What is a good well priced Program for 3d relief on timber with mach3?

[StuartW Wilson]

Hi there Newbie here to CNC routing, I have recently purchased a Chinese CNC router 6040z. I want to be ready for when it arrives.I have been using a 6040 laser and want to do more on my bread boards and cutting boards.I am searching for a cheap program that I can use with Mach3. I have found them all very expensive. I wish to make 3D reliefs of local Australian fauna.All help appreciated regards Stuart

[William Adams]

List of opensource / free programs here: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/CAD#3D (there’s also a Wikipedia page)

Commercial options here: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.p...oftware#3D_CAD — Moment of Inspiration http://moi3d.com/index.htm seems the most promising to me, but thus far, I’ve found the opensource programming-like OpenSCAD: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/OpenSCAD workable enough for my limited needs.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

There are only a few programs with tools designed specifically for creating 3D reliefs, and they are all expensive. Aspire, ArtCAM, Enroute.

Many people think that if they buy these programs, then it's easy to create relief carvings. The truth is, it's not easy. It takes a lot of skill to do these things. Regardless of the software you're using.

There are many good 3D modelling programs out there that are inexpensive, or even free. And while they don't always have the same toolsets that Aspire might have, they can be very capable of creating reliefs. You just may need to go about it in a different way.

One very powerful program is Blender. It's free, and has many more features than you'll need. It's a full modeling - rendering - animation program. You'll only need the modeling capabilities. The learning curve will be incredibly steep, if you have no 3D experience. But it's a very solid program.

Silo is an inexpensive 3D modeling program that's great for organic models. Fairly inexpensive.

Be prepared for a lot of practice. And remember, 3D relief modeling does not come easy to anyone, except maybe highly skilled artists.

[StuartW Wilson]

Thank you for your replies, I feel up for the challenge I will check out the above programs, I am now awre that it is not an easy step like using the laser. regards Stuart

[Rob Mulcare]

If you are really serious it might be better to drop the $2K on Aspire and get exactly what you need, with full support, forums of users doing what you are doing, plus training... Get up and running making money with your equipment.

[Ted Reischl]

I am always amazed how everyone in the CNC industry (not just cnc routers) has this tendency to focus on the machinery but then when it comes to actually driving the cnc machine. . . where is my cheap software that does everything I need it to do?

[Mary Ma]

Talking about 3D, ArtCAM is the best.

[William Adams]

FWIW, I want free / opensource, since I believe in that (though I did get a license for Solidworks for my son so that he could do his homework).

I suppose I should make an especial effort to try programs which are opensource w/ a commercial option, but none of them (Q-CAD, Heeks, &c.) have appealed to me.

[Jerome Stanek]

Talking about 3D, ArtCAM is the best.

Maybe for some people but not for everyone

[Ted Reischl]

"Best" is a nebulous term when it comes to software. No such thing as "Best".

What is "best" for one person can be a total nightmare for another.

I am happy with Vectric Aspire, it does what I want it to do.

[Biff Phillips]

Note, I have not tried this software yet, but here's another option: AutoDesk Fusion 360. It is free to "students, hobbyists, and startups" according to the page. Not sure if your business meets the terms or not. I think it has both CAD and CAM. Not sure how much CAM it does have.

CAD = drawing stuff
CAM = generating toolpaths

Deskproto is a great CAM tool, if you want to use a program like Sketchup or Fusion to do your CAM and import the STL. It is very inexpensive for a hobbyist license (again, I don't know if you qualify for that or not). Very very easy to use. I actually like it better than Aspire for many things (some things Aspire does better, some things Deskproto does better).

And of course Sketchup for CAD is free, although you might have to buy a plug in to export the drawing as STL.

I tried Blender, and honestly, found it to be very poorly documented and difficult to use. Keep in mind that it was designed for the animation industry too, not for woodworking.
It just seems that unless you found a class for it, you are going to have a huge learning curve, and that takes away time when you could be making money making stuff (if you are a business)

[William Adams]

Autodesk Fusion 360 is only free so long as one's startup is making less than $100,000/yr.

SketchUp is only free if one uses one of the older Google versions, or if one _never_ sells anything which one makes w/ the new Trimble "free" versions.

[Keith Outten]

I tend to agree with Jerome that ArtCam is not the best in my case. I took a long look at ArtCam and decided that even if it was free software it is not for me, I found it to be much to difficult to learn. I purchased VCarve Pro and later upgraded it to Aspire...its the best decision I have ever made where software is concerned. Support from Vectric is excellent, their forum is full of very knowledgeable people and there annual upgrades are always full of new features that make their software more valuable. I know that others disagree with my assessment but Vectric Software is clearly the best in the business IMO.

We have a growing number of Aspire users here so I rarely have to go to the Vectric Forum for assistance.
.

[Chris Corwin]

I've used both artcam pro and vectric aspire. Aspire wins hands down.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

Autodesk Fusion 360 is only free so long as one's startup is making less than $100,000/yr.

From the Autodesk website:

Free for students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and startups