Delcam will launch the 2015 R2 version of its ArtCAM Insignia artistic CADCAM software for the woodworking, signmaking and engraving industries at the Woodworking Machinery & Supply Conference and Expo to be held in Toronto, Canada, from 5th to 7th November. The new release includes new and improved options for both design and manufacture to allow users to deliver complex projects more easily and more quickly.
Unlike most other CADCAM systems, the ArtCAM range of software is aimed at artisans and hobbyists rather than engineers. The programs are designed to require little knowledge of engineering or computing. ArtCAM Insignia has been particularly successful in the volume production of artistic items in 2D or 3D by signmakers, woodworkers and engravers, amongst others. In all these areas, ArtCAM Insignia allows users 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.
Two options have been added in the 2015 R2 release of ArtCAM Insignia to help users to design with vectors. Firstly, snap hints now appear to help in spotting hard-to-find snap points within vectors when creating designs. Secondly, the thickness of vectors can be changed, in either the 2D or 3D view, making it easier to visualise the design. Accuracy will also be helped by the addition of rulers in the 3D view to make it easier to create precise artwork and to position elements of the piece.
A combine/replace mode was added in ArtCAM Insignia 2015 for customers creating 3D designs from imported models or the relief clipart included with the software. The ability to overlap and intersect reliefs has been enhanced with a new option to interactively blend the reliefs. This allows relief clipart to be pulled up or pushed down in the Z axis to give a better blend with an overlapping 3D design.
The range of modelling tools that operate in real time has been extended to include the 3D weave tool, allowing designers to see changes to their woven shapes as they happen.
The main machining enhancement in the 2015 R2 release is significantly faster machining simulations thanks to a new algorithm that uses the specialist processor in the computer’s graphics card to calculate thousands of operations simultaneously. This is a significant improvement over standard multi-threading. Another area of improvement is corner machining, where fillets can be added to vectors to allow more accurate machining of slots. In a related development, loops can be added for creating corners with knife cutting.
