Most quality 3D wood carving software

[elijah]

Hi Everybody,

Brady Watson in one discussion mentioned that, Vectric does V carving better than ArtCam Pro. I don't know exactly, but I suppose that he meant the quality of final product in the wood. Maybe resolution, more clear lines etc. (Maybe Brady could tell more or correct me).
My question is the same about 3D carving programs - which one from your point of view give the best results in quality, say, when we need to carve grapes, plants, flowers, in other words classic wood carving, which need very good quality, otherwise final result will look very cheap?
Thanks in advance to everyone, for your opinions.

[Brady Watson]

Elijah,
VCW is more efficient than ArtCAM Insignia/Pro in my opinion. It cuts more cleanly with less chatter. My customers have commented on the increase in quality on HDU signs that I v-carved for them using VCW compared to ArtCAM Pro.

Just about any 3D CAM program is as good as any other. There is no apparent difference between ANY of the 3D CAM programs out there in terms of cut quality. But there IS a difference in the choices that good 3D software gives you in how you cut the parts. Different 3D strategies give different results. Some packages only allow you to raster back and forth in a rectangular bounding box, some (like Cut3D) limit the machining area to the border of the part, and some, like ArtCAM, let you limit the machining to a vector area defined in 2D view. Some let you do offset machining (for instance - round & round on a dome) and some also let you choose specific regions of the 3D part to machine, instead of having to cut the entire design. This lets you isolate certain parts of the design to be done with a smaller bit, leaving the less intricate areas to be done with a large bit, saving time. This is commonly referred to as 'rest machining'. Not all packages let you do this.

Hope that answers your questions.
-B