Surface/Solid Face Selection

[Mick]

I'm sure it isn't an option, and I wish it was...

 

When I have shading on, and I select a surface or solid face to machine, I wish it would highlight the surface with a different color, rather than highlight the edges.

 

Once a upon a time (long long ago ) I used to run Unigraphics, and it did just that. It made it a heck of a lot easier when selecting drive and check surfaces.

 

I'm curious, does anyone else think it would be a great option? Lets hear your views

[NeilJ]

"I'm curious, does anyone else think it would be a great option?"

 

Yes.

[dvaliket]

Its the reason we convert to surfaces when machining complex models. With surfaces, it does turn a completely different color. We start with solids but convert them when there are more than just a few faces to machine. Thats one thing I like better about Hypermill, I can see the selection when working with solids.

 

Dave

[Fig sign]

I convert solids to surfaces ,colour them different colours and select them by colour .

This way I can easily control what I am doing

[Colin Gilchrist]

The ablility to color solid faces and shade them when being selected is one of our top 5 requests to CNC Software by Boeing... It has been asked for and is going to be implemented, the question as always, is when...

[NeilJ]

"The ablility to color solid faces and shade them when being selected is one of our top 5 requests to CNC Software by Boeing... It has been asked for and is going to be implemented, the question as always, is when..."

 

I guess I just don't understand why there is such a long delay on something that seems like such basic functionality. It's very hard for me to see all the effort made to create Feature Based Machining and Mastercam In SolidWorks and see something like this not implemented.

[Fig sign]

I guess I just don't understand why there is such a long delay on something that seems like such basic functionality. It's very hard for me to see all the effort made to create Feature Based Machining and Mastercam In SolidWorks and see something like this not implemented.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a man that had not figured out how to use spreadsheet these are harsh remarks .

[Colin Gilchrist]

Jon, I'll happily try and answer this question when we talk on the phone or a web meeting. Software is complicated to say the least and I'll explain some of the hurdles. I understand your frustration, but there is a lot more going on than you think in some ways. I can explain some of this in a way to further your understanding of what is going on. I'm not making excuses for the time it takes. I've waited for some enhancements for years! They did come though...

 

There are many teams at CNC Software that work on different part of the product. I've heard at some point it was around 60 developers, but please don't take this as truth, I don't speak for the company, and that was several years ago.

 

There aren't just like 3 guys in a room eating pizza and drinking Jolt and producing Mastercam. It is a huge effort all around. Some of the core CAD functionality can't just be changed without effecting all the toolpath functionality too. So adding the ability to change face colors and highlight the selected solid faces might involve 6 different developer teams (only a guess) that must coordinate all the updates to the internal databases that store all the information like entitiy pointers and internal variables, update them all and make sure it all functions correctly and didn't break anything in the process.

 

Would it be ok for CNC to rush this change into production, then release a copy of Mastercam where the function was available but caused the HST toolpaths to crash the system? No, it would be a disaster.

 

Consider too that this is one feature, though one we consider critical. Now imagine that you are a software developer and they give you a list of Ten new changes and you have to implement them and get them to functions with all the other toolpath groups modules...

 

I'd be happy to show you some post processor code and talk about how it works. There are literally 20,000-40,000 parameters that could be used by the system just for the NC code stuff, not including the internal variables and other things.

 

Some of the changes that you see in other software are more quickly adapted because of different code platforms and internal Kernals.

 

A Kernal is the core system of the software, you might already be aware of that. Mastercams uses the 'parasolid' kernal for solids, but this is like saying the engine of the car is base of the car. There is still a whole frame work that is the mastercam kernal, of which parasolid is merely the engine that drives the solid geometry.

 

Lots of stuff to talk about Jon. I'm still going to email you soon.

 

Thanks,

[NeilJ]

Colin, I understand that it might possibly cause a ton of other issues. What I don't understand is that Mastercam was supposedly rewritten from the ground up for release X. Changing the color of a solid face should have been taken into account as basic functionality when X was rewritten as it's not new or different functionality when a user needs to work with solids. Actually it should have been taken into account when Mastercam Solids was first released. The fact is this basic functionality is included in any solid modeler I have ever used except Mastercam Solids.

 

Perhaps I'm still overlooking something on this topic but if so I can't see what it is right now.

[Colin Gilchrist]

Jon,

 

I don't set the schedule at CNC, I'm just relaying what some potential downfalls could possibly be that would cause this enhancement to take a while to be implemented. It's been asked for and given an enhancement request number. That's all I know. I just wanted you to know that it has been requested.

[NeilJ]

I was aware that this issue had been requested many times over the years. To say that I'm disappointed that it's not in X3 would be an major understatement. Thanks for reintegrating that this is very important to you and to Boeing. Not much more I can say that's productive on this topic.

[Teh Bear without Brains kinda idiot]

Not much more I can say that's productive on this topic.

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What productive ?

Just use surfaces ,you ....

 

 

Young descendant of Lady named Eve

Tied himself to the pine on the Christmas Eve

All the xxxx community

Tried to use opportunity

So that Santa had no perspective !