I think you need to look up what Ransomware is. This is not it.
Anything can be a negative factor for someone shopping for a CNC machine. Its a negative for you, but I see this as a positive.
Where are you seeing that you have to pay for the software?
I would think this is an improvement for someone that is only doing this as a hobby. You create something in Carbide Create, save the file and send it to Carbide Motion and it runs the tool paths. People that are running production shops that have a workflow of Carbide Create → “some other gcode sending software” are going to be the ones with issues. However, if they don’t need new features like calculated depths, they can continue using version 6.
I disagree with your assumption about the direction that Carbide Motion is going. The entire point of the machine is that it is standards-based and will run gcode that is sent to it. If you want greater control over your gcode before it is sent to the CNC, then you can use a tool (e.g. Fusion 360) that will provide more control and more capability. They have already said that the controller will continue to accept standard gcode sent to it.
I would like someone from C3D to comment on this though and confirm/deny these suppositions.
To me, I see this as a major improvement all around. New features, and (for me) a simplified workflow for editing/updating tool paths to tweak a design.
As a plus, everyone has a great excuse now for not attempting to help CC-related issues posted on the forum. I don’t use CC at all, but keep a copy installed to help out if I can. Now diagnosis is limited unless you are at a turned-on machine, no need to bother helping
I would LOVE to see CM accept a file without being connected to a physical machine. It seems that you could do some things without connecting, but I don’t know if creating the GCODE would require settings that are stored in the machine.
But then anybody could export GCode. They’ve gone to a bit of trouble to encrypt it and make sure only C3D programs can access it, so I doubt they’d let that happen.
Wow I have not seen a subject light up the forum like this change in policy. I can understand C3D not wanting to waste resources on freeloaders. However in the past I was a freeloader when I also had a Shark that I would modify the gcode to work with the Shark produced from CC.
At the time I had the Shark I also had a Shapeoko 3 XXL that I bought used but upgraded with HDZ, BitSetter, BitRunner, BitZero, Proximity Switch UG and most if not all of the C3D clamping solutions. So even though I did not buy my Shapeoko 3 from C3d it was purchased by someone and C3d profited by that purchase. Then I further profited C3d by buying all the accessories.
I like the spirit of C3d and the forum here is a great one. The moderators keep the forum on track and on subject without a heavy hand. The participants on the forum are helpful and not critical of others in a negative way. So overall I like C3d.
However this change will take some getting used to. I understand it is C3D’s money and how they spend it is up to C3D. Please understand that on the customer side it is my money and I decide how to spend it. I will try out your model but in the end it might drive me over to another vendor for software. Just consider if I move a little away from C3D it might just move me a long way away in an unintended consequence of your new business model.
So I have been a happy customer so far with C3D. It remains to be determined if I stay a happy customer or not.
Maybe I’m not using it correctly…but the Measure tool implementation doesn’t seem to address what most folks want to use it for:
Measure a vector for it’s total length
Determine the distance between two objects as you move them
Also, since the distance is only displayed when you’re hovering and disappears when you click the second time, your eyes need to be in two places at once — one to make sure you’re hovering in the right place and the second to read the measurement. Also, this just about eliminates the opportunity to write down the measurement - unless you happen to write and mouse with different hands - and don’t move when you write.
As a staunch supporter of the Measurement Tool concept, I think it’s kind of missing the boat a little.
@robgrz
I am sad to see that Carbide3D is going the way of Autodesk and taking basic functionality from the free version of their software and moving it into the Pro version. Saving to a .nc file is the most basic feature of a CAM package. It is what allows for interoperability between different systems. I for instance replaced my Carbide Motion Control Board with a Duet board for the added functionality. Now I cannot use Carbide Create with it unless I purchase the Pro version of the software. I can see the benefit of saving the GCode in the .c2d files and can fully get behind it, but if you are generating the GCode anyways then having an option to save it to a .nc file should be trivial. This is nothing more than Carbide3D attempting lock down their ecosystem and trying to spin this as a new feature.
Also I am sorry, but requiring people to upload a c2d file to a cloud based system to unencrypt it is not a reasonable solution. I use Carbide Create to make basic parts when I am out at my shop. My shop that does not have reliable internet. When I am making anything complex I am doing it on my home office PC with Fusion360 or some other advanced CAM package. I used the trial version of Pro before. I am sorry, but I would not quite call it an Advanced Cam package and is not worth a yearly subscription in my book. On top of this but it will require people to upload their files to Carbide3D’s servers for conversion. How are those files going to be treated?
I had planned on purchasing a Pro XXL or an HDM sometime before Xmas. I hate to say this but I think I am going to be looking for a different ecosystem that is more open after this change.
My use case is light production of repeating items with different personalization. Think a drop tray design that you want to iterate on or swap between designs to produce. You can set layers for “Art Engraving”, “Pockets”, “Cutouts” then alter the product through several different iterations and custom engravings all while not touching your tool paths.
Anything joining a particular layer will be cut as assigned rather than having to be individually toolpathed. (new word?)
But it’s unclear if they’ll work with anything other than a C3D controller. I’d also be concerned that it prevents updating the controller from old 8 bit to more recent 32b processor based boards if that’s your thing, such as the Duet conversion mentioned above. To be upfront I’m also a freeloader with less important opinions, while I’ve wanted an SO since around V1 when I first had contact with Ed Ford it never quite works out. Back then we were putting three girls through college and money was scarce. Today that’s not (nearly as big) an issue but our new home doesn’t have the room and the “build a new shop project” got put on hold by the current construction issues. The wife was unwilling to compromise and let me use our oversized and not well used living room. I was giving serious thought to an SO4 in our summer place (also suffering from a get the shop finished situation but it’s getting close) but going to a closed C3D only model is going to cause some serious rethinking. I understand the support issue all too well, but many companies have a community and pay version without seeming to have major issues, no freeloader gets direct support. Of course it’s C3D’s right to do whatever they want, but open (in the use, not source case) to closed causes a lot of hard feelings.
In another venue this qualified statement was made " I don’t believe it will work to extract G-code unless one can connect to a Carbide 3D machine — that would only work for the folks who have both a C3D machine which Carbide Motion will connect to, and a 3rd party machine which they wish to use G-code from Carbide Create on.
Basically, if you don’t have a C3D machine, or don’t want to invest in Pro, stick w/ v6."
What if there was a machine code that would identify you as a Shapeoko owner that could be entered into the CC software to unlock the Gcode output.
Serial number? Or request by email and code sent after verification. Rather than a website upload. To me this sounds simpler.
Trace update not working for me. Still need to click “Trace Image” with each adjustment. Not a big deal.
Measurement seems OK. I can let go of the mouse then look at the results. Trying to think of what I’ve used “Create Polyline” for to measure. Width of text, minimum width of a shape, or between shapes to decide which tool(s) to use. Measure background image to determine scale. Selecting 2 objects & getting the minimum distance would be cool. I did have zoom way in on a text measurement to avoid the “Snap to Node” feature. A way to turn that off might be nice.
Scroll appears when it’s not needed. Contour Toolpath dialog takes up 2/3 of the available space, yet the vertical scroll appears. The horizontal scroll disappears if I widen the window a bit.
Expressions: Sounded like you meant to implement it such that if I hit the = sign it evaluates the expression immediately & saves the value. But without the = sign it should leave the expression as is and just use the result as the parameter. This would be a first step to parametric design in the future.
As is, changing the functionality only seems to work in the radius & rectangle size fields. Doesn’t work in Start Depth, Max Depth, Offset, Move
I’d vote put it back to the way it was & open it up for parametrics in the future.
Currently “t” is the only available variable, correct?
Non-Sequitor: Just noticed the Contour, Pocket, Texture & VCarve dialogs are imbedded, where the Drill & Advanced VCarve are floating. ???
For this to work the individual will require their account credentials (username/password) to log into the my.carbide3d.com site to dump the .c2d file and get a .nc (gcode) file back. As opposed to having to visit a website could these same user credentials not be prompted (or entered once) into CC directly to unlock the option to export .nc (gcode) files directly.
(edit: if credentials are provided in CC in the background CC would connect to carbide3d.com to validate user owns a Carbide 3D machine to unlock the export gcode option).
The easiest to see is likely Google Maps. Click on “Distance”, click point 1 and point 2 and drag point 2 around…the elastic band updates with the distance. If those ends were anchored the nodes of two objects and you moved one of those objects around in “measure mode”, you’d see the effect.
We had it fixed and then we broke it before releasing this build
UI layout on desktop apps is always painful. We’ll keep iterating.
Nope, we’re not making anything parametric. As much as I’d like to, we have a zero percent chance of making it work well, and then be able to support it.
Only the start and max depth values hold the expression in a parametric way.
Yeah, I think we’re moving more to the floating windows for toolpaths so we have more room for settings and help. We’re still in the in-between phase.
It’s a neat idea but we don’t have the support for that in the document model right now.
I think we’ll add the point-to-point information in the Polyline tool so that it’s easy to create construction geometry to snap items to.
Are you also planning to include total length of a selected vector (even if it has turns and curves?) - not just Pythagorean distance based on x,y delta? We had discussed that back a while ago when you were thinking about v7 features…
