Alibre Pro / Expert and AlibreCam

Hello All CAD users...

I am researching with a view to purchase  CAD/CAM software, within prices that may still be considered 'reasonable'..

I am interested in Alibre and RhinoCAD - V6 and RhinoCam - I have used Rhinocad/CAM extensively, but at version 4 - not parametric, but very good.

I see no advantage to parametric modelling for the active 'home machinist' - certainly I don't need it.

The obvious path is to just upgrade to the latest Rhino, but looking at Alibre has upset that choice somewhat.

Are there any Alibre Pro or Expert users on the forums ( not Atom, I know its the 'same' but please, Pro or Expert..) and likewise for AlibreCAM - any users here?

Please, no other packages, no Fusion 360, no freecad, etc, etc - I just want to know about peoples experience with the Alibre versions indicated.

Quirks, ease of use, neat features, anything that is bad or good in your experience.

Thank You

Joe

Edited By Joseph Noci 1 on 12/10/2020 09:50:31

Joe, I use Pro but don't use their CAM. If you can wait a while they will officially announce a less expensive CAD/CAM package soon. I know what it is but as Neil does not want to say I'll keep quiet on the forum.

AlibreCAM and RhinoCAM are both provided by MecSoft and are based upon their VisualMill software. They are likely to be very similar - though it's possible that there might be some differences between the integrations. The videos at **LINK** largely relate to all the Mecsoft integrations, so should give some feel for both products. Presumably these won't differ enormously from what you are already used to with RhinoCAM.

I have used AlibreCAM a little in the past, but only to show potential users the basics, I haven't used it to produce anything.

The nice thing about an integrated, parametric system is that if you need to tweak a dimension - you can simply change it in CAD, then re-generate the tool paths without having to set up the CAM operations again. That can be very useful during prototype development.

Edited By David Jupp on 12/10/2020 10:33:48

Joseph

This link describes the main functions in AlibreCAM **LINK**

I note it is still with Mecsoft, the same company as when I first used Alibre about 10 years ago.

Emgee

Edited By Emgee on 12/10/2020 10:32:03

Joseph,

I should mention before I say anything else, that I do some customer support work for both Alibre, and their UK reseller - so I might be biased ! I also use Alibre Design Expert in my own consulting work.

Since the CAM systems come from the same provider and are based on the same technology, the major differences are likely to be in the CAD side.

Learning any 3D CAD system is not a trivial task - switching from one to another can also require a lot of re-learning, especially if the basic concepts are handled differently. I haven't used Rhino, so can't make any direct comparison.

Assuming that you are already familiar with Rhino, you would need to see some significant potential benefit to justify the effort of switching CAD systems.

In addition to getting input from other users, you might consider taking the free 30 day trial of Alibre Design Expert to get a feel for how different or simlar it is. Also take a look at alibre.com/version22/ to see if any of the new capabilities about to be added would be of any benefit to you.

If you have specific questions, you can contact Alibre support, or check out the Alibre user forum. You can also PM me here.

Edited By David Jupp on 12/10/2020 10:55:25

I bought Alibre when John Minto had it on offer for £99. I upgraded to Alibre Expert when that was cheap. It works okay. The drawback is that CAM is extra but it will output an STL so that is not the end of the world. The huge plus is that there is no annual fee, one payment and it is yours forever, you only need to renew if you want support

Which level of Alibre CAM are considering, as there is a large difference in price & features between the options?

Martin.