Enroute 3?

[lpc]

I'm getting my new ShopBot PRT48 next week and have been looking at ArtCam Pro and Enroute 3 for use with the system. I'm looking at these primarily for the 3D capability. ArtCam looks good, but at $7500.00 +$1200.00 yearly for maintenance, I find it out of range. Enroute looks good and the price is much better, especially with the $500.00 discount for FlexSign users. So, I am leaning towards Enroute 3....heavily.

Can anyone who has/is using the Enroute 3 software give me some tips on it's usability, capability, good or bad points, etc.?

It would really be a big help for me to know from someone who is using it on a regular basis.

I currently have VCarve Pro, PhotoCarve, MillWizard, Part Wizard, Meshcam, FlexiSign 7.6, CorelDraw X3, Xara Xtreme, Carrara 5 Pro, but I would like an all in one package if it would be worth the while and save some time.

Anyone?

 

[mtmdesigns]

i use flexi and enroute as well.. Enroute works great to set your toolpath and output files quickly. We don't have the 3d plugin so I can't tell you much about that.

 

[Jackpine]

Look at EngraveLab and ProfileLab by CadLink ( SignLab).

 

[lpc]

Thanks designsbymtm. It sounds like your happy with it. Very encouraging!

Jackpine...I wasn't aware they were into the machining software. I'm going to check them out right now. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Garfield_Graffix]

See this guy for the 3D

Check out this mans work. The website doesnt show much router specific work but trust me his 3Drouting is everybit as jaw dropping. I have exchanged emails with him on this subject and he does use Enroute PRO for his router. He's a super nice guy and was willing to answer all questions I had. He said he wrote an article for Sign Craft magazine demystifying the 3D routing process although I havent seen it yet. Also my company has not upgraded from enroute plus to pro as of yet. Enroute is great and easy for what we do so if\when we go 3D I will push hard to stay with the Enroute family.

http://www.letterhead.com/profiles/sawatsky/

 

[mgieske]

I was in the position of making the same software decision approx a yr ago. I chose Enroute 3 because it presented a greater value for my needs. Artcam is the best, but at $10k (including training & maintenance,) it may not be the best deal. I noticed only a few tools present in Artcam that are not included in Enroute. For your high end 3D design work, you may want to consider outsourcing (carve3d.com.) You may import their STL files from Artcam into Enroute & combine with other shapes you may have designed. Best of all, they're not very expensive at all.