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IWF: Design/production software

Delcam will demonstrate in Atlanta, Georgia at IWF August 25-28, 2010, on booth 4756 the new versions of its ArtCAM family of software for artistic applications. The range comprises the entry-level version, ArtCAM Express for users new to CNC machining, ArtCAM Insignia for production machining and ArtCAM Pro for more complex design and manufacturing. All of the 2010 range will feature a completely new interface that can be customized by the user to give them the optimum productivity. In the new release, the interface is fully customizable, meaning the every user can set up the software to give quicker access to the commands that they use most frequently. Similarly, commands that are rarely used can be hidden from the initial menu choices. This releases much more of the screen for visualization of the model as the design progresses. Another change that will increase productivity is the ability to use many more commands on the 3D model directly. Previously, much of ArtCAM’s modeling had to be carried out on a 2D view, and then calculated and visualized in 3D. Direct editing in the 3D window will give more immediate feedback, and so allow faster creation and modification of designs. Further improvements have been made to the sculpting tools, following the major simplification of these options in ArtCAM 2009. These tools have always been highly valued by the most creative users as they can be used to produce virtually any shape. They duplicate in the virtual world the ability to sculpt physical materials but with the added advantage that material can be added as well as taken away. On the machining side, a great deal of underlying technology has been incorporated into ArtCAM from Delcam’s industry-leading engineering CAM system, PowerMILL. This has enabled the inclusion of the latest multi-threading technology and so given faster calculation times. It has also given users greater flexibility to edit toolpaths, in particular to optimize the leads and