Hi folks,

several month ago I’ve reported a very serious bug to the developers of VCP, regarding the generation of STL files, and have got the information that it will be fixed in the next update. Since then nothing happened. The bug still exists and there are no new versions.

Is VCP still in development and will there be new versions in the future? Or ist VCP 11 the last version? Why doesn’t the blog or any other news section report anything about the future of VCP?

Cheers,
Wolfgang

<<<< Or is VCP 11 the last version? >>>>

Hi Wolfgang,
The way things are going, SharkCAD Pro 10 is the
last version for me.
Larry

I cant see how they can afford to keep on developing the program.
Even though its a very good and quite powerful package its more marketed for the poor man drafter.
I don't see it marketed online or in stores anymore. (I bought my first copy from a bricks and mortar store)
And for the price they sell it for they cant throw a lot more features in there.
A lot of the software guys are going to a subscription base these days.
Windows is a lot more stable and we don't have that pressure to upgrade software to match the new OS like in the "old days" so they dont get cash inflows for further development.
Having said that windows is always tweaking the back end so programs have to be patched to remain stable.
The newer generation are using educational versions of auto-cad etc, so they get weaned onto those programs.

Most of the older generation of pre cad guys have already dabbled in cad and have settled for their preferred methods so the market is not expanding.
There seem to be a lot of sites that offer free programs that do various bits of what Shark and viacad do.
If they sell 100 copies of viacad a year, you are not going to be able to pay a decent programmer for very long on that sort of money.
This forum should be full of noobs asking for help,(unless they are all 10 times smarter than me and don't need any help) and I cant see the noobs.

Previously before subscriptions became accepted I was wary and wanted a hard copy of the program.
Well all those programs are dead now.
Perhaps if we want Shark / viacad to remain relevant we have to move onto a subscription base?
I am sure encore is asking these questions in the office right now.
If development on Viacad and Shark ceases and they become unusable and unusable we will have to go elsewhere for a stable product, and it will be subscription anyway so it may be time to face the future?



From a speculative point of view, hopefully the main driver and developer Tim is getting on with cleaning up and developing the cad product lines. Hey, Tim I love your work. 👍😃

Blender began it's life, and still is, a 3D animation development software similar to Maya. At it's core, and its Open Source development, will always push it that direction. VC/Shark are mechanical development software. At their core, they will always be that, and if development progresses, will always be pushed that direction. While you can create mechanical type products (and I know people who have done it), Blender will not give a easy and 100% solution for mechanical type products if 2D and/or paperless documentation is required. With the latest renewed big push toward model based manufacturing/Quality/Inspection (I.E. paperless environment) Even though I thought engineering world learned its lesson 20 years ago, it's on again. With that in mind, I would suggest sticking with a mechanical software that may be geared more toward that end if it ever becomes reality. Blender and VC/Shark, while both "fish", do not necessarily swim in the same waters. It really comes down to what your main design tasks require for the production cycle. If morphy/gooey type 3D only, then Blender will do just fine...and is probably better. If mechanical 3D and 2D then something else.

It would appear my intuition some months ago regarding the glaringly misguided nature of the latest developments in VC/Shark, prompting my open letter to Tim Olsen (Punch Lounge, VC/Shark Market, Simply Curious), was bang on despite a couple voices in opposition. Obviously, at the time, I did not know TurboCad was in the process of purchasing Encore. But what was very evident to me, after 30+ years in the CAD business, was VC/Shark was heading in a very different and confusing direction. And to make things worse, that direction was to the detriment of many current users. Say what you will, but there is no denying that V11 caught MANY off guard with half baked code that left many dead in the water begging for solutions that never, and has never, come. What a horrible situation for users to be blindsided by such a situation.

I was recently made aware of the TurboCad site. Call me crazy but that ---> https://www.turbocad.com...urbocad-mac-pro-v11.html is VC/Shark, no? Listen, I am not disparaging Encore selling out to TurboCad...happens everyday. But, leaving all those caught up in the V11 marketing hype and functionality mis-fire without a word are, in my opinion, owed in a big way. If it were up to me, everyone effected would get a free license upgrade to TurboCad equivalent to what you had at V10 with the next five upgrades at a 75% discount. You relied on Encore to deliver a code that provided a reasonably seamless upgrade of functionality and it was not. No matter the price...you paid for a product that did not function as advertised. Everywhere on this planet, one can return defective products for a refund.

I am very sorry for all those effected. I've experienced this a time or two over my career and it sucks. As for me, this is where I get off the VC/Shark train.

Shark was originally Concepts Unlimited, became Shark under Punch! software with VC the retail stream, then Punch! was bought by Encore, then Encore subsumed by IMSI (TurboCAD owner), itself under recent new ownership. I came on board at VC 2D/3D V5, the first VC version, Shark at V7 to V10, VCP at V6 through V10, after hearing about Concepts on the old TC forum in the early 2000s. I'm dipping a toe into into VCP V11 because it does some things that are useful to me, but I've used TurboCAD PC since the mid 90s and I haven't taken every new version of that either. So, as a user of recent versions of TC PC, I think that CAD'n'stuff's opinion pertains to his impressions, likes and dislikes rather than using it to work with. TC PC really can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be, once you've learned to use it and learned to configure the UI, and in my experience it's more stable than Shark/VC, I personally find its model space less ambiguous (in wireframe) and easier to orient in (better orbit/pan/zoom, IMO) than Punch's. It has a separate paper space environment to lay out sheets, as well as a drafting palette that composes model-to-sheet views that can be used in model space or paper space. Maybe so '90s, but simple and reliable with really good actual results. Tim has said that TC's excellent mesh handling and Booleans are to be crossed into PunchCAD, maybe TC's drafting palette code can improve PunchCAD's MTS. TC is an MCAD feature-based/history-based modeler with AutoCAD-like drafting and documentation utility, and historically it's been interoperable with more programs than any other, although not the higher end, which is why I went to Shark as well. At any rate, trying before you buy is more reliable than trusting others' opinions. Retail CAD isn't like mid-range and higher with subscription and maintenance giving you some leverage over bugs and features, it's pretty much trial and buy or trial and reject, or maybe use and refund if there are catastrophic faults found later, in line with your country's consumer protection regulation. Meanwhile, SCP PPP V10 does what I bought it to do.

Edited by user Monday, August 12, 2019 10:37:25 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Restocking the popcorn......

I'm not such patient I'm afraid. I started learning Rhino two weeks ago :-/

Magicart

By the way, I forgot about popcorn. :))
Modeled in SharkCad.

It is interesting to see how will look a drawing of popcorn. :)