CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
January 2006
Events News
Mastercam X on Display at NDES 2006
Mastercam® Direct and Mastercam X will be showcased at the National Design Engineering Show at the Donald E Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL on March 21-23 in booth # 18026 (inside the SolidWorks Pavilion). The Mastercam Direct for SolidWorks add-in along with the release of Mastercam X, offers SolidWorks users new ways to boost productivity.
Mastercam is a SolidWorks Certified CAM Product. Certified CAM Products are ones which have been evaluated by SolidWorks and are determined to be the best software products that work well with SolidWorks.
Mastercam Direct, free to the Mastercam and SolidWorks communities, allows users to open a model in Mastercam while in a SolidWorks session, and then apply existing toolpaths to that model. Users can import the model into Mastercam, complete with the solids history tree intact. The Direct interface can detect changes made to the original file when re-imported into Mastercam and alert the user, allowing them to modify any associated data such as geometry or toolpath information.
Mastercam Direct can be added directly to the SolidWorks toolbar. When the add-in is selected, the current SolidWorks part will be opened directly into Mastercam where the user can immediately update existing toolpaths for the part, or easily select an entire set of operations from another part to apply to the CAD model.
Mastercam X will also be on display. Dramatically streamlined and featuring powerful, new features, Mastercam X has been designed to reduce programmer interaction and increase machining flexibility.
Mastercam X delivers a new, streamlined customizable interface. Specially designed to minimize user interaction while maximizing programming options, the new interface is completely customizable and can be set to each person's specific preferences. Mastercam's new "smart" ribbon bar further boosts efficiency and maximizes workspace by appearing only when needed, and displaying tools specific to the job at hand.
Mastercam X features a suite of new programming tools, including the powerful new Pencil Offset Finishing toolpath. This new surface machining technique extends the crisp "cleanup" of a pencil trace toolpath across an entire part by automatically sectioning the part into logical machining areas.
Mastercam X also introduces Machine and Control Definition. These are virtual descriptions of the actual machine tool and control you will use to cut a part, allowing Mastercam to automatically customize its interface based on your CNC machine. This means that Mastercam X is aware of what the machine can and cannot do, helping ensure a correctly programmed part.
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