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FeatureCam to be discontinued ??

xray

Plastic
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Location
Manchester England
Hi all,
I heard from an Autodesk employee who I met over the weekend that they plan to drop FeatureCam as a standalone software and instead merge it with Fusion 360.

Does anyone here have any news on that being true?
As I expect if it is many of us will require to retrain on Fusion 360 CAM

Thanks.
 
Common knowledge that's been the plan since the acquisition, despite all the pleas of innocence from AD. There has never been a public statement to that effect and don't expect there to be one until immediately before they pull the plug.

When they actually do it is the question.

I made the pragmatic decision to continue to use and pay for Featurecam, but when the time comes I will NOT be switching to Fusion.
 
Common knowledge that's been the plan since the acquisition, despite all the pleas of innocence from AD. There has never been a public statement to that effect and don't expect there to be one until immediately before they pull the plug.

When they actually do it is the question.

I made the pragmatic decision to continue to use and pay for Featurecam, but when the time comes I will NOT be switching to Fusion.

Can I ask why you won't be using Fusion 360 for your CAM ??
 
Can I ask why you won't be using Fusion 360 for your CAM ??

This has been discussed to death already so I won't rehash. To summarise:

For me to even consider Fusion as a viable option post Featurecam the following would conditions would apply:

1. Removal from the cloud - it would have to be offered as conventional desktop software with local storage and explicit data sovereignty
2. It would have to be functionally equivalent to Featurecam - it is nowhere close currently
3. It would have to provide some form of backwards compatibility with Featurecam files - if it does not then I have absolutely no reason to consider it over any other available alternative as it would mean a complete ground up restart in any case.
 
This has been discussed to death already so I won't rehash. To summarise:

For me to even consider Fusion as a viable option post Featurecam the following would conditions would apply:

1. Removal from the cloud - it would have to be offered as conventional desktop software with local storage and explicit data sovereignty
2. It would have to be functionally equivalent to Featurecam - it is nowhere close currently
3. It would have to provide some form of backwards compatibility with Featurecam files - if it does not then I have absolutely no reason to consider it over any other available alternative as it would mean a complete ground up restart in any case.

Thanks for a concise and straight forward answer. I appreciate that.
 
This has been discussed to death already so I won't rehash. To summarise:

For me to even consider Fusion as a viable option post Featurecam the following would conditions would apply:

1. Removal from the cloud - it would have to be offered as conventional desktop software with local storage and explicit data sovereignty
2. It would have to be functionally equivalent to Featurecam - it is nowhere close currently
3. It would have to provide some form of backwards compatibility with Featurecam files - if it does not then I have absolutely no reason to consider it over any other available alternative as it would mean a complete ground up restart in any case.

You forgot one Gregor: No subscription bullshit. They would need to provide a perpetual license/key.
 
This has been discussed to death already so I won't rehash. To summarise:

For me to even consider Fusion as a viable option post Featurecam the following would conditions would apply:

1. Removal from the cloud - it would have to be offered as conventional desktop software with local storage and explicit data sovereignty
2. It would have to be functionally equivalent to Featurecam - it is nowhere close currently
3. It would have to provide some form of backwards compatibility with Featurecam files - if it does not then I have absolutely no reason to consider it over any other available alternative as it would mean a complete ground up restart in any case.

This dead horse has been beaten to a pulp.

In short, AD has decided to kill their acquisitions and roll them into Fusion360. What that will look liek in the end in terms of performance and functionality is anyone's guess, but it's definitely happening.

Powermill will likely drive F360 5-axis algorithms.
 
Everybody is moving in the same direction now, by the time I come to replace FC, I am not expecting there to be any perpetual options anymore.
So I guess the strategy is to get something good now with a dongle and keep it as is when it finally goes cloud. Seems like all small to midrange accounting software has gone subscription/cloud.
 
My Reseller says they are no longer offering maintenance for FeatureCAM and I have to switch to subscription. I'm not planning to do that and will look for other CAM software when my existing seats will no longer work for us. Anyone else feel the same way?
 
My Reseller says they are no longer offering maintenance for FeatureCAM and I have to switch to subscription. I'm not planning to do that and will look for other CAM software when my existing seats will no longer work for us. Anyone else feel the same way?

I feel the same way, but reality is a harsh mistress.

I took the path of least resistance and moved to subscription. Life goes on. Switching cam systems is not a small undertaking if you are at all invested in the one you have.
 
My Reseller says they are no longer offering maintenance for FeatureCAM and I have to switch to subscription. I'm not planning to do that and will look for other CAM software when my existing seats will no longer work for us. Anyone else feel the same way?

Yupp, I do.
Was forced to give up the maintenance plan last Dec for Inventor and FeatureCAM.
I am putting 5K away come this december, and another 5K next one, and another 5K the one after, will use it as a partial towards whatever I will be switching to.
Considering that I only get dumb solids from my customers anyway, pretty sure IV2021 will last a few years.
As for FC, I just recently switched from V15 to V2020.
2020 is activated, and should be eligible for re-activation for a few more years if I need it to.
But, if ADSK decides to be a dick about it, I do have the dongle for V15, so there is that.....
 
My Reseller says they are no longer offering maintenance for FeatureCAM and I have to switch to subscription. I'm not planning to do that and will look for other CAM software when my existing seats will no longer work for us. Anyone else feel the same way?

My maintenance is up Dec. 31st. I just spent the last two weeks getting a good PC set up with a fresh install of Windows-10.
And, a fresh install of featureCAM 2019 on it. And it will NEVER see the internet!
I originally tried to install 2020. But, it was glitchy as hell. Just didn't seem right. Best I could guess was, I was working with Windows-8?
2022 wouldn't even install on Windows-8. 2019 wasn't any better than 2020. That was when I decided to wipe the hard-drive. And do a fresh Windows-10 install.
I installed 2019 because I have the actual install disk for 2019, and the activation code. Going forward, if needed, I should be able to re-install.
It was getting the activation code that was of vital importance before D-day (Dec. 31st).
I was planning not to pay my maint. this year anyway. Can't stand autodicks, and couldn't live with the idea of giving them one more penny.
When they announced there would be no more maint. anyways, the decision was set in stone. I feel very liberated!

I also still have two seats of 2014. Two disks, dongles, and .paf files. So I should be good for a long time.
2014 is what I actually work in anyways. I haven't spent much time in the autodicks rendition of FC. The interface seems quite different.
As of now, I still much prefer the Delcam FeatureCAM! Maybe someday I'll figure 2019 out. But, it wont be soon.
 
I also still have two seats of 2014. Two disks, dongles, and .paf files. So I should be good for a long time.
2014 is what I actually work in anyways. I haven't spent much time in the autodicks rendition of FC. The interface seems quite different.
As of now, I still much prefer the Delcam FeatureCAM! Maybe someday I'll figure 2019 out. But, it wont be soon.

I've suggested a couple times over the years that those that rely on dongles should get at least one backup (or crack) made before failure or loss, so they're not screwed. If you've got two dongles for 2014 and you don't mind doing a reinstall to get the second to work, you're set. But the cost of getting backups made for them both may be worth it...

dongle backup service - Google Search

I don't know of any legality issues for dongle copies, cracks surely have some gray (at least) in them. Do your best to ensure it's a reliable, vetted service before sending them anything.
 








 
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