Grapes of Wrath: Need 3D File for Sample

[kr_fitz]

In the course of attending the recent Midwest Camp ShopBot, I have been inspired to branch out and be fruitful in other areas with my 'bot. OK, enough of the bad puns...

I have made contact with a sales rep concerning custom carving/engraving of cabinet doors and other stuff. He wants to see some samples, so I am in need of a "generic" 3D file(s) to cut. I was thinking of something like the grape cluster that Brad created at the Camp, or ________?

Anybody have anything nice looking that they would not mind sharing? I would prefer somebody with ArtCam Pro, the reason being that I do not have this program, and I would (at least initally) rely on them to create sbp files for me from customer artwork.

Of course this is all just a ploy so I can get enough income coming in from this side of the business so I can go to the "boss" and tell her I really need my own copy of ArtCam Pro.

Anyone interested please email me ASAP. Thanks!

[paco]

Hi Kevin!

Why not have a look at Vector Art 3D (http://www.vectorart3d.com/) and maybe download their demos... of course, you still need a CAM... then why not have a look at MeshCAM (http://www.robgrz.com/meshcam.phtml)... and download the demo if needed...

[btk]

Kevin,

Based on the pictures that you post on your website, you seem to be pretty skilled in using Rhino. You should be able to create almost anything that you could create in Artcam with Rhino (especially a bundle of grapes).
Might take a bit longer, but definitly possible. Then you can use one of the less expensive CAM programs (MeshCam, RhinoCam or Millwizard).



Brian

[kr_fitz]

Brian,

Yes, I could do it in Rhino, but the need now is for speed; i.e. I need some samples cut by this time next week, and my time until then is spoken for.

And the geometry is just part of the equation. The other part is generating the sbp file, which Rhino cannot do.

Also, until I saw Brad demo ArtCam Pro, I didn't think I had a need for some $7,000 software. The lights went on when I saw him create a 3D cutable file from 2D artwork literaly in few minutes. I still think the software is overpriced, but if it makes enough money for me, I can justify it...eventually.

[ron brown]

One can create tool-paths in Rhino.

Ron

[gene_marshall]

I used to think the same about artcam.
I was wrong!
the ease at which you can design ANYTHING makes this a bargain.

We financed ours, thus easing the sticker shock.

It's not just the ease of the initial design, but also being able to modify those designs for those pain in the A** customers who say" great but can you just do a little more whatever.

You tell the boss, Time is Money, professional tools produce professional results and draw professional money.

We have had artcam for 3 years and LOVE it.
Gene

[btk]

I agree, ArtCam Pro certainly has tools and attributes (particulary in sculpting) that make it easier to create certain objects (the grape cluster here for one).

I just wanted to point out to Kevin that he certainly could start doing some 3D projects leveraging his existing toolset and then work his way into ArtCam once he gains some sales (however appears to be too critical a time issue for that to happen).


I personally use Rhino not because of price, however because of the flexibility it affords. I can leverage an open environment that has a great plugin architecture and thousands and thousands of users who are adding additional value to the product. I have been an user of most major 3D-CAD packages over the years and would say that Rhino is one of the best supported and flexible tools that I have used. For instance, I know of someone who created a plugin for his cabinet shop that parametrically creates cabinet parts directly from within Rhino.

It was raised before in another post about rendering and assigning materials to objects for Photorealistic renderings. Rhino has several plugins for creating renderings and assigning materials as well as several CAM plugins to chose from (I posted a few examples below)

However just to emphasize. I agree, ArtCam Pro from what I have seen in Demos has tools to make it much faster to create reliefs from artwork than in most software that I have seen.


However that is not to say that it can not be done in Rhino or with many other 3D software packages for that matter. It is just takes more time and/or practice in certain areas.


Bottom Line:
ArtCam Pro is a great product and has great ShopBot Support. From what I have seen, it has wizards and tools to create 3D reliefs very very fast.

Brian


4527

4528

4529

4530