THIS x eleventy bazillion!

I've not heard of any rumors or plans to discontinue any of the Plug-Ins. Well, actually, I have heard a few rumors, but those originated from people that have a vested interest in selling CAM post processors. But no rumors from anyone with any real juice, and nobody that would really know. The reality is the last Plug-In that was discontinued was the NX Plug-In. There will be no further development on that one. That decision was made by Siemens NOT CAMplete/AutoDesk. The NX PlugIn is still available, just not in further development. For 15-20 years we've had/heard the discussions about "when Dassault decides to cut the cord from their competitor Siemens in licensing the Parasolid Kernel that SolidWorks uses and get people on to CATIA". People made decisions long ago to discontinue maintenance "because it could happen" meanwhile they missed out on all the tools available from then to now. Because of conjecture. Because of rumor. Hey, I believed they would get tired of writing that check to Siemens too. Apparently the SW sales and Maintenance are worth the hit to Dassault's ego. Money talks and something else walks. Personally CAMplete is all I ever use. We actually bought 2 seats BITD AT FULL retail. That check was somewhere in the neighborhood of $25k in 2007 dollars. It was worth it then. It's worth it now. I've been using it since mid-2007. I'm not going to stop using it until it's gone or no longer available. Every new Mastercam version, I update the Machine Definitions, Control Definitions and Posts that I use for machines I support (and a few that I do only because my customers needed assistance because the other machine dealers aren't up to snuff), then I go through the Defaults and set them up so our machines will perform in the ways we expect them to. JM2CFWIW

Unless ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NECESSARY, that juice just isn't worth the squeeze. Like @JParissaid, the amount of headroom (read computational horsepower) that feature/those features will consume truly makes it not worthwhile. @crazy^millman says he doesn't use it 95%.... personally, I don't do it like 99% of the time. I only time I ever model threads is when thread timing is critical.

It's all a matter of persepctive also... Spindle moves X, Y, and Z = Right Hand Rule. Table moves X and Y, spindle moves Z, X and Y could be flipped. So there's that.

As always, it depends. Repeat work/Often Used = keep assembled. Prototype/One-Off = disassemble. Tooling costs can be quite significant... sometimes exceeding $1k USD per tool assembly. However that being said, something that MUST be weighed is the cost of a machine waiting for a holder/tool due to a "cost saving" measure. JM2CFWIW

Is the A-Axis clamped or unclamped?

The distance from Center of the Tilt Axis to the top of the table could be the difference too. If programming a FANUC controlled machine I'd suggest programming from part datums.

It is normal for 3+2 operations to be handled by the DWO/TWP function and any operations containing any rotary motion to be handled by the TCPC function.

Sometimes there's a Keep Relay/Data Bit that you to toggle forward and backward on the augers too. Lots of possibilities there unfortunately.

I always have "Add to tool" selected and it's set to 0 since the advent of the MD/CD. That said, I've also forced my H/D to be T in the post from time to time just in case. I can't recall ever having that problem where random H's and D's pop up. It's probably a work flow issue that creates that problem. On another note, I've had Tool Offset C (4 column; H/HW, D/R/DW/RW) on just about every machine I've spent time on since the mid-1990's.

Did you ever try CAMplete for post processing or has it only been Postability @Transition Composites ? I have the VR9 in my machine library... I could look at it.

Digging up a 20 year old post for an area code check...

Forcing Smooth TCP if no P is specified. It could be that the correct High Speed Mode has not been applied (G05.1Q1 before the work offset is activated and G05.1Q3X0Y0Z0[AX]4[AX]5 after the tool length offset is activated) for example. There's a lot in play. Correct program formatting (turning this on first, that on second, the other thing on third, etc...) has a lot to say about performance/results. Sometimes you can turn things on in the wrong order and not know it. i.e. no alarm is generated, just results are less than expected. That is less true today than it has been in the past. FANUC in the l;ast 10-15 years has done a good job with bundling options in such a way as to make the most sense based on the type of work being done. F.A.S.T. packages for example. However, it is still the builder's responsibility to option the machine appropriately. That is inaccurate. I know of 10 machines same make, same model, ranging in build years from 2017 to 2023 in the same 2-3 square block radius that all have the same option package. Now, the machines with build dates later than 12/2021 have some capabilities the previous build dates do not possess, but that is a function of product improvement (FANUC Series and Edition, PMC, and Ladder improvements), not lack of options. Perhaps this is true of lesser builders, but the upper echelon builders option their machines appropriately and consistently... at least in my experience.

Hey.... we resemble that remark.

Worthless AI bots are infiltrating. Great. Break out that ban hammer!

If what I said came across as bashing, that was most definitely not my intent. HMC's absolutely have their place in manufacturing, however, considering the percentages of machine tools sold that are HMC's, that overall number is on the decline while percentages of 5-Axis machines sold are increasing every year. For the right work, nothing beats an HMC. For the right work, nothing beats a 5-Axis. For the right work, nothing beats a 3-Axis VMC. Use the right tool for the right job and things go better.

For the majority (if not all of) the work you do, Fusio360 isn't an option. Totally get it. But, not everyone does Defense/ITAR work. For those that don't, it's an option worth consideration. Personally, I loathe subscriptions. I think there will be a special place in Hades for the people that came up with software subscriptions. That being said, I've got a lot of scustomers that are just getting started, AND are doing FULL 5-Axis work with it and save for a few issues that CAMplete solves, it's working well for them. Full featured parametric assembly modeler.... for $500-$600-ish a year.

There's not enough Post Developers to handle that migration process over the course of 5 YEARS let alone one release. Hopefully the right person/group is watching this discussion.

This x eleventy-billion!

Indeed. You don't exist as a company for 35+ years without doing something that people like.

Not necessarily. That being said, the probe installer should have calibrated the probe as part of the normal installation process and to expect that program to be left in the control somewhere would be a reasonable expectation IMHO. That being said, ALL probe users should familiarize themselves with the Renishaw InspectionPlus manual and it's contents. In there are examples of how to calibrate spindle probes (including basic program examples). When I calibrate a customer's probe, that is what I do (refer to the InspectionPlus manual) if I cannot find any calibration sample programs. Then I leave that clearly named sample in for the customer's future reference. There are conflicting numbers out there for what the maximum probe tip run-out should be. The number I go with is ±2.5µm (.000098") from Renishaw Manual H-5069-8502-02-A. HTH

That's the mouse I use... in conjunction with a 3D Connexion SpaceNavigator. Best wireless mouse hands down. I'd love to get a wired 3D Connexion mouse because they are SO light, but they are too small. I've got big paws and a regular sized mouse is just way too small. My hands cramp up using those things for any real amount of time.

Most Gibbs users are like Apple iPhone users. Conditioned to accept whatever Apple does and however it does it as normal.... or as I like to think of it; in Pee Wee Herman's Pee Wee's Big Adventure.... Pee Wee Herman is riding his bike and he crashes in epic fashioned, gets up and says "I meant to do that."... Apple Users accept that with a smile. Meanwhile the rest of us are

Certain machines have trouble with #11775.0=1 and others need it. Trying to figure out which ones need it. :headscratch:

Yeah, for the most part, the motion control trumps the calculation time at this point. Also, it's pretty rare that I'm setting tolerances down much below 5-10µm (.00019-.00039). .0001" is about 2.5µm.