BIRMINGHAM, UK, Oct 13, 2015 – Delcam will launch the 2015 R2 version of its ArtCAM Insignia artistic CADCAM software for the woodworking, signmaking and engraving industries at the Woodworking Machinery & Supply Conference and Expo to be held in Toronto, Canada, from November 5 to 7. The new release includes new and improved options for both design and manufacture to allow users to deliver complex projects more easily and more quickly.
ArtCAM Insignia is ideal for signmaking and other woodworking applications
Full details on the new release and the opportunity to download an evaluation version are on the website – www.artcam.com/insignia.
Unlike most other CADCAM systems, the ArtCAM range of software is aimed at artisans and hobbyists rather than engineers. The programs are designed to require little knowledge of engineering or computing. ArtCAM Insignia has been particularly successful in the volume production of artistic items in 2D or 3D by signmakers, woodworkers and engravers, amongst others. In all these areas, ArtCAM Insignia allows users to increase productivity, improve quality and deliver new designs more quickly, by combining their craft skills and creativity with the power and precision of computer-aided manufacturing.
Two options have been added in the 2015 R2 release of ArtCAM Insignia to help users to design with vectors. Firstly, snap hints now appear to help in spotting hard-to-find snap points within vectors when creating designs. Secondly, the thickness of vectors can be changed, in either the 2D or 3D view, making it easier to visualize the design. Accuracy will also be helped by the addition of rulers in the 3D view to make it easier to create precise artwork and to position elements of the piece.
A combine/replace mode was added in ArtCAM Insignia 2015 for customers creating 3D designs from imported models or the relief clip art included with the software. The ability to overlap and intersect reliefs has been enhanced with a new option to interactively blend the reliefs. This allows relief clip art to be pulled up or pushed down in the Z axis to give a better blend with an overlapping 3D design.
The range of modelling tools that operate in real time has been extended to include the 3D weave tool, allowing designers to see changes to their woven shapes as they happen.
The main machining enhancement in the 2015 R2 release is significantly faster machining simulations thanks to a new algorithm that uses the specialist processor in the computer’s graphics card to calculate thousands of operations simultaneously. This is a significant improvement over standard multi-threading. Another area of improvement is corner machining, where fillets can be added to vectors to allow more accurate machining of slots. In a related development, loops can be added for creating corners with knife cutting.
About Delcam
Delcam is one of the world’s leading suppliers of CAM software and associated services, and also supplies systems for product design, tooling design, reverse engineering and inspection. The company has grown steadily since being founded formally in 1977, after initial development work at Cambridge University led by the late Donald Welbourn. It is now among the largest developers of product design and manufacturing software in the UK, with subsidiaries in America, Europe and Asia. Over 330 people are employed at Delcam’s Birmingham headquarters, with almost 400 staff working in the company’s overseas subsidiaries and around 200 more in its international joint ventures.
Delcam’s software and services help manufacturing companies to increase productivity, improve quality and reduce lead times. The company’s software is used in over 90 countries by more than 45,000 organizations. These customers range from multi-national corporations to independent designers, toolmakers and sub-contractors, and come from a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, automotive, electrical appliances, footwear, healthcare, motor sport, packaging, toys, sports equipment, jewelry and signmaking. On February 6, 2014, Delcam was acquired by Autodesk and now operates as a wholly-owned, independently-operated subsidiary.
For further information, please visit www.delcam.com.
