MeshCAM V3 Build 3 is Ready!
I just uploaded the first public V3 build. The V2 build doesn’t know about version numbers (I didn’t think far enough ahead) so it will not find the new build using the “Check for Updates.” Go to http://www.grzsoftware.com/v2dl.php and grab it there.
I made some UI changes like removing the log window and locking the side panel. Some will not like this but it will become important as I begin to move more the UI from separate dialog windows to the dock on the left.
I increased the toolpath accuracy thresholds somewhat since it helps the roughing. This slows down the toolpath code slightly but I figure that computers have gotten a bunch faster since that toolpath code was introduced and this will be used for the next few years so it’s worth bumping it up cash in on that extra CPU performance.
Some of the vertical jags showed back up in the roughing and I realized that some of this is due to the nature of the 3D roughing. Since it is looking at a “thick slice” of the geometry it can catch the edge of the geometry and cause the tool to lift. There are a few that are not geometry-related that I need to spend more time on.
Let me know how it works for you.
UPDATE: Jeff just pointed out that I forgot to mention that V3 keeps the data it needs in a different registry key than V2. This was done to allow you to keep V2 and V3 both without interference. Because of this you will have to reenter your registration code in V3 the first time you use it.
Robert,
V3 does not like V2 registration code.
jeffD
That’s bad. What error does it give you?
-Robert
Robert,
Standard install except I put it in D:\program files\meshcam3. (all V2 builds get their own folder in the same place)
Starting V3 and I get a warning about an unregistered version with limited features. It also won’t open any files, just a license expired notice.
V2 still works fine.
jeffD
Oh- I made it so V3 uses a different registry key so you can keep V2 and V3 separate. You’ll have to reenter the key in V3. I should have mentioned that in my post.
-Robert
I just added this information to the main post. Thanks for pointing it out.
-Robert
Robert,
Added note, I tried install on my laptop (also XP Pro sp3) with the same results.)
jeffD
Robert,
Re-entering the key worked just fine, thanks.
jeffD
Minor bug. First time you run it, no tools are selected. Trying to run a Pencil Path with no X or Y path tool selected gives you a “no tool selected” error, even though a tool is selected for the Pencil Path.
Also, can we ever get MC to remember it’s previous state when it opens?
Registered OK, had to copy over tools.txt from MeshCAM2 directory. MC3 still installs in Start menu rather than Start/Programs. Just starting to play, our Internet was broken (since last night! lovely Comcast…) so I just discovered the new release a little while ago.
Randy
Gerry-
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll see if I can get it to remember screen positions in the next release- I’ve owed you that one for a while.
Randy-
I thought I fixed that start menu thing a while ago but maybe my memory is wrong. Windows 7, and I believe Vista, doesn’t show a distinction so I may have missed it.
-Robert
Robert, if you’re going to freeze the sidebar, could you at least arrange the icons 2-wide instead of 3- and 4-wide? I’ve never once clicked on an icon–I use the top menu exclusively–and the excessively large sidebar, mostly empty, seriously cuts down on the graphic window where all the useful information is.
Or maybe make it a flyout–run the mouse to the extreme left of the window to show it, then it will retract after picking an icon. For something that is used only during the setup of a run it is wasteful IMHO to keep it there all the time as it is…
Randy
Robert,
Like Randy I never ever use the sidebar.
PLEASE make it smaller if you need to keep it.
I use rhino with side and top bars and info on the bottom, but they are small, a neutral colour, and don’t use up much screen space even when I add lots of extra buttons. Both bars are 2 columns/rows wide and not visually distracting, and I use them as my default selection tool.
My focus is on the main window, trying to remember what each little icon does is much more work than using the menu and text.
As usual I trust your judegement about what has to be done but you have have another slightly less than happy camper here.
jeffD
Robert, I forgot to say “please” above. Please do reconsider all that precious realestate.
Randy
I actually do use the icons.
you could get away with a single column, which I would prefer. Not sure how hard it would be to have the column width change based on the window height? I’d like a flyout toolbar that just leaves a small vertical stripe when not being used. I keep my properties window in AutoCAD like that. When I want to see an entity’s properties, I just slide the mouse to the left. You’d proably need to make it dockable to please everyone.
If MeshCAM didn’t start so small
Do you guys run MC maximized? Or smaller?
What does View> High Quality do? And shouldn’t it have a check next to it when activated?
Just playing around and am seeing some strange Pencil toolpaths. Shouldn’t the pencil path just cut the perimeter of the part? I’ll post some pics on the forum.
Gerry,
My typical install routine involves setting the shortcut properties to full screen and moving it to my preferred position in the Start Menu, copying the tools and my favorite posts.
jeffD
Feature request. Can we get the filename of the model in the title bar? Or at least somewhere? If i have a few different versions of a model, it can be tough to remember which one is loaded.
Another bug.
If you close MeshCAM with the “Accept Toolpath” window open, it hangs around after MeshCAM is gone.
When I get a run good enough to save the toolpath, it would be great if MC would output a text file with all the settings used to create that toolpath–everything from stock size to finishing tolerance. Thank you.
Randy
This is what I expected
. The width will probably be required so I can more some of the other dialogs there when you need to interact with the 3D view (like the supports dialog that is currently floating). I will make this deal for the mean time and we can revisit the issue later if required. I’ll add a hotkey, maybe ALT-D or something not likely to be used, to hide/unhide that docked window.
My bigger questions is, what resolutions do you guys run, and how much do you really need to see in the 3D window? Is it that you really spend time looking at tiny details or is it that the sidebar clutters the view too much? Does the additional zoom capability in V3 not help a slightly smaller 3D window show you more data?
Gerry-
That “Accept Toolpath” bug is known and ignored because it didn’t seem that bad relative to the other work I had to do. V3 is time for cleanup so I’ll fix it in the next release. Thanks for the reminder.
I will also add a filename display in the next release.
The pencil cut will trace any corner that is “highly concaved.” In prismatic models this can be very clean in and defined. In some highly sculpted models it can end up with a strange paths since the path is based on a surface offset from the imported geometry- where new corners and be created and some in the original can disappear.
Randy-
That suggestion meshes with Jeffs request to save all toolpath data in the gcode file. Maybe something to ask you if you want to save the settings when saving the gcode. (with the option to never ask again.)
-Robert
Robert, I run at 1280×1024, the native resolution of my monitor. With the insanely fine stepovers I typically use, I need to zoom in quite a bit to resolve the individual path segments. But it is nice to have as much view window as possible to get the context of the adjacent paths where there is intricate detail (or I’m looking for irregularitites in corners, which you’ve mostly elimninated!
)
I still would like the sidebar to be at least hidable while I examine the toolpaths before accepting them. I always need to drag the “accept toolpath” popup box over to the side too–all your popup boxes pop up smack in the middle of the screen. When I drag one to the side, could that location be used as a sticky default for popup boxes from then on?
Randy
That “Accept Toolpath” dialog is one that will be converted to dock on the side of the screen in the near future.
They currently pop up in the middle of the screen so new users don’t miss them. You’d be shocked at the mail I got a while ago when I tried to make some dialogs pop up in the corner- some people just didn’t notice them.
-Robert
The default in the middle of the screen is fine, Robert. But it would be nice to remember the new location after I’ve dragged one over…
Randy
Robert,
1152 x 864 screen (monitor and eyeball limits)
I like Randys hidable side bar, I do use side bars o n many other programs but would really appreciate the extra real estate most of the time for MC (I also use slightly small step overs
jeffD