Hello all,

Before I discovered Vectric on this site, I wanted to be able to carve artistic 3D shapes such as can be bought on the Vector Art 3D site. http://www.vectorart3d.com/

This is for when I get my business up and running. Can anyone tell me what programs are out there to create 3D images for carving like the VectorArt 3D ones?

I know that you can order custom designs from vectric but I imagine that this would be quite an expense to pass onto my customers, may have ordering delays, and not be viable in all cases. Also, I would like to do some designs that I may then have full control over (Copyright or whatever). I am NOT looking to create stuff thats on the VA3D site without buying it as 1) Im sure it would be years before I was proficient enough to replicate their excellent designs, and 2) It would not be economically viable to spend hours creating one design that I can buy for the excellent price of e.g. $10. 3) I envisage having bought them all fairly soon after getting up and running anyway, long before I would have created them myself.

So with all that in mind, I know obviously that Vectric can create 3D designs, and Im certain some people must be doing it themselves. What CAD software does Vectric or others use for this? Thanks. The cost of the software may rule out this option for me initially also, if its very expensive.

No ideas anyone ?

From what I know about Vectric those are true 3D designs, rather than the 2D designs done by VCarve with a V cutter. That would imply generating a design in a 3D CAD program like Rhino, then importing into a compatible 3D CAM program, extracting geometry, generating tool paths, converting to GCode. Alot of work.

I think Rhino at around a grand and its CAM engine or one of the other CAM programs that are true 3D at another grand or so (at least) is about the least expensive option there is for producing true 3D stuff. Around 2 grand-2500 dollars cost I think minimum. And a lot of time even if you are proficient I think.

I dont know of any easy way to do those types of files. They are very complicated and really well done, (the files from Vectric are) truly a bargain in my oppinion.

If there is an easier way I would love to know about it myself.

There are a lot of options available, but most require at least a decent amount of skill on your part, and none will probably be as quick or easy as you'd like (at least not at first).

I've never used Vectrics stuff, but to me, the VectorArt stuff looks like it's created from 2D images. These take a lot of skill to create, though. Some programs can machine directly from the image, some can turn the image into a 3D model, some can do both. You might want to look at the (maybe) soon to be released MeshCAM ART. It should make it easier to create 3D stuff from inages, with it's built in image "sculpting" tools.

I'll disagree with the above post stating $2K minimum as far as cost. Check out Silo at www.nevercenter.com Awesome 3D modeler for $100. Add the "standard" version of MeshCAM for $150, and your doing 3D for $250.

There is a ton of 3D CAD and modeling software available, and a lot of them will let you do what you want. But probably everyone of them will take a good amount of skill to be able to pull it off.

I'll disagree with the above post stating $2K minimum as far as cost. Check out Silo at www.nevercenter.com Awesome 3D modeler for $100. Add the "standard" version of MeshCAM for $150, and your doing 3D for $250.

There is a ton of 3D CAD and modeling software available, and a lot of them will let you do what you want. But probably everyone of them will take a good amount of skill to be able to pull it off.

For sure it could be done for less, as a matter of fact a number of people could probably do it all with free, or allmost free software, but I wouldnt want to attempt the complexity of work they have at Vectric without a very well supported software package. I dont know if that level of support (what I would want attempting that stuff) is available with a low cost program, maybe it is ...

You really can't touch the Vectric stuff, for ease of use and quality, for any price.

I really was making a comparison to Rhino when I mentioned Silo. And I'd guess that a beginner could pick up Silo a LOT quicker than Rhino. It's really easy to use, download the free learning version, check out a tutorial or two, and your on your way.

Delcam has an INCREDIBLE product called Artcam which can be found at http://www.artcam.com or you can go through the Delcam site at http://www.delcam.com Delcam has a LOT of products geared toward CAM such as jewelry making, cabinet making, and a general CAM program on steroids along with many many other software products for CAM work. I got a demo disc for Artcam from one of their distributors and I am quite impressed with its ability and features.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I'll keep an eye out to see what's happening with MechCAM Art. MeshCAM and Mach3 for $450 seems like a decent deal. But ArtCAM, what can I say...wow! That looks like just the ticket, I went through every page of their site and it seems to be just what Im thinking of. :) All that remains is to find out a price, although I always worry when they don't show the price on their website!
So anyone know how much ArtCAM Pro is?

Edit: Hmm...ArtCam's e-mail doesn't seem to be working, or at least I can't send to it. :(

Edit2: Its my email thats not working....grrr :(

So anyone know how much ArtCAM Pro is?


~$7500, which is why I didn't mention it. Look for MeshCAM Art to be somewhere close to $500, from what I've heard.

~$7500, which is why I didn't mention it.
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :violin:

That Silo looks cool for $109.00, http://www.nevercenter.com/faqs/
I've never seen that, & it supports DXF, plus diy plugins/C++.




.

Yeah, Silo does look pretty cool. I have downloaded the free learning versions, and will try the 30day trial at a later date.

I've been trying silo. It is actually really great, and I think :rolleyes: it will be really easy to use for what I want in a short time. There is still quite a bit to learn however, and quite a lack of basic tutorials. However I've joined the Silo forum and we will see what happens. At present I have a simple problem. When I create a grid it's automatically 6x6 grid squares regardless of its measurements. The squares simply shrink or enlarge. If I could make it into more grid squares I'd be away! Im going to start a silo thread to see if we have any other users on the zone.

Here's the Silo thread:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?p=211796#post211796

Wow, Silo, what an awesome program, hard to believe it's low cost, everyday new stuff comes out, this whole field has exploded, even in just the last year or so there is such a huge difference in whats available and the cost of software, another incredible field ready to explode is rapid prototyping, imagine "printing" out 3D parts on a little machine no bigger than a jet printer, amazing!