I have CCpro but my updates have ran out. I really like it especially since they have included the animation. But the one thing that irks me is the constant up and down movement and long vCarve times.
So, did build 777 really improve that and can you tell me how much better it is please. One day I might re-up my carbide create just for that.
Oh yeah. One more question. When mu carbide create estimates my times it is always 2-3x faster than what the actual time estimated by my g-code reader estimates (much more accurate). I am beginning to suspect that either carbide create needs improvement in that area OR my acceleration and deceleration of my machine is slowing things down much more than they should. Anybody have an opinion on that and any suggestions?
It seemed a bit faster to me — that said, we’re on to v8 now:
When you say a bit faster how much is a bit?
Is it 5% faster, 10% could you give me an example?
When vcarving and/or 3d carving the up and down is to make crisp corners. Check your retract height and set as low as you feel safe at. I typically set mine to .125" but some go even lower. That alone will speed up the retracts and plunges. Maybe the gcode was optimized better but the retracts and plunges are controlled by the tool itself. I have seen many people complain about vcarving with the bit constantly rising and lower but that is the nature of retracts and plunges.
You can upgrade your CC and the pro license will still work so you are not stuck at 777. When my Pro license expired I thought about not renewing but paid anyway so every year I will have to pay on my perpetual license. The perpetual license still works but no more updates on the Pro portion of CC.
From the c3d site:
Subscription License - $120 USD per year.
Carbide Create Pro will activate for a year and you’ll get all updates released during that time. After the end of your subscription term, Carbide Create Pro will deactivate.
Perpetual License with a year of updates - $360 USD.
Your Carbide Create Pro license will function forever. You’ll be eligible for all updates released within a year of your purchase. After a year, your version of Carbide Create Pro will continue to function but you will not receive any new updates. Additional updates are available for $120/year.
Yes, I understood about retract height and thats the nature of the beast but the beast has changed when it comes to v-carving and that is what I’m trying to find out more of.
Under build 777 it says "
Reorder the toolpath for V-carve to save time.
"
And under build 800 it says
"
Tweaks to the V-carve algorithm to remove more of the non-contributing corners in rounded areas." which is the constant up and down and is where this mainly occurs.
Do you have these builds and how much is it faster?
You can get a trial pro code to use with v8 beta to test if it would generate more efficient V-carving toolpath’s for your projects.
VCarving is available in the free version, you don’t need a Pro license to try it out. V8 does not overwrite V7, so you can have both on your machine.
Well, thats a thought. I figured I would catch someone here who has v8 that can tell me if it truly is improved. Otherwise I’ll just keep mine as is. It does every as needed except for efficient vCarving.
Do you have version 8?
I am using V8, but I haven’t done any VCarves with it, so I don’t know if it’s faster for that.
You reckon you could get back with me on that when you do? 5%, 10%…faster?
There is a huge difference in the competitors v-carving and I’m wondering if carbide 3d is closing the gap on that. I actually like carbide create much better then the competitor. It has grown on me for ease of use without all the technical mumbo jumbo.
What are some of the differences in comparison with version 7 that you like? I still have 7 and the biggest reason for me to upgrade would be more efficient v-carving.
Has Carbide Create optimized their plunges and retracts yet? I’ve used a stand alone gcode post processing tool, GCodeClean, that does that. Basically it converts retracts and plunges to just above the workpiece to G0. Since CC knows where the cut will start it could also G0 to just above where the bit starts cutting
Are you saying you use this on Carbide create to make the v-carves more efficient and cleaner?
I mostly used it on Carbide Create V6 and earlier diamond drag projects. I was using a relatively low plunge speed because I was worried about the speed the diamond tip was contacting the work. The feed rate plunges and retracts gave me time to think about how they could be optimized, and GCC was being developed by a member of another forum that I frequent at the time. My most recent projects have been simulating chip carving with v-carving, GCC did make an improvement with those but I never measured it since they were long design time/short v-carve time jobs. I also spent much less time asking the machine (which refused to answer) why it was making so many not very intelligent moves
Part of my professional career was increasing the performance of software on what by today’s standards was low performing hardware, so thinking about improvements is a habit