Videos Showing How Solid Edge With Synchronous Technology Works

Features Without Order Regeneration:

http://tinyurl.com/4z4zxc

3D Stretching:

http://tinyurl.com/3myq22

Modify Imported Parts With Ease:

http://tinyurl.com/3g562o

Unlimited Edit Flexibility:

http://tinyurl.com/4tjnrz

History Free Feature Based Modeling:

http://tinyurl.com/5as78u

Assembly Design With Imported Parts:

http://tinyurl.com/3ma9ko

Procedural Features:

http://tinyurl.com/5y3bgk

3D Driving Dimensions:

http://tinyurl.com/3ouf4c

Live Rules:

http://tinyurl.com/3vbu3a

Performance Comparision With And Without Synchronous Technology:

http://tinyurl.com/54p5e3

How Will Siemens Competitors React To Synchronous Technology?

It's now very clear to some of us that SolidWorks, Inventor, Pro/E, IronCAD, CoCreate, VX, KeyCreator, etc. are in big trouble because of Siemens Synchronous Technology.

It should come as no surprise that manufacturing idiot and SolidWorks blogger, Matt Lombard labeled Synchronous Technology "Ho-Hum" on his blog. Today in yet another desperate attempt to discredit Synchronous Technology Lombard is calling Solid Edge and UG NX "FrankenCAD".

It should now be clearer than ever how full of shit Matt Lombard really is to those who are objective. Unfortunately most CAD and CAM users aren't objective. None of this "Ho-Hum" and "FrankenCAD" crap about Synchronous Technology came as any surprise to those who had read what Matt Lombard posted to Usenet in regards to manufacturing solutions for years. If you did read his posts to Usenet it quickly became clear that Matt Lombard was totally out of touch with the tools needed in a CADCAM system.

It's almost a given that Synchronous Technology is going to have a huge impact and it seems to me someone should be asking Mike Payne of SpaceClaim if their team can implement the same thing in the other programs I mentioned.

If the companies named do nothing to respond to what Siemens/UGS has they are going to get blown out of the water should Siemens do the proper marketing of this technology.

The good news is that from all signs so far it does appear that Siemens is prepared to do what it takes to gobble up SolidWorks and others market share. Getting users to accept that they need to make a major change in the way they do things isn't going to be an easy task or pretty. It takes "gorilla marketing" tactics.

Some of us have waited a very long time for Synchronous Technology and we can’t wait to get our hands on using it. In four weeks or so everyone will have the chance to try it out and compare notes.

More Details On NX 6 Launched Today In Boston.

http://tinyurl.com/67gdmo

Design Freedom

If you haven't already, or you haven't lately you should check out Evan Yares blog. Evan Yares has got it right when it comes to just how big of an impact Synchronous Technology is going to have.

http://tinyurl.com/3l9s2p

"If you hear someone say "that's nothing new," don't believe them. Synchronous Technology is a big deal."

"As far as CAD users are concerned, the result of Synchronous Technology is that they can take an existing model (native or imported), make changes to it with no limitations from the history tree, and add new intelligence (constraints and driving dimensions), again, with no limitations from the history tree."

"Siemens has started to use the term Design Freedom to describe the capabilities provided by Synchronous Technology. Probably a pretty good term."

Synchronous Technology Explained In Detail

http://tinyurl.com/5m6frt

Reading Between The Lines Of SmartCAMcnc's V15 Announcement

First an overview of SmartCAM is in order:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmartCAM

Cut To Friday's Announcement Of SmartCAM V15:

http://www.smartcamcnc.com/press_029.asp

“Our goals with each development cycle is to release a new version that advances SmartCAM on two main fronts,” said Doug Oliver, SmartCAMcnc’s Senior Product Manager. “First, capability improvements such as better CAD data handling and new toolpath generation; secondly, fundamental enhancements to the way users interact with SmartCAM, such as user interface improvements and new capabilities to learn the extensive power the product provides. SmartCAM Version 15 clearly delivers on both these goals.”

Here is what this bullshit really means:

Smartcam V15 toolpaths are still no where close to what they need to be but they have made improvements.

The Smartcam V15 user interface is still way too dated and tedious for new users who expect much more than is offered in Smartcam V15. This especially true if a new user has used a modern cam interface. The user interface in Smartcam V15 is now better for those that are still using Smartcam.

Here are the facts on what is really needed for Smartcam:

A completely new user interface rewritten from the ground up rather than incremental updates to fix Smartcam's very dated and tedious to use user interface.

Smartcam no longer has a U.S. VAR network and most shops still think the product is dead. Their marketing to new customers is just as horrible as their old dated user interface.

Smartcam could again be a market leader if the right steps are taken to create a new user interface for the product that will streamline what it already does and give it a modern look and feel.

A quality marketing plan to get new users to start using SmartCAM doesn't exist right now and must be established by SmartCAMcnc if SmartCAM is going to have any real chance of being taken seriously again. SmartCAM's advanced grahpical toolpath editing capabilities currently far exceed what is in Mastercam, Gibbscam, Surfcam, Featurecam and Esprit all of which have very limited point based toolpath editing rather than graphical geometry element editing.

UG NX 6 Preview

http://tinyurl.com/6j6zqt

UG NX 6 To Run On Mac OS X

Posted in the Eng-Tips UG NX Forum by John R. Baker, P.E. Product 'Evangelist' NX Design Siemens PLM Software Inc. Cypress, CA

http://tinyurl.com/4lfktf

"However, starting with NX 6 you will have the option to run either a Windows or Mac OS X version of NX on your Intel-based Apple hardware."

The CADCAM Value Added Reseller Problem

If you read the bullshit that Franco Folini of Novedge posts, VAR's (Value Added Resellers) are on their way out and his internet software store is the way to go and represents what the future holds. Folini is the same idiot that said that SpaceClaim's one year expiring license was a good idea. Both think3 and SpaceClaim have failed miserably with this expiring software licensing scam.

To promote his internet software store Folini started something called the Novedge Blog and did "interviews". The name of the game was to get more traffic that he hoped would then view and purchase software Folini/Novedge sells. The tactic was a failure and Folini has now run out of people to "interview" with his famous "softball" questions so now it’s on to the next marketing scam. His new marketing scam is called "Pulse". "Pulse" tracks bloggers and gives you a brief overview of what's new on the blog sites that he decides to track.

Folini won't be tracking this blog because I've let him know how little I think of him and how irresponsible he was because of how he handled what he called a Questions and Answer session as a follow up to the "interview" he did with me. If you have ever posted to leading industry blogs like WorldCAD Access you know it's moderated and it's moderated for a damn good reason. Folini decided without my permission to allow unmoderated posts in the guise of questions and answers and then took off for the weekend. Naturally all hell broke lose as I'm not the kind of person to deal lightly with assholes who add no substance and do a lot of lying. Most of these jerks post anonymously using names like Joe788, etc. For sure I gave these assholes a taste of their own tactics and they didn't like it one bit. Folini then decides to blame me for his massive incompetence in going with an unmoderated format without my permission or even checking with me to see if I wanted to do a Q&A session. Lets be clear, someone like me attracts a large hate club because I cut to the bone and make it obvious with facts on where the problems lie without pulling any punches and this makes lots of people very angry.

I'm not a huge fan of most VAR's. I think they drive up prices and offer little or nothing for the added fees. Notice I said most and not all. Lets examine what I think a good VAR should be with a specific example:

Surfcam is cam product that only has one thing going for it… it has high speed toolpaths that are far better than 95% of its competition. Other than this it trails the market very badly. Despite this Surfcam is the number two CAM product in the San Diego, California market. How can this be? Simple, really. Surfcam’s VAR in San Diego, California is Performance CADCAM which is owned and run by Kevin Cunningham.

http://www.performancecadcam.com/

Here is a list of some of Kevin Cunningham/Performance CADCAM’s customers:

http://www.performancecadcam.com/clients.htm

Most of his customers I have spoken with are very happy! Why? Because Kevin Cunningham knows how to support manufacturing and has the background as a CNC Machinist and CNC Programmer. Further Performance CADCAM/Kevin Cunningham offers many training options they even offer affordable training for CNC machinists and programmers who have to pay for training out of their own pocket. $250 gets you a CD jam-packed with how to make best use of Surfcam’s 2D milling and I mean jam-packed!

http://www.performancecadcam.com/cam2training.htm

Now think about this for a minute. If you purchased a CAM product from Franco Folini’s Novedge what kind of support do you think you would get from a man who has zero understanding of machining and zero training in CAM programming?

Performance CADCAM/Kevin Cunningham is what a VAR should be! The FACT is he’s so good he can keep his customers very happy with a product that is marginal and dated in many ways. I wish San Diego CADCAM would offer affordable video training for Mastercam like Performance CADCAM/Kevin Cunningham offers for Surfcam.

If CADCAM companies wish to get rid of their VAR’s and sell direct, major changes will have to take place such as writing high quality complete help manuals and creating great instructional videos of how to best use their product. In addition, Bobcad type boiler room telemarketing will be needed. It’s a dirty and expensive job and so far CADCAM companies would rather pass this job on to their VAR’s rather than do what needs to be done to sell direct and be successful

What It's Really Like Using Mastercam X2 MR 2

I’m a Mastercam user. I've been using Mastercam pretty much everyday for the last year. Lately I'm spending most of my time programming in Mastercam X2 MR2. Mastercam has no graphical toolpath editing, it’s solid cut part rendering is horrible, it’s Machining Operations Manager often loses operations when you have many operations in it. Mastercam slows to a crawl as your file gets larger especially when you use Transform Toolpath. Mastercam's user interface is so bad that a dual monitor setup is mandatory. Even when you have dual monitors you can’t do something as basic as moving the Work Coordinates System Manager dialog box to the second monitor and you can’t leave it open. If you move the backplot dialog box to the second monitor it disappears. Same with the Chaining Manager dialog box. Mastercam is easily the market leading CAM system in the U.S. and yet its technology and user interface are third rate in many regards. I don’t do lathe work. I guess that's good because Mastercam doesn’t support verification of synchronized turrets.

Don’t get me wrong, Mastercam has got some very good features but it’s got a long, long way to go to be what it should be.

The best place to post a question and get help is unfortunately the e-mastercam forum. I say unfortunately because CNC Software, the owners/creators of Mastercam, has found a way to pretend the e-mastercam forum isn't their official forum. Unlike Delcam, who runs all their own forums (and does a great job of it!) CNC Software has their Canadian VAR In House Solutions run the Mastercam forum and what their web master has done is create a forum where he coddles and encourages cliques. Post what I have said above on E-Mastercam and your going to feel the wrath of the Mastercam clique gang of idiots that CNC Software secretly wants to protect Mastercam from legitimate criticism. Complain too loudly and you can bet your last dollar that the thread will be deleted or locked. Compare this to the Delcam forums where you can criticize their software products like FeatureCAM, Powermill and Powershape and never feel the wrath of a clique or Delcam!

To make it even worse our Mastercam VAR, San Diego CADCAM is absolutely horrible. Exorbitant prices, poor quality training, many companies I have spoken to have been left in the lurch with improperly developed post processors from San Diego CADCAM. No one I talk with has good things to say about San Diego CADCAM. Naturally you can't complain about your VAR on E-Mastercam because it's against the rules. How convenient.

If you’re a new Mastercam user there are some alternatives to dealing with these clique idiots and getting quality help for a piece of software that's far from perfect and needs better documentation and videos done for it.

This guy teaches Mastercam and his videos are free. Great for the newbie:

http://eapprentice.net/lessons.html

Jayson Kramer posts as cadcam at www.cnczone.com in the Mastercam section of CNC Zone and often makes free videos. His videos are first rate. You will have to put up with lots of ads at CNC Zone as the owner is a whore who views advertisers rather than posters as his first priority. Don't even think about posting legitimate criticism of a company advertising on CNC Zone. Especially if it's BobCAD more correctly known as BobCRAP.

Mike Mattera's training CD's are first rate. He use to work for a Mastercam VAR but it should come as no surprise CNC Software found away to screw him over and he now sells Edgecam.

http://www.tipsformanufacturing.com/html/mcam_prdt_orders.html

Steve Arteman has just started making Mastercam training CD's. Steve is a very knowledgeable user. I don't own any of his Mastercam training but intend to purchase his surfacing CD soon. Steve Arteman also sells Mike Mattera's Mastercam CD's.

http://www.cad2cam.net

If you don't have the Mastercam Getting Started Guide I highly recommend you print out the Getting Started Guide .pdf like I did and spiral bind it. Well written and lots of good info.

Have an issue that you want CNC Software to fix/know about in Mastercam X2 MR2? Leave a comment and if it's a legitimate issue I'll add it to the list and give you credit. There is no doubt that CNC Software is reading this blog along with all the idiots who make e-mastercam the clique that it is. Just remember, the blame starts at the top with CNC Software who condones this nonsense to protect themselves from users who have every right to be pissed off.

Good Technology Doesn't Rise To The Top On It's Own.

With very few exceptions in order to gain serious market share you need a VAR network. Both IronCAD and SpaceClaim are good products the deserve more attention but they both have a very weak VAR network representing them. It's unfortunate that a VAR network is needed because it hurts the smarter end user with much higher costs. Siemens/UGS now has a major technology advantage with Synchronous Technology and their own CAM. Without spending large dollars and developing a really strong VAR network Siemens/UGS won't take market share from SolidWorks or Inventor who don't appear to have any answer to Siemens/UGS superior technology advantage. There is nothing I would like to see more than to see SpaceClaim make it but they have very weak VAR's and they don't appear to be making any progress getting stronger ones. SpaceClaim started with a marketing plan that I said wouldn't work and it didn't work.

http://tinyurl.com/3qsbem

I can't even imagine how much money SpaceClaim must have burned through with their initial bad marketing strategy. What would really help SpaceClaim is getting someone like Surfcam or Smartcam to create a full blown CAM program to run inside of SpaceClaim and then use the CAM companies VAR network to market the combination of SpaceClaim CAD and their CAM running inside of SpaceClaim.

I work for a very large company in California and we are very successful because we focus on partnering. I believe SpaceClaim needs to do the same thing with a strong CAM company in order to survive and they need to do it yesterday!

Mastercam Reliability

I sure hope that when Mastercam X3 is released in the next few months that it's better coded than X2 MR2. I cranked out 6 programs in Mastercam today. Had to kill Mastercam and restart it 4 times. Shit just stops working. Example: I'm chaining and wish to move the start point. The move start point dialog box won't open until I kill Mastercam X2 MR2 SP1 (latest download from CNC Software's website) and restart.

Will SolidWorks Or Inventor Have A Real Answer To Synchronous Technology Anytime Soon?

Siemens/UGS doesn't think so:

http://tinyurl.com/6z2f8n

"Competition

How does this distance you from the competition? Do you
expect your competitors to offer something similar in the
near future?

We believe that we now have a sustainable lead based
on the technical merits of the application layer. It takes
years of intimate knowledge of the solid modeling kernel
and constraint solver, as well as a unique perspective on
how to apply these tools to be able to put such an
application layer together."

Siemens/UGS owns Parasolid.

Siemens/UGS own D-Cubed.

Years ago I said SolidWorks should have dumped Parasolid. Looks like I was right on this front as well. With the proper marketing from Siemens, SolidWorks bells and whistles aren't going to cut it anymore.

Before Siemens/UGS made their announcement no SolidWorks blogger mentioned the tools that were really needed in SolidWorks on their blog. Now all of a sudden several SolidWorks bloggers have decided to come out of the closet and are attempting to discuss what's really wrong with SolidWorks. In my view SolidWorks bloggers have zero credibility when it comes to discussing the tools that are really needed in a CAD system. The only reason they are now doing so is that the Siemens/UGS announcement forced them into reality.