Hi, When I launch Mill v9 SP1 the tooltips for system tray applications or taskbar are not shown correctly and each tip is related to previous icon. What should I do? I saw this happened on different systems. configs are: Athlin XP-GF3/GF4 MX 440- any detonator version including 30.82/41.09

It's from OpenMind (Germany). They have HyperMill for Catia/ThinkDesign/MDT as well as a standalone CAD/CAM named HyperForm (with ThinkDeisgn as CAD kernel). It has many different strategies for rough/finish and great features . I had the opprtuity to work with it for a short time (HyperMill v6 for MDT) and I think it's easy to learn but PM is still easier.

James, As far as I know you can use a command prompt "splinemill" and convert intermediate CL to NURBSed CL file. And "CLARC" to convert it to ARCed CL file. About the speed: I saw that first when I wanted to do a parallel finish (or Raster in PM). I could not believe my eyes. It calculated in fraction of the time used by MC v9SP1.

Hi, I've been using MC in several workshops and love to work with it. Recently I had to work with PM and here's my findings : Phil mentioned the key specifications of PM, I accept that both are great packages however I want to add some other specs: Ease of use: PM is much easier to use. PM can generate rough toolpath with respect to any stock (KSR) . Creating/editing standard Posts are much easier than MC , however MC has advanced tools like Math functions,logic operands ... because it's like BASIC language. When working especially on files with many surfaces, a user in PM does'nt worry about gouge since the software converts any surface to Drive surface status , in MC we have Drive and Check with different thickness and more care must be taken when selecting surfaces. In PM ToolHoder gouges can be done instantaneously without the need to do a simulation. There are fewer settings in PM to set by user which simplifies creating toolpaths (there's no allocations settings or max surface deviation or curve chordal deviation ..) . PM v4 can do 3+2 and continueous 5 axis machinings. However I've not used it up to now. As Phil mentioned MC is much better in 2D operations. I just love to use both of them but when we're in hurry we usually select PM for 3D machining. [ 12-23-2002, 11:14 PM: Message edited by: kwolf ]

Hi Phil, If your machines support NURBS machining you can filter your G-Codes for them. Have a look at IMS-Post www.imspost.com or NorthWood Designs MetaCut Pro www.metacut.com .

Thanks James

Thanks James

cadcam, What I want to know is, is it feasible to connect ONLY ONE HD to a RAID channel?Is there any performance gain in connecting ONLY ONE HD to a IDE-RAID channel instead of Standard IDE? I don't want any mirroring or striping feature, I want to know if it's faster?

Hi, I have another question regarding RAID. We have some systems with mobo's that features below: 133 UDMA - and built in Promise IDE 133UDMA controller. And we have one Hard Disk per any system (7200 rpm - Maxtor ATA133) Another friend told us we can get higher speed from Hard Disk if we connect HD to RAID controller on any machine instead of E-IDE controller. Is it true? And if yes , does it have any incompatibities? Thanks in advance [ 12-21-2002, 12:47 AM: Message edited by: kwolf ]

.GID file is related to HELP file. When you search your help file for a string , this file is automatically created. However it's usually a hidden file. [ 12-16-2002, 09:11 PM: Message edited by: kwolf ]

We use Rhino everyday. But it's not powerful especially when it comes to filleting and complex parting surfces.

I remember old versions of detonator ( I think v5.x) allow enabling of UBB. But this feature can not be found on later versions. In this case , can we say UBB is available (hardware) on GF boards? I just instlled detonator 41.09 (latest) on GF3 card and with softquadro I converted it to Quadro-DCC. Hopefully I can enable/disable UBB and other OpenGL features of Q-DCC. But how can I see its performance impact? I want to know is there a setting in Mastercam or any other software that use Quadro own features?

Thanks Bullines, According to SolidWorks site , when using GF based card the software has slow graphics performance. However this is not the case when using Quadro based. I think it's because Unified Back Buffer is enabled in Quadro. My question is: Is it possible to have UBB enabled in a converted GF?

Congrats! Kevin

Hi, There's a software that converts GeForce to Quadro (called softquadro). Please tell us if you converted your GeForce Card to Quadro. Have you noticed any difference after converting, especially in Mastercam and SolidWorks?

Thanks for the replies, We're currently using SolidWorks 2003. In the first step we have difficulties in creating parts with free form surfaces. The other problem is in creating molds from those parts. Looks like we should change our design software. I remember several times people here mentioned Alias. We want to know is it able to design parts as well as creating complex parting surfaces? How fast is it? Does anyone have exprience with it? Thanks again

Hey Bullines you're some seconds faster than me .

It says, WID (when it's done) .

Hi everybody, I want to know what is the best software in your opinion for modeling free form objects and creating the molds from them. We then want to machine them in Mastercam. And does Alias (Studio Tools) have the tools to create complex parting surfaces? Thanks in advance [ 12-12-2002, 11:31 AM: Message edited by: kwolf ]

UG v18 is based on Parasolid 13 as Mastercam v9SP1. However UG NX based on Parasolid 14.

Hi, Just an opinion, IMS Post can read APT (General/UG/ProE/Catia/...) as well as many CAM intermediate CL files including Mastercam NCI and produce GCodes. One can set up customized machines and controllers. Then post process APT or NCI for any existing machine. Also there's an ISO to APT (as reverse post) available. Hope that helps

Hi, Is there a way to select several solid faces as drive/check surfaces using window option? Sometimes there are many faces to select and picking single face in every step is not a good idea. Thanks

Hi, Welcome to Forum. Just select the operation from op manager and select backplot then select "Display" from the left. A new window pops up , look for "save as geometry" option and check it. Ok the window. Now when you do backplot your toolpaths can be saved as lines/arcs. Good Luck

Hi, Thanks for the complete answer. Now that it came to CATIA, I have a question: What's the kernel of CATIA, we know they own ACIS but I think they don't use it for thier CATIA products. I want to know what their kernel is and what are the specs and limitations of their kernel, eg , the tolerance ,is it absolute/relative , what's the min tolerance value? Also, does anyone know a link or doc that compares Parasolid/ACIS/CATIA/Pro_E kernels? Sorry for long post and Thanks in advance.

Use v8.11 "single row only" option.