New spaceclaim forum

[CNCadmin]

anyone using this software yet? https://www.spaceclaim.com/v2/default.aspx

[Dan B]

Yes, I have tried the demo. It is pretty impressive, but finicky with regard to video cards. I have a high end Nvidia Quadro card (although a couple of years old) and it will not run on it. At home I'm running an ATI gaming card and it runs okay there.

I thought that it might be a good tool to use along with Rhino, especially for adding complex fillets. However, the complex fillets fail more than they succeed, so it's back to Rhino. At least if the FilletEdge command fails in Rhino, the FilletSrf command is there to get the job done.

Dan

[Dan B]

I'm still playing with this. I think we will purchase a seat of LTX to work along side Rhino. It will save us some time here and there, so it's worth a try. At $850 to buy it (not lease) and no annual maintenance, it's reasonably priced for what it can do.

Dan

[Dan B]

Well, we ended up buying the professional version. They no longer do the leasing thing. We got a perpetual license. I will also be working with SpaceClaim (the company) to help them with some real world examples so they can continue to develop the product.

Should be a lot of fun.

Dan

[forrey45]

and what is the price of the pro version?
Forrey

[Dan B]

Under $3000 last time I checked.

Dan

[bad bearings]

I had some video card trouble as well and found a demo product--swiftshader--that fixed it. Swift shader is a software shader.

[dirtdiggler]

Just curious where you installed the .dll files? I downloaded swift shader but couldn't figure out where to install the files.

Thanks-

[bad bearings]

If I remember right there were two files d3d8.dll and d3d9.dll both should be dropped into the main application directory of spaceclaim where spaceclaim.exe is located. I think that's all there is to it.

[jdr1961]

I have been using SpaceClaim Engineer 2009 for about 3 months. It's extremely easy to learn, even for an old shop dog. Started using it on day one.

I use it to receive customer data and prepare it for programming. It imports from ALL the solid modelers. I really like that I can add, remove or adjust features by simply clicking and dragging. It's infinitely easier than trying to modify the model with my CAM softare, and it saves me from having to create tons of wireframe when programming. Simple to take 2D ACAD geometry and turn into solids for programming, too.

Also, it is a breeze to design fixtures and clamps for CNC programming and CMM programming. Now I can actually use the machine simulation in my CAM software, which I didn't do before because it was just too much trouble to model everything. I've attached a pdf of a tooling block I designed to hold a grooving tool in a Hardinge SuperSlant lathe. Took no time to desing the block, then I programmed it right off the solid model. The groover was downloaded as a STEP file from the Iscar website and placed right in to my SpaceClaim file.

Doug Robinson
FocalPoint Engineering Systems
www.focalpoint-eng.com

[dirtdiggler]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for your feedback.

I totally agree with what you have to say about Space Claim. I'm really surprised there are not a lot more followers here on CNC zone and on other forums. To me this software is absolutely revolutionary and there is nothing like it!

I come from a SolidWorks backround, and I recently bought a copy of Rhino3D which definitely has the biggest learning curve in my opinion. I'm still learning and ocationally punching the wall. I'm seein that I can use Rhino 3D to create the 3D forms quickly and then I just import them with the click of a button into SC. In SC I can create real parametric assemblies, add fillets and fix the geometry. It's so easy that you say to yourself, why can't all software be this easy? What's really cool is that it allows to create really loose 3D models in rhino and then make them airtight in SC with the click of a button. This process would normally takes hours of hair pulling time in Rhino.

Apparently the new SC features are that you can do all your surfacing in the software itself. I haven't yet learned how to use all the curves correctly but it's at the top of my list.

My only issue is that I'm using a slow laptop with built in graphics. I crash a lot. Rhino 3D runs super fast on on the same computer and never crashes - while SC crashes 50% of the time. Until SC figures this out I'm going to have to grab a cheapo desktop with some beefy graphics. To me it's worth having separate computer just so I can use this software.

[bad bearings]

I agree, I've worked with SpaceClaim for a couple weeks now and it does seem easier to use than the typical solid modeling package. The interface is simple and easy to use and isn't weighed down with all the complex features of traditional modelers. The company has good customer support as well.