/get back to apples to apples, use surfcam, edgecam and gibbs as examples instead of a cad package please./ I gave the example because no one charges extra for HOOPS and no one makes it an add-in. Decent graphics are similar to expecting to get tires when you purchase a new car or truck. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

e-Drawings. Price for standard version = Free. Graphics engine in e-Drawings = Techsoft HOOPS Graphics quality in e-Drawings blows Mastercam X2 away. It is a free download for anyone that wants to see what HOOPS can do graphics wise vs. Mastercam X2 <a href="http://www.edrawingsviewer.com/" target="_blank">http://www.edrawingsviewer.com/</a> <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

/and should they license and use HOOPS, people will scream bloody murder about the added cost./ No other product charges extra for HOOPS. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

Solidworks is just one of many companies that use HOOPS. Like Parasolid it is the defacto mcad industry standard. <a href="http://www.techsoft3d.com/customers/mcadcam.html" target="_blank">http://www.techsoft3d.com/customers/mcadcam.html</a> /Because they just knew some Solidworks user would come along wanting this enhancement and they wanted to save it for then. they prolly wont fix it in X3 either/ Probably not. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

Is there ever a good reason to move a part from where it was designed rather than setting a new WCS?

/So what is wrong with the MC UI beside you don't like the arrow and think it should be improved./ What is the reason for having large dialog boxes that block the part and have to be moved all the time? Solidworks got rid of most of them years ago. /I do think a thicker arrow would be good./ I often find myself squinting to see it. What Solidworks does with the shaded Triad is what Mastercam should do. Moving a part with the Solidworks Triad is also really nice. Even though my Mastercam X2 graphics are now much better, I still find it hard to see wireframe geometry laying on a shaded solid face in Mastercam X2. This is never an issue in Solidworks. No doubt a graphics engine would really help. I agree with the person who stated that those who start with Solidworks / Solidworks competitors or Adobe products expect more than the poor graphics in Mastercam X2. What possible reason could there be for not improving this aspect of Mastercam? Why not license the same graphics engine everyone else seems to use for Mastercam and make it a non-issue? <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

What is the reason Mastercam X2 has all the dialog boxes that pop-up in front of the part and often have to be moved? Solidworks got rid of most of the pop-up windows years ago when they created a Property Manager where you enter data. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

Not having any problems since lowering the .002 shading setting to .0005. Not as good as Solidworks but good enough. (The Mastercam chaining arrow could be a lot clearer. I think this chaining arrow should be shaded just like the Solidworks Triad is rather than a wireframe .) Before making this change it was a major PITA. I really appreciate your help on changing this setting. P.S......the guys around here are real defensive about Mastercam if you hadn't noticed. But I will agree and say Mastercam is lightyears ahead of the competition... Does not help Mastercam get improved. For sure the Mastercam X2 UI needs a lot of work. On another subject I wish that the backplot could be clicked on in the graphics area and the machining operations parameter that created that part of the backplot would get highlighted in the Mastercam operations manager tree. The cam program I use to use did this and it was a nice feature to have. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

Murlin, I was looking in the wrong place. System Configuration / Tolerances rather than System Configuration / Shading. Very noticeable difference already! Thanks <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

Video card is an NVIDIA G-Force. 256 Megs of RAM. I do not get any fragments just very poor resolution in Mastercam X2. No problems at all with SolidWorks 2007. Still do not know what setting to change in Mastercam X2 to tighten things up. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

mold100 I can not remember the last time I had to refresh the screen in Solidworks. I waste time regenerating the display in Mastercam X2 all the time. With a decent graphics engine in Mastercam this would not be necessary. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

Hey, Murlin. System Configuration, Tolerances, which tolerance effects how entities are drawn on the screen? <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

What is graphical toolpath editing? Who is Jon Banquer? Selecting the backplot and having the machining operation highlight in the Operation Manager is available in other systems and is a helpful feature. I am not able to figure out how to do this in Mastercam. Can it be done or not?

Has it been suggested for an enhancement? I have found this feature to be very useful.

mold 100. Solidworks and Cimatron do not use the same kernel. Cimatron is based on the ACIS kernel. Solidworks is based on Parasolid kernel. Looks to me like most Mastercam users think that the lousy graphics in Mastercam X2 are just fine and that you do not need quality graphics in Mastercam for better selection, chaining and geometry manipulation so I guess we will leave it at that. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

Once a part is backploted is there a way to click on the part of the backplot you are interested in editing and be taken to the machining operation in the Operations Manager that created that part of the backplot?

Jeff, Thanks for the acknowledgement that Mastercam X2 has some serious graphics problems. Mastercam uses Parasolid for its solid modeling engine because it makes sense to do so. Mastercam also needs a graphics engine because what exists now in Mastercam X2 is certainly not adequate for our needs. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

I am comparing apples to apples. Powermill = cam. Partmaker = cam. Concepts NREC = cam Keycreator has their own built in cam Pro/NC = cam Why do you keep mentioning photo realistic rendering? This has nothing to do with photo realistic rendering. <a href="http://www.techsoft3d.com/customers/mcadcam.html" target="_blank">http://www.techsoft3d.com/customers/mcadcam.html</a> <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

CNC Apps Guy and Matt the graphics in Mastercam are very slow compared to Solidworks. Zooming is slow. Regeneration is slow and the quality is not even close to Solidworks. The poor graphics capabilities in Mastercam slow down part programming. I did some checking around and I would like to know the reason that Mastercam does not use the same graphics engine that is in Pro/E, Ironcad, Inventor, Solidworks, Alibre, Powershape, Keycreator, PartMaker and other systems I am not aware of at this time. DanR, while I agree with you I would like to point out that Mastercam does have some features that lots of other cam systems do not have right now. One big feature is the ability to edit common parameters so it is not like Mastercam is behind in all areas. I do agree that the Mastercam interface is certainly not what it could be and is not any where near as good as it should be. I would like to know if CNC Software is going to fix the graphics in X3. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk:

New to Mastercam. One thing I immediately noticed is the graphics quality of Mastercam is not like what I am use to in Solidworks. Edges, lines, chaining arrow, are not as sharp or as clear as entities in Solidworks. Why is this? I wondered if others have noticed this and whether there is anything that can be done to make the graphic display in Mastercam sharp and clear like it is in Solidworks. We have Solidworks running on the same machine. <img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_33_7/image.gif"> :squawk: Got try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: Gotta try HOOPS, Gotta try HOOPS :squawk: