Oyvind

EdgeCAM and GibbsCAM are the two major packages in our area. We chose EdgeCam.

A HP EliteBook 8540w Core i7-740QM 1.73GHz 16GB Quadro FX 1800M 15.6"

I considered a new MacBook Pro but I've heard of poor graphics performance with Parallells and Boot Camp would be to much rebooting. So I went for a new HP laptop with Windows7. Apart for Windows being Windows, this works very well. I choose the Foundation version of Solid Edge. I find that mastering the interface, workflow, tools is easy. Also, it seems like a solid, stable and well thought trough software package. For me too, the decision to drop VW was hard. It has my only cad tool since 1995. But, finally, as Machine Design is lacking so far behind in features, ease of use and robustness, one can not avoid seeing the writing on the wall, literally. VW is out.

After four days of basic training with Solid Edge I can now say that I really do regret not leaving VW behind many years ago. SE make me design faster and with much grater confidence; I make a change to a part and I can be sure that all related parts are adapted to the change by SE. Relations is the backbone, both in 2D and 3D. I don't have to struggle with class management. I have 2D tools that actually work as expected, finally. A hole always has a center, 2D and 3D. Wow! A hole can be dimensioned just by a single click :-)) so can a bent surface. Dimensioning is smart. You don't need a specific tools for radial or linear dimensioning. A fillet does not lock all modeling history. ... The differences are so many. I get the feeling that the makers of SE know mechanical engineering, that's a completely different world. If you do mechanical engineering don't hesitate, make the switch.

I'll do that.

No, on a HP EliteBook. Solid Edge is Windows only. I believe Siemens has Mac support for their larger CAD system, NX?

Solid Edge has arrived. Goodbye Vectorworks!

Database functions XCENTER/YCENTER relate to drawing center. If the drawing center is moved and worksheet is updated, the worksheet will reflect the new coordinates. See the attached file.

In a database worksheet the functions XCENTER(), YCENTER() and ZCENTER() will return the the symbol x,y,z center coordinates.

Text menu - Size submenu

dropbox.com

I hope someone know the solution to my problem. I use extracted nurbs curves as basis for creating cutting paths for CNC-cutters. The path must be 2D so I convert the nurbs to polygons. This is ok for flat surfaces, but for arcs and circles the polygon consists of hundreds or thousands of lines. I would like to convert the nurbs curve to a polyline, witch would keep arc and circles intact. But there is no convert-to-polyline command.

Oh yes, that would have been nice.

Guy, I agree with you. I think NV no longer have any interest in listening to MD users requests as MD is history, and NV clearly states "There are no plans to do further development on Machine Design specific functionality" Now it is time for us MD users to part with VW.

Peter, How about radial dimensioning in viewports? Are you able to do that without the use of 2D arcs/circles? I use design layers for modeling and sheet layers for presenting. 3D-dimensioning and radial dimensioning in design layers only, is of no practical use, to me.