[drutort]

Don't know what the cost of upgrade is and how much difference there is in the 2 versions.
The software does work well if as noted above you behave while you use it. "as you know"
As for precision I wish I had more experience with other programs to know, see or understand where the problem or problems could be.
I even wonder what limits my cad models have that I don't yet understand when they are exported and imported.
And I can only say this much for other readers. imho my tormach mill is 1000 lb paper weight without good cad and cam software.
md

as far as CAD, you can not go wrong with Geomagic Design (Alibre) its the next best thing to solidworks, and some ppl like some things in GM Design more so then in SW!

[kevinro]

I will go check out the other thread. I downloaded the trial 30 version and have been playing with it for a couple hours. It works roughly the same set of steps. The UI is a bit nicer than the old one. It hasn't crashed yet, but so far I have only done a couple of parts. Doesn't look like there is a post for Tormach at the moment, but I haven't looked online.

[drutort]

I just got to mess with SC8! I am liking it a lot! ironically I can open my SC7 programs just fine! the simulate and loading of the part and the program all are so much faster!

this is 6 core 4.1ghz amd system win8 x64 16gb with SSD

[kevinro]

Just an update. Made a few parts in Autocad Inventor. SprutCAM 9 did a pretty reasonable job with it. Runs about the same as 7, the UI is nicer. It is quite a bit snappier, and hasn't crashed on me yet. It appears to make better use of the hardware graphics.

Not ready to switch just yet, but I do have some time into it at this point and I definitely like it better than SC7. May try to contact Eric tomorrow to get the 411 on Tormach support for SC9

[tbaker2500]

So I finally got SC8 up and running, after eventually determining that the dongle was bad.
I've spent a little time on it, and like it so far. However, it only seems to be using 1 core for tool path calculations. I was under the impression that it had multi-core support. Does anybody know?

[drutort]

So I finally got SC8 up and running, after eventually determining that the dongle was bad.
I've spent a little time on it, and like it so far. However, it only seems to be using 1 core for tool path calculations. I was under the impression that it had multi-core support. Does anybody know?

I think SC9 brings multi core, SC8 brought x64 for us and some optimizations

[mountaindew]

So I finally got SC8 up and running, after eventually determining that the dongle was bad.
I've spent a little time on it, and like it so far. However, it only seems to be using 1 core for tool path calculations. I was under the impression that it had multi-core support. Does anybody know?

I see all 8 cores in my intel core I7 machine push as much as 50% when doing tool path calcs and memory spikes up from 2.5 gb to almost 3 gb
When running simulations sprut pegs 1 of 8 cores near 100% and the rest 15-30% and memory pages used again goes up and down.
md

[tbaker2500]

Thanks. I looked closer today, and all 8 cores had maybe 10-20% utilization during calculations.

[WP25maker]

Have been using vers-8 for the last year+ with some simple problems when I first started with it, but like a lot of software, YOU have to not only "learn how to operate it" - you have to learn how it functions best and what it's really good at - which is equally important. There's some simple stuff that I've wasted an incredible amount of time with only because I was insisting that it "should" do something a certain way, but in the larger picture (and if you were in a situation where you actually wanted to see it productive as in making money with it) you'd probably be smart to keep on learning and learn to do what it does effectively. In general it generates a significant amount of code that for the most part is accurate and effective - not always so efficient, but effective. I've done years worth of manual programming before all the colored pictures diluted our brains so it's sometimes easier for me to use portions of what SC-8 can generate and then modify it with some other manual help. That's a far more efficient method for me than spending multiple hours sometimes being insistent on having Sprutcam do exactly what you think it should. If your manual programming skills are less than you wished for, don't give up - read, learn, test, try and keep on trying to improve them where it's productive to do so. Those skills will improve as will you ability to recognize the approaches and the types of solutions you want to get that may be more problematic for any number of reasons.

I used SC 7 prior to this upgrade for quite a while and bug or problem wise, I don't think it's really that much different - there's always going to be some level of issues but in general, Sprutcam does a pretty effective job if your geometry and your expectations are kept in check. For the money, it's still a great competitor to multiple other programs on the market today and there's pro's and con's with each and every one of them. Bottom line to me is that for the money, SC still does an outstanding job relative to the investment. Thanks.

[drutort]

Have been using vers-8 for the last year+ with some simple problems when I first started with it, but like a lot of software, YOU have to not only "learn how to operate it" - you have to learn how it functions best and what it's really good at - which is equally important. There's some simple stuff that I've wasted an incredible amount of time with only because I was insisting that it "should" do something a certain way, but in the larger picture (and if you were in a situation where you actually wanted to see it productive as in making money with it) you'd probably be smart to keep on learning and learn to do what it does effectively. In general it generates a significant amount of code that for the most part is accurate and effective - not always so efficient, but effective. I've done years worth of manual programming before all the colored pictures diluted our brains so it's sometimes easier for me to use portions of what SC-8 can generate and then modify it with some other manual help. That's a far more efficient method for me than spending multiple hours sometimes being insistent on having Sprutcam do exactly what you think it should. If your manual programming skills are less than you wished for, don't give up - read, learn, test, try and keep on trying to improve them where it's productive to do so. Those skills will improve as will you ability to recognize the approaches and the types of solutions you want to get that may be more problematic for any number of reasons.

I used SC 7 prior to this upgrade for quite a while and bug or problem wise, I don't think it's really that much different - there's always going to be some level of issues but in general, Sprutcam does a pretty effective job if your geometry and your expectations are kept in check. For the money, it's still a great competitor to multiple other programs on the market today and there's pro's and con's with each and every one of them. Bottom line to me is that for the money, SC still does an outstanding job relative to the investment. Thanks.

Thats kind of how I feel, I know how to program by hand, but I was lucky to mess enough with the POST in SC7 and get one that I can post and load and run, all but the tap cycle, which is not that hard to modify few few g-codes and then a line or two

I found that most effective Gcode is from 2D contour, I would try to use that as much as I could for simple things and clean code, and when lazy just let SC generate a RG or FIN water/plane op.

I also like NC Plot NCPlot.com - Tools for CNC Programmers, for my back plotting and I can even generate Gcode with it from DXF if I wanted to, and very easy and nice to use, setup change abs to inc and reverse lots of nice tools, and love the coloring of my Gcode to scan and ID gcode and edit it on the fly.

I have always used some program that did coloring on Gcode syntax on a PC, I can not do it with just plain text, because of the nature and structure of Gcode it speeds my proofing and editing tremendously

[drutort]

Hmm, I found an error or maybe its a glitch.

In SC7 I had High speed cuts, option
now in SC8 that is grayed out? Somehow I lost features that I had before?

I thought that we got HSC and HSM in SC8?

[tbaker2500]

It's there for me. Can't use it on some operations, but should be there for roughing.

[drutort]

It's there for me. Can't use it on some operations, but should be there for roughing.

as you can see in my pic, just opened blank project, and went to waterline rough... those options are all grayed out

[pickled]

I think if you go to the high speed cuts and change the dialog box from Do Not Use to something else they will become active fields for you drutort.

[drutort]

I think if you go to the high speed cuts and change the dialog box from Do Not Use to something else they will become active fields for you drutort.

Is there some other area that I need to go to? because those are grayed as in not able to click on them

[drutort]

So Eric, gave me a link to the regular none Tormach version: http://download.sprutcam.com/downloa...ease_EN_RU.zip

I installed that, I have HSC now, but I guess we do not have HSM? is this wrong terminology? I would assume that HSC is HSM? because I looked at the whats new on SC8 and it does not stated HSM anywhere.

But now With latest from the SprutCam.com site this install is newer and the Roughing waterline Stratagy screen looks now more like SC7? and there is no even check box for HSM, but now my HSC does work as you can see I can click on them

[phoneman]

Is any one having trouble with the part just disappearing off the graphs screen. Just received SC8 in the mail Fri. It loaded with no problems but after working with it coding a part it seem to go out to lunch and I can't see the part any longer.

Dave

[drutort]

Is any one having trouble with the part just disappearing off the graphs screen. Just received SC8 in the mail Fri. It loaded with no problems but after working with it coding a part it seem to go out to lunch and I can't see the part any longer.

Dave

I Only had few glitches graphically speaking, are you using the tormach build? or the one from SC site? I went and looked they had new date on there file, since mine doesnt update on its own :/ I have to check the site automatically

Listing of /download/sprutcam/version-8/

[MichaelHenry]

Is any one having trouble with the part just disappearing off the graphs screen.

Every once in a while when I use the transpose function to rotate the model I'll select the move function by mistake rather than the intended rotate function. That ends up moving the part away from the origin, typically by 90 or 180 inches and makes it look like the part disappeared. Try clicking on the "Zoom Extents" icon in the "Control" tab and see if the part reappears.

Mike

[phoneman]

I talked with Jake at Tormach today and he found my problem. I had "use fast paint mode" on and not "use simple opengl object only" We made the change and now all is well.

When I bought SprutCAM I got the all posts version. The problem I now have is that one of my mill uses a generic Mach3 that does not have the M998 tool change possition that Tormach uses. The Mach3 post has the M998

Anyone know if there is a generic Mach3 post.

Dave