What is the best yacht software for CNC?

[bbsboat]

Which is the best yacht software for CNC?
Our company wants to buy a yacht design software and a CNC software,which is the best software both for desing and CNC?
THX!!

[marshmat]

Yacht design and CNC production are very different things.... generally not done in the same program.
Check the polls on this site for 'best hull design software' and 'best free or low cost design software' to get an idea what our members think of the various options on the yacht design side.
Just about everything can export files that a CNC tooling program can read. Some CAD packages can integrate directly with toolpath generators (Maxsurf, for instance, if you buy enough add-ons), most will export files that are then used in a standalone CNC program such as Mastercam. Mastercam is the industry standard for CNC toolpath control, but there are others as well- the main thing is, that what you buy is compatible with the machine you have.

[Steve Baer]

People have been pretty happy with the RhinoCAM plug-in that runs inside of Rhino. You may want to try the free demo if you already have Rhino to see if it fits your needs.
http://www.rhinocam.com/Products/Products.shtml

[internetturk]

Thanks Steve Baer

[CDC_Catia]

Here is quote from"Manon"
Think this about explains it best

Is there anyone using CATIA to design sailboats? If so, why not?


I come from the aeronautical world where it's pretty much a standard - and in the auto industry as well. To me, it's the most complete software that will allow you to do any 3D surface you wish and will let you control it too! (along with solids, etc.. and all the exports you could wish for) It used to be complex and ran only on UNIX platforms, but now there's V5 that runs on Windows, is easier to learn and use, and bonus, is half the cost of ProE ! I've heard of a few places that use UG or ProE, but to me, they're less flexible than CATIA and certainly more expensive. (I've used all three packages for over 10 yrs and have seen a lot of evolution, and CATIA still stands out)

It seems to me the softwares that are dedicated to hull design are just that - hull design. It's inflexible and won't allow you to complete the whole project on the the same software; ie: interiors, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, drafting,etc.. Granted, I've not been exposed to a whole lot of them, but that's what I gather from most of those listed in this forum.

CATIA is also great to get the physical properties out of the design - and macros can be easily written (visual basic) to automate most tedious calcs (cp, displ, clr, etc...). So it wouldn't be to hard to include an hydrostatic module either - and it will talk with most CFD and Structural analysis packages.

Hence, why isn't it widespread among yacht designers? I'm including a little pict of a quick design I did in less than 1 hr to show how quick a boat can take form in CATIA...