What's New in Mastercam 2024 - Gview Graphics Display Cube

In Mastercam 2024, the traditional on-screen gnomon has been augmented with the Gview cube, a more graphical way to show plane orientation. The Gview cube, which is relative to the WCS by default, also features many options that let you control the cube, thus the on-screen representation of your part.
The cube itself has many interactive features. For example, double-clicking the cube fits the part to the screen (same as the Fit command). You can click a side, corner, or edge of the cube to switch to that view. Drag any part of the cube to change to a view, unconstrained by the preset views represented by the sides and edges.
The buttons next to the cube allow you to pan or rotate the view in various ways. The actual effect of dragging depends on whether you are holding the button down and whether you are pressing [Alt], [Ctrl], [Alt+Ctrl], as shown in the following lists:
Arrow buttons
-Click: Pans the part up, down, left, or right.
-[Alt]+click: Rotates the part up, down, left, or right by a set number of degrees.
Flip/Rotate button
-Click: Flips the part 180 degrees.
-[Shift]+click: Flips the part 90 degrees.
-[Shift+Alt]+click: Flips the part - 90 degrees.
-[Ctrl]+click: Rotates the part counterclockwise in the view about the center of the screen by a set number of degrees.
-[Ctrl+Alt]+click: Rotates the part clockwise in the view about the center of the screen by a set number of degrees.
Right-click the cube to display a context menu, which includes the follow commands:
-Show Cube: Click this option to toggle the Gview cube on and off. When the Gview cube is on, a checkmark displays in the context menu next to Show Cube.
-Relative to WCS: Sets the world view relative to the active WCS. When enabled, a checkmark displays in the context menu next to Relative to WCS.
-Create dynamic plane: Lets you create a new plane using the Dynamic Gnomon. You can also select this function by clicking the cube’s axes.
-Settings: Opens the Screen dialog box, where you can adjust the cube size, text size, opacity, arrow button pan/rotate, and arrow button rotation (degrees).
#Mastercam ‪@mastercam‬

[@anthonyschiro4639]

Hi David, Can you please explain the difference between tool plane, constriction plane, and WCS for us?

[@dvoferguson]

Hello! The easiest way to understand how the WCS, C, and T planes work together is to think of them as follows. The WCS (World Coordinate System) is your world, think of it as home base, or zero everything. This is the foundation, orientation wise, for my program. The C (Construction/Compensation) plane is what I use for any sort of analysis or measurement. If I want to measure a Z height or a position, the C plane is what is used as the base for that value. The T (Tool) plane ultimately determines which combination or orientation of XYZ )ABC for multi axis) the toolpath is going to use. Traditionally the C and T planes are used together so they are typically hanging out with each other so that when I want to measure a distance for a specific toolpath or plot a Z height, I am getting good numbers. In 3 axis machining, the WCS, C, and T planes are usually grouped together. In four and five axis programming where I will be indexing, the WCS tends to stay static and I induce plane shifts by using a different C and T planes when I need to tilt the tool or workpiece for access.

[@dvoferguson]

oh, and the C plane determines which combination of XYZ you would be drawing or creating in when generating line geometry in Mastercam. We don't draw as much in the software these days so I forgot that part lol

[@MLCCADSystems]

Thanks for a great explanation, David!