbon/QAT/RMB.

 

There are some new behaviors in 2023 you can leverage

The Shared Mastercam/Add-Ins folder can also be used, to load extensions

Mcam-Content Files can deploy your hooks to the correct location without needing an installer or zip file

 

using the My Mastercam/Add-Ins folder makes it harder to control the product version, so does having 3 possible load locations for an add-in