Does madCAM have a future?

[Neil M]

Genuine question. Now that Joakim has branched out to bigger, better and more expensive things;

directMILL 5X CNC | 5-axis made simple | 5 Axis made simple

Does madCAM have a future and if so what about pricing? directMILL is much more expensive than madCAM and yet the products seem comparable - certainly from the features listed.

Good luck to Joakim, he's a great guy with an unrivalled level of service and support. I hope this really works out for him but I don't see how he can offer parallel products of similar capability with such disparity in the pricing. I guess more will be revealed in the coming days/weeks/months.

[Dan B]

madCAM 5 is in beta testing right now. From my conversations with Joakim I have no reason to believe that madCAM is going to go away.

Dan

[Richard5X]

Well this seems to be the right time and place to introduce myself. I’m Richard Nolan and will be working with Joakim on moving directMILL 5X and madCAM forward.

I think everyone will agree that Joakim has done a great job with madCAM and we have no plans to discontinue it, in fact nothing could be further from the truth. As well as directMILL 5X we shall shortly be announcing the imminent release of madCAM V5.0.

Of course the two products will be aimed at different markets but to say madCAM will be a directMILL Lite would be incorrect as it does have some very impressive features (which will continue to be the case).

We will work on this over the next couple of weeks and make everything perfectly clear.

Thanks,
Richard

[svenakela]

MadCAM will be there for sure.

BTW, Welcome Richard.

[Richard5X]

Further to my comments on CNCzone 18 May 2012, I am pleased to announce further details on the release of directMILL V5.0.

Originally we envisaged madCAM V5.0 and directMILL V5.0 working side-by-side, but although Mould-And-Die CAM was a straightforward and descriptive name, Joakim and I have agreed to rebrand to English speaking markets. The plan over the coming months is to build the new directMILL website so that it is as content rich as the current madCAM site with new CAD and CAM tutorials etc, with the eventual phasing out of the madCAM site. We would like to reassure current madCAM customers that this is a name change only, Joakim is still involved. The new release of directMILL V5.0 will have comparable features and similar capabilities to madCAM, but a whole wealth of new ones as well: 64bit and multi-core support, scriptable command structure (great for macros and Visual Basic scripting) and more.

There has been a slight price increase in the current modules, but this is because we have held pricing for the past few years and is to reflect the new features. These prices will be updated on the madCAM site when directMILL V5.0 is released.

directMILL Professional is the top-end solution that includes additional features over and above Expert. The current pricing for directMILL Professional at directMILL 5X CNC | 5-axis made simple | 5 Axis made simple includes 4 days on-site training, 5-axis post-processor, machine simulation, annual support & maintenance, a copy of Rhino 4.0 along with the upgrade to Rhino 5.0 when it becomes available. directMILL Professional will be available as plug-in shortly for €4995.

So does madCAM have a future? Most certainly yes, but as directMILL.

The beta of directMILL V5.0 is in the final stages of testing (thanks to everyone who helped with this) and we expect to have an evaluation copy up on directMILL 5X CNC | 5-axis made simple | 5 Axis made simple very soon.

In the meantime, you can see the new and improved product and machine simulation here (be sure to watch in HD full screen):
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHMMUFoZX_g&feature=plcp"]5_Axis
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZpwR6B1nVs"]3_Axis Roughing & Finishing

Best regards,
Richard & Joakim

[Neil M]

There has been a slight price increase in the current modules ......

........ directMILL Professional will be available as plug-in shortly for €4995.


Best regards,
Richard & Joakim

Richard, with all due respect, I wouldn't call a 250% increase a slight price rise.

[Richard5X]

Thanks Neil,

Just to clarify, directMILL Professional is our new top of the range solution that offers additional 5-axis capabilities over Expert (further details to follow shortly) but other levels are available:

• Entry Level/Standard €795.00
  
• Four-Axis €1295.00
  
• Expert €2495.00

All pricing in euros, exclude Rhino, are correct as of 18 June 2012, are subject to change and exclusive of local sales taxes.

Best regards,
Richard

[svenakela]

Entry level goes from €595 to €795 which is a 33 % increase.
Expert level goes from €1995 to €2495 which is a 25 % increase.

I see no 250 % and still it's dirt cheap compared to the CAM I used before, where the entry level is almost €8000...

[Dan B]

He may be referring to the price listed for the "Professional" level on the new website.

Dan

[svenakela]

He may be referring to the price listed for the "Professional" level on the new website.

Dan

...which includes four days of educational training, annual support and upgrades?

[Dan B]

Yes, definitely more offered here for that price than just the directMill plug-in.

Dan

[Neil M]

Entry level goes from €595 to €795 which is a 33 % increase.
Expert level goes from €1995 to €2495 which is a 25 % increase.

I see no 250 % and still it's dirt cheap compared to the CAM I used before, where the entry level is almost €8000...

Did you read my post in full before jumping in both feet first to defend madCAM? I quoted Richards post where the price he stated appeared to have jumped by 250%

directMILL Professional will be available as plug-in shortly for €4995.

So does madCAM have a future? Most certainly yes, but as directMILL.

He's now clarified the confusion but it certainly wasn't clear to me at the time.

Oh and just to be clear, it's not about the money - NX is my primary CAD/CAM system.