Any News from FLA on Changes?

[wmgeorge]

So have any of the folks with machine problems had any fixes or changes come down the pike? I wondering if FLA has some changes in the machines coming?

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[Ntl]

I guess the silence is your answer lol. I know I haven't received any emails responding to my questions. I think he's just ignoring the problem and unhappy customers.

[wmgeorge]

Darn, I was hoping he would pull out of it.

[wmgeorge]

Well on the bright side his website is still up and nobody has posted any more Rants on here. The Link to this Forum is still active so go figure?

[Ntl]

Idk maybe he has done something for the other guys, or they just gave up asking. I just decided to run it till something breaks since it appears I'm on my own now. I'm getting ready to run a bunch of job's, I'm just finishing up the cad work. I have to say that the cad is by far the hardest part for me. I hate having to learn new software, I wish I would have learned 3d design a long time ago. At least I have the 2d/2.5d dialed, but I really need to find a good 3d artistic software that isn't as hard for me at least as fusion is. Do you have Aspire? I'm wondering if it would be worth it for me to upgrade from V-carve pro. Intitaly I didn't think I would be doing any 3d work. But after doing a simple 3d design in fusion and then doing the Cam work in vetric since I still haven't been able to figure out tool paths in fusion and it turned out good. I really want to turn some of my AI line art into 3d pieces. Fusion is just a pain for me since it's for mechanical design not artistic.

Dan

[wmgeorge]

I think of Fusion 360 as a CAD program not a 3D design for art. I know thats not right because David does some wonderful art work in it.
I use VCP 9.5 and see no reason to spend another $1200 for Aspire. I might someday purchase Cut3D but its not been upgraded for years.

VCP can do the 3D I need for now.

The was done in MDF to put on my website to show detail work in the large 48 inch walnut sign preview. My machine works fine as you can see.

[ger21]

Art comes in many different forms. Which require different tools.
No one program will be perfect for everything.

[Ntl]

Art comes in many different forms. Which require different tools.
No one program will be perfect for everything.

What do you use for your 3d design, for artistic signage? Fusion works great for adding simple fillets and chamfers, but it wants perfect geometry and some of the 3d design's I've seen no way fusion would let you do it that way. I was wondering if Aspire would be the way to go since I think it let's you just push and pull line art and create a 3d design. I'm looking for something to take some of my AI 2d design's and turn them into 3d pieces if possible? I've done a couple in Fusion but like I said it's a pain in the arse to do it that way. IDK maybe there's a 3d printer software that would work? I've been looking, but I haven't really seen anything yet that looks like what I'm looking for. I've seen that Photoshop supposedly let's you do 3d printer design now but I haven't tried it yet to see if I can create tool paths in vetric from them. I wish AI did real 3d art since it's the program that I use the most.

Dan

[Ntl]

I think of Fusion 360 as a CAD program not a 3D design for art. I know thats not right because David does some wonderful art work in it.
I use VCP 9.5 and see no reason to spend another $1200 for Aspire. I might someday purchase Cut3D but its not been upgraded for years.

VCP can do the 3D I need for now.

The was done in MDF to put on my website to show detail work in the large 48 inch walnut sign preview. My machine works fine as you can see.

I have the same v-carve version and yes it will do the 3d Cam perfect. I'm just having a hard time finding a good program to do the cad work. How did you draw up the design you cut out, or did you draw it yourself? I'm looking to do similar things, but I haven't found a good program for the cad work. I'm pretty sure that the 3d design you cut out couldn't be drawn up with fusion. Any one with more experience with fusion please chime in and let me know if it can be done. If so I will spend some more time learning the software. As of right now I don't really like it for anything more than simple mechanical parts and even then I like solidworks a lot better, unfortunately I can't afford it right now.

Dan

[wmgeorge]

Dan it was off the Design & Make website, I paid like $114 for that collection with much more. I find that their designs in the V3M format are the best ones to get as they go right into VCP. But you can download other formats such as STL anything you want. I did enhance it a bit with my added touches.

[Ntl]

Dan it was off the Design & Make website, I paid like $114 for that collection with much more. I find that their designs in the V3M format are the best ones to get as they go right into VCP. But you can download other formats such as STL anything you want. I did enhance it a bit with my added touches.

Do you know what software they used? I've seen some cool stuff on the payed sites, but I want to draw my own designs. I have a ton of art I've done over the years, but it's all AI designs and I want to convert some of them to 3d designs.

Any ideas on a good software for taking line art and converting it to 3d with out redrawing everything would be great!

Thank you,
Dan

[GME]

. I was wondering if Aspire would be the way to go since I think it let's you just push and pull line art and create a 3d design.

Dan

Dan,

I use Aspire 9.5 and Fusion 360. Like you, I find Fusion 360 very limiting for some things. I still use Fusion, but mostly for one off parts design and cam. For signs and art type pieces, I use Aspire. I am presently working on a 42" 3d king salmon. It's not close enough to finished to post a preview yet. I designed and cut a rosette for the remodel of our master bedroom. It's pretty simple, but gives an idea of what Aspire will do. Here's a picture of the Aspire preview:



I believe your best bet is to download a trial version of Aspire and play with it. You can use the trial version as long as you want to, but it won't let you export toolpaths for cutting. You can play with some of you line art and see if it meets your needs. Vectric has some great tutorials. They make learning the features easier. Here's a model of a trout I particularly liked:



Gary

[ger21]

What do you use for your 3d design, for artistic signage?

I have Aspire. I also use AutoCAD, Fusion 360, and Lightwave. I use what's easiest or fastest to get the job done

I believe that Design and Make uses Aspire, as they are part of Vectric.

Aspire was created specifically for doing 3D relief carvings, and has tools that make it very easy. Most people, though, don't realize that even with the best software, A LOT of artistic ability is required to create really good 3D models.
Aspire doesn't really do "push and pull" like Fusion does. You can create a shape from a closed vector, sort of like an extrusion. It also has sculpting, where you can smooth and blend things together, or "Draw" in detail.

With Fusion, your best bet is to use the Sculpt Environment. There you can take basic shapes, and push and pull faces to make them into just about anything.

[PLJack]

I'm looking for something to take some of my AI 2d design's and turn them into 3d pieces if possible?
Dan

I'll chime in on that statement.
I too have been working my skills on Fusion 360. But when I need to convert 2D to 2.5D I always go back to CamBam. They have a free 40 use demo if you want to check it out.
Super easy to turn line art into profiles, pockets, engraves, regions, and 3D profiles. Also has a bitmap heightfield function.
Although it is technically 2.5D you can rotate the tool paths in 3D to get a good look at what is going on.

Lately I've found that the jobs I spent hours on in Fusion take me a fraction of the time to start cutting in CamBam.
Sometimes I import DXF files. Often I just make it all in CamBam. The project I'm working on now was designed in F360. Used F360 to model and test the design but got tired / frustrated of trying to CAM it all in Fusion.
So this morning I exported the sketch as a DXF. Opened in CamBam and made the fixture and all the tool paths. Had a prototype by this afternoon.
I'm coming to the conclusion that F360 is great for modeling. But on the CAM side it definitely has all 1 million options for full blown CNC shops. I don't need all that. Not yet anyway. When you are up against that and the Mach3 G-Code works sometimes, I'm taking a pass for now so that I can get some work done. Just how it is for me.

Jack.

[Ntl]

Thanks everyone for the info, a lot to think about..

Dan

[Erik F]

Thanks everyone for the info, a lot to think about..

Dan

Check out www.MOI3d.com I have been using it for years and I fI find it easy to create 3d objects quickly.

[PLJack]

Check out www.MOI3d.com I have been using it for years and I fI find it easy to create 3d objects quickly.

Thanks for that. Looks interesting. I'll check that out.
Watched a few videos. Comment from one video is all I need to spend some time with it.

"Moi is a great program it s made by the original creator of Rhino 3D"

Good enough for me.
Loved Rhino back in the day.
Jack.

[Ntl]

Check out MoI, 3D modeling for designers and artists I have been using it for years and I fI find it easy to create 3d objects quickly.

Do they have a trial version? I don't want to wast money since I think ultimately I'm going to upgrade to Aspire. It's just so expensive, but if it makes 3d design as easy as V-carve pro makes creating tool paths than it's worth every penny.

Dan

[GME]

Do they have a trial version? I don't want to wast money since I think ultimately I'm going to upgrade to Aspire. It's just so expensive, but if it makes 3d design as easy as V-carve pro makes creating tool paths than it's worth every penny.

Dan

Yes, there is a 30-day trial that allows saves. There is also a trial with no expiration, but saves are not allowed. I haven't tried it, but I think I may. I have Aspire, but it's worth looking at another program.

Gary

[wmgeorge]

Not to change the subject to much, but there was discussion at one time on here for using epoxy to fix the FLA ills. Here is one persons experience > https://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc-w...ml#post2273256