V-Carve pro - worth it?

[Rob Wright]

Hi - I was wondering how many people in the 'Creek have Vcarve Pro and if they think that it was worth it. I have a small (30x36 cuttable area)wooden(home built with hardware store parts) CNC and I have been Using Mach 3 to control it with Lazy Cam. It cuts OK for spending a total of $400 on it, but cuts only at 30-in/min.

I wonder if my creative side will limit me and what I would do with V carve. I have finished some signs and small parts with the software I have now, but am really wondering if the $495 for vcarve will be worth it.

The program sure looks great - but $500?

Thanks - Rob

[Bob Reda]

Rob,

I have it and use it on almost a daily basis. Version 4 is comming out soon with a lot of new enhancements. You would be eligible for it if you got the older version within a year. You can download a trial version and give it a test run. I think you will find it very useful and easy to use.

Bob

[Keith Outten]

Rob,

I agree with Bob, VCarve Pro is definitely worth the investment and will pay for itself real quick. The preview function is very valuable and the ability to print a design for a customer to approve before machining is a huge benefit. VCP will get you up and making signs faster than any software I have ever seen.

I have Photo VCarve as well but haven't used it yet. I expect to use it for lithophanes.

As Bob said take the trial run and see what you think.

.

[Ed Lang]

I use V-carve PRO every day with a ShopBot PRT Alpha upgraded to PRS motors. I could not do without it for signs. I will also say that I use Corel X3 for a lot of design work for both the laser and CNC. It is nice to have few software packages to learn.

I asked a LOT of questions before I purchased V-Carve, which I later got the free upgrade (less than a year) to V-carve PRO and all questions were answerd quickly. I still ask questions from time to time and the support is fantastic.

I also have Photo V carve but have had little time to use it.

Be sure to read the vectric forum and the ShopBot forum for more opinions on the software.

Of course, feel free to ask, pm or call me if you like.

ed

[Rob Wright]

Thanks for the quick replies. From reading the other forums - it sure looks like a great piece of software and you have enforced that. I have downloaded the free version and have played around a little. I think that I will purchase before the end of the month to avoid the price increase as well as be able to upgrade.

Has anyone bought models from vectorart3d? They have a 2d clipart package and VcarvePro for $600 that looks interesting. I downloaded their 3d machining software and cut the samples. For $20 a model, they look great.

I think that i will end up going the route from Vector Art3D to get the extra clip art.

Thanks again for the input

[Neal Schlee]

VCarve Pro & Cut 3D are both a great bang for the buck! Vectric by far has the best before and after sales support of any software I've ever purchased! The preview feature creates a very realistic rendering and is a great sales tool. You absolutely cannot go wrong with it. To me the chip carving feature alone is worth the program cost, customers love it. I'm not aware of any other program that offers it.
Here's a link to a couple of signs I carved last week.
http://forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?t=1812

And a couple of pics of some cribbage boards using Cut3D.
http://forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?t=1272

Neal Schlee