What’s New
Mastercam® X6 What’s New
Date: October 2011
Copyright © 2011 CNC Software, Inc.— All rights reserved.
First Printing: October 2011
Software: Mastercam X6
TERMS OF USE
Use of this document is subject to the Mastercam End User License Agreement. A copy
of the Mastercam End User License Agreement is included with the Mastercam product
package of which this document is part. The Mastercam End User License Agreement
can also be found at:
www.mastercam.com/legal/licenseagreement/
What’s New in Mastercam X6
General System Enhancements
64-bit Support
Mastercam X6 is available as a 64-bit application, which lets you take full advantage of your 64-bit hardware and
operating systems.
Level Manager Improvements
These improvements focus on level manipulations that are especially useful on parts imported from other
systems where levels were not used. These enhancements will assist you in organizing the data so you can
create toolpaths or perform other edits to the model.
On the Change Levels and Attributes dialog boxes, you now have control over the visibility of new levels you
create for geometry. You can force new levels to be visible or invisible once the geometry is moved or copied.
In addition, you can control which level is the Main level using the arrow keys in the Level Manager. Select the
Arrow keys set main level checkbox and use the arrow keys to move through the level list and change your
Main level.
What’s New in Mastercam X6 - Page 1
Quick Mask for Groups
This new Quick Mask provides a shortcut to the Groups Manager dialog box for geometry selection. Instead of
selecting All, Group Manager, you can simply click this toolbar button and then double-click to quickly select all
geometry assigned to a group.
Override Solid Face Color on Import
This new option, located in File, Open, Options or Settings, Configuration, Converters, forces the colors of
imported solids to take on the current system color. This overrides any face or feature colors that have already
been applied to a solid.
What’s New in Mastercam X6 - Page 2
DWFx Import
Mastercam X6 now supports the .DWFx file format, which is an Autodesk file format based on the XML Paper
Specification (XPS) format from Microsoft. DWFx files can also be opened directly within Microsoft’s XPS Viewer.
File Translator Updates
• ACIS: R22
• Autocad: Can now take .DWFX files
• CATIA V5: R21
• KeyCreator: 2011
• Parasolids: 23
• ProE/Creo: Wildfire5/Creo 1.0
• SolidEdge: ST4
• SolidWorks: 2012
Design Enhancements
Intersecting and Trimming Solid Edges
Mastercam’s AutoCursor now recognizes intersections between wireframe geometry and solid edges without
creating additional geometry first.
You can also trim or extend wireframe geometry to solid edges using the existing Mastercam trimming
functions. Some examples include:
• Using Edit, Trim/Break, Trim/Break/Extend to trim the wireframe to one, two, or three solid edge
entities.
• Selecting Edit, Trim Many to use a solid edge as the trim boundary
• Using Edit, Trim/Break, Break at Intersection to break wireframe where it intersects solid edges.
Solid Trim to Surface
The Trim Solid dialog box includes two new options for trimming solids to surfaces. These options give you
more control over your trimming results.
What’s New in Mastercam X6 - Page 3
Remove Solid History
The functionality from the NoHist C-Hook is now incorporated into the main Mastercam product. This function
strips the list of operations or features from a solid model, leaving it as a "brick" in the Solids Manager. You can
use this to prevent changes and protect your model. You can access this function by choosing Solids, Remove all
solid history operations
Xform Fit
Xform Fit is a new function in Mastercam X6 that “nests” geometry along a vector, making it easier for you to
make multiple copies between two defined points without knowing the exact distance between the points. This
can be helpful when fitting parts between clamps and fixtures.
Trim/Divide Support for Splines
Mastercam X6 includes support for splines in Xform Divide for trimming curves or curves to be trimmed.
All and Only Mask – Arc Sweep
The All and Only masks now include the option to select arcs and circles with a sweep angle in mind. This is
another way to speed up your geometry selection. For example, selecting a 0.5” diameter can be limited to only
circles when diameter and arc sweep are used together. You can set these options on the Miscellaneous page of
the Select All and Select Only dialog boxes.
What’s New in Mastercam X6 - Page 4
Analyze Point or Area Using Feet/Inches
In the following Analyze functions, you can now see results in inches, feet/inches decimal, feet/inches fractional,
millimeters, centimeters, or meters:
• Position
• Volume/Area, 2D Area
• Volume/Area, Surface Area
• Volume/Area, Solid Properties
General Mill/Router Enhancements
Mill/Router Toolpath Menu Reorganization
By restructuring the Mill and Router toolpath menus, you now have easier, faster access to all 2D and 3D high
speed toolpaths.
Mastercam X5 Mill Mastercam X6 Mill
What’s New in Mastercam X6 - Page 5
Mastercam X5 Router Mastercam X6 Router
What’s New in Mastercam X6 - Page 6
Stock Model
In Mastercam X6, the stock model for Mill 2-axis through 5-axis toolpaths is now a separate entity in the
Toolpath Manager with more power and flexibility than ever before.
You can generate an initial stock model by choosing Toolpaths, Stock model from the Mastercam menu. The
stock model is fully associative and has parameters that can be edited at any time similar to toolpath or solid
operations. The stock model operation is marked dirty and requires a regen if you make changes to the stock
model parameters or any toolpath the stock model is referencing.
Once created, you can use stock model operations to:
• Verify stock
• Define stock for rest machining
• Visualize stock
• Generate stock model compares
Note: If you have activated multi-threaded processing for your configuration, Mastercam generates stock model
operations as multi-threaded processes.
In the Stock Model dialog box, the Stock Definition page lets you create a name for the model, select a color, and
set the basic shape parameters. Solids, mesh entities, surfaces (even single surfaces), STL files, and other stock
models can all provide the basis for the new stock model. You can also pull in any values you entered in the
Stock Setup page of the Machine Group Properties dialog box.
What’s New in Mastercam X6 - Page 7
The Source Operations page is where you select the source operations to process against the defined stock in the
stock model operation. Use [Ctrl+click] and [Shift+click] methods to select any combination of operations in
the tree, including those from different machine groups.
What’s New in Mastercam X6 - Page 8
In addition, you can use the stock model to display leftover material. Using the Stock Compare page, follow these
general guidelines:
• Select the Stock Compare checkbox.
• Use the Select button to return to the graphics window and select the part model entities to use in the
comparison against the stock model.
• Define the tolerance for the stock model compare.
• Enter a value for stock to leave on the part model.
• Set the minimum/maximum offset values and colors for the compare results.
For more details on using this function, please click the Mastercam Help button at the bottom of the dialog box.
What’s New in Mastercam X6 - Page 9
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