i have been investigating jewlry cad software. i stumbled across a
company on web called monarch claiming best design engine and
training. the mention some downfalls with rhino based design ware
like gemvision matrix but isee that matrix 6 claims to address some
of these. any experience with either? how long did it take you to
become proficient? was the training sufficient? thank you for your
input,
steve
try looking up some of the online CAD forums on google, there is one
that starts with 3d cad & jewelry in the address you will find people
who know thier way around all most of these different software
programs and are not timid about giving an opinion if somthing is not
as it is stated in the advertising i personally have not tried the
monarch program or matrix but i found the price to be very high for
monarch last year when i was shopping for a program. you can be sure
to do your research and make sure of what you buy because i dont
think you will be offered a refund after you decide you made a choice
that isnt right for you. i opted for a general purpose modeling
program called formZ it is built on its own kernel it is not an
adapted rhino version it has alot of potential and there is no
license renewal fee and it is very open source you can download a
free version of the product and the price is right since owning it
there are a few things to adapt to like all programs but i am still
pleased with my choice - goo
look into 3design. very friendly interface youll be up and running in
no time
Between the two, it’d be Matrix no question. Far, far more users,
support and resources available out there. From what I’ve seen made
with Monarch, there isn’t anything it can do that Matrix can’t and
you get a much better rendering engine (Vray) with Matrix as well.
For your info, just as Matrix is essentially a plugin for Rhino,
Monarch is a plugin for VX.
My past interactions with the owner and staff at Monarch makes me
question the overboard claims they make as to how superior their
software is, compared to other jewelry CAD programs available today.
For example, all features I see listed on the site, including the
biggies that they say set them apart, like the History Tree and true
Parametric modeling are available in 3Design, which is what I use.
If you need more info on Matrix, Monarch or other CAD software and
hardware, from actual users and not salesmen, check
3dcadjewelry.com. There’s a thread there on Monarch.
Harry Hamill
www.harryhamilldesigns.com
Adding to that, I believe Stuller has bought out Gemvision, which
owns Matrix. Should be even better support.
David S. Geller
JewelerProfit
Steve, I’ve gone through Matrix training and have used the program
for about 3 years now. Gemvision offers excellent training at one of
their sessions, yes you need to traval to them, Monarch looks to only
do online sessions. Gem’s training is very indepth, and the forum you
become a part is a increadible help. The people associated with it
(Gem employies and users) are very generous with providing solutions
to any questions asked. Also provides numerous training tutorials at
the forum site. I don’t see if Monarch has a online community like
this. I haven’t tried Mon’s program, and probably won’t, I like
Matrix. I became proficient from the class, but there’s some much
more to learn. Hope my little input helps,
Pete
Hi Steve,
I have been a CAD designer for about 10 years now, I started using a
software called “Strata Studio Pro” (don’t think its around anymore)
it was a great program, only rendering not CAM or RP.
Then moved onto “Maya” and “ArtCam” (which has a new modeller out
now, which looks good) went through a few programs and started using
Jewelcad, great program to learn on but its hard to see what your
doing and the precision isn’t there. Tried Matrix 5.3, and Rhino
Gold, they are decent enough programs but way too restrictive for me,
don’t get me wrong the builders are fantastic, and to layout stones
on a surface is very easy, but you are able to set you own parameters
of this with the basic Rhino and make it work more effectively, with
extra variables. Monarch seems like the same sort of thing they look
wonderful but you end up making the pieces that look the same as
everyone else. Also be very careful the costs can keep coming with
these programs every update and every new thing that comes out (that
most of the time are patches and bugfixes that are their fault
anyway) will cost you more money, some of these programs even charge
you yearly fees. If your paying over $5000 Au$ which I think is about
$2500 american your paying way too much.
I now use the basic Rhino only (not matrix) with a V-ray Renderer.
The support you get with Rhino is wonderful because the community
that use this program don’t just make jewellery so you can get a
broader range of solutions. But jewellery has the biggest Rapid
Prototyping industry in the world at the moment (because we’re the
only industry to manufacture straight from RP) the support is
definitely there. I am currently producing about 8 to 15 rings per
day, so the cost of making per ring is kept down.
Sorry for babbling on, i just really love what I do, and this being
a new’ish part of our industry we need to give each other as much
info as we can so as not to get ripped off.
P.S. This is only my opinion, and as anything in the jewellery
industry everyone has their own way of manufacturing, so look around
for the program that works for you.
To the best of my knowledge, Gemvision has NOT been sold. Gemvision
is developing some type of software for Stuller and may be allowing
Stuller to sell their products, but according to the folks at
Gemvision, they haven’t sold the company.
David