The latest release of Delcam’s ArtCAM JewelSmith software for the design and manufacture of rings, broaches, cufflinks and other types of jewellery will be demonstrated on stand U71 in hall 17 at the Spring Fair to be held at the NEC, Birmingham, from 2nd to 6th February.
ArtCAM JewelSmith has been designed specifically to allow jewellery manufacturers to increase productivity, improve quality and deliver new designs more quickly, by combining their craft skills and creativity with the power and precision of computer-aided manufacturing.
The key features of the new ArtCAM JewelSmith release include a new gem library and the inclusion of the rendering system, KeyShot, with the software. STL, OBJ, 3DS or 3DM file formats of custom gems can be stored in the library. Alternatively, new gems can be created from any 3D model and used to create bespoke jewellery designs.
With KeyShot, designs can be rendered to create extremely accurate and lifelike images for either customers or retailers to view, or for the production of catalogues and other marketing materials. The high quality of these images allows the customer to review the design before manufacturing begins, ensuring that the finished item will be exactly as required.
The latest release has also made it much easier to create complex designs, with a new approach called interactive distortion modelling. This allows users to distort either vectors or reliefs within ArtCAM JewelSmith models by bending or stretching the design, and to see the results in real time.
Once the design of the particular element has been finalised, it can be moved, rotated, rescaled and copied either individually or as part of a group. At any stage in the process, either individual items or a group of items can be saved within the clipart library in ArtCAM JewelSmith for use in future projects.
Another major focus in the new release is on vector creation and editing. New snapping options make vector creation much quicker. They include the ability to snap to anything in the design, including any point on a vector, intersections between vectors, guidelines and key points within a model, such as the origin, centre and corners.
The Vector Doctor has been enhanced so imported vectors from 2D artwork or sketches can be cleaned up more quickly. Duplicate vectors and vectors longer, shorter, larger or smaller than specified sizes can be identified immediately. In addition, "quick-select” functions help to spot unobvious open vectors that could cause machining issues.
Vectors can now be joined when they are mirrored using any of the many mirroring options in ArtCAM JewelSmith. This allows faster creation of vertical and horizontal vector patterns. In addition, vectors can now be offset interactively by dragging the offset to the required position as well as by a specified amount.
Another new option in ArtCAM JewelSmith is the ability to specify colours for areas within different height bands, making it easier to sculpt reliefs to a required depth.
On the machining side, a new strategy gives the ability to add linear or curved fluting to designs. The fluted-weave machining option also allows fluting toolpaths, including Celtic weaves, to be created from vectors.
