Tutorials in MCX literature

[Thad]

Are there any plans to put tutorials back in the printed manuals like past versions of MC? I know there are books that can be purchased. I'm talking about the book that comes with MC. They used to be called Mill Tutorial, etc.

 

Thad

[Guest]

+1 Thad

 

I agree, I'd love to see some of this documentation published.

 

I hate having to read pdf's for for any length of time.

[Thad]

John,

 

I'm confused. You didn't get the paper copy of Getting Started Guide, Transition Guide, etc? Those are out. They're also in .pdf format in the documentation folder (which you obviously knew). I'm talking about these books (pic snagged from ebay) for MCX.

.

.

 

Thad

[Guest]

I got the getting started guide. I do have the V7 and V9 Mill Tutorials as well

 

I would like to be able to get hard copies particularly of the MD/CD and Post Parameter Reference Guides.

 

I do think they are taking easy way out on the documentation at this point. I'll probably get nailed for it but pdf's just don't cut it in my book. sure they are a great "quick" reference I just can't see myself reading a 400 plus page pdf.

[Thad]

I'll have to check tommorow, but I'm pretty sure I saw some printed manuals on the MD/CD. We just got our X2 CDs and docs today. Just in time for MR1 to come out.

 

Thad

[Thad]

I hate .pdfs.

 

As for the tutorials, I could see re-doing them all for X taking some time. I was just wondering if they planned on updating them. It's nice to hand them to the new guys and let them feel their way around a bit.

 

Thad

[Troy Gossett Indepak Inc.]

+1 for a hardcopy. Or a free 2nd monitor to read the .pdf on while using it for referance.

[Thad]

quote:

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I'll have to check tommorow, but I'm pretty sure I saw some printed manuals on the MD/CD.

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Nope.

 

Thad

[Ocean Lacky™]

+1000 on the hardcopy....PDFs are hard to read when you're takin a dump!

[Thad]

That's what laptops are for, silly.

 

Thad

[Thad]

Just to be clear, my real problem here is the fact that the tutorials do not exist. Having documentation as .pdf instead of hardcopies is a sub problem.

 

Thad

[Troy Gossett Indepak Inc.]

Thad, I see what you mean, there are only Tutorials for Advanced Multi Axis and Art that I have found. As far as creating geo and toolpaths the only resources currently included are the Help/Referance Guide and The getting started guide.

 

We usually buy the Lin & Shiue book for the Version we are using. ( But that costs $80 ).

[Eileen Lumsden from CNC Software]

All,

First of all, we very much appreciate this kind of input. It definitely helps us define and refine our priorities and direction.

 

It sounds like there a couple issues on the table. One is whether CNC Software itself plans to publish tutorials. The other is the acceptability of PDF versus printed books.

 

The answer to the tutorial question is a definite "yes", although our approach is different from the pre-X tutorials. Pre-X, we printed large tutorial books for each of the major Mastercam products. The exercises in these books were extremely detailed and therefore very difficult and time-consuming to make "bullet proof" when the software is still in development.

 

With X, we responded to requests and published reference material in preference to tutorial material. The recently published X2 Getting Started Guide is over 400 pages of printed reference.

 

We removed the three examples from the X2 Guide precisely because it is printed. The example steps in the printed documentation may become obsolete and unusable for our maintenance customers because of software changes. Instead, we incorporated approximately 85 step-by-step procedures in the Mastercam help and nearly 130 in the Reference Guide, both of which can be changed and updated with maintenance releases.

 

We are also developing separate tutorials that target areas of Mastercam that are new or complex and not covered by third-party materials. An example of this approach is the Advanced Multiaxis Tutorial PDF published with Mastercam X2. We will continue to add similar tutorials with each maintenance release.

 

This leads to the second issue--PDF versus print. Your opinions about this are important to us. PDF is a very portable format that allows documents to be downloaded from the Web and printed locally. This makes it possible to publish and update more frequently and quickly. However, we will continue to discuss your desire for printed documentation.

 

I hope this helps. By the way, if you have opinions about the type or subject matter you would like to see developed, please post here or e-mail [email protected].

 

Regards,

 

Eileen Lumsden

Manager

Technical Publications

CNC Software, Inc.

[Thad]

My vote is for hardcopy tutorials/documentation. Having them available in .pdf also, is an added bonus. I need my monitor to see MC, not to flip back and forth between the two. Also, a highlighter doesn't work too well on the screen. You thought fingerprints were bad.

 

Having step by step procedures in help is better than not having the info at all, but then there is the issue of printing them off, keeping them organized and storage. If I don't print them, it's back to flipping back and forth on the screen. A hardcopy manual can be kept in the drawer at each MC seat and it's already organized and bound.

 

I also prefer a book that I can take with me and read anywhere. That way, you don't need a computer to learn new MC tricks.

 

That's my take on it. Thanks for listening.

 

Thad

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

A customer of mine had the same issue, "No Printed Documentation!?!?!?! WTF?????". Like other members here he likes to read on the "Throne". I went to my local Kinko's I think and had them put it together for me. It was not cheap but he was satisfied.

[Troy Gossett Indepak Inc.]

I'm for hardcopy for ease of use, but I'm also concerned about waste. Maybe the Hardcopy could be available by request instead of in every Box for every seat. I think most places have one programmer who learns/teaches the software to the others and the duplicate copies of tutorials just pile up in a desk drawer.

[cm-horses]

I may be missing something here... If I have please inform me where I missed a turn.

 

If the same information or up-datable information is availabe in the PDF as is the hard copy then why not:

1. Print the PDF's at work.

2. Punch Holes.

3. Fasten Them Together with the metal check ledger brackets.

Wa-laa a Hard Copy that you can use a high-lighter on and/or you are able to take to the potty to read. Plus you do not have to switch back and forth on the screen to read and follow.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

That's about the size of it IMHO CM. It's there for the printing. SOme want printed manuals some don't. It's only a pack of paper plus the Ink.

[Thad]

quote:

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1. Print the PDF's at work.

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I'm guessing that would be about 1000 pages for a single "set of manuals." There are a couple that are each 400+ pages.

 

Not to mention, in past versions, these were standard issue items for each seat purchased.

 

Thad

[gcode]

Personally, I'd rather have the PDF's,and lower

maintenance fees. Printing all that stuff costs alot of money and if its standard, you pay for it whether you want it or not.

I once took a PDF to Kinko's and got a quote

for having it printed, but the price of double sided color printing was way too high.

 

Maybe CNC Software could negotiate a volume

price with Kinko's Online or some other online publisher and people who wanted hard copies could order them at an affordable price???

 

or...

 

charge a dual rate maintenace fee??

one for hardcopy mainteance and a lower fee

for eletronic maintenacne only???

 

It would be cool to have an online library where you could order the hardcopies you wanted. That way you wouldn't have to pay for what you didn't want.

I would order a hard copy of the Reference Manual

if the price were affordable.

[kota]

James, +1

I have mill reference manual MC7 right now i my hand and that is IT,

Every click, every menu is there, no question;

by the way - do not You think there is too many questions on this forum?

[Hardmill]

quote:

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by the way - do not You think there is too many questions on this forum?

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PEACE

[gcode]

quote:

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I have mill reference manual MC7 right now i my hand

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I have the X2 Reference Manual on my right screen

You can find it in the Documents folder of your X2 installation

 

quote:

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do not You think there is too many questions on this forum

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no... that's what its for

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

I think there as many questions as there should be, actually there could be more but people have not asked every question imaginable yet.

 

This place exists for Mastercam users to help other Mastercam users. That's it's core mission and I belive that In-House Solutions has done a magnificent job with it. I thank them for ponying up for the Bandwidth - this forum costs ALOT to run. They pay for the bandwidth that we all use. We should be thankful because there are ALOT WORSE CAD/CAM/CAE forums out there that CHARGE for WAY less quality than is had here for free.

 

JM2C