Changes to Autodesk ArtCAM

[dillon.moulder]

We regret to inform you that on July 7, 2018, ArtCAM will be discontinued with no planned future releases or updates. This change will have the following implications for subscribers and customers with active maintenance plans:

• As of February 7, 2018, customers will no longer be able to purchase a new ArtCAM subscription.
• Maintenance Plan and Subscription renewals for ArtCAM will continue to be available until July 7, 2018.
• Customers who have purchased a perpetual license of ArtCAM will continue to own and have full usage rights for that license.
• You can continue to get ArtCAM support from Autodesk until November 1, 2018, by logging in to your Autodesk Account, selecting ArtCAM from the Support section, and submitting a ticket via email.  Please note this support is only available in English.
• Although support from Autodesk will expire on November 1, 2018, you can continue to access self-service support via the Autodesk Knowledge Network (AKN) and peer-to-peer support via the Autodesk Community’s ArtCAM Forum.

For more information, please read the FAQ.

[Anonymous]

I believe you are loyal to Artcam and the users.?? Autodesk is the
problem and all you can do is respond to a bad situation. Didn't Aspire
start from a group of ex Artcam people?

[dillon.moulder]

Hi @Anonymous,

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@Anonymous wrote:

Who can I contact about receiving a partial refund on my maintenance agreement? It seems that if the product is discontinued with no updates or bug fixes, but I have paid for maintenance for 3 licenses through October, that I should have a refund coming my way. What did the $3375 I paid for this year get me???

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I can only recommend that you create and submit a case from your Autodesk Account with your request. You might find this article from the Autodesk Knowledge Network and this section from the online help for the Autodesk Store useful too.

A maintenance plan for an Autodesk product provides you with a perpetual license for the latest software release, software updates, and access to all of Autodesk’s support offerings. The FAQ confirms what is available to customers with an active maintenance plan for Autodesk ArtCAM after 7th February 2018.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Kind regards,

[dillon.moulder]

Hi @Anonymous,

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@Anonymous wrote:
Didn't Aspire start from a group of ex Artcam people?

---

While I think my time is better spent helping affected customers rather than documenting the history of other companies and their respective products, it is correct that two ex-Delcam employees who originally developed and sold ArtCAM and were passionate about CNC left to start their own company in 2005. This was many years prior to Autodesk’s acquisition of Delcam on 6th February 2014.

Kind regards,

[Anonymous]

" Autodesk is a company that has proven to be untrustworthy and if I were you I would be looking for the exit door before they shove you out the door."

From my understanding they shoved development out the door in November 2017, and I'm guessing by the end of support being in November 2018, they are shoving Dillon out the door with it, as honestly you cant call anything Autodesk offer support.

Apparently 3ds and Fusion are an alternative offering for ArtCAM, the same way that MS Word is an alternative for Photoshop.

[Anonymous]

What about TypeEdit Type3 from Gravotech? Historical competitor for the last 20 years?... Gravotech is a solid serious group with a stable strategy for its artisctic software solutions. Since 2 years a lot of angry Artcam Autodesk customers had gone for Type3. The package is similar in terms of functionnality and they have even better CAM. They are developing any kind of missing postprocessors if needed. Technical support is done from headquarters in France and they have technical staff providing support in a dozen of Gravotech subsidaries.

[Anonymous]

"What about TypeEdit Type3 from Gravotech? Historical competitor for the last 20 years?... Gravotech is a solid serious group with a stable strategy for its artisctic software solutions. Since 2 years a lot of angry Artcam Autodesk customers had gone for Type3. The package is similar in terms of functionnality and they have even better CAM. They are developing any kind of missing postprocessors if needed. Technical support is done from headquarters in France and they have technical staff providing support in a dozen of Gravotech subsidaries."

Type 3, they haven't competed for 15 years. Id be surprised if any ArtCAM customer chose Type 3 over buying a hammer and chisel, sorry but its that fact. And the support cant compete with ArtCAM, Dillon alone is better and more active than large support organizations. Yes in 2021 we will have no ArtCAM product but I'm sure in that time another product will be available.

Are you really self-advertising a bad ex-competitor product on this forum, why not bring back the minidisc aswell.

[Anonymous]

Hi Dillon,

You are telling people to have a look at Fusion 360, and then the CAM module.

I did and was very disappointed in the workflow, you need a lot of mouse-click's to make a toolpath.

In Artcam we are generating about 1500 toolpath's per year so the ease of use is very important.

So investing in Fusion 360 is not a good option for us and I think for a lot of Artcam user's it's the same.

Import a DXF, nesting, create the toolpath's and send to the machine, in Artcam that only take's minutes.

Best advice, start looking for software similar to Artcam outside the Autodesk shop.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Why not opensource the product? We could maintain it as a community.
I have also contacted Vectric to see if there are any hobbyist licences
available for Aspire. $2k is just too much.

[pakpck]

If you are looking for a good modeling program you are going to have to pay that or more. ArtCAM was considerably more than that and worth every penny is you used the modeling. If you are just doing flat work the maybe Vectric's V-Carve Pro might work better for that at a much lower price. It came with my machine but after I got ArtCAM I never used it again.

[Anonymous]

I was wondering the same myself. Open source or some kind of co-op were we
all own the software. If enough users want to support and continue to
developing Artcam as collective it would be possible to hire staff to run
the co-op and continue development.

The people that use Artcam are creative, we make things. The people
controlling these big corporate beasts are M.B.A.s who have never created
anything of material value in their lives. They don't get us, but I think
we get them. They serve the quarterly report and we serve our communities
at a personal level. They care about what's new and innovative so they can
constantly up sell and we care about what works. I would gladly pay an
annual fee to hire people that understand what we do, how we think and had
our best interests at heart.

What happened to all the old Artcam staff? Would anyone want to investigate
this possibility! Does anyone know how many Artcam users are out there?

Phil

[Anonymous]

Seems mickadamsneo is angry with everybody since he has no more product to sell.... Are you only sowing frustration over this forum or trying to help Artcam users with no future? People are searching for substitution program to run their business. I just gave my opinion about a software I am very happy with. I think I can provide a clear opinion about it since I am both an Artcam and Type3 user. What's your professional user knowledge about Type3 software?

[pakpck]

Sounds like a great idea to me. Let's do it before all the ArtCAM people scatter and find other jobs. People with skills like that will find work quickly.

[pakpck]

Does Type 3 have sculpting tools?

[dillon.moulder]

Hi @Anonymous,

Welcome to the Autodesk Community and the ArtCAM Forum.

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@Anonymous wrote:

You are telling people to have a look at Fusion 360, and then the CAM module.

I did and was very disappointed in the workflow, you need a lot of mouse-click's to make a toolpath.

In Artcam we are generating about 1500 toolpath's per year so the ease of use is very important.

So investing in Fusion 360 is not a good option for us and I think for a lot of Artcam user's it's the same.

Import a DXF, nesting, create the toolpath's and send to the machine, in Artcam that only take's minutes.

---

I have suggested that customers look at Fusion 360; I am not telling customers that they have to do this, and I've already stated several times that Fusion 360 is not a direct replacement for ArtCAM. Having worked on ArtCAM for the last 17 years, I'm aware of a multitude of reasons as to why ArtCAM software is considered irreplaceable by its users.

If you've taken the time to investigate whether Fusion 360 meets your requirements, then thank you for doing so. If you've concluded that it does not, I do recommend that you post your feedback to the Autodesk Community's Fusion 360 Forum and any suggestions that you have for the product to their Ideas board. That way, at least they are brought to the attention of the team responsible for shaping the product.

You might not be aware that a free Start-Up/Enthusiast license allows you to access Fusion 360 with a yearly subscription after the trial period has ended. You can use this license if you are a small business making less than $100,000 per year (or equivalent), or if you're a hobbyist using Fusion 360 for non-commercial purposes. Please refer to this article in the Autodesk Knowledge Network for further details.

Please continue to engage with other members of the Autodesk Community, as they are already contributing with their suggestions on how best to move forward.

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

Kind regards,

[Anonymous]

I'm not angry with everybody, like others I'm frustrated at how Autodesk treat its subscription customers, unlike how Delcam did, or how Dillon or the rest of the ArtCAM team have in the past. The likes of Tim Buck and his team in development, Rob Newman on commercial strategy, Scott Ingram and Sean Plunkett on sales, Jen Dunn on support and Dillon on the forum and support have all made this product the best in class, and its a shame to see them leave.

I agree I may not be an expert in Type 3. But compared to the features that would be lost in ArtCAM, and I'm not talking about basic relief modelling I'm talking about professional tools with professional toolpathing that comes from the Powermill engine. I also don't just mean Jewelry either I mean all industries.

But what I gather is customers can continue to use ArtCAM until 2021 anyway which may give others the chance to catch up but without that staff experience, it will be hard for anyone.

[Anonymous]

Dillon,

  Whom should we contact to discuss this possibility? I am a developer myself so I would be happy to organize a community to support ArtCam.

[dillon.moulder]

Hi @Anonymous,

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@Anonymous wrote:
Why not opensource the product? We could maintain it as a community.

---

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Whom should we contact to discuss this possibility? I am a developer myself so I would be happy to organize a community to support ArtCam.

---

I’m not aware of Autodesk ever having done this before, and I do not know who you would need to contact with such a proposal. It might not be feasible for legal reasons, and it’s bound to involve all sorts of complexities. Nonetheless, I’ll make some enquiries on your behalf and get back to you as soon as I receive any information. For the foreseeable future, the community to support ArtCAM is here and you’re most welcome to join me in assisting visitors with technical issues.

Thanks in advance for your understanding and patience.

Kind regards,

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that. I meant to support with development work. At this point,
my ArtCAM knowledge is useless since I do not have access to the software
anymore. My license expired and I did not renew it quickly enough.

[danb8s]

I tweeted Andrew Anagnost (CEO) today to try to help him to understand the impact of his decision, I encourage everyone else to follow suit. I hope someone will invite him to read about the fallout in this forum. Thanks

Twitter account: @andrew_anagnost

[dillon.moulder]

Hi @Anonymous,

---

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for that. I meant to support with development work. At this point, my ArtCAM knowledge is useless since I do not have access to the software anymore. My license expired and I did not renew it quickly enough.

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Please accept my apologies for forgetting that your subscription to Autodesk ArtCAM Standard lapsed at the end of January 2018; I've just been very busy responding to questions from customers since the announcement made on 7th February 2018.

Kind regards,