Just curious what other users think should be added / changed / improved

jon

"I may have many faults, but being wrong ain't one of them." ... Jimmy Hoffa

When you have a lot of machining operations in the Op List it gets to be a major hassle trying to manage them. The Gibbs tile UI is obsolete and needs to be redone. I would suggest a file explorer that docks, expands and contracts like every other decent CADCAM program has.

One level of Undo after all these years ?

Why not just enable right clicking and do away with the eye ? Anyone think the Gibbs eye has any benefits ? I sure don't.

A better way to edit feeds and speeds... I find utility markers to be a real pain but maybe I'm missing something ?

Documentation. The Gibbs manuals are horrible. There is so much undocumented stuff that is not covered. I paid close to $200 for Gibbs books and for $200 you would think the documentation would be world class. I'm lucky because I got the Gibbs manuals at a discount but I'm not sure they would be a good deal at $50 !

I see very little input from *Gibbs programmers* being addressed on the Gibbs Web Board.... so what is the point of Gibbs having a Web Board ?

jon


"I may have many faults, but being wrong ain't one of them." ... Jimmy Hoffa

will probably forget alot. (some of this might have been address I only have up to whatever number was last years version)

Well here it goes:

1. Tool libraries. How much of a pain is it to redo tools in most programs! Just beeing able to copy them from one prog to the other would be nice.

2. Get rid of or set to off as the starting state for the little red Axis changing thingy. So anoying to accidentaly hit that thing.

3. make it so that you have to point at the actuall number of the dimension line to select it. (don't know how many times Ive had to turn the dimensions off jut to be able to select a line.

4. Heres on that no one has done yet. make it so you can round a solid model edge as if a corner rounder was doing the rounding, instead of blending the whole dang thing (or worse yet giving you an error that the blend is too large, especialy when you know that a cutter could easily make it)

5. make someway to move between the tiles faster than the current way. (if you have 30+ tiles it just takes to long to get to the top)

6. tool library..... did i say that already? :D

7. make the cut reander so it just gives you a final so you don't have to watch the tool (a button or something, becuase after about 10-20 times it get real old)

8. better 3d cut paths (i still have to mess with these way too much to keep gouging and run over from kill me)

9. changing the light source direction on the rendering would be nice. although I can make do with what is there. (so hard to make out stuff if you don't have the part tilted the right way, and when you change the direction it has to go through its cut paths again.)

10. did I mention tool libraries?????

Thats all I could think of. but Im sure I will come up with more.

I see Gibbs in their latest newsletter has stated that version 8 will *finally* have a new way to manage / edit Ops. It's a spreadsheet. It will be interesting to see how well a spreadsheet works for doing this compared to the tabbed explorer that docks and that almost every other CADCAM program now uses. The only program that I have ever seen use a spreadsheet to do this was EZCAM. It worked OK. I'll try and keep an open mind and see what Gibbs comes up with.

I also see that with Gibbs 2005 that all the Gibbs documentation went to .pdf format. I wonder it one purchased all the Gibbs books if they can get the new documentation for free or for an upgrade price ? I don't own Gibbs. I do own the Gibbs books and purchased them with my hard earned cash. I wonder how the local Community College, that use to sell the Gibbs books at a discount, will deal with the new .pdf format ? Will students get the .pdf Gibbs documentation on disk ? Anyone know how this will work ?

jon

"I may have many faults, but being wrong ain't one of them." ... Jimmy Hoffa

GibbsCam 2005 documentation ALSO includes pdf files, in addition to the books.

i never got any pdf files with my gibbs renuewal! but then again I have been using it for awhile and prob wouldn't use them anyway! ;)

GibbsCam 2005 documentation ALSO includes pdf files, in addition to the books.

I called Gibbs on the phone today. It seems that at least some of the books are still getting updates and have not been redone. I believe the basic mill book is over 10 years old now. I'm going to check out the local Community College and see if they have the "new" books and what they look like. I fail to see the point in going electronic with ten year old material.

I get the idea that 10 year old $50 books are a profit center for Gibbs. :frown:

Reminds me of the old days before PostHaste :frown:

I wonder how many times you can sell a $200 COMPost post processor for Haas or FADAL ?

jon

"1. Tool libraries. How much of a pain is it to redo tools in most programs! Just beeing able to copy them from one prog to the other would be nice."

1. You can do this if you have multiple instances of GibbsCAM launched.

2. What would a tool library do for you that Pre-Defined Process Groups can't ?


jon

"I may have many faults, but being wrong ain't one of them." ... Jimmy Hoffa

i never got any pdf files with my gibbs renuewal! but then again I have been using it for awhile and prob wouldn't use them anyway! ;)

The pdf documentation is on your 2005 CD. It doesn't install automatically, so you will have to load the cd and copy the files yourself. There are documents for all the basic modules/plug-ins and for some of the options too.

The Saved Processes feature is underutilizied by many users and there are some that don't really know that it exists. This is your custom defined tool and machining process library in one. You don't need to have another instance of Gibbs to use it, unless you want to copy solids, surfaces, or geometry from one file to another.

I do agree with Jon that Gibbs needs to revamp their books.

what exactly Does saving processes do?

I have never used it because when saving it saves a file, but ,when loading it loads nothing!

Unless there is more to it that saving a file and then loading it in another program?

will look on my disks for pdfs as well

now that I look back I only have Gibbs 2004 vers 7.07 so they might not have the bugs worked out on the processes save function.

I stopped buying newer versions do to lack of functionality over a year of maintenece at 1700.00+ a year. and they were changing stuff that i liked.

I usually reup my maintenece about every 3-4years. its about 1/2 price and the changes are usually worth it by then.

"what exactly Does saving processes do?"

What is below is how Shannon M. describes Processes in the Gibbs Mill Book. It took me awhile to type it out. :rolleyes:

In my opinion Processes are the *Cats Ass* because they cut programming time and repetitive input.

If you really get into Processes you might want to adopt cadman's file naming structure. I did cause my file naming structure sucked. :)



"Pre-Defined Process Groups: A Process Group is the collection of Process Tiles
contained in the Process List at any one time. A Process Group contains all the
tooling and machining information to generate a specific set of operations. A
Process Group can be saved as an external file that can be loaded into other part
files. This capability allows the user to access and reuse common machining and
tool data for multiple part files quickly and easily without having to recreate
tools and processes. Process Groups can be saved by selecting Save from the
Processes Menu when the Process List contains the completed Process Tiles that
will compose the group. The system will ask for a file name and a location to
save the file. Once a Process Group file is saved, it can be loaded into any
part file by selecting the Load item from the Process Menu. Another way to
quickly load Process Groups is by choosing a directory that contains Process
Group files. The directory is chosen by selecting the Set Directory item from
the Process Menu. When a directory is set, all the Process Group files contained
in that directory will appear in the lower half of the process menu. For a quick
load, simply select the name of the Process Group file to be loaded from the
list. When a Process Group is loaded into a part file, any Process Tiles
currently in the Process List will be removed and replaced by the loaded
Process Group. (If this removes Process Tiles that were needed, simply select
Undo from the Edit Menu.) If the Tool List contains Tool Tiles, those tools
will become deselected, but not removed from the list. The system will search
through the existing Tool List to find the necessary tools for the loaded
Process Group. First, the system will search for an exact tool match. If an
exact match is not found, the system will search for a close match which would
be a tool with a longer tool or flute length. A tool identified as a close
match will be used. Failing to find an exact match or a close match the necessary
tools for the loaded Process Group will be created and added to the Tool List
in the first available positions. Added tools will be highlighted. Once the
Process Group is loaded into the Process List, select the appropriate Geometry
to act as the cut shape and click on the Do It button to create the operation
and the toolpath."

jon

"I may have many faults, but being wrong ain't one of them." ... Jimmy Hoffa

Thats a very good explanation! thanks.

I will try that ASAP. I have been using gibberish for 8+ years now and this is a new one for me. So hopefully it will cut some time down on alot of my parts. If it works in this version of gibbs.

Thats a very good explanation! thanks.

I will try that ASAP. I have been using gibberish for 8+ years now and this is a new one for me. So hopefully it will cut some time down on alot of my parts. If it works in this version of gibbs.

It *will work* in your version of Gibbs. :)

jon

5. make someway to move between the tiles faster than the current way. (if you have 30+ tiles it just takes to long to get to the top)

I believe if you right click on the up arrow that moves the tiles you get an option to move to the start or end or tile number.

I didn't learn much from the gibbs books, our company brought in a gibbs professonal that knew all these shortcuts.

I tried the process list saving and it works great but is slow to develope. Will have to make a couple of dummy processes that use all the tools I typicaly use, just to be able to save more than one at once.

and thanks for the tip machineoperator, will try that later tonight!

If you right click on the OP List Arrow a small dialog box opens that allows you to search by:

Last
Tile Number
Tool Number

If you right click on an OP tile:

You get the same choice as above plus Move To.

Is any of this really helpful if you have a ton of Ops to manage... nope.

I sure hope the new Gibbs spreadsheet has some real functionality instead of this kind of limited functionality.

jon

"I may have many faults, but being wrong ain't one of them." ... Jimmy Hoffa

I tried the op list move and it works but as jon said it isn't as helpfull as say making it move like a normal list, webpage or some other list would.

keep those tips coming!

9. changing the light source direction on the rendering would be nice. although I can make do with what is there. (so hard to make out stuff if you don't have the part tilted the right way, and when you change the direction it has to go through its cut paths again.)

I think on gibbs 2004 and later if you right click on the render button you get the "FLASH CPR" option, check it and after cut paths are rendered you will be able to move the part around and view it from different angles without wathing the tool cuts every time you move it.

nope that don't work!

Machineoperator is correct. If you use the Flash CPR option you can set options such as colors, lighting, body chord height, collision checks, stock and fixture transparency, and after your part is rendered you can rotate, zoom, etc... the part without redrawing the tool paths. There is also the part analysis feature you can check the part with to find cuts on the part/stock body and remaining material. You need a good open GL graphics card to really use this feature. I don't remember, but I think this came out starting with V7.0.

If you don't see this feature but should have it, go to the preferences menu and make sure Flash CPR is checked.

there is no such option in my version of gibbs

I see very little input from *Gibbs programmers* being addressed on the Gibbs Web Board.... so what is the point of Gibbs having a Web Board ?

We don't run that board. We provided a domain name and the suppoirt to set it up but we aren't the admins. The boards aren't even on one of our servers (IIRC). I believe we provide some technical support to the List Mom but that's it. Unless a Gibbs employee takes time out of their busy schedule or spends personal time (yeah ... right) you aren't gonna see 'em.

Why not just enable right clicking and do away with the eye ? Anyone think the Gibbs eye has any benefits ? I sure don't.

Umm ... that's been in since GibbsCAM 2004. The Windows paradigm is that right-clicking is for context menus, etc.. However, a scroll button click will let you rotate the part. And personally, I still use the trackball (the eye) for quick and easy presets ... straight down the current plane depth axis, iso, earlier views, zoom to fit. Sure there are kb shortcuts but sometimes the mouse is easier.

2. Get rid of or set to off as the starting state for the little red Axis changing thingy. So anoying to accidentaly hit that thing.
5. make someway to move between the tiles faster than the current way. (if you have 30+ tiles it just takes to long to get to the top)
7. make the cut reander so it just gives you a final so you don't have to watch the tool (a button or something, becuase after about 10-20 times it get real old)
9. changing the light source direction on the rendering would be nice. although I can make do with what is there. (so hard to make out stuff if you don't have the part tilted the right way, and when you change the direction it has to go through its cut paths again.)

2 - By default the red axis markers (which can be annoying) are off. If they show up just turn 'em off, individually or select a range in the CS list and 2x click the eye icon.
5 - Right click on the Ops list. There is a Find command that will take you wherever you want to go ... 1st op, last op, op#x, tool# ...
7 - This is a contentious topic. Consider how long it can take to render a part, start to end. Now, think what it would be like for you to click play and you get a message saying "Please wait..." and the cursor spins. And spins. And spins. And spins some more. You're gonna say, "WTF!?!?" So, we don't give the option of letting the system "pre-render" the entire part for you, Too much room to piss someone off. Besides, it is often the interim cuts, not just the final, that you need to check.
That said, there are some options to speed this up and there will be more in the future that will get closer to what you're looking for.
9 - Use Flash CPR. All that OpenGL goodness let's you control the light source. And you don't have to re-render on rotating or zooming.

Hope all this helps.

Will.

9 - Use Flash CPR. All that OpenGL goodness let's you control the light source. And you don't have to re-render on rotating or zooming.

I don't know how but will look into flash cpr.

what do you mean about no re-rendering on rotating and zooming???

Flash CPR, introduced w/ GibbsCAM 2004 (v7.3 IIRC) is an OpenGL rendering method. One way to access it is to right click on the render button in the top level palette and select FlashCPR. The next time you render you use Flash CPR instead of the traditional CPR.

This rendering mode lets you manipulate the rendered part as much as you want without redrawing. A redraw (re-render) is forced when you change tool data or operation data.

The flash CPR is great, I'm currently trying to get my bosses to upgrade our gibbs software so I can use the latest version on a daily basis. I find it a pain to have to re-render the part every time the view is changed, especially when zooming in.

Umm ... that's been in since GibbsCAM 2004. The Windows paradigm is that right-clicking is for context menus, etc.. However, a scroll button click will let you rotate the part. And personally, I still use the trackball (the eye) for quick and easy presets ... straight down the current plane depth axis, iso, earlier views, zoom to fit. Sure there are kb shortcuts but sometimes the mouse is easier.

1. Thanks for posting here. Greatly appreciated.

2. I have always used the middle mouse button (the wheel) to zoom in and out in Gibbs and I never realized that if you hold down the middle mouse button you can rotate the part as well.... as you know I only have the old Gibbs manuals but my friend back in Connecticut sent me the new .pdf manual for Solid Surfacer this week and I'm going to spend sometime with the Solid Surfacer manual this weekend. I actually called Gibbs and asked if I could buy the new help manuals on .pdf... was told no.

Thanks for the heads up on using the middle mouse button to rotate !

Hope to have some good feedback for you on your updated Solid Surfacer manual.

jon

The flash CPR is great, I'm currently trying to get my bosses to upgrade our gibbs software so I can use the latest version on a daily basis. I find it a pain to have to re-render the part every time the view is changed, especially when zooming in.

I found that annoying as well. One other benefit of Flash CPR seems to be that the lighting and detail seem much better with Flash CPR (MachineWorks) vs the traditional CPR. I have not found any drawback to Flash CPR yet.... other than it takes slightly more time to exit it.... no big deal.

jon

How about sub routines for 4 and 5 axis milling? I got files that are clogging up my machine because the are pretty big...
Well, they are not that big but my machine only has about 1.25 Mb of memory... How embarassing...