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Sculpting a relief
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I opened the program for the first time today and just trying to get familiar with the interface. I imported a relief to play with and could not sculpt with any tools. I then created a simple relief (a dome) and tried again with no result. I feel like a dunce. the right layer was selected, i triple checked. Been an artcam user for a decade. The version i have been using is 2015. Am i missing something? Any help appreciated.
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it is different from 2015 you have to go to the menu bar choose "RELIEF" then go down to "Sculpt" there you have it, oh and one more thing or 2.you might have to move a slider or 2. Kind of sucks a little, you can't use the rt. click but the sculpting is very nice.
mike
Hi Bob for me sculpting tools are on the left to the bottom.
Thank you both for the reply....
Evonne, Yes, i have the sculpting tools on the lower left.
Michael, I also can access the sculpt tools from the menu as well (i kinda like this feature since many of the tools show up in the box that opens up)
My problem is that they don't do anything to the relief layer that i have active. If I choose to scale the Z using another function it will work. So at least i know the layer is not locked or something. Am i making any sense??
Bob, try increasing the strength of the tool.
What's your settings, you know a photo is worth a 1,000 words, .Also try instead of layer (shape) try round you might have better luck.and you might want to make sure you are not using any mask, like I said a photo, esp. of the settings you're using would help in knowing where there might be a problem, sometimes a fresh set of eyes, may be even an old set could see and point out, instead of guessing.
mike
Bob, if you are using the Erase sculpting tool, make sure you have "Erase to Baseplane" and not snapshot, this always catches me out when I've done a new install!
Again, thanks to you all for taking the time to reach back out. I've attached a link to a screenshot of what i'm trying to do.
the work flow has been as basic as can be.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sekkb2yogla10w4/Screenshot%202019-06-17%2015.47.39.png?dl=0
1 - open new model
2 - place round vector in it
3 - F12 a round relief with a little bit of height
4 - open the relief/sculpt menu
5 - try to use any of the sculpting tools on that layer
6 -hope for something to happen
7 - ZIP, NADA, NOTHING!
8 - feel real stupid
9 -WTF
Sorry, I didn't realize the screenshot included the second monitor. Attached is another, tighter view of the model.
Can you post the model Bob? What sort of size is this? I can see the radius of the carving tool is 0.8mm
the model is 30 x 30mm and I just moved the radius up to the max, 6+ mm and still nothing. However if i go to the relief menu and use another command, i.e. scale, i can get the model to respond
Not meaning to sound condescending, but do you have a black spot when you put your cursor on the object that you want to sculpt? You do know that you have to sculpt manually? I'll see if I have time tomorrow to do a video for you I'll put it here ok, no time right now, sorry.
mike
Go to the bottom of the sculpting tools setting check tow boxes to know where you are and what you are sculpting, very beneficial, if you can see what the tool is doing you will have a better result.
hope this helps.
mike
Believe me Michael, I do not feel in any way offended, I realize that sometimes (most times) the solution is easy and it's typically operator error or oversight. These programs have a lot of options and tools. By day I am a jewelry designer and primarily use Rhino for that work. Been doing it since version 3, I think. I do like Artcam for certain projects and often import the resulting .stl into Rhino for other, more jewelry specific work, before sending it to the mill or printer. The questions you ask are good ones but I'll bet a hundred dollars that the settings are correct. I do see the dark spot that indicates the region being worked on. I'm on the right layer. It's just not responding.
thanks again for your time
just for ducks I hit the dome with the cookie cutter to see if it recognized it and did a little distortion...........seems to have worked fine.
When you close that distortion tool, could you post a screenshot of just the blue clip art? Just want to see if you have a red arrow to do a live z scale
Bob,
The support for carveco is great, I have use it a few (ok, maybe more than a few) times (mainly because I am a little dense) but in all the times I have done a chat with them (other than the times I couldn't explain clearly because I was frustrated) they have been able to clear things up and set me straight, so do a chat with support I pretty sure they would be able to help you out, or do an update to the software that would benefit not just you but others also.
By the way thanks for the idea of dome usage with the cookie cutter, never considered that.
mike
arrow accessible a couple different ways and it works.
im gonna reach out to support
thanks all
Hi Bob,
What Windows operating system and graphics card do you have installed on your computer? Please confirm.
Thanks in advance for your time and cooperation.
windows home 10
nvidia geforce 640 (driver updated)
problem still not resolved after update
thanks
Bob,
Has it been determined that what's causing your issue yet? I am sort of interested, rather curious, really very.
mike
Mike,
...Not yet! I've been working with support but thus far it has been mostly confirming that my PC is up to the task. And it surely is. On Friday I installed the program on the computer I use at the shop and it worked just fine....go figure. This morning I thought i would just do an uninstall on the computer at the studio and then reinstall just to see if perhaps it may have farted in some way when done originally. Oddly, after the reinstall ( i did a restart just in case it may have helped the purge) the program opened right up without asking for the key. Also, the files i was experimenting with were on the home screen as thou it was business as usual. But no response from the sculpting group....just as before.
Doggone things are as frustrating as they are grand!
thanks for your interest and i'm open to any input
Could you have some other program that might be getting in the way of carveco? Years ago I had a problem with Norton av. being a problem child with artcam, somewhere along the line they fixed what ever was the irritation that was ......... I had uninstalled the thing and low and behold artcam worked. Sometimes it's just a setting we get involved with to have, but like you said the pc is a fab tool but sometimes you have tho chase things down to the utter limits, just to find out you had your setting on your firewall too restrictive, hahaha.... never ask on that one.
have a good weekend
mike
Back 'in the day' when only a select few video cards supported OpenGL, you could change the way ArtCAM handled displaying reliefs for sculpting etc by choosing hardware acceleration. I didn't see that option in the 3D options panel. I'd goto the properties of your video card and make sure you have 3D set to 'Let the program decide what is best' and not some other setting.
It's quite bizarre that you are not able to sculpt. I'd be curious to see what happens when you do the following:
1) Add a brand new relief layer to the layer tree. Rename it. Select it. Draw a rectangle. F12 for shape editor and add 1" using the rectangle. Then try sculpting on it.
2) Import a 3D model on new or default layer. Try sculpting on it.
Brady, and all that followed,
"back in the day" for me meant cutting a block of wax with burs, gravers, saws, and files. At least I'm not so old that I was doing it by candlelight.
At one point over the weekend I did another uninstall and reinstall. This time however I did a complete shutdown rather than a restart after the uninstall. I then re-installed and when activated, the program asked for the language default as it did before and I chose English (because "cursing " or "foul" were not options). I expected it to request the "key" but it did not and went to the opening page as it did after the last reinstall. Also, as before, the files I had been playing with were there for me to chose from. I will guess that there is some residual code left over that did all that. Having been at this point before, the only difference being the complete shutdown, I expected the same result. But alas it worked. I am now a sculpting fool but I worry that the success will be temporary. I'll keep you informed
Glad you got it Bob. I'm sure you're relieved to have it working.
computers were meant to be use with the skills we learned at "naught word university"
sounds like a dll got confused.
Am glad that you will get to play with the sculpting tools.
have a great one.
mike
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