FeatureCAM 2021

[claire.louise.davies]

FeatureCAM 2021 was released today. Over the next few weeks, you will see FeatureCAM 2021 availability in your account. Please check your Autodesk Account to see when your entitlement is available for download. 

In the meantime, you can review the Help to see what is being delivered in FeatureCAM 2021.

Thank you!

[ChrisDPCnc]

To save you time looking....

It's bringing you NO new features

Same for PowerShape 2021

Same for PartMaker 2021

Just bug fixes and file compatibility

If you wanted to see New features they are all in Fusion 360🤣🤣🤣

[gregorANU4T]

I have to agree, it's underwhelming. Disappointing even, considering most of us are still struggling to perceive the value of the subscription model.

On the other hand, a good number of bug fixes, and FC surely does need the bug fixes...

[wmtcoinc]

If there are no new features , the upgrade (non-upgrade) should be free to all owners (non-subscribers) right.

Russ F.

[Craig.Burney_DSI]

@wmtcoinc  You are technically getting something new.  You also have Fusion 360 in your Autodesk account for free!  It's a very capable software waiting there ready for you to use with many different tools including design, generative design etc...

Just thought I would throw that out there in case you were not aware.

[bhorstTGM48]

Craig:

This brings up a question I have been curious about for some time. I have invested a lot of time and effort getting my FeatureCam Posts just the way I like them. Live tool lathe posts and 4 axis. What will be involved to get Fusion posts up to speed?

[wmtcoinc]

Craig Burney,

Not true at all.  I didn't let myself get sucked into the prescription ( ransomware) scam.  So I don't get nor want the free useless crap you mentioned.  Fusion is a do grade to FeatureCam. 

In the prescription program, if you stop paying the yearly ransom, you lose all your work that you did while on it.   That's why  I own my copy.

If your not going to make any improvements to FeatureCam, just tell me now, and I'll live out my life on 2021 and stop sending you people any more of my money.

[gregorANU4T]

Yes, I get that, but the reality is that I am not paying for Fusion, I'm paying for Featurecam. I have no use for Fusion - as good as it is, it does not meet my requirements for either cad or cam. So it remains attached to my AD account, unused and wasted.

I appreciate that its inclusion is a good deal for users that don't otherwise have cad, but I don't know what proportion of the FC user base that actually is, and nobody who is paying for Featurecam is going to be using Fusion's cam.

For the more cynical among us, it's hard to see the inclusion of Fusion (and the lack of new features in FC) as anything other than paving the way for the retirement of Featurecam. I really hope this is not the case, as Fusion has a long way to go before it achieves parity. FC has a lot of pretty horrible legacy baggage, and optimistically I'd like to believe that the 2021 release has seen a lot of work behind the scenes, but I see no real evidence of that yet.

If FC is retired, AD do not currently have another product that I can migrate to.

[Craig.Burney_DSI]

@bhorstTGM48   Bill,  I do know the Fusion post library is getting worked on daily.  There are a lot of posts now available to Fusion users.  Also customizing them to your liking as well, the same as for FeatureCAM posts.  As far as getting Fusion posts up to speed with your current FC posts, I'm sure that can happen without too much effort just by comparing both posts side by side and matching them up.  By no means am I a FC post expert but I know the posts library for Fusion is growing daily.  Any more questions I'm sure Autodesk would have more answers.  Hope this helps!

[michael.grenier4GVTU]

Hi Everyone,

I've been reading through all those comments and I have to admit I understand most of the negative comments here.  I've been using/supporting FeatureCAM for 17 years now and I totally understand when you say you are not seeing as many new features being developed in FeatureCAM.  I think it's important to put things into perspective though.  Is Fusion ready to replace FeatureCAM?  I personally don't think so either simply because of the variety of machine types it supports compared to FeatureCAM.  Over the years, I can't count how many times customers have requested for better design functionalities which we were never really able to provide since we were mainly focusing of CAM.  I know many of you also use another software for design aside from FeatureCAM.  With Fusion, Autodesk is trying to allow you to use FeatureCAM and Fusion for no additional cost to save you money on a separate software renewal you may be using.  Many of you will say to that they don't need any other CAD software, which is fine since you still have access to pretty much everything now in FeatureCAM.  Here I mean that since January, every subscribers of FeatureCAM Premium has been granted Ultimate which opens every single option in the software.  In the CAM world, we are pretty much all the same, we learn the software, then we get used to 20% of it's functionalities and stick to them.  You would be surprised to know how many people asked me for "new features" that have actually been available for a long time.  All that to say maybe some of you feel like they didn't get anything new, but most of our customers were using premium and were all given Ultimate for free which brought a huge deal of new stuff.  Also want to point out I still do benchmark against most of our competitors and FeatureCAM is still ahead of the market in most cases.  Now, about Fusion.  I won't surprise anyone in saying Fusion is Autodesk Cloud Based Design & Manufacturing Solution.  This is where a lot of devloppement is going for the simple reason we believe it's the way to go in the future.  Again, having supported FeatureCAM/PowerMill/Partmaker/Powershape for all those years, the amount of time customers reached out to me asking for functionalities from one product to be added to the other one is uncountable.  That is what Fusion is becoming.  We are adding FeatureCAM automation, PowerMill high quality toolpaths, PartMaker advance turning, Powershape design functions, Nesting capabilities (that were also requested quite a few times in FeatureCAM) to get the best of all worlds inside of a single solution so that you don't have to worry about using multiple products to be successful in every department of your shop.  On top of that, to answer the post processor question, we are looking at building a machine sim that will represent exactly what the post generates since they will be tied together.  Now, will everything be ready tomorrow morning?  Of course not which is why we are keeping FeatureCAM and all the other one up to date, fixing bugs and adding few new features here and there where it makes sense to make sure our customers are still being successful with the product.  Do we have a plan to retire FeatureCAM?  Not that I'm aware off since again, Cloud based solution is not meant for everyone.

Trying to be as honest as possible here, hope it helps!

[wmtcoinc]

1. So, again, commitment 

[Craig.Burney_DSI]

@michael.grenier4GVTU   Thank you for that very informative read Michael!  If that doesn't answer everyone's questions about FeatureCAM and all the "Make" old Delcam products I don't know what will.

[gregorANU4T]

Michael, thanks for your post - it was interesting to read.

I can only speak for myself, but I had paid for a three year subscription for FC Ultimate just weeks before the change was made, so I am probably the worst case scenario in terms of perceived value.

Although I was out of date for a few years, I have been a FC user for a very long time and am very familiar with it. There are some glaring omissions (trochoidal turning) in it's arsenal and some features (stock models, tool library) that badly need additional development. I have also experimented with Fusion on and off since before it was 360, and have a pretty good handle on what it is and isn't capable of. Even with the development resources being thrown at it, Fusion has a long way to go before it's a viable alternative to anything in the mid-high level CAM tier where FC sits. It's encouraging to hear someone in your position generally agreeing with this!

Nonetheless, it would be very reassuring to see some kind of official statement regarding the continued development of FeatureCAM and other ex-Delcam products in the mid-term, because I find it very unlikely that Fusion is going to become a truly viable alternative in the next three years (and this is ignoring the more troubling aspects of the subscription model and the "cloud", which may preclude it ever becoming a viable option).

[michael.grenier4GVTU]

Thanks for replying and I agree with you that in your situation I would probably feel the same.  Nothing is ever perfect even if we try to make it as easy as possible, we have been going through many different transitions over the last few years.  I see a LOT of things going on inside of Fusion so I guess we could be surprised how good it will be in a pretty near future.  Make sure you continue to add your comments here, positive or negative as we need them to help the product move forward.

[wmtcoinc]

Michael,

You keep referring back to Fusion? I, like many other don't give a rats ass about Fusion or your Fusion bate and witch scam.      

If your not going to improve FC , stop changing us for it.  Just google " FeatureCam What's new" and you get almost nothing for 2019, 2020, and nothing for 2021 for a seat owner.   New icons are not improvements or upgrades.  Bundling other useless or outdated software into the package like Fusion or Parts Maker are not up grades, But more a gimmick, making people think they're getting something for nothing, when in reality they're getting nothing for something $$$$$.   

The last video I saw, that AD put on FC ended up being the joke of the cadcam world.   15 minutes of a guy saying "we may" and "we might" make these improvements to FeatureCam.  As I went around to different trade show, and told other Cadcam reps. I use FC, they made a point of the video, and said we are being played. 

All the articulate responses from the Corporate talking heads and so called experts on this thread are only reinforcing my belief at Autodesk  is giving up on FeatureCam product.

I've been an owner since Featurecam 1.0 going from 2.5 axis to full 5 axis with FC keeping up with the trends of the machining world, But now I believe they have just quit.  As I renew my prescription every year, I feel the same way as I do when I go to buy a lottery ticket, only hoping it was worth it.   That's no way to run a Software company.

[acad-caveman]

Michael

  I appreciate your explanation.

I really do.

But!

This thread is labeled as "FeatureCAM 2021" and not "Look what we're doing to Fusion"

As such, we are most interested in what we might be getting for our maintenance/subscription money.

So far what we've found out is that those dollars are used by Autodesk to exclusively develop and enhance Fusion.

I know you have to tow the company line. I get it.

I also know that you guys on this forum have precious little - if any - say over the direction of your company.

At the same time, reading the comments here about Fusion, coupled with the other thread regarding transitioning from FeatureCAM to Fusion, one would be an absolute fool to believe that FeatureCAM is in any way part of Autodesk's vision for the future.

[Anonymous]

It's the responses like this trying to cram that garbage Fusion down our throats that it felt so good to give Autodesk the big middle finger last year when we cancelled all maintenance and subscriptions on 40+ seats of Featurecam and Powershape/Powermill/Moldflow. It may not have been a big hit for Autodesk but cancelling over $200K a year in fees devastated the reseller. 

Sad to see a software I've been using since the mid 90's buried to just to push a system that can't even compete with Bobcad! And then to think that the users would not realise they are getting nothing for their subscription?!?! 

But on the bright side, 30+ seats of Esprit and Pro-E now and they actually provide results not alternatives. 

[Craig.Burney_DSI]

@Anonymous  Not trying to cram anything down anyone's throats.  Just wanted to make sure everyone's aware, everyone has the choice to use what they have or not.  Sounds like you're happy with your new software, in the end that's really what everyone wants.  FeatureCAM is still a very capable software, as is PowerShape, PowerMIll and Moldflow.  You get a lot with all 4 of the mentioned products.

Thanks for your very informative post!

[wmtcoinc]

Your completely missing the point! Autodesk is cramming useless crap into our FeatureCam packages in lieu of real improvements or added FC features for the money we are paying. 

Russ F. 

[al.whatmough]

Thank you for all who weighed in on this thread.  The feedback is very helpful.

If you haven't met me yet, I lead the Product Management team responsible for Manufacturing at Autodesk.    Please, feel free to reach out, I'd love to chat with any of you.  I'd take talking to customers over internal Zoom meetings any day of the week.  Al.Whatmough@autodesk.com   Again, I will be as publically open as I can below.  With that said, we can I'd rather have personal and direct conversations with each of you.

As you all know, we have no shortage of CAM products at Autodesk.  FeatureCAM, PowerMill, PartMaker, HSMWork, Inventor CAM, TRUX and Fusion 360.   Each of these tools have become powerful solutions in their own right.  At the same time, as we look at the request for each of the products, without knowing it, customers are asking for convergence.  FeatureCAM customers want better 5X from Powermill, Powermill customers want to turning From Partmaker, HSMWorks customer want nesting from TRUNest, Introduction of additive, robotic and Fabrication technologies introduces a whole new set of capabilities. You get the point.  

With that said, each of these solutions designed to meet a specific market segment.  As you look to continue to make big capabilities of the solution you end up in a state where it takes more and more disruptive changes to existing products.   These are products that you are using today to run your facilities!.  To us, the most important thing is to make sure we maintain stability and performance so you can run your business today. 

We are committed to continuing you provide value to these proven solutions.

Most of us have been through the pain of living in a house that had the kitchen under renovation.  It's no fun at all.  Wouldn't you prefer to have a new kitchen built and dropped it in when it is ready without living through the pain of drywall dust all through the house?    

Speaking openly, we are aggressively working to bring all of our technology together is a single Solution Fusion 360.  The best of Automated programming from FeatureCAM, Additive from NETFABB, Complex Machining from Powermill, Connected modeling and Manufacturing from HSMWorks,  Fabrication from TRUX. 

Is ready for you now, in some ways yes, in other ways no.  It's up to us to prove that value to you, to earn your trust, not bait and switch, but by presenting you with the opportunity to use this combined technology as it is ready for you alongside the proven technology that you are using today.  

In this way, we feel we giving you a choice;

• Choice, to work how you work today - uninterrupted.  We are committed to continuing to improving the performance of these solutions
• Choice, to use elements of our new solutions through bundling at no additional charge
• Choice, to completely move to Fusion and reduce your per user spend
• Choice, to move to a competitive solution. This one may be controversial, But, subscription means from a financial perspective you have prepaid for X years of software, it's up to us to earn your business each and every year.

I look back at what I wrote and wonder, how far have I gone from being a machinist? Am I another talking corporate head? maybe, I hope not.    My hope is, along with our team, we are building a future while minimizing the disruption to the present. 

It's not an easy balance, we will continue to get details wrong along the way. So, please, keep this conversation going.   Please, reach out, let's chat.   Al.Whatmough@autodesk.com  415-755-3087

Cheers,

Al