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RhinoCam or BobCam
- Thread starter Dale D
- Start date
letterworks
Premium Subscriber
Vcarve.
Even if you buy something else for "real" 3d if you need it, the speed and ease of use is easily worth the price. On the other hand....you might never learn that other program as you will use Vcarve for 95%+ of work I'd bet.
I'd also never ever buy Bobcam, although it's probably capable it's historically been a little rough but also flexible.
Even if you buy something else for "real" 3d if you need it, the speed and ease of use is easily worth the price. On the other hand....you might never learn that other program as you will use Vcarve for 95%+ of work I'd bet.
I'd also never ever buy Bobcam, although it's probably capable it's historically been a little rough but also flexible.
John Miller
New Member
Aspire will do more than you'll probably ever need. Vcarve is a great program & easy to learn.
I currently trying a demo of Aspire and Vcarve. They are easy to use.
Reason I ask about Rhino plug-ins, is I am expanding both into cnc as well as 3d reverse engineering scanning. I like Rhino for 3d and CAD, and was hoping to have 1 universal software for both 3d and CAM. It would be nice to scan, edit/manipulate, then post process for cnc. I would like to create custom 2.5D and 3d sign faces (HDU or otherwise) as well as custom small acrylic letters.
Also, I didn't say in the initial post, I'd prefer a software to purchase rather than monthly.
I contacted RhinoCam an the lady was real nasty on the phone when asking about a technical issue i ran into. Bobcat has ZERO support on their software unless you pay extra $500.
Reason I ask about Rhino plug-ins, is I am expanding both into cnc as well as 3d reverse engineering scanning. I like Rhino for 3d and CAD, and was hoping to have 1 universal software for both 3d and CAM. It would be nice to scan, edit/manipulate, then post process for cnc. I would like to create custom 2.5D and 3d sign faces (HDU or otherwise) as well as custom small acrylic letters.
Also, I didn't say in the initial post, I'd prefer a software to purchase rather than monthly.
I contacted RhinoCam an the lady was real nasty on the phone when asking about a technical issue i ran into. Bobcat has ZERO support on their software unless you pay extra $500.
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letterworks
Premium Subscriber
Well Vcarve and such are also great for one-time purchase versus monthly.
However, they are not machinist level packages....if you need to reverse "engineer" parts, then they might not work. If you are simply trying to get old signs scanned and recut then they should still work ok. Efficient 3D milling is an expensive nut to crack and most programs dealing with a scanned file are going to only have simple toolpaths. For the fastest production work, yes, then you need better CAM. For sign work, you generally don't.
However, I would assume that you get a little better CAM just by being "in" Rhino, whereas outside CAM might be limited by the export file type. But you easily could be trying to ask for an improvement in 5% of less of your work while hurting the efficiency of the other 95%.
Other 3D oriented, low end, one time buy software I have used is Meshcam..... without really trying Aspire I think it might be a little more flexible in tool pathing and Vcarve + meshcam still cheaper than Aspire and all the other higher end options. It's what I would look at first if I wanted to get into full 3D sign work.
There are others too, deskproto for example has a limited rhino integration.
However, they are not machinist level packages....if you need to reverse "engineer" parts, then they might not work. If you are simply trying to get old signs scanned and recut then they should still work ok. Efficient 3D milling is an expensive nut to crack and most programs dealing with a scanned file are going to only have simple toolpaths. For the fastest production work, yes, then you need better CAM. For sign work, you generally don't.
However, I would assume that you get a little better CAM just by being "in" Rhino, whereas outside CAM might be limited by the export file type. But you easily could be trying to ask for an improvement in 5% of less of your work while hurting the efficiency of the other 95%.
Other 3D oriented, low end, one time buy software I have used is Meshcam..... without really trying Aspire I think it might be a little more flexible in tool pathing and Vcarve + meshcam still cheaper than Aspire and all the other higher end options. It's what I would look at first if I wanted to get into full 3D sign work.
There are others too, deskproto for example has a limited rhino integration.
Correct me if I'm wrong but, I don't think Aspire would be necessary if I already have Rhino. VCarve Pro is $699 for 2.5D but is additional $299 for Cut3D add on for 3D toolpaths.
Even though Rhino CAM plugins make it easier, they are at least double in price. Both Bobcam and RhinoCam are in the $1200+ range.
I noticed you suggested both VCarve and Meshcam. Would you suggest both? I dont know Meshcam and its capabilities.
It would be nice to have 1 software for simple 2D, 2.5D and 3D, but it seems each software has its own strengths.
Thank you for your help.
Even though Rhino CAM plugins make it easier, they are at least double in price. Both Bobcam and RhinoCam are in the $1200+ range.
I noticed you suggested both VCarve and Meshcam. Would you suggest both? I dont know Meshcam and its capabilities.
It would be nice to have 1 software for simple 2D, 2.5D and 3D, but it seems each software has its own strengths.
Thank you for your help.
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letterworks
Premium Subscriber
Well, I suggested meshcam for the idea that it is simply a middle ground 3D specific software. Only 2 things worth paying for in CAM. Capabilities and time savings. Time savings can come from the capabilities, the UI, or intelligent help to apply the programs capabilities (like feature recognition for 3D models)
Vcarve is good for the UI time savings over a more complicated program, when you are doing simple work. If it can't do it or not do the job as fast then you pay for features that better suit the work.
3D carving, what I thought you were asking about, isn't complicated like machining is and wont necessarily have well defined features like holes, chamfered edges, etc. so you don't need a lot of the features a machinist might be willing to pay for.
What Meshcam might offer over Vcarve (I think) is more ways to skin the cat. Raster patterns are probably common to both (yes, just checked), But Meshcam can do Z steps driven "waterline" machining, pencil finish passes in just corner sections, and also has a combined mode. It may not really do "better" than V carve with the right settings in each, but since 10% faster on a real carving job might be hours saved, it was worth mentioning that programs like it, for 3D work mainly, can have their place and pay for themselves.