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stan kern
11-15-2018, 8:45 PM
Has anyone got a good link to download rdworks 8.01.34

And is there a post about these programs compared

Doug Fisher
11-15-2018, 10:34 PM
As of this moment, it is the 6th from the top and pretty obvious:

http://www.rd-acs.com/down_complex.aspx?FId=n14:14:14

Julian Ashcroft
11-16-2018, 2:33 AM
Not a comparison but I now use Lightburn on a daily basis. My top two features are:

Ability to paste jpg or similar straight into Lightburn, then trace it and send the results to the laser. I used to have to paste the image into Inkscape, trace it, save as a .dxf and then import it into RDWorks, this has saved so much time.

Most of the stuff I send to the laser is around 35mm in diameter, I can now have lots of designs in the same file in Lightburn, I just the select the one I want and send that to the laser, this has saved the number of files I have in my computer.

There are loads of other features which now push Lightburn well ahead of RDWorks, new features and improvements are made on a regular basis and the developer and a growing community are on Facebook to help with any issues.

Bill Carruthers
11-17-2018, 2:08 AM
There is simply no comparison - Lightburn is a rapidly evolving program that is already 5 times more functional and user friendly than RDW - try it for free for a month - https://lightburnsoftware.com/pages/trial-version-try-before-you-buy - Best money you'll ever spend on your laser!!

Jimmy Phillips
11-23-2018, 1:30 PM
I just started using LightBurn and my prayers have been answered!

I can finally take RDWorks and burn it in my wood stove...lol.

The only real feature that would be nice is the ability to read .rld files.

If you are still using RDWorks or some other Chinese made laser application then I highly recommend you review LightBurn!

Later,

Jimmy

Wojciech Szul
11-27-2018, 2:09 PM
I just started using LightBurn and my prayers have been answered!
I can finally take RDWorks and burn it in my wood stove...lol.
I was trying LB once - just when that's appear on market and I was not convinced to buy it. Mostly - because I expect function when I can put vector graphics/marking/cutting over BMP and mask(!) bmp under. Quite often customers change mind and want to move text, make it bigger/smaller etc. This take time to convert text to bmp - more handy will be direct change. See picture below.
397555
Or engrave bitmap which will be limited by vector "container" - say shield shape. There was as well camera option for LB - but unfortunately only USB (I prefer IP as my main designer PC is 100 feet away from laser, second in workshop functions just as a handler/RIP.)
Is this possible in LB now? Previously was not possible.

Mike Thornbury
02-12-2019, 1:44 AM
There was as well camera option for LB - but unfortunately only USB (I prefer IP as my main designer PC is 100 feet away from laser, second in workshop functions just as a handler/RIP.)
Is this possible in LB now? Previously was not possible.

No.

The developer bit my head off when I said I wanted remote operation as YOU SHOULD NEVER LEAVE YOUR LASER UNATTENDED!

Of course it wouldn't be unattended. My expensive design computers are not in my workshop, but are in my nice air-conditioned comfy design office.

The ridiculous thing is, he supports controllers that have Ethernet interfaces, which allows exactly what I was wanting for USB - a remote USB 'slave' connected directly to the laser, that I could send jobs to in a queue.

I must say, that while the software is superior to RDWorks, etc., this pissed me off and I went in another direction.

I don't need developers second-guessing my work practices, especially when they already support what I want to do, but in a different transport medium.

Doug Fisher
02-12-2019, 2:02 AM
Part of the issue is they have to cover themselves due to liability. Another issue the developer has stated is that the software architecture/framework they used to build LightBurn does not fully support IP cameras at this time. Creating a workaround does not appear to be a priority, and because of the liability issue, I am guessing a workaround will never become a priority.

FWIW, you can cobble together remote control viewing via a USB camera by using something like TeamViewer.

Doug Fisher
02-12-2019, 2:08 AM
BTW, there is a new avenue for LightBurn support:
https://forum.lightburnsoftware.com/latest

Mike Thornbury
02-12-2019, 2:40 AM
Part of the issue is they have to cover themselves due to liability. Another issue the developer has stated is that the software architecture/framework they used to build LightBurn does not fully support IP cameras at this time. Creating a workaround does not appear to be a priority, and because of the liability issue, I am guessing a workaround will never become a priority.

FWIW, you can cobble together remote control viewing via a USB camera by using something like TeamViewer.

OH BS - liability for how a customer uses a piece of software? So Microsoft would be liable too, as they provide the networking, cisco, as the maker of the chipset used to drive the ethernet... the excuses made as to why someone couldn't do something are never ending.

HE ALREADY SUPPORTS NETWORKED CONTROLLERS. So the liability 'argument' is spurious, frankly.

At some stage, people need to take responsibility for their actions. A software manufacturer's liability ends when they put a notice on their software stating "We do not recommend controlling your laser remotely. Use at your own risk."

But then, I don't live in a country where everything is someone else's fault and an opportunity for enrichment, so maybe I'm being naive. We were taught to be careful and to take responsibility for your own actions.

Kev Williams
02-12-2019, 3:43 AM
Maybe I'm missing something but I don't get the 'remote' problem-- I have 17 machines in my house and aside from a couple of old XP's acting as connection points for 7 machines, I only use 2 computers to run programs and send jobs to 13 of them. Two of my lasers have a 'start button' in the print driver, all of my tool machines will start the moment I press "run". Pretty much everything else requires my presence at a machine, since they won't set themselves up ;)

Bill George
02-12-2019, 8:32 AM
I have a webcam set up in my shop. If for some reason (potty break) I need to leave I have a way to keep track of whats going on.

John Lifer
02-12-2019, 6:20 PM
There is zero liability to the LB programmer. Yep, if he's got an issue, put disclaimer in his release along with a lot of other BS. I've not tried it, so I can't make any real contributions other than he has done things that he said he couldn't do in the past, but that is a good thing in a way. I definitely don't want to learn another program, I don't use RDworks except as a 'print driver' anyway. Well, I will rotate an object every once in a while. Other than that it is a real POS program. I fail at engraving most pictures, so I supposedly should look at LB as it is supposedly good at converting BMPs to usable images for chinese lasers.

Doug Fisher
02-13-2019, 12:22 PM
>>But then, I don't live in a country where everything is someone else's fault and an opportunity for enrichment, so maybe I'm being naive.<<

Yes, your point is the unfortunate reality in which we live.

>>There is zero liability to the LB programmer. <<

Even taking your statement at face value as accurate, that isn't going to stop the bottom-feeding ambulance chasers from trying to sue you and trying to get a settlement. The cost of defending, even when you are not actually liable, is staggering.

I am not defending the developer of LightBurn, just pointing out the realities. In fact, I plan to use my internally mounted camera for monitoring more than anything. To me, it is a safety feature. Even when sitting and working at the table right next to my machine while it runs, it is not easy to see if everything is OK because I am often just glancing through the vent holes or I have to stand up to see through the lid's window. I will have a much better view and glance more often if I just have to glance up at the laptop screen sitting across the table in front of me.

Rich Harman
02-13-2019, 11:51 PM
The developer bit my head off when I said I wanted remote operation as YOU SHOULD NEVER LEAVE YOUR LASER UNATTENDED!

I know the developer, I have never known him to be the type to bite people's heads off. I am curious as to the exact words said that led you to feel that way.

Terry Wade
02-19-2019, 5:32 PM
I'm interested in LightBurn and want to know how things work if I want to import a RDW file, I have quite a number of client files that constantly use over and over, I assume I would just need to export from RDW in a DXF file and import into LightBurn. Does this transfer well or am I just going to have to recreate the files?

Doug Fisher
02-19-2019, 8:26 PM
The workflow is generally like that. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure RDWorks only exports to Adobe .ai and .plt file formats, not .dxf. With that said, at least for fairly simple files, LightBurn has imported both the .ai and .plt files created in RDWorks just fine.

RDWorks' handicap importing and exporting file formats is one of the primary reasons I moved to LightBurn as soon as LightBurn became polished enough to be viable. RDWorks fails so often when it comes to importing and exporting common file formats.

Mike Thornbury
02-20-2019, 1:14 PM
LightBurn reads dxf great, but I can’t say how well rdworks exports it.

Terry Wade
02-23-2019, 4:40 PM
Another thought about LightBurn does it play well with Corel Draw and can it be used as a replacement for the EZ Cad that comes with the fiber laser? I am looking into the fiber laser in the very near future.

Kev Williams
02-23-2019, 8:45 PM
Running a galvo fiber laser is night/day different that running a gantry laser, so Lightburn can't replace EzCad as a way to actually run the laser. However, with EzCad, like with other Chinese software such as RDworks, LaserCad, LaserSoft etc, you simply do most of your actual graphics layout in a good graphics program like Corel or AI, and simply import it into EzCad to run it. The caveat with using EzCad is that it is fairly necessary to learn how to use text, because it does have some good variable text and rotary text routines. I've gotten quite used to EzCad, and the newer versions have some very nice features the older versions don't have, like an optional large window for text entry, being able to jog the graphic while it's redlighting, ignoring hatch fill during contour redlighting, auto cross-hatching in each hatch routine, 1-click contour redlighting instead of 5-clicks... etc.. :)

Doug Fisher
02-24-2019, 1:06 AM
Oz has a fiber and has indicated he hopes to support fiber in the future. He has to get LB fully functional and out of beta for CO2 lasers first though so I wouldn't count on fiber support in the very near future.