X3 Tip - Customizing Express Installations

X3 introduced a new "Express" installation method.  This installation bypasses all of the usual prompts that exist during an install and automatically makes the selections for the user.  The only screen that has to be accepted is the license agreement.  IT professionals may appreciate the ability to configure the Express installation for deployment across multiple computers.

The method used to customize the installation is to simply edit the mastercam.ini file which exists in the/data/Mastercam X3/ folder that Mastercam is installed from.  Make sure to use an ANSI editor such as Notepad and not MS Word.

Note: You won't be able to edit the mastercam.ini file directly on a cd that has already been created due to the cd being Read Only.  First copy the contents to your local or network drive, then edit the mastercam.ini file and either run the installation from there or burn it to a cd.

X3 - Change NC Filename Issue

Who is affected: This particular issue is isolated to Milling Level 2 users.

Issue: When accessing the right-click menu in the operations manager, selecting the "Change NC Filename" option does not bring open the dialog box to change the NC filename.

Solution: In the right-click menu access "Edit selected operations" and then "Edit Common Parameters".  Inside the edit common parameters dialog you can change the NC filename.

X3 Auto Highlight Issue

How to Fix the Auto Highlight Issue

After exiting the Verify in X3, the Auto Highlight function may stop working properly. There are a couple workarounds and one fix for the problem that you can use until the issue is addressed in the next Maintenance Update.

Toggle Shading On/Off

• Use the key combination Alt+S twice to toggle the shading on/off
  
• If this procedure does not work, proceed to the next
  
• Use the "Regenerate Display List" function
  
• From the Screen menu, choose Regenerate Display List
  
• Optionally you can click the toolbar icon for Regenerate Display List
  
• If neither of the above procedures help, proceed to the fix below
  

Fix: Disabling the hardware acceleration in Verify

• From the Settings menu select Configuration
  
• In the topics list select expand out the Verify Interface topic and select Verify Settings
  
• On the Verify Settings page check the Disable Hardware Acceleration option
  
• Save your configuration changes and restart Mastercam for the changes to take effect
  

While the Fix is a more permanent solution than the first two workarounds, it is important to note that X3 introduced some speed improvements to the Verify. Disabling this hardware acceleration will disable the new changes and will cause the Verify to act as it did in X2. If the speed of Verify is important to you, our recommendation is to use one of the workarounds until this issue has been resolved in a Maintenance Update.

Browser Issues - Additional Streamingteacher Testing

We have been doing additional testing for IE6 and IE8 beta today. We have had some problems reported, and are working very hard to resolve these issues. Most of our testing was done in IE7 and the latest Firefox. We are now set up to check IE6, IE7, Firefox, Safari and Chrome. So far, IE7, Firefox and Safari seem to work the best. We will continue to work hard on solving mostly what seems to be cosmetic issues. If you run into any problems and would like to report it, please leave you comment on this post or email Support


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New Streamingteacher Launched!

Today 9/4/08 we launched the new Streamingteacher site, it went up at 1:55pm PST. It now includes the Mastercam X3 courseware and many new features. Enjoy! Please feel free to post comments here regarding the changes.

Thank you for visiting streamingteacher.com

Watch for the new Streamingteacher!

On September 2nd 2008, you will notice quite a change at Streamingteacher. Below is a screen shot of the new website.

This upgrade will include much faster page loading, easier navigation and many new features. If you you have any questions, please email us at Support

Key Stroking Mastercam X~X3

If you want to navigate Mastercam with keystrokes, you will possibly need to make an adjustment to Windows itself. In Mastercam, if you type ALT you will see the characters on the main menu become underscored. Those characters are what you type to access that particular menu. When that menu drops down, if you no longer see any of the menu choices underscored, then you may need to make the change outlined below:

(1) Minimize Mastercam and Right-Click on your desktop

(2) Select properties, appearance and click on effects

(3) Make sure "Hide underlined letters for keyboard navigation until I press the Alt key" is unchecked. (See image below)

(4) Click on OK, then close and re-start Mastercam.

Now you are ready to be a power user, happy key stroking in Mastercam.

How To Open Inventor 2009 Files

Autodesk Inventor 2009 was recently released. As a result, you may start to receive .ipt part files from customers or co-workers that won't open in Mastercam. There's a fairly simple fix to get your translator up and going, and it doesn't even require an update to Mastercam.

Mastercam's Inventor translator utilizes the Autodesk Inventor View program to do its translations. At the time of this writing, the Inventor View 2009 program was not available at http://www.mastercam.com/, however we can always obtain it directly from Autodesk.

Inventor View 2009 Download Page

Prior to installing this version, please make sure to remove any previous Autodesk Inventor View installations from your Add/Remove Programs. After installation is complete, you will be able to open the new Inventor 2009 .ipt part files within Mastercam.

Running Mastercam X2 under Vista - Part 2

To avoid changing the look of Vista completely (See previous entry) and you like the cosmetic fluff of Vista, then leave the general setting we recommended changing and try this:

1) Right-click on your Mastercam X2 shortcut, select Properties, Compatibility

2) Try the settings in the screen shot below:

The Run this program as administrator may not be necessary.

Running Mastercam X2 under Vista

There has been quite a bit of controversy regarding running Mastercam under Vista. It actually works quite well with some minor adjustments, mostly to Windows itself. I would like to invite any viewers to post their comments to this topic. From this information, we can continue to work on fine tuning the settings, after all, Vista is not going to go away. Most all new computers ship with it unless you specify otherwise.

So here it goes:

(1) Make sure you have loaded the latest video driver for Vista. It is always best to load the driver recommended by the computer manufacturer, so for example, if you have an HP computer, go to HP's website, into their support section and with your computer model name at hand, search for updated drivers. Load the updated driver before continuing (if necessary).

(2) In Vista right-click on My Computer, click on Properties then advanced system settings. You may be faced with permissions dialog here, click Continue. Click on the "Performance" Settings button. Select the "Adjust for Best Performance radio button. Click on OK on both dialog boxes.

(3) Vista will now be reminiscent of Windows 2000 and Mastercam X2 will be much happier!

(4) On Some systems, this will not improve much, on others, this can provide the make or break difference.

(5) In Mastercam Verify, if you rotate the model during Verify, and you loose some of the image looks like this: (Took pic with IPhone, screen grabber would not grab this, because the screen must remain in motion)

To work around this, click the Stop button, then the "Step" button one click, then continue, the full solid will show. By the way, in X3 this is resolved with Vista.

Hope this helps!

Creating Stock Shapes In Mastercam X2

Using various stock shapes (other than simple block or cylinder)

The easiest way to incorporate various stock shapes for Milling, Router or Wire EDM is to create a 3D model of your stock using the surface or solid modeler. For previously machined stock, you can use the save STL function.

Creating a simple extruded shape without the Solids Option:

First , Create the 2D shape. The green geometry represents the part, the blue represents the
stock.

Using Create, Surface, Extruded Surface, Extrude the blue boundary
in the direction and to the thickness you desire.

Using Edit, Change normal, make sure ALL surface normals are pointing
outward. Select File, Save, set files of type to .STL and save this in the same folder
as your MCX.

To test your stock model, go into your machine group properties, stock setup,
select the “File” radio button and browse to the newly created STL.

Next, select the “Display” check box and the “Solid” radio button, then select OK.

When you return to the graphics screen you should see this.

Now you can run verify, or utilize this for rest operations.

NOTE: If you have solids, use the Extrude option, then continue from Step #4.

STL settings: Before trying this, go to Settings, Configuration, Converters, and check these settings:

We hope you find these tips useful!

Looking for Mastercam and Solidworks Experts

We are looking for a few good people to assist in training video
creation. If you are interested, please email your resume to sales@streamingteacher.com

Streamingteacher Prepares for X3

As we prepare for X3, we have made plans to offer existing X2 subscribers the new X3 channel (upon Mastercam's release) at no additional charge to X2 subscribers for the remainder of their current subscription.