Render views in process?

[SRT]

I'm trying out the online download and I have been able to see the render as a finished model.
Is it possible to view the render process as it cuts, or only after it is finished the process?
Is there possibly another way to view the process, such as with the NC code showing a line by line progression?
Is the new XP version, render views, any different than the demo that I'm looking at?
Thank you.

[wms]

SRT,
The rendering funtion is a finished product, as you have found out. It doesn't show the cutting process.

Both mill2000 and xp have part drawing rendering and cut part,(with stock) rendering.

The Xp series is slightly different in that you can stop the rendering at every tool change. And XP has a feature called "perfect rendering" that allows you to set different features like light source, shadows,intensity, colors, ect...

Both mill2000 and xp allow you to section your cut part to inspect, very closley, your tool paths and finished part. And both allow you to rotate and zoom and pan, without loosing your rendering.

[HuFlungDung]

If you want to see where the tool goes, don't forget that you can do a backplot to get the toolpaths. In XP, this backplot option has a preview, or else it will automatically save it to a layer. In Mill2000, I think you had a little bit more to do to save the backplot, but the similar function is still there.

[Cruncher]

SRT
I have not seen the version that you mention. With our Onecncxp expert I have looked at it generating the simulated rendered machined model line by line of NC code. All you need to do is in verification function click the increment of steps you want, it seems to be set at 20 lines by default for stops to generate the model. I have set it at one line and used it like that just to confirm difficult bits and even clicked line by line by clicking continue. I am so confident with it that I just let it run because it reports any problems if any. There has never been so far because it checks your settings and seems to report them before you actually make the program. I have even been reminded that I have selected the wrong tool before making the program it told me that the tool selected would not make a good finish. Some of our programs are more than 100,000 plus lines in one program and to watch that simulate is just not really feasible and would not do anything for me anyhow. I tried it just te see what it can do anyhow.
I hope this helps

[HuFlungDung]

Hey Cruncher, thanks for that info!! I guess I was too dense to pick up on that detail (stopping at so and so many lines). That settles a concern I had about trusting what was happening without going through it in slow-mo. Sometimes, the sequencing of operations can be complex, but Onecnc makes it so easy to write code, that I would still like to check what I was doing, to make sure I had not inadvertantly blundered.

This makes it even better than I already thought! The tidbits a guy can pick up from discussion forums are invaluable!

[SRT]

Thanks to all, for your previous responses.
I now have the cutter moving across the part while I line feed down the code.
Simulation as you all describe sounds like what I would want to use. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you all have the XP-Expert version. Do you know if there is any less of a simulation feature in XP-Professional than in XP-Expert?
Also any explanation of any other differences would be appreciated.
All I've heard so far is that XP-Expert is more suited than XP-Professional, for splitting mold work.
Also is it correct that XP-Expert is about $3000.00 more than XP-Professional?
Does either version program 4th axis from a solid without having to lay it out in a flat view?

[HuFlungDung]

From what I understand, XP-expert has "perfect render" in addition to normal render. Normal render is what you would be seeing. Perfect render takes a lot longer to render, and it would be superior for really giving a lifelike image, and gives you a lot of control over lights and coloring, image size, etc. Perfect render is overkill for little old me

I think that the normal rendering is superb for what I need to see.

I think you are correct about the splitting function, that is only in Xpert, and you are also right about the price diff.

You know, I guess we gradually get used to anything as new standards become the norm in software (and nearly everything else for that matter), but for me, moving up to Xpert is like gaining at least one extra man, in terms of the productivity jump. The up front cost, in those terms, represents what.....at most, two months wages for somebody?