Chaining Questions

[NeilJ]

When I right click in the Chaining Manager and chose Rechain All why do all the old chains still stay on the screen?

[Greg_J]

They want to make sure that you don't pick them again??

 

You don't want to make the same mistake twice.

[NeilJ]

Hi Greg,

 

Another problem I have with Chaining is sometimes what I have chained will completely disappear from the screen.

 

Is this to force my memory to improve so that I remember what I've chained?

[Greg_J]

Same with me, as long as you don't rotate the file you can see the active chain but if you rotate it or zoom in for that matter, it's gone.

[Jayson Kramer]

(Same with me, as long as you don't rotate the file you can see the active chain but if you rotate it or zoom in for that matter, it's gone.) I do not find this issue with my quadros video cards and I also use a Space ball to move.

[NeilJ]

All five of our Mastercam seats use Nvidia Quadro cards and all five have the latest drivers for them. All five of our Mastercam seats suffer from a variety of graphic problems only when using Mastercam.

[Greg_J]

How do you know if your videocard driver is up to date?

[NeilJ]

Greg,

 

You can look on the website that makes your video card for the latest drivers.

 

We use NVIDIA Quadro FX 1300 cards.

[Colin Gilchrist]

It is not just having the quadro card that helps, but how you configure it. Try running the 'Solidworks' profile, and switching the card profile to 'CAD'... Do a search on Quadro on Emastercam. I've covered how to configure the Quadro cards numerous times...

[Greg_J]

Do you know much about NVIDIA cards?

[Trevor Bailey]

also...the 1300 is a pretty weak quadro card and very old. if you look at nVidia's site, they dont even list that card for the entry level series or the mid-range. i tell people to get the 3450 card as the low end to mid range solution.

[NeilJ]

quote:

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also...the 1300 is a pretty weak quadro card and very old. if you look at nVidia's site, they dont even list that card for the entry level series or the mid-range. i tell people to get the 3450 card as the low end to mid range solution.

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I'll talk with IT and ask if they have a 3450 card for me to try. If they don't or don't want to give us one I'll buy one myself, put it in my home machine and see if it makes a difference.

 

I take it you don't have problems with chains disappearing?

 

Do you have the issue when you use Rechain All the old chains stay on the screen?

[NeilJ]

quote:

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It is not just having the quadro card that helps, but how you configure it. Try running the 'Solidworks' profile, and switching the card profile to 'CAD'... Do a search on Quadro on Emastercam. I've covered how to configure the Quadro cards numerous times...

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I use the 'CAD' profile now.

 

I'll check and see if the 'SolidWorks' profile is active. I don't remember seeing this as an option.

 

I'll also do a search for how you suggest configuring the Quadro card.

 

What ever it takes to get my chains to stop disappearing, also when I use Rechain All to get the old chains to disappear.

[MotorCityMinion]

I'd sooner poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick rather than pay big bucks for the upper end Quadros, just to test a theory, only to come back here and rag about it later. The Nvidia 8800GT, at about 25% the cost, seems to be fine according to the peeps in the benchmark post.

[gcode]

quote:

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also when I use Rechain All to get the old chains to disappear.

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changing video cards won't help with this..

There is a workaround..

Open the chain manager, delete all the chains

close the chain manager.

Now open the chain manager and do your new chains..

Yes, I know that sucks...this has one of my

pet peeves for years, but I've never taken 5 minutes to send it to QC so my whining rights are limited.

[gcode]

While we're on the subject of chaining...

Solid chaining....

WHen I do a solid chain and then go back into the chain manager, I can't see the chain..

Even clicking on the solid chain icon in the manager will not highlight the chain on the model.

This makes it impossible to review a solid toolpath's chain..

It is the main reason I'd don't use solid chaining much..

Do I have something set wrong, or does everybody have this problem??

[NeilJ]

quote:

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changing video cards won't help with this..

There is a workaround..

Open the chain manager, delete all the chains

close the chain manager.

Now open the chain manager and do your new chains..

Yes, I know that sucks...this has one of my

pet peeves for years, but I've never taken 5 minutes to send it to QC so my whining rights are limited

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Looks like the answer for me might be to never use Rechain All and just delete individual chains. When I try deleting individual chains they disappear immediately from the graphics screen.

[NeilJ]

quote:

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Even clicking on the solid chain icon in the manager will not highlight the chain on the model.

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Double click on the solid chain in the Chain Manager. Below that solid chain will appear an icon and a name. Click on that and it will highlight your solid chain.

[NeilJ]

Is the correct Quadro setting or a 3450 Nividia Quadro card going to give me smooth, crisp, clean chaining instead of what I get now which are broken up, jagged, choppy chains?

[Jayson Kramer]

Gcode is this what you are looking for.

[gcode]

quote:

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Gcode is this what you are looking for.

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Yes, I never tried double clicking the chain

 

Duh

[NeilJ]

quote:

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Yes, I never tried double clicking the chain

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It's poorly documented. Much like Change At Point is. It would be nice to see CNC Software tech writers take an interest in posting here so this kind of thing can be corrected.

[BernieT]

That's why this forum is so great, nothing will ever be documented 100%

 

Jay !!

[NeilJ]

A good forum is no substitute for poor product documentation. Making the effort to properly document Mastercam will ensure that a Mastercam resellers time is better used and that more Mastercam users get to know the product better.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

quote:

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...poor product documentation...

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Jon Banquer, you could always come down out of the ivory tower you live in and go to work for a CAD/CAM Company and make them perfect since you have all the answers.