RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

All discussion related to the VisualCAD/CAM standalone product.
Post Reply
Rui
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by Rui »

MecSoft Releases RhinoCAM™, a fully integrated CAD/CAM solution

Irvine CA, December 14, 2004 – MecSoft Corporation, the maker of VisualMill™, the easiest to use and best performing standalone CAM application, is now releasing a fully integrated CAD/CAM software package called RhinoCAM™. Working in partnership with Robert McNeel & Associates (RMA), the maker of the world’s leading NURBS based CAD product Rhinoceros™, MecSoft brings to the market un-paralleled ease of use and seamless CAD/CAM integration in this product.

RhinoCAM is ideal for the industrial design, rapid prototyping, production machining, mold making and educational markets. Powered by the VisualMill 5.0 CAM engine, it offers 2½-axis milling, 3-axis milling and hole making operations along with free post-processors.

"RhinoCAM is a fully integrated best of breed CAD/CAM solution that offers full data associativity with seamless user interface integration” said Joe Anand, President of MecSoft. “The associativity between design and manufacturing data, allows users to react to design changes instantly, reliably and most of all without the need for data translation. Additionally RhinoCAM’s user interface is seamlessly integrated into Rhino allowing the user to create manufacturing operations without the need to learn a completely new user interface. All of this translates to significant productivity improvements and cost savings for the user. We are truly excited about RhinoCAM and consider this release as an important first in a series of new products that we have planned.”

“Combining Rhinos flexible free-form modeling with RhinoCAM’s excellent machining capabilities brings together a set of features never previously available in such tight integration,” explains Bob McNeel, President of Robert McNeel & Associates. “Now it is possible to change the Rhino models and then immediately update the toolpaths for quick turnaround of prototypes and production machining. And all of this can be done without leaving the familiar Rhino native environment.”

For more information, please call (949) 654-8163 or visit RhinoCAM’s website at www.rhinocam.com or MecSoft’s website at www.mecsoft.com.

MecSoft Corporation is a leading provider of Windows®-based CAM software solutions for manufacturing parts in a wide variety of industries, including automotive, mold & die, aerospace, general machining and education.

Founded in 1980, Robert McNeel & Associates (RMA) is a privately-held, employee-owned corporation providing technical professionals with productive tools shaped from emerging technologies. RMA has regional offices in Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

VisualMill and RhinoCAM are registered trademarks of MecSoft Corporation. Rhinoceros is a registered trademark of Robert McNeel & Associates. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft, Inc.
dbuffo
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: City of Industry, CA USA

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by dbuffo »

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but I am confused. What exactly is RhinoCAM and how does it differ from VisualMill? Is it a different version of VisualMill? Is it a version of VisualMill that runs inside Rhino? I thought RhinoCAM was just a plugin for Rhino that opened VisualMill and exported the current file into it. I've had that for a while so I don't see why there would be an announcement about it now. Thanks a lot.
dbuffo
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: City of Industry, CA USA

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by dbuffo »

Okay, good question. Uptill now the RhinoCAM plugin served to export geometry from Rhino to VisualMill. Now we have released a new plugin that is essentially VisualMill Basic (with a few modifications and enhancements) that runs completely inside of Rhino. This announcement relates to this new plugin. This does not affect the old plugin in anyway and you can continue using it as usual. However if you want to be able to access all of VisualMill Basic's functionality inside of Rhino then this new plugin is exactly what you want.

Modifications from VisualMill Basic: The browser has been re-organized a little bit. Some redundant buttons such as file load, save have been removed. Others have been moved down from the menu bar.

Enhancements: Most notable is that now only visible surfaces will be machined. Thus to selectively machine surfaces in 3 axis machining you just turn off the visibility of the surfaces that you don't want to machine. All toolpath methods remain the same.
windsor
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: ontario canada
Contact:

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by windsor »

What is the cost of the new rhinocam to full VM 5 users ? ---I currently use the rhinocam pluggin and am quite happy with it ( other than the fact that I have to re-load the tool library every time that I launch VM from the rhinocam pluggin . )
Initial Image
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: Texas

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by Initial Image »

I have a VM enhancement request I would LOVE to see and it was listed as a Rhinocam feature.

I want only visible geometry to be cut in VM. If I hide a layer I want it automatically unselectable and not machineable. This would be a huge time saver and make it easier for me to program parts.

I have Rhino and Full VM. Will there be a Rhinocam with full VM down the road? I don't mind using both independently, but if they were merged into one package, it would be nice.

Thanks.
MecSoft Support
Posts: 2405
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: Irvine, CA, USA
Contact:

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by MecSoft Support »

RhinoCAM 1.0 is now only equivalent to the VM Basic functionality. We will be adding 4th axis and the other advanced features in 2005. The pricing for RhinoCAM 1.0 (without Rhino is $999) and with Rhino 3.0 is ($1499). We are doing a special right now with RhinoCAM 1.0 at $699 and RhinoCAM 1.0 + Rhino 3.0 at $999. This special is restricted to the English version and only for US customers.

BTW, existing VisualMill Basic users can upgrade their product dongle to enable them to work with RhinoCAM 1.0 for US $125. With this upgrade you can use both VisualMill Basic as well as the new RhinoCAM 1.0 using the same dongle. This feature will also be available for VM full users as the functionality becomes available in RhinoCAM 1.0.

Hope this answers your questions.
dbuffo
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: City of Industry, CA USA

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by dbuffo »

One of the things I really like about VM is that you can have the kbase load automatically on startup. I use the same kbase all the time so this is great for me. The problem with the RhinoCAM plugin is that when you use it, you have to import the kbase manually. Is there any way to make the kbase load automatically when you use the RhinoCAM plugin? Thanks.
John Loftus
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: Laguna Beach, CA USA

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by John Loftus »

I'm really looking forward to trying out the VM5 version of RhinoCam. Can you do machining simulations using all the different viewport shading options?

Cheers,
John
MecSoft Support
Posts: 2405
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: Irvine, CA, USA
Contact:

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by MecSoft Support »

John,

The simulations use only the active view port to display. This is because the display really bogs down in Rhino if we use all the viewports for displaying the simulation mode. Also the options used for shading are pretty much standard VisualMill shading options since we take control of the viewports to do the shading.

Good idea though of we can let Rhino do the shading then you could take advantage of the Rhino shading options. Enhancement requests already for RhinoCAM!
brtlatjgt
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by brtlatjgt »

I'm having problems with the Rhinocam plugin. When installing I get an error message, "error reading from registry". I close that box and then it seems to continue the install and then I click finish. When I open Rhino, Rhinocam is not there. I've tried deleting everything and starting over. On removing the plugin I get the same message as above. I've tried this and get the same problem on two different computers. Both are running Windows SP2. I made sure that all other programs were not running including antivirus programs.

Your help appreciated.
MecSoft Support
Posts: 2405
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: Irvine, CA, USA
Contact:

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by MecSoft Support »

Try this after installation. Go to the plug-in manager in Rhino and install the Rhino plugin by pushing the Browse button after you hit the install button. Browse to the folder that you have installed RhinoCAM in and load the RhinoCAM.rhp file. This should install the RhinoCAM plugin in for you.
brtlatjgt
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by brtlatjgt »

That did the trick. Thanks
Don_Ask
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: Carmel Valley CA USA

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by Don_Ask »

It has been suggested that I need the full version of VM.

"I've used Rhino and VM (full, not basic) for two years, and to effectively realize Rhino models in wood or foam with a Shopbot you NEED THE ADVANCED 3-AXIS milling functionality."

The price of the combo is in my budget, the full version makes it too expensive for my hobby. What is the difference between RinoCam's 3-axis milling the the full version. Why do I need it?
MecSoft Support
Posts: 2405
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: Irvine, CA, USA
Contact:

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by MecSoft Support »

RhinoCAM 1.0's 3 axis has the same functionality as VisualMill Basic. VisualMill Basic includes 3 3-axis methods as compared to 14 different methods of finishing in the full product. VM Basic is sufficient if you are not so much concerned about optimizing for machining time or having detailed control on your machining. However, if you need exact control on your toolpaths VM full is the way to go.

Hope this helps.
windsor
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:15 pm
Location: ontario canada
Contact:

RhinoCAM 1.0 is released!

Post by windsor »

Hi Don : I have a shopbot and VM 5 full . I've been using VM for three years now , and was looking at the comparison fom VM full to basic . ---Basically there is nothing that I've done to date that can't be done with the VM basic cutting strategies .--I plan to get an indexer one day and then I'll use the 4 axis stuff , but I don't think that you'll be dissapointed with what you can do with the basic version .
Post Reply