Art Crashing

[cajahawa]

Hi Guys, Has anyone using art have the problem of it crashing with X2 MR2? It seems since they changed it to that triangulation base surface thing I've been having nothing but problems. The crashing doesn't bother me that much, it's losing the entire model thats irritating. Even when I have just saved it or I'm attempting to save. Any help would greatly appreciated. Thanks, Wayne

[Guest]

Are you converting art surfaces to Mastercam surfaces?

[Trevor Bailey]

you need to be more specific. can you duplicate the crashing? are you using borders....your shapes or predefined, etc.....

 

try to work in a low resolution and save smoothing/filtering until you get all the elements you want in your file.

[cajahawa]

John, I'm not converting art surfaces to Mastercam surfaces. I've tried that in the past without a lot of luck. Trevor, I usually will get a DWG. or sometimes a photo and I'll trace that. I'm using art to make plaques. I will do all my work in low resolution until I'm ready to toolpath, then I throw on the round edges filter and increase the resolution, to about 100-150. I've tried lower resolutions but really doesn't look too good when I cut it. It does crash when I use the higher resolution. The bigger the job the more it crashes. I'm using an NVidia FX 5700 LT card (I think). Maybe that's the problem.

[cajahawa]

I just downloaded the latest service pack. I'll bring it to work and install it tomorrow. Maybe there's a fix in it. I didn't have any problems until X2 MR1 or MR2 I can't remember. The good thing is, I know it works in earlier versions.

[Black-Dragon]

Hello all, I too have had nothing but problems with Art. It Seems that Every 2nd or third Surface I create crashes my system. I Dutifully fill out the crash report, but, when I hit the send button I seem to get a second crash which asks to send yet another report but it Errors out so I dont thing any of my crash reports are actually getting in. I cannot find any pattern or consistent behavior, I can say that I can do what I was trying to do if I restart mastercam and do the change first thing. But PRetty much as soon as I have done one addition, change or deletion the next create organic surface or modification of parameters will cause the system to crash. It's nice to know I am not the only one

[Mike Gates from Barefoot CNC]

One thing to try is to turn the resolution down while creating the surfaces. Once you have everything the way you want it, save. Then try bumping up the resolution before doing the toolpath. This helps in some cases with speed of creation and crashes.

 

Also helps to be using a strong computer if your getting into complex Art projects. Especially if they are over 10 inches or so. I would recommend at least a duo core processor with 2 Gb of ram.

 

If you can handle the price the dual XEON with 4 gb of ram seems to do very well with large Art projects in my experience so far.

 

I have worked on some 96 inch x 48 inch projects and it was a struggle to get thru without crashing in creation and toolpathing. By using the resolution trick I got thru and got it to post.

[cajahawa]

I always create my models with lower resolution, then bump it up when I program. My problem is when it crashes, sometimes I lose the entire art model so I have to start from scratch. Some models I make are very detailed. It just seems since they changed the art surface to triangulation that it's become bad.I never lost the art model before that. I also do larger parts, around 36" dia. I agree that a faster computer with a better graphics card would help greatly. The problem is convincing the powers that be, who think Excel or Auto Cad are as equally demanding as Mastercam or any other high end Cad/Cam system, that top end computers are a necessity in this business.