PhotoVCarve!

[bsimages]

Has anyone been to Vectric's new page? They have a fantastic new product called PhotoVCarve! All I can say is WOW!!!
Just like VCarve they have a free-trial version of the new software at www.vectric.com.

Bill Schober

[Switcher]

The quality on the websites photo gallery, wasn't all that.

They should change the step over or something. One or two photos looked ok, but most had lines, that just kept me focused on the lines, not the photo subject.

I'm not knocking the software, they should just put their best photos up, to show what the software can do

http://www.vectric.com/WebSite/Vectr...vc_gallery.htm


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[paulC]

Originally Posted by Switcher They should change the step over or something. One or two photos looked ok, but most had lines, that just kept me focused on the lines, not the photo subject. .

Think you have missed the function of the software.
It is not 3D image software. Its designed to give a good replication of a photo. Its 2D in presentation. It is producing lines of varing widths dependant on shade. It will always have lines but I assume you can change the spacing to suite your requirements. An interesting idea. May have some application in memorial work.

[dighsx]

The software’s pretty cool, you can change the line spacing and the cut depth to get different effects. I'll attach two screen shots. One is using a 60-degree Vbit with a line spacing of .05 inches. It gives a pretty cool effect and I've actually cut this one and it comes out really nice. The smaller the bit and the more lines you can get the sharper the image seems to get. It seems part of the trick is making sure you have enough contrast between the cuts, so painting or staining your cuts something darker then the surface is the way to get the best looking piece. The second image is using a 1/8-ball nose bit with a line spacing of .013 (so it overlaps). You can see you can get some cool 3d effects too.

It takes a little playing around with the software to find the settings you like. But compared to some of the other photo to gcode programs I've tried this one actually creates something that looks like your photo and without much work at all.

[Switcher]

I think the type of cut, I like best is the one with 674 lines, and 4 steps in "Z", Looks way better to me.

I noticed you can adjust the angle of toolpath, can that be a different angle in each "Z" pass?

What kind of limit is on the trial version?

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[bsimages]

Nice Jay,
As I understand it, if your varnish your wood first then cut it and stain it the stain is only applied to the cut areas. I think this would work nicely on your first one. My CNC machine is down at the moment, so I can only play with PhotoVCarve and imagine what might work...
Bill

[Tony Mac]

Thanks for the positive response!

Hi Switcher,

The Trial version of PhotoVCarve will allow you to cut the 4 samples shown below, at any size on your own CNC machine. It will also open your own photographs, calculate and preview the toolpaths, but not save the cnc code.

The key factor about PhotoVCarve is that it machines very realistic results using lines much quicker than any of the grayscale height map products that typically have cutting times of many hours+, with results that are very dependant on the lighting and shading in the original photograph.

The technique used in PhotoVCarve works regardless of what the photograph looks like. Having said that, high contrast photographs / images will give better results, and the software includes an option to increase the contrast and instantly preview the results so you can see what the finished piece will look like.

We have a web page that explains how the process works,

See > How PhotoVCarve works

Hope this answers your questions,

Tony Mac

[joecnc2006]

Can someone do a tutorial, or demo from start to finish, not of the actual program workings those are clear on the program website, but of material setup, preperation and how to get the proper shading. (materials and applying the effects) that is what i'm inclear about. pictures would help alot.

Thanks, Joe

Edit: i just looked at the link Tony provided and it explains some of it, but like to see pictures of the proccess and all steps.

[Tony Mac]

Joe,

The general procedures are outlined on our web site.

See the link > How It Works

Things to remember are,

Material / Machine Table must be Flat

The machined grooved must be a different colour to the material surface

Typically fairly shallow grooves,
0.020" for small designs around 3" high
0.080" for designs around 12"

Experiment with different depths in the software to see how a deeper cut produces fewer lines and less detail.

You must use a V-Bit / Conical Cutter otherwise the width on the lines will not vary

When cutting wood the Line Spacing needs to be 120%+ to leave a small flat region between each line / groove, stopping the wood from going fuzzy.

Engraving Brass, machine the part, paint the grooves / piece black and polish the surface to remove the excess paint. Altenatively, use a 'Blacking Fluid' to etch the brass to black, then polish the surface clean leaving the balck in the grooves.

Hope this helps,

Tony

[joecnc2006]

I believe i will be purchasing the software this weekend. Looks really good.

[Switcher]

Just curious, how do you enter a License Code?

When you click on "Help | Enter License Code" Nothing happens.





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[Tony Mac]

The Trial Version cannot be turned into a working version.

Customers receive a new download link to the Full version + license code.

Regards,
Tony