Wow, sounds like you work for GibbsCAM as the VP of Marketing or R&D or something! That was some really good stuff, I stand corrected, and I apologize for any incorrect info. Al, I hope all of this helped you with your decision MasterCAM or Esprit.
Greg -----Original Message----- From: John Callen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 10:34 AM To: Al Jones; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Pelly, Greg; Nigel Webb Subject: RE: [mfg-smartcam] RE: MasterCAM or Esprit? Folks, Well, as long as Greg jumped in (he works for Ketiv a Reseller who reps Pathtrace) and offered some comments, I'll toss in some comments and clarifications on GibbsCAM. GibbsCAM does an extremely good job of machining solid models and is currently capable of reading native Solid Edge, SolidWorks, Pro/ENGINEER, CATIA v4 and ACIS SAT files directly. GibbsCAM also includes add-ins that allow users to transfer models directly from within Solid Edge, SolidWorks, Inventor, Mechanical Desktop sessions to GibbsCAM for machining. And YES, GibbsCAM maintains associativity between design geometry, processes and toolpath (has from the beginning). Changes in one can be used to update downstream data. In addition, double-click on toolpath and you get the original creation parameters used to generate it - update the parameters and reprocess and get updated toolpath (how many times did you want to do that in SmartCAM?). Also, I should probably also point out that unlike most other systems, GibbsCAM's algorithms actually make use of the additional information contained in the solid model rather than decomposing the solid into collection of surfaces and processing them using "bag of surfaces" algorithms. A couple of myths about GibbsCAM debunked - 1) GibbsCAM doesn't allow you to directly modify toolpath. FALSE, GibbsCAM allows you to turn toolpath into geometry. Once converted to geometry, you can manipulate it however you want. When finished, you can then turn it back into toolpath. The reason for the transpose is because GibbsCAM's geometry/process/toolpath associativity breaks as soon as you start manually manipulating it. (BTW, it was for this reason - associativity binds toolpath editting - that SmartCAM did not support associativity.) 2) GibbsCAM doesn't allow you to create your own post processors. FALSE, GibbsCAM now offers in addition to factory supplied post processors (created using Gibbs' proprietary post development environment, which end users CAN license) and APT-CL output, a template-based post processing capability. PostHASTE for GibbsCAM allows users to create their own post processors for a full range of basic 3-axis mills and 2-axis lathes. Additional capabilities can be upgraded from PostHASTE's developer (see www.postprocessor.com). GibbsCAM is sold through a Reseller channel, many of whom are ex-SmartCAM Resellers. Resellers are spread worldwide with very good coverage in the US. GibbsCAM customers have access to free #800 number phone support (8:00AM EST to 5:00PM PST). The SmartCAM trade-in program gets SmartCAM users a 20% discount on GibbsCAM packages comparable to the SmartCAM packages they own. Gibbs also offers a 60 day money back guarantee, so if you buy the software and decide it's not for you, you can get your money back. Finally, and this is the one that sold me on GibbsCAM, looking at all the other PC-based, CAM systems available today, GibbsCAM really is the closest to SmartCAM as far as a process-oriented CAM system is concerned. SmartCAM customers will find GibbsCAM very familiar and appreciate GibbsCAM's drag-and-drop, point-and-click graphical interface which seems to pick up where SmartCAM left off. If anyone should have any questions regarding GibbsCAM, please do not hesitate to contact me. I'll be more than happy to answer. Regards, --John Callen Ex-Manager of SmartCAM Application Development, Point Control Ex-Manager of Product Management Group, CAMAX Ex-Manager of SmartCAM Development, SDRC | -----Original Message----- | From: Pelly, Greg [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] | Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 8:49 AM | To: 'Nigel Webb'; Al Jones; [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Subject: RE: [mfg-smartcam] RE: MasterCAM or Esprit? | | | EdgeCAM from Pathtrace in the UK works pretty well on | "associativity" with sending 3D solids to Inventor | /Solidworks. Feature recognition works very well, if you | update your 3d design, in your design system, EdgeCAM will | recognize and understand these changes. It will also | automatically update the CAM paths, and Code with very | little human interaction. It's not perfect yet, but who is? | However, one drawback for some is that it's still not | bi-directional "associativity". EdgeCAM does not send | "associativity" back to an Engineering Design system, it's a | one way trip, but in most companies or cases this is best. | Most others are in a two year lag or catch-up mode in | comparison. MasterCAM and Gibbs have just started to really | pull in solids to CAM with any associative nature. | | Best of luck and I hope this helps. I've included some | optional URL's for your reading pleasure. | | www.edgecam.com | http://www.edgecam.com/default.asp?goUrl=/uk/product/Solidmac | hinist.shtml | | Greg Pelly | An Old SmartCAM - Point Control Int'l AE. ====================================================================== To find out more about this mailing list including how to unsubscribe, send the message "info mfg-smartcam" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ======================================================================
