Cad Translator

[bullseye]

Does anyone know anything about the CAD Translator that hexagon sells. I do not have a CAD seat to use with my CMM but have been told I can this CAD translator and it will act as if i had CAD and just wanted to see if anyone uses it and how well it worked.
thanks

[Josh Carpenter]

Does anyone know anything about the CAD Translator that hexagon sells. I do not have a CAD seat to use with my CMM but have been told I can this CAD translator and it will act as if i had CAD and just wanted to see if anyone uses it and how well it worked.
thanks

Hmmm... well let's start with politely ignoring any future CAD/software advice from whomever told you that. Now moving on:

Having a "CAD seat to use" is an expensive thing no matter what, and no sort of 'translator' can magically cure that. The only way to get a CAD seat without paying for it is a forbidden topic of discussion on this forum.

PC-DMIS is a CMM programming platform that is very good at using CAD to measure parts but it is quite firmly not a CAD seat where you can create/edit CAD designs and make blueprints. Not even a tiny bit.

FYI, programming from CAD is the way to go. So much faster and so easy to see what's going on.

We sell two types of CAD interface options with PC-DMIS.

DCT = Direct CAD Translator. It takes a CAD file created in a given format and translates it into the PC-DMIS ".CAD" format. You purchase format-specific translators individually as needed. Sometimes little things can be lost in translation. 99% of the time it is sufficient for the job, however certain large companies in certain industries forbid this and force their vendors to go to the next level...

DCI = Direct CAD Interface. This requires you to have a fully operational seat of one of the industry-leading CAD packages ($$$) installed on the same computer. Instead of translating the information it reads it directly from the native CAD file. This also requires a high-power computer that can handle both PC-DMIS and the CAD running.

[pwhitsa]

Does anyone know anything about the CAD Translator that hexagon sells. I do not have a CAD seat to use with my CMM but have been told I can this CAD translator and it will act as if i had CAD and just wanted to see if anyone uses it and how well it worked.
thanks

You dont need a cad seat on the cmm.
As long as you are allowed to use translated cad files.
pcdmis can handle native cad files such as .iges and .stp
If you have to use the cad files that are supplied by your customer in the original format then be prepared to cough up major dollars for a cad seat and the dci as josh said.

[bullseye]

thanks for the info. I should have been a little clearer I am not looking to design or create prints with the CAD translator i just want to make sure if i purchase this i will be able to use it to program and to use xcat measure for feature control frames and to diminseion profiles and such. And from what i have heard here it seems like it will do "as advertised". and just to make sure I am not giving false information no one at hexagon told me i could use the translator to draw prints or such just that i could use it like CAD to program with and have the nominals and dimensions and such as that.

[pwhitsa]

thanks for the info. I should have been a little clearer I am not looking to design or create prints with the CAD translator i just want to make sure if i purchase this i will be able to use it to program and to use xcat measure for feature control frames and to diminseion profiles and such. And from what i have heard here it seems like it will do "as advertised". and just to make sure I am not giving false information no one at hexagon told me i could use the translator to draw prints or such just that i could use it like CAD to program with and have the nominals and dimensions and such as that.

I would be be careful about the cad translator (DCT).
Its fine if you only deal with one type of cad file (i.e. NX or Catia)
If you have to use multiple cad types its expensive to have the translators for all the cad types turned on (licence for each one).
You dont need the cad translator to use exactmeasure, BUT, if you want to use embedded data in the model itself you will need the DCI (interface, not translator) or pcdmis planner and a seat of the cad system on the pc you write the cmm program on.
The cad translator does NOT read embedded cad data (tolerances, fcf's etc that are inside the model itself) it is only a translator.
If you use the DCT you will need a print with the tolerance data on it.

[Josh Carpenter]

thanks for the info. I should have been a little clearer I am not looking to design or create prints with the CAD translator i just want to make sure if i purchase this i will be able to use it to program and to use xcat measure for feature control frames and to diminseion profiles and such. And from what i have heard here it seems like it will do "as advertised". and just to make sure I am not giving false information no one at hexagon told me i could use the translator to draw prints or such just that i could use it like CAD to program with and have the nominals and dimensions and such as that.

One thing I should've asked is this, "What version of PC-DMIS are you running, Pro or CAD or CAD++?" The CAD++ is the best as it has all CAD options turned on.

First step is to determine which format of CAD files you can get from your customer or your company's design department.

Second step is to call your regional sales rep and have them give you a quote to find out how much it will cost to add each DCT (Direct CAD Translator) that you need to your portlock. It may be more $$ if you have to upgrade from Pro to CAD version.

Also, make sure to have them include IGES and STEP translators too. These are hugely valuable because they are "in-between" formats designed for translation between different CAD systems. This way when a new customer wants to give you a CAD file that you don't have a DCT for, you simply ask them to export it from their system into IGES or STEP format and then you can bring it into PC-DMIS.