Start to Finish Board Design Tutorial for CircuitMaker 2

In this video, I go from project creation to board layout with a very simple board design. If you've never used CircuitMaker, install a copy, get an account, and follow along with me to learn the basics.

[@jlucasound]

You are explaining this so well I Subbed at 5 minutes in! Thank You. I was ready to give up.

[@paulromsky9527]

@jlucasound. Me too, I was getting "Hangy" trying to get my components show up on the PCB page. The Altium documentation had conflicting info as was from other sources.... NONE of them mentioned 'Update PCB Document' that was the Secret Sauce, Verify alone was not working.

[@RD-ni7qe]

Thank you, I've been able to follow most of these steps in Circuit Studio which is great.

[@bobasawrus]

Thankyou! This is an excellent tutorial!

[@jordache409]

tHIS IS GREAT! Thank you!

[@Bianchi77]

Nice video, well done, thanks for sharing :)

[@JGGR89]

Good stuff!

[@MrRenoman2011]

great tutorial thanks

[@CorpesyCodes]

Great tutorial keep it up :)

[@polarbear6794]

very intuitive

[@absirdhardcore]

Subscribed. I only recently switched from KiCAD to circuitmaker and found this tutorial very helpfull. I also use JLCpcb and I would love to see a video on how to properly export Gerber files for them.

[@electronicswithemrys]

Thanks for the feedback - I should have some free time over the holiday break to make a short video on exporting gerbers for JLCPCB.

[@paulromsky9527]

Again, great video! At 12:48 those net lines are called "Rubber Bands" by most PCB routing engineers. They are to give you a rough idea of how the traces will need to be routed. That flip you see in the Rubber Bands between J1 and U1 is called a "Bow Tie" and is very common. You fixed it like a pro by pushing Space on the keyboard a couple of times. Sometimes, you might have a signal on a component that could be swapped with another pin to get better access for the traces. For example if a signal on J1 didn't line up with with its respective U1 pin, there is a way you can swap "Rubber band" pins around on a component to get a better line up. You didn't need it here, but it is the next "trick" I need to learn. After doing a swap, the signals assigned to the pins may now be a little out of order from what you "dreamed" for, but the electrons don't care, the routing of the PCB usually matters more. That is why we call our initial placement and pin assignments as our "Dream Layout", on large designs you will find compromises from the Dream Layout to the final layout. That is why the PCB Layout is called "Artwork"... it is an artform.

[@electronicswithemrys]

Thanks for the inputs Paul! I have had to change out pin selections on a few designs to make the layout work better, but I had also wondered how professionals handled this type of thing. I imagine in many companies the person designing the FPGA / MCU firmware is somewhat disconnected from the layout engineers, so it could be a bit of a back-and-forth to get everything to work out exactly right.

[@paulromsky9527]

@@electronicswithemrys Every engineer is different, most like to sit down every day or so for a few hours with the routing engineer, I did too at first (its how I picked up many techniques in PCB layout but never really did it), but over time I saw that was an inefficient use of two engineers' time. That is when I started "constraining" my schematics. I put max length, trace width, impedance, keep away spacing, critical routing, max vias, layers allowed (vertical and horz), length matching, differental pair, corner angles/arcs for traces, and more on just about every signal in my schematic. The routing engineers hated me because THE DESIGN was acting like I was sitting there... like: no, you can't put that trace that close to that clock signal. They were good folks but not electrical engineers. Many would not even look at the schematics and use the rubber banding alone to route. Not good. For example, in many digital circuits you have to impedance match an output pin on a chip to the trace impedance for superior "signal integrity". In high speed digital designs, impedance matching is paramount. Say and output pin has a 20 Ohm impedance and you want to match that to a 50 Ohm trace, you need to put a series resistor (about 30 Ohms in this case) to match the impedance. BUT, that series resistor MUST be as close to the output pin as possible to work properly. Now, if a routing engineer just follows rubber banding, and never looks at the schematic for placement clues, that series resistor can end up nowhere near the output pin. So electrical engineers that like to sit down with the routing engineers are constantly catching things like that and they fix it together, 3x the engineering effort. But because I constrain the net between the output pin and the series resistor (say 300 mils max), the routing engineer is FORCED to place that resistor near the output pin. They do not have access to the constraints editor. If they get stuck, they call me and I can relax a constraint now and then but in general it's pretty much locked down. I spend very little time with the routing engineers and that freed up my time to code FPGAs or write software. I do hardware, software, and firmware (FPGAs). Because I design the hardware, design the FPGA pinout, logic and routing, and write the software for my designs, it becomes a well meshed design... but in many companies that would take 3 engineers, but if they worked "borderless" and communicated well and thought alike, all 3 could design a board/FPGA/software from 3 different places in the world.

[@paulromsky9527]

@@electronicswithemrys Yes, when a PCB layout engineer needs to swap pins on a connector. The electrical engineer needs to be notified and approve the swap, but before the ok is given, the electrical engineer (usually the defacto lead of the board design) has to coordinate that with the designers of other boards to where the connector mates, as well as cabling and documentation at every level so EVERYTHING matches up. This is done through an Engineering Change Order (ECO) process. Only after everyone signs off on the ECO, the routing engineer is allowed to swap a connector pin. Since connectors are usually locked down before being sent to PCB layout, it has to get changed on the schematic end first by the electrical engineer. It may take a week or longer to push an ECO through all the stake holders. That is where good mangers come in to make sure everyone responds to ECOs promptly and that they follow up and update their designs and documentation immediately. It takes a lot of discipline from everyone to make it work efficiently and accurately. That is where Quality Control (QC) comes in, they want proof that every 't' was dotted and every "i" was crossed by everyone as a result from the ECO.

[@paulromsky9527]

@@electronicswithemrys I am new to Altium CircuitMaker (Version 2.2.1 is what I have). JLCPCB failed the audit of my PCB twice. First for extra files they did not need but would not tell me which ones, then a second time for missing Gerber files. It turns out, by default, none of the Gerber files are selected for generation in the setup. It will generate a few by default no matter how many are selected or not. So I checked all the files and now I get a lot more Gerber files. I sent a list of the file extensions of the Gerber and NC Drill files to my rep at JLCPCB asking which ones they need and which ones they dont... I am awaiting their reply. They are very nice but I am new to generating Gerber files and sending them to a fabrication house. Here is my list and my research as to what each file is for. Can you and other viewers take a look and tell me if it makes sense or not and which file types are normally not needed for a simple 2 sided PCB with silk screening on only the top side. Thanks. ALDL_Adapter_Paul_Romsky_Rev_B Layout Tool: CircuitMaker Version 2.2.1 Embedded Apertures Option: RS274X F l a g s Layer Extension Layer Description -- ----------------- -------------------------------------------------------- .EXTRPT External Report of Gerber Files (Similar to this format) .APR Aperture (generated as .apr) .GTO Top Overlay (Silk Screen) .GTP Top Paste (Solder) .GTS Top Solder (Mask) .GTL Top Layer (Copper) .GBL Bottom Layer (Copper) .GBS Bottom Solder (Mask) .GBP Bottom Paste (Solder) .GBO Bottom Overlay (silk Screen) .GM1 Board Outline (Top Mechanical) * .GM13 3D Top * .GM15 Courtyard Top .GKO Keep-Out Layer .GPT Top Pad Master .GPB Bottom Pad Master * .1 Dielectric 1 * .GML Multi-Layer .GD1 Drill Drawing .GG1 Drill Guide .REP Report Individual Layer Used Aperture List .RUL Rules used for Design Rules Check *E .APR_LIB Macro Aperture Library .DRL Drill Data .DRR Drill Report (Tool Size) .LDP Layer Drill Pairs Report (Export File for PCB) .TXT Drill Positions * BoardEdgeRout.TXT Board Edge Routing x .PCBPRJ Native Project Save File x .GM2 Board Outline (Bottom Mechanical) x .2, .3, ... Dielectric 2, 3, ... x .APT Aperture x .G1, .G2, ... Internal Signal Layer 1, 2, ... x .GP1, .GP2, ... Internal Plane Layer 1, 2, ... x .P01, .P02, ... Panel 1, 2, ... Flags: * I did not find a definition on-line for this file type. E File is empty. x File is not provided in this design.

[@electronicswithemrys]

@@paulromsky9527 Hey Paul - I made a video showing my method for exporting for JLCPCB here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3WshqCLjtSGeM0

[@dekillermel]

Just a simple thx!

[@sebastienaubry8481]

Thank you for this video ! No online DRC ? Good to know

[@ading12]

awesome tutorial. Can you share how to make or import components to the library? especially the 3d models. I have the steps files but I dont know how to import them.

[@electronicswithemrys]

I probably won't be able to get to this video for a while - but I would recommend this as an option for you until I can make my own: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6eTpJidbLNmiKs

[@ading12]

@@electronicswithemrys Thanks!

[@RD-ni7qe]

Would love to see a tutorials on how to create and route nets between vias!

[@electronicswithemrys]

Interesting idea. Are you wanting to just bypass creating a component using vias as connection points?

[@RD-ni7qe]

@@electronicswithemrys just how to create a via from top-to-bottom layer, and then back from bottom-to-top layer

[@electronicswithemrys]

@@RD-ni7qe Thanks for clarifying!

[@electronicswithemrys]

Thanks for the video idea - I created a video on the topic of using layers in CircuitMaker 2 and posted here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJ7LgKBmZt50h5I

[@RD-ni7qe]

thanks! @@electronicswithemrys

[@Shuriath.]

Hey mate, I’m using circuit maker for the first time and following your tutorial has been great. I’m having a problem though. A lot of the components I need aren’t in the list, so I have made my own, it works well on the schematic but when I try to update pcb document it says there are no differences even though the pcb is blank

[@electronicswithemrys]

Oof - that must be frustrating. I'm afraid I'm probably not much help as I have not run into that issue. There is a circuit maker forum if you want to get help from the official makers: forum.circuitmaker.com/

[@BLOGS___]

When you are creating a new schematic, do you already have a design in mind? How does one practice without having to make something physical?

[@EmrysMaier]

Yes, I usually start a design on paper in the form of block diagrams. Each block needs a circuit. By the time I get to the schematic stage, I usually have a pretty good idea of what I plan to do.

[@CMDRBaneCorvus]

Thanks for the video. How can I export as pdf of a sheet? I checked the net and it says that I can save it as PDF in print section but when I open print section it's just a blank window. How do I solve this?

[@electronicswithemrys]

On my system, I just right click on the schematic I want to print (in the "Projects" pane to the left), select "Print..." and then change the printer name to "Microsoft Print to PDF." I'm sure this will be different depending on your operating system and installed printers.

[@IsaacBG84]

I want ot develop PCB skill to be employable , is Circuit maker a good way? I want to use a tool used profesionally

[@electronicswithemrys]

There are a lot of different PCB design tools and every company is different -- but from what I've seen, Altium is very popular among professionals. CircuitMaker 2 is extremely similar to Altium (it is the 'free version'), so I would say that it is a good tool to learn. Knowing CircuitMaker 2 should make a transition to using Altium professionally much easier.

[@normwright4894]

when i start a schematic, my top bar stays the same and cannot select components.If nI do a search and drop a part it is a physical part and not a symbol so schematic mode is not working...any ideas

[@electronicswithemrys]

I'm afraid I'm not much help as I have not run into that issue. There is a circuit maker forum if you want to get help from the official makers: forum.circuitmaker.com/

[@deviprasadpanda8951]

I'm trying to access the components section but it's not opening..what to do? I'm unable to complete my course. Stuck !! Please help

[@electronicswithemrys]

I assume you mean the "Libraries" tab on the right side of the screen? If you don't have that tab, it can be found in the "View" ribbon at the top. If it opens and is blank - so is mine. I have to put in a part number to get results to show up. If the components don't show up after you try to search for a part, then I'm afraid I don't know what is wrong. It could be something with your internet connection (perhaps a firewall blocking the application?) or it could be a problem with the CircuitMaker software. If you've tried everything else and you think it's a bug in CircuitMaker, there is a forum where you can post the issue to get help here: forum.circuitmaker.com/#/

[@lehoanganh7579]

Can this app simulate digital circuit? Thanks

[@electronicswithemrys]

As far as I know, there is no way to simulate in CircuitMaker 2. Digital simulation is a bit tricky since each simulator treats it differently. I'm currently looking at making a video on the topic. Thanks for the question!

[@Willie-vr6gk]

For what is used port?

[@electronicswithemrys]

Ports are used for hierarchical designs to allow connections between different schematics. More info here: www.altium.com/documentation/altium-circuitmaker/schematic-port

[@imlassuom]

Kicad!

[@electronicswithemrys]

I've been trying to get into Kicad, but I'm finding it quite the opposite of user friendly. Hopefully I'll be able to make a video about it in the near future. I'm expecting my next video to be about digital and mixed-signal simulation in different tools - hopefully including Kicad.

[@Dazza_Doo]

@@electronicswithemrys I agree with you. It's like someone yelling Blender (NotLikeThis emote) I tried and didn't mind DipTrace and I don't mind paying a small fee for software I would use often/daily. EASYEDA ... well they take your designs. I'm trying KiCad, but my first problem is adding an ESP32 to the Library, just as frustrating as DipTrace. Thank you for the video.