RhinoCAM for Rhino4.0

[hespj]

I must say I wasn't particularly thinking of upgrading from Rhino3.0 to 4.0, I was more than happy with the capabilities of Rhino3.0. And RhinoCAM1.0 has been brilliant. But then I checked out Rhino4.0 and decided I just had to have it; it was worth it just for the ability to flatten undevelopable surfaces.

Before purchasing the upgrade I had the sense to check whether RhinoCAM1.0 would work on Rhino4.0. The Mecsoft website said:

"RhinoCAM 1.0 is a plug-in that is completely integrated in Rhino 3.0/4.0"

Excellent. But further digging on the Mecsoft forum found a post from Mecsoft Support saying that an upgrade was needed:

"the product was announced on March 1, 2007
To download the product go to:
http://www.rhinocam.com/Downloads/productdownloads.shtml"

So an upgrade to Rhino4 was purchased and the RhinoCAM upgrade downloaded and installed. Before running, RhinoCAM wanted a new license code, so that request was made. This was Tuesday. After recieving a few terse emails from Mecsoft asking where I had downloaded this software from (the Mecsoft website!!) I am told this morning that the upgrade has to be purchased (costs $149 in the USA, I have to find out for the UK), which to be fair to them is on a page on their website if you look for it, but wasn't mentioned in all the talk about upgrading on the forum or the product description.

I won't be able to get the upgrade until next Tue at the earliest.

I understand that somebody has to pay for this upgrade work (but Penguin upgraded free), I just wish they had made the situation clear from the start to allow an easy upgrade instead of all this rather suspicious emailing.

I can also undestand the security issue, although most other software doesn't need a dongle (which is an absolute pain for us laptop users), and I do think Mecsoft is a bit paranoid about it. It's great software, but not that much (if any) better than the competition (I bought it for it's 4th axis add on).

I object to being made to feel the guilty party just because Mecsoft haven't got their story straight.

John

[erik_f]

I'm using VM 6.0 and upgraded it from 5.0...I have had good luck with Mecsoft...maybe you should call them or e-mail explaining what has happened. They are pretty good as far as software zombies go.
Erik

[hespj]

Erik, as I say, it was an email conversation and I did make my feelings known. All water under the bridge. The software doesn't care and works well. Mecsoft have been very agreeable on other occasions.

John

[dingwall]

Where do you find a shopbot post for RhinoCAM?

[hespj]

It comes with it I think. They were very helpful and created a Shopbot post for me in mm. There's also a post processor generator included with which you can set your own. So I could have made my own but I didn't realise this was possible. You know what new software's like.

[dingwall]

"You know what new software's like."

I know that I've had a copy of RhinoCAM for over a year and have been too busy to try it

[hespj]

Oh I see. In that case, when you've created a machining operation (MOP) you can right click on it to create a post. You are then offered a list of post types, including ShopBot, from which to choose.

To edit a post:

In the RhinoCam browser click on the Setup tab.

Click on the right hand icon - Utilities.

Click on Post-Processor Generator.

You'll see a list of post-processors including ShopBot. You can edit it by selecting it.

John

[dingwall]

That was easy! Thanks John.

I'm going to get my butt out of bed an extra hour every morning and go through the tutorials.