Hi

I`m interested in the basic version of visual mill. I`m wondering
if you have this software what are your thoughts on its functionality.
Have you run into any machining jobs that the basic version could not do.
I like the 3D machining..it seems very easy to setup. I tried to work with
the 2 1/2 D features ...they didn`t seem very intuitive. Even looked at
the tutorials.

Regards Barry

I am using RhinoCam which is the Visual Mill basic engine. I am fairly new to all this stuff so I don't have much to comparre to in regards to other software. The only other package I tried was Mill Wizard which didn't do the job. I have had great success with the 2.5 D in Visual Mill, also with the engraving and 3 D. No it's not highly intuitive but they do have great email and phone support.
I haven't run into anything that it wouldn't do but I probably haven't pushed it with my meager experience.

I only used the demo version a couple of times, but it was very easy to get used to. Just make sure you switch between inch/mm before loading any models or tools. (I often ended up with a 50mm 3D model and a 3 inch tool, and wondering why it was only cutting off the 4 corners...) I did found it a bit expensive for my use. The software would be several times more expensive than my hardware.
(P.S: for occasional use, you can save the milling path as a text file using an openGL logger. you will need to write a small program to convert openGL vectors to g-code or similar. Maybe visual mill should reduce the number of decimal places before sending it to the windows openGL drivers, you're not going to see 0.000001 mm on a computer screen anyway)

I think a combination of MeshCAM and SheetCAM can do most of what VM basic can do for 1/4 the price. They both have demos you can try.

> think a combination of MeshCAM and SheetCAM can do most of what VM basic can do for 1/4 the price. They both have demos you can try.


I would agree that SheetCAM will handle 2.5d work in many ways as well as VisualMill does. Actually SheetCAM does some things better, like controlled ramping into cuts and using "feature recognition" of holes sizes to make it easier to setup drilling routines when you have lots of different size holes. I also like SheetCAM's ability to insert create and manage "macros" of G code you can insert between machining processes when you need to, perhaps to give you a chance to clear chips or something similar.

VisualMill has the advantage of a little higher level work level, with a simulation ability that lets you see the cut workpiece, I've found that useful.

So far I'm still using both, SheetCAM for simpler parts I need to do fast and VisualMill for more complicated parts that I need to simulate first to make sure they're going to come out right.

For 3D, I could be wrong about MeshCAM, but I tried it once and I don't remember it having any of the "region" based machining capability that VisualMill has. Basically you can define a series of regions on your part and independently specify how you want them machined. If some regions can be done faster in 2.5d, you apply that to that region and only use 3D in regions where you really need to.

My take on MeshCAM was it applied one machining method to the entire workpiece, and you couldn't restrict it, often causing pretty inefficient toolpaths, but let me know if I'm wrong about that.

Paul T.

He said VM Basic, not the full version. Does the Basic have the "region" capabilities?

Yes, the Basic version has the region capability, they had to keep that in there, the product would be too limited without it. Basically from a "top down" view you can break your workpiece into as many regions as you need to, and specify individual machining operations for each region. The regions can overlap if need be, so this does give you a lot of flexibility.

What's Basic missing compared to the full version that's really important? I'm still figuring that out, there are some more complex machining methods, and the ability to specify more complex stock shapes than a square block. If haven't seen a need for these yet, but we'll see.

The Basic version doesn't support ramping into a cutting procedure, which I feel is a pretty glaring deficiency, but I don't think the full version has that either.

Paul T.