The 3D View and Tool Simulation

Every program CamDRAW generates is rendered in three dimensions immediately afterwards. It is the last chance to catch a mistake before the machine acts on it, and it costs nothing to look.

Where it is

The 3D view sits in the NC program section, the last of the four sections in the CamDRAW docker.

Click the button labelled G1 G2 to generate the program from the operations listed above. The rendering appears in the panel below.

Reading the colours

Blue is cutting movement, where the tool is working.

Red is rapid movement: approach, retract and travel between contours, with the tool clear of the material.

That distinction is the quickest way to spot a problem. A red line running through the middle of your workpiece means a rapid move at the wrong height. A blue line where you expected travel means the tool is cutting on its way somewhere.

Moving the view

Left mouse button and drag moves the view.

Right mouse button and drag rotates it.

Scroll wheel zooms in and out.

Double-click opens the view in a separate, larger window, which is worth doing for anything detailed.

The view cube

A small cube sits in the lower right of the panel, showing the current perspective. Clicking a face jumps to that view: top, front, left, right, rear and bottom.

The top view is the one to use for checking positions and order. A front or side view is what shows depth problems.

The three icons on the right

Expand opens the 3D view in its own window, the same as double-clicking.

Reset camera returns to the default perspective, useful after rotating yourself into an unhelpful angle.

Show or hide node positions displays every point in the program. This is how you see the effect of the curve precision setting: at a coarse setting the nodes on a curve are visibly far apart, at a fine one they are dense.

Stepping through the program

Below the 3D view is a slider with two arrows beside it.

Dragging the slider runs quickly through the program, showing the tool position as it goes.

The two arrows step forward and backward one line at a time. This is the precise way to check what happens at a specific point.

The current position is marked with an orange dot and a tool dummy. In the separate window, the X, Y and Z coordinates of that position are displayed as well, so you can read exactly where the tool is at any line.

What to check

The order. Step through with the slider and watch which contour is machined first. On nested parts, inner features should be cut before the outer contour.

Rapid moves. Every red line should be clear of the material and clear of any clamps.

Depths. Rotate to a front view and look at the Z levels. A missing or misplaced plunge shows up here.

Leads. On cutting operations, check that leads run into waste and not into the part.

Doubled paths. A contour machined twice usually means duplicate curves in the drawing, stacked on top of each other and invisible on screen.

Saving and opening the program

Three small icons sit above the 3D view. The first exports or saves the program, the second opens it in a text editor, and the third opens the output directory in Windows Explorer.

Opening the file as text is a useful second check. The first lines show whether the program is written in millimetres or inches, and the tool changes and feed rates are readable there in plain form.