Member postings for David Jupp

Nigel,

I am prepared to set up my computer in Atom3D mode, and run a private screen share session to go through any aspect of the tutorial you wish, and answer any questions you might have about any aspect of working with Atom3D.

Jason - Atom3D has a much simplified set of visibility toggles in the View Tab, so screen images from Pro might confuse Nigel further.

The MEW tutorial was produced before Alibre introduced the individual 'Eyes' (visibility icon) for each plane in the Explorer . More recent versions of Atom3D add the Eyes into the Design Explorer.

The instructions in the tutorial are still valid; BUT do NOT click on the Eye when selecting a Plane, as that will just toggle the visibility. Instead click anywhere else in the name of the plane or the planes icon to the left of the Eye. You can also select the plane by clicking on it in the 3D workspace, instead of in the Design Explorer.

Pay very close attention to which plane the instructions tell you to select.

Ady1 - if you've had problems with particular downloads, you must have been unlucky. Hundreds of customers have successfully downloaded Atom3D. Yes you can download Alibre Expert and then enter an Atom3D licence key - BUT if you've got used to the Expert feature set during trial, you may be disappointed by Atom3D. Note also that the user interface in Atom3D is deliberately simplified to make it easier to learn.

If anyone has problems with downloading, installing, activating licence, Alibre or local reseller can and will assist.

The exercise was at least in part written to get the reader to use most of the tools offered by Atom3D. That means that some of the features may not have been produced by the most obvious method, and certainly not by the only method.

For almost all end targets, there is more than one possible route to achieve it.

If you can't get a revolve cut to work for you in this case, consider using a 3D Chamfer instead - then go back to revolve cuts on another occasion. It doesn't help anyone if you end up getting frustrated. Taking a break from the screen can often be beneficial.

Describing these whings unambiguously in text (even with accompanying pictures) isn't simple. Having someone show you this live, so you can stop, rewind, ask for clarification, is much better. Until a certain degree of familiarity with the toolset is built up, description that seems 'obvious' to many, may not make much sense to a new user.

Nigel - if the mouse has USB connection it should just work. If it has a PS/2 connector (small round multi-pin thing) then it MUST be plugged in before the computer is switched on, otherwise it won't be recognised by the computer.

The mouse interaction options that John highlighted should work in Atom3D - though you probably don't need to change any settings. It's the keyboard shortcuts editor that isn't available in Atom3D.

Lee,

Alibre CAD products us 'on-line activation' by default (and that is the only option supported for Atom3D). Internet connection is required for initial licence activation, then at least once every 30 days to check the licence. Between checks, an internet connection is not required.

Another benefit of an active internet connection is access to on-line Help, which may include edits/additions which are not in the Help which was installed with the software.

Alibre Design Professional or Expert can support other licensing options (these all have pros and cons and are described here )

Edited By David Jupp on 25/04/2023 10:28:36

Big blue arrows which appear when hovering over a plane are the direction indicator for the plane normal.

Though it may not matter much in routine use, planes have a 'direction'. Put another way planes have a top/bottom or front/back differentiation.

Unfortunately the ability to edit keyboard shortcuts is disabled in Atom3D (because it would potentially provide a way to access features from products higher up the range). Apologies Nigel - I should have checked that in mnore detail (my own system doesn't necessarily show it because I switch between Expert / Professional / Atom3D but my own user settings file is common for all of them).

Having replaced 2 monitors with a single larger (4K resolution) monitor, I use a utility called 'PowerToys' which is free from Microsoft. I've used the 'FancyZones' component to split my screen roughly 1/3 : 2/3 horizontally. Normally this has no effect on the display, but a Shift+drag of an application window will snap it to fit the zone it is dragged to.

For the task Nigel mentions, I can place the reference document in the smaller zone, and CAD in the larger zone so I can work with both at the same time.

I think that Windows 11 may offer similar functionality natively, but I haven't looked into that.

If you don't have space for multiple monitors, this approach is another option.

If it was working OK previously, first question is what has changed? Could any of the wiring have been connected differently to how it was previously connected - either to motor or to controls? Any loose wires?

Could the VFD be in 'jog' mode?

Is motor free to rotate by hand without undue friction?

You may have been unlucky and a VFD fault occurred whist motor was removed, but I'd first check for anything that might have been changed unintentionally whilst working on the motor.

If photographing, there will be some distortion introduced (no lens is perfect). The distortion can potentially be corrected in image processing software (if it even matters for your end use).

This distortion was made clear to me when I tried to scan from 35mm film images of some engineering drawings. I used some raster to vector software to try to generate a usable CAD output, the results were unusable because every originally straight line on the original drawing had a slight curve on the film.

Once you become familiar with Atom3D workflows (but don't rush into trying this) - you can export orthographic views from TC as DXF or DWG then import into Atom3D and use as basis for building a 3D model.

Now for simple stuff, it's often faster to re-model from scratch - but starting from an imported DXF/DWG can be a useful option.

That's probably something to look at later in your free trial, or if you do decide to purchase Atom3D.

And interestingly (or not) ACIS is also the 3D modelling kernel used by Alibre, which just goes to show that the implementation of what is wrapped around the kernel can completely change how the functionality appears to the poor user!

I won't criticise TurboCAD because I haven't any significant experience of it (so it would be unfair of me to do so) - I do know from many reports that it is rather 'different' from Alibre (and similar packages) in the way the user interacts with it. That's one reason perhaps why many of us can't really answer your TurboCAD questions.

I've seen enough to know that both are capable of high quality output. As long as it works for you, that's all that matters.

Nigel - The Alibre Atom3D promotion to MEW readers was very clearly stated to offer a 6 month extended trial. Only the trial was free, and there was never any attempt to suggest otherwise.

The thinking behind the extended trial was simply to recognise that the standard 30 day free trial isn't always long enough to make decent headway for those totally new to 3D modelling. The series of articles running alongside were specially produced to try to help new users (the series of articles is still available as a PDF tutorial). The overall aim was to remove the time pressure to make any purchase decision, and allow readers plenty of time to conclude whether or not Alibre Atom was something they wanted to purchase.

As for your speculation about some link between the Alibre promotion and another product ceasing to be advertised, there was no linkage as far as Ailibre or Mintronics were concerned.

The 30 day trial is a great way to check out the software - make sure to get the Atom3D trial if that is the product level you are interested in, as the Alibre Design trial includes extra capabilities that you'll miss if you later switch to Atom3D. The Atom3D interface is simpler too, so quicker to learn.

There is Atom3D specific training material available here

There is also an active user forum. If you get stuck during the trial, rather than waste time, reach out to the reseller or to Alibre support for help. There's also the built in Help.

Be aware there is a mindset shift from 2D to 3D - some really struggle to make the change, for others working in 3D is actually more intuitive.

Ches,

As with almost all 3D CAD packages - once you've produced the 3D model, generating traditional 2D projected views in a drawing and adding dimensions is simple. You just have to decide which views you want to include, add dimensions as desired, the dimension values are derived automatically from the 3D model (and will update if you edit the model).

The finished drawing can be published as a PDF, which is probably simplest way to share it to another device.

Ches,

All levels of Alibre software can export designs as STL (which is the starting point for 3D printing). 'Slicer' software processes the STL file into g-code to drive the 3D printer.

There are generic slicer packages and ones tied to specific printer brands - you can pay for slicer software, but there are very competent free options.

May be worth checking the version of DWG or DXF that the file is saved as - AutoDesk does update the format from time to time and some software only supports older variants of DWG or DXF, so will not be able to read files in the newer variant.

There is often an option to set the variant when exporting the file.

Powder coating can use various different polymers, so the behaviour may vary. That's not to criticise any of the responses above - just be aware that you could have a different coating type.

Epoxies and Polyesters seem to be common, but there are other materials types.

The powders are chosen to have good adhesion to the substrate, so hopefully will also allow the paint to bind chemically...

Dave, the matrix is amorphous carbon - hence the term 'carbon-carbon composite'.

Edited By David Jupp on 08/03/2023 10:09:13

A tub of 'Biostrip 20' and some patience will shift most paint in my experience. Being water based it's less nasty than many alternatives.