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True shape nesting

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2018 3:57 am
by allan101
Is there ever going to be a true shape nesting feature in sheetcam ?, not the My Nesting plugin. That is what Sheetcam is missing to be on the top of the hill

Re: True shape nesting

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2018 8:54 pm
by motoguy
I completely agree.

Re: True shape nesting

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 6:33 pm
by rrossetti

Re: True shape nesting

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:55 pm
by mancavedweller
I have no idea what is involved in programming nesting software but based on prices of nesting software that does a good job, I'm guessing it's no small task.

If Les were to put the time and effort into something like this, I'd assume he'd have to sell it as a separate package to make it worthwhile.

Personally I do most nesting manually because I've found even higher end nesting software can leave a lot of waste, especially between freeform shaped parts. Most of the advertisements for nesting software show extremely tightly packed parts with a bees doodle width between them, but that hasn't been my experience when trying it. Makes you wonder if those advertised nests were done manually LOL.

Re: True shape nesting

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 10:55 am
by Les Newell
True shape nesting is very complicated and would take me quite a long time, making the option expensive. The plugins for integrating MyNesting/NestFab and DG Nest Pro have not been very pospular which also makes me cautious to invest a large amount of time.

Re: True shape nesting

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 8:16 pm
by SeanP
I'd be thinking just the same as mancavedweller as well, I've tried a few of the nesting packages and still find I can do a better job manually with sheetcam.

It would be better still if it was possible to edit operations in nesting mode :P

Re: True shape nesting

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 2:36 pm
by motoguy
I for one would have no issue paying an additional amount for the option, depending on pricing, I guess.

Re: True shape nesting

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 10:18 pm
by mancavedweller
But that gets back to what Les said about sales volume, based on the lack of interest in Mynesting.

I don't think it would just be an "additional charge". My guess is the price could be multiples of what Sheetcam costs, if the nesting capabilities are worth anything.

Mynesting is supposed to be quite capable and the one-off purchase price quite high, thus they thought to offer the pay per nest option.

I'd check out the price of existing worthwhile nesting packages and I'm sure it will give an idea of what must go into developing a really capable nesting application. Trial a few and see if they do what you consider acceptable, THEN see if the price doesn't make you gag LOL.

Keith.

Re: True shape nesting

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 4:18 am
by Les Newell
Yes, that is the problem. I can offer SheetCam at a low price because I sell a lot of copies. To justify the investment of work in nesting I either need to sell a lot of copies or sell it at a high price. To be honest I'm not convinced I would sell a lot of copies. If I sell at a high price, fewer people will buy it. It's a vicious circle.

Re: True shape nesting

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2018 3:42 pm
by motoguy
mancavedweller wrote: Tue Sep 18, 2018 10:18 pm But that gets back to what Les said about sales volume, based on the lack of interest in Mynesting.

I don't think it would just be an "additional charge". My guess is the price could be multiples of what Sheetcam costs, if the nesting capabilities are worth anything.

Mynesting is supposed to be quite capable and the one-off purchase price quite high, thus they thought to offer the pay per nest option.

I'd check out the price of existing worthwhile nesting packages and I'm sure it will give an idea of what must go into developing a really capable nesting application. Trial a few and see if they do what you consider acceptable, THEN see if the price doesn't make you gag LOL.

Keith.
Hypertherm's ProNest starts at $5k or so for the "basic" version, and can easily knock on $20k if you add all the options. Enroute, Aspire, NestFab are all several thousand. Pricey.

On the flip side, I purchased a plug-in for CorelDraw (eCut6) which does good true-shape nesting for $60 (among many other features). DeepNest is being offered for a "you pay what it's worth to you" price, and also seems to do true-shape nesting quite well.

That's what has me confused. Have the technology requirements for shape nesting dropped to the point that it's VERY affordable (eCut, Deepnest)? I realize they don't create designs/drawings/files, and only manipulate files that are imported into them. Then again, that's what Sheetcam does as well.

I actually tried NestFab/Mynesting, but that software cannot nest/handle open lines. Since I do plasma cutting, and a lot of my "detail cuts" consist of open lines, that makes NestFab/MyNesting a non-starter.