Hi everyone.. Ton80 a.k.a. John checking in with first post and quick hello and intro. I see some of the folks I know from the Carvewright forums over here so hi guys! I decided to finally make the plunge and buy a windows laptop, download the trial of VCarve Pro and purchase a 'starter' gantry styles CNC - the Shapeoko 3 XXL. It hasn't shipped yet but I am getting my feet wet with the demo of VcarvePro replicating some of the projects I have created with the CW Designer software. I love how many videos and tutorials there are out there in support of VCarve and the other Vectric offerings.. I am already kicking myself for not doing this a few years ago when I first started to think about it.
I build dart cabinets and customize them with all sorts of designs on the front and interior. Everything from a last name engraved to 3D relief carvings and custom shapes. It's pretty much all I make with my current Carvewright machine and it's been pretty rewarding. The CW has served me well, surprisingly well I think. I've had few issues with my machine but she is getting old in the tooth now and needs some upgrades.. she has 800 hours of run time on the original cut motor, sandpaper belts and belt drive motors. I will probably keep it going but I started to think about did I really want to put $500+ into that machine now or put some more into moving on and learning something which opens more possibilities. So here I am
As I hunt and peck and watch some tutorials, I am finding the initial learning pretty easy going. Starting out with just recreating some basic cabinet templates I use and a few simple projects. As I have a few completed I was thinking I might post one or two and see if the established Vectric users can suggest a smart way to accomplish what I came up with.
The FIRST real question that I have regards the software purchase and can I start with purchasing VCarve Pro and move up to Aspire down the road if I need to, or should I make the full commitment now? .. I have seen people mention ( not here but on other posts elswhere ) that Vectrics policies are if I purchase VCarve Pro but decide I want to move onto Aspire that there is a pretty nice discount applied to the move up... I have seen mentioned that they apply the purchase price of VCarve Pro as the discount so there is little to know risk to me starting out slowly and moving up when I am ready. True or False ?
Intro/Hello
- Adrian
- Vectric Archimage
- Posts: 14650
- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:19 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: ShopBot PRS Alpha 96x48
- Location: Surrey, UK
Re: Intro/Hello
Welcome.
The upgrade price between VCarve and Aspire is the same as the difference in the products so if you start out with VCarve you're not going to be financially worse off by upgrading to Aspire at a later date.
If you want to create your own custom 3D models or use more than one non-Vectric 3D model in your designs then you'd be better to go for Aspire from the start.
The upgrade price between VCarve and Aspire is the same as the difference in the products so if you start out with VCarve you're not going to be financially worse off by upgrading to Aspire at a later date.
If you want to create your own custom 3D models or use more than one non-Vectric 3D model in your designs then you'd be better to go for Aspire from the start.
- SteveNelson46
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 2304
- Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:43 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: Camaster Stinger 1
- Location: Tucson, Az.
Re: Intro/Hello
I agree with Adrian. If you can afford it, start off with Aspire. I did and have never regretted it. It's an awesome program and will do everything that V-carve Pro will do and much more.
I own a Carvewright and it has served me well also but I rarely use the software to make patterns. Aspire is MUCH better and if you have the STL importer for the Carvewright system (a $200.00 add-on) it will do pretty good as long as the STL file is relatively small. Otherwise, the Carvewright software will crash. I'm looking to buy a Shopbot Desktop Max in the near future. The Carvewright is a good machine but it's mainly targeted for beginning users and I'm ready to move on and learn new things. Since it hasn't had an upgrade or major patch in over 3 years I'm thinking it's just time to move on.
I own a Carvewright and it has served me well also but I rarely use the software to make patterns. Aspire is MUCH better and if you have the STL importer for the Carvewright system (a $200.00 add-on) it will do pretty good as long as the STL file is relatively small. Otherwise, the Carvewright software will crash. I'm looking to buy a Shopbot Desktop Max in the near future. The Carvewright is a good machine but it's mainly targeted for beginning users and I'm ready to move on and learn new things. Since it hasn't had an upgrade or major patch in over 3 years I'm thinking it's just time to move on.
Steve
-
- Vectric Apprentice
- Posts: 99
- Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2018 3:48 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: Shapeoko 3XXL / Carvewright RevB
- Location: Rockland County, NY USA
- Contact:
Re: Intro/Hello
Good... that is the way I understood the policy. The restriction of one non-vectric 3D model is something I will have to think about but I really don't think that is a concern for me as I think about projects I have and will be running. The way I look at it, I need to crawl before I can walk and walk before I can run so holding off on purchasing Aspire makes sense in my mind. I understand the contrary thought that I just get it all now but I prefer to not have all those options open and confusing my learning of the basics.Adrian wrote:Welcome.
The upgrade price between VCarve and Aspire is the same as the difference in the products so if you start out with VCarve you're not going to be financially worse off by upgrading to Aspire at a later date.
If you want to create your own custom 3D models or use more than one non-Vectric 3D model in your designs then you'd be better to go for Aspire from the start.
- mtylerfl
- Vectric Archimage
- Posts: 5892
- Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:54 am
- Model of CNC Machine: -CarveWright CNC -ShopBot Buddy PRSAlpha
- Location: Brunswick, GA
Re: Intro/Hello
Hi John,Ton80 wrote:
Good... that is the way I understood the policy. The restriction of one non-vectric 3D model is something I will have to think about but I really don't think that is a concern for me as I think about projects I have and will be running. The way I look at it, I need to crawl before I can walk and walk before I can run so holding off on purchasing Aspire makes sense in my mind. I understand the contrary thought that I just get it all now but I prefer to not have all those options open and confusing my learning of the basics.
Welcome to the Vectric Forum!
If/when you decide to upgrade to Aspire, there are excellent modeling tutorial videos on the Vectric website (as you may have already discovered). Everything you learn now with VCarve Pro will apply directly to Aspire, so the only "new" learning curve you will have is the model creation and editing side of things.
If possible, try to attend the Vectric User Group in October of this year in Chicago. You will have a great time while learning a LOT of Vectric software tips, methods and techniques!
Michael Tyler
facebook.com/carvebuddy
-CarveWright CNC
-ShopBot Buddy PRSAlpha CNC
facebook.com/carvebuddy
-CarveWright CNC
-ShopBot Buddy PRSAlpha CNC
- martin54
- Vectric Archimage
- Posts: 7349
- Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:12 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: Gerber 48, Triac PC, Isel fixed gantry
- Location: Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Re: Intro/Hello
Welcome to the forum John, I actually started out with Cut2D because as a signmaker I already had expensive software to create my designs & was only looking for cam software to toolpath for cutting.
Soon realised that Cut2D wasn't going to do all that I wanted so upgraded to VCarve Pro, price as Adrian has said was just the difference in price between the 2 programs
I now run Aspire & the upgrade path is just the same, you only pay the difference between the two programs, so it really doesn't matter which of the Vectric programs you start out with
If you are unsure if you should start with Vcarve & upgrade to Aspire at a latter date or just purchase Aspire from the start then your best bet would be to download the trial software for Aspire as you have done with Vcarve & have a look for yourself. The major difference between the two programs is that Vcarve can't produce 3D models so apart from the modelling tab the two programs look the same
You could start with Aspire but leave the modelling until you have a better working knowledge of the software although I must admit for me the temptation would be to great for me & I wouldn't leave it alone lol
As you already have experience with Cad/Cam software & running a CNC machine you shouldn't have any problems with Vcarve, lots of tutorials that are easy to understand & if that isn't enough there is the forum
Soon realised that Cut2D wasn't going to do all that I wanted so upgraded to VCarve Pro, price as Adrian has said was just the difference in price between the 2 programs
I now run Aspire & the upgrade path is just the same, you only pay the difference between the two programs, so it really doesn't matter which of the Vectric programs you start out with
If you are unsure if you should start with Vcarve & upgrade to Aspire at a latter date or just purchase Aspire from the start then your best bet would be to download the trial software for Aspire as you have done with Vcarve & have a look for yourself. The major difference between the two programs is that Vcarve can't produce 3D models so apart from the modelling tab the two programs look the same
You could start with Aspire but leave the modelling until you have a better working knowledge of the software although I must admit for me the temptation would be to great for me & I wouldn't leave it alone lol
As you already have experience with Cad/Cam software & running a CNC machine you shouldn't have any problems with Vcarve, lots of tutorials that are easy to understand & if that isn't enough there is the forum