Newbie software

Hi there,

I am a complete newbie to cnc, infact my one finity will not even be here until August.

I am looking at getting myself with a software now so that I at least have a base knowledge to get started.
Probably the same as most beginners i will be looking at making signs and small projects.

I have a macbok air and I have been looking at;

. Carveco
. V carve

I have read that when using the mac I can only run these with " Boot camp or Parallels "

Can any one offer broader explanation between the two different downloads. Maybe disadvantages and advantages.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated

david

You could start with Carbide Create (available for Mac) it does the basics without having to open your wallet. Vectric VCarve & Carveco do not run natively on Mac OS so yes, you would have to either setup Boot Camp or Parallels Desktop to run the Windows version of either. Both also have trial versions you can try out before you actually decide to purchase.

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I have a MacBook Air and I use Bootcamp, it is located in your launchpad

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Hi David - there are a number of posts about SW on a Mac here. I prefer Fusion 360, but Carbide Create will work as will Easel (I prefer Easel over CC).

You can use Windows based program with Cross Over, any virtual machine (Parallels, VMWare, or Virtualbox), or Boot camp if you don’t have an M1 Mac. If you go with emulation mode, then Carveco, Vectric, or CamBam all work with varying degrees of complexity.

I personally prefer 100% native, so I stick with Fusion 360. I’ve a “couple” videos about digital manufacturing and Fusion (and other stuff) if you are interested.

Hope this helps.

-Tom

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what software do you run with bootcamp?

Thank you for the advice ! I will definitely look at those videos to help. I do have the free version of fusion 360 but I must admit it seems complex ( very good ) and does put me off a little bit.

There are very good tutorials out there on YouTube for Fusion. If you can’t figure something out, there are quite a few of us in here that use Fusion and would be glad to help.

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I appreciate that thank you very much. I am sure there will be lots of questions trying to learn fusion haha

I use V-Carve. The bootcamp is located on the launchpad. It’s quite simple to download windows

Mike

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