Hey guys, I finally got back into the office and got the webinars available for download off of the Mastercam site. From Mastercam.com > Multimedia > Product Demos.

Yep, Ken mentioned in his webinar on Monday that they're going to be working on the interface (under "options") so you won't have to edit the XML, but there just wasn't the bandwidth to get it done & tested in time for X7. Glad you got it all sorted out!

Well, EVER is a bit harsh...

Djstedman - It's not there yet in X7's release, you'll have to use classic backplot for now. I would expect it to be in by MU1 or so. That was one of three things missing from it that kept it from replacing classic backplot for MU1.

Todd - I'll look into it when I can get to a computer, I'm on the road for the rest of the week for Eastec and all of the machine tool vendor open houses, so it may be a bit

Oh, and I did see this, I don't know if it will help you out or not.. https://www4.gotomeeting.com/codec?Portal=www.gotomeeting.com

Sorry about the delay on communications here, I've been over at Mazak's open house. I don't have a computer with Web access, so I can't check what's going on today... I'll try to squeeze it in at night some time this week, but it's a crazy week with Eastec and all of the machine tool open houses. Sit tight, I'll let you know as soon as I get something figured out.

The good news is that it is officially released (RTM = Release To Manufacturing, i.e.: It's available for download, but the printed DVDs won't get pressed for another week or two) and that it installs safely next to X6, so they don't even HAVE to use it, you can install it for this test and see if it helps and not impact their day-to-day work until they transition. I would post up your Nvidia Control Panel (Nvidia utility) settings, maybe someone will see something set wrong?

Okay, I just checked up on it, if you go to the link to register up above, you can download & view the webinar right there.

Thanks Wes! I'm not sure, but I forwarded this thread and your question over to the appropriate people.

Hah! I don't know how many years of my life I've lost troubleshooting problems when the thing wasn't plugged in/fuse was popped, I don't take ANYTHING for granted. Your tool tolerance is a great idea, too!

That's because the Alpha Geeks were in the house on that one Rich and Jon were in the room with me, and the rest of the tool team were riding shotgun over Gotomeeting. Those guys did a great job with the program, and were amazing at answering questions (and letting me know what I missed!) during the presentation.

You're welcome, sir! Thanks for attending! It looks like the encoding is just about done, and then I'll get this file up on the intarwebs for anyone who missed it to check out.

I'm with Rotary.... OOrrr, dumb question: Are you certain the "quality" slider was set in the same position? If that were changed for one of the renders, the video card won't help you out, it's not an apples-to-apples test... I would also recommend giving it a go in X7 if you guys are on maintenance, maybe after attending today's webinar 2PM on the subject..

I haven't heard of it, but I'm not in Tech Support or anything... I did forward this thread over to them in an email for you, though!

I can guarantee I know what the burn-out tire marks would look like in front of parliament...

Yep, or, in the short term:File > Options > "Show On-Screen Information" check off.

While I appreciate being called a Spin Doctor, and I can see your view from an X6 perspective, I'm just pointing out my experience as a multi-axis & dynamic toolpath programmer, and that experience is that old verify couldn't cut it, and new verify does if used correctly. I'm just trying to take time out of my day to help people with the new products From a practical standpoint, when I was zoomed out looking at a part in traditional Verify, the system was slow and choppy because it had no resolution scaling. The new Simulator doesn't have has much constant resolution as the old Verify, but you can actually verify a lot of things that you simply could not before (or couldn't within a practical timeline). If I need to zoom in and see one area to see what the tool marks look like, Accurate Zoom does a good enough job that I can tell what I need to in most cases. And I've been relying on Stock Model since it was introduced, and, as mentioned, I haven't really output STLs much in quite a while.. As I mentioned above, though, I have also had issues where Stock Model was bulky with certain files/toolpaths, but breaking it down into a few steps per Stock Model took care of most of it. And X7 is definitely more stable/faster SM processing than X6 (thanks largely to multicore and better memory handling). As always, if you have a specific problem or concern, please address them with your local dealer.

Well, I'd be sure to un-mute newbeeee if he were in attendance, of course

Sounds like you're the perfect customer for being able to generate stock models while you keep working on the next step? Although it's one extra utility, you really sound like you'll benefit from have everything able to be run simultaneously. Make sure you've got (at least) dual monitors, and lots of RAM, and you should be more productive than you've ever been before.

Kevin - Make sure you give it a shot in X7, there have been a lot of (under the hood) improvements to it. One thing I have a habit of doing is doing multiple stock models, so I get an incremental workflow though the process, letting me see a few toolpath changes at a time. The other benefit of this is less overall processing that has to be done in one chunk, so it will process faster. This is what I used to have to do with old verify to get any larger multiaxis toolpaths toolpath files to verify in a timely manner, this'll just do it faster and more accurate than old verify could. And have lots of RAM. Stock model thrives on a machine with a lot of memory. Luckily, RAM is cheap Now that Mastercam is pretty much completely 64 bit and multi-cored, you're going to eat RAM like it's cookies. I've maxed out my 16gb doing stock model regen while I was processing Dynamic (Opti) toolpaths on large models, and verifying cuts in the Simulator, and I was still able to keep working in Mcam while this was all going on.

I love Top Gear. For simplicity, I'll probably ask to keep it text only unless you have an involved problem, then I might give you the mic, but normally it moves quicker if people type their questions, then everyone can see it live, and I can choose what to address on the air. The GotoMeeting packages the Q&A as a text transcript along with the video, so they'll be attached when it's finished up. So you should be fine with just a keyboard.

Do you use the Stock Model feature? That will give you an accurate model of your cut (well, as accurate as you set the parameters to, anyway), and should be used for cut quality verification. Use the new Simulator (Verify) to make sure the tool is going where you want, there's no collisions, etc. The reason that old verify would choke on large assemblies or fine toolpaths was because it tried to show every scallop detail in a super-fine (dependent on specified quality, of course) mesh (in addition to only being a 32bit, single core application). That made ridiculously large verifications that were way overkill for 99% of the needs (What is this cut going to do?). Now there's tools available that are better at each individual thing that the old Verify did. Think of it as a team. If you want a super-accurate model you can use to drive other toolpaths, check the cut quality of a fillet, or export as an STL, make a stock model. It's multi-threaded and 64 bit. If you want to see the tool motion and how toolpaths are going to overlap and cover the area, use Simulator. Either one will process in the background while you do more work, and either one is better at the individual task than the old Verify.

Really dumb question: Is it possible you have that command key-mapped, and a (physically) sticky keyboard? I've seen that cause problems before, even outside of Mcam..