We got Dolphin a loooong time ago and updated in 2014. Here is a review a co-worker posted February 2014 on alt.cnc after receiving the newest version:
Newbie Review of Dolphin CAD / CAM
OK gang, first some background. We purchased Dolphin PartMaster CAD / CAM about 12 years ago for a project that appeared initially to need more design horsepower than we thought we had available. As it turned out, the 'Conversational Programming' on our Hurco Ultimax II was sufficient to get our prototypes done and our encounter with Dolphin at that time was pretty limited. We did use a little of it to generate G-Code files to give us coordinates for programming the Hurco - and in the process discovered a problem with the Hurco-specific post-processing files that were supplied with Dolphin. We passed that information back to Dolphin and figured that was that. We continued to use the Hurco conversational programming interface and forgot about Dolphin CAD/CAM.
Fast forward to 2013, when Dolphin had the discount offer for their product and we had some loose change under the sofa cushions. We upgraded to the current version and this is a _very_ preliminary report on the product if anyone is interested.
Also, keep in mind neither of us are real machinists - more like putterers or tinkerers who play around the edges. Our background is computer firmware and software engineering but we get sucked into mechanical design and prototyping when deadlines and budgets are short. We're a little reluctant to jump into this newsgroup pool of experienced machinists, but ya know, 'fools rush in'...
First of all, Dolphin Partmaster may have bells and whistles that I doubt we will ever use. It appears to be an amazing value for its under $1K price. Apparently any product development money went into adding features, and providing documentation or instructions on how to use it is an extremely low priority for the developers. We have only dabbled with it so far and we may post more reports as time goes by.
There are really two programs here (three if you count the third party CNC simulator, but we're going to hold off on that until we figure out the CAD/CAM bits) A CAD program (PartMaster CAD) and a CAM program (PartMaster CAM - duh!)
The CAD program is _NOT_ a 3D program, it's 2D. You can squint at it and build your 2D plan and then add a third dimension "profile" to it, then merge them once you go to the CAM side. Our only other CAD experience has been Generic Cadd 2D - which is now Visual CADD - so there's a steep learning curve to get used to the PartMaster way of doing things.
The CAD system does most everything you'd expect from a 2D CAD system - lines, arcs, circles, rectangles, curves of various sorts, etc. The usual assortment of line styles, layers, colors (apparently only one color per layer) - the user interface is 'different' but after a while you get used to it.
Once you have your part drawn you then (still in the CAD part of the product) extract lines, curves, etc. from it and generate 'contours' and 'profiles' to send to the CAM side. Once you get used to it it's pretty slick, but some things that should be obvious don't work. For example, if you start with a circle and stretch it into an ellipse it is no longer visible to the cam side of things. If you want an ellipse you have to start with an ellipse (which in Dolphin is a multi-arc segment creation that approximates the ellipse you want)...
We have been unable to project a Z-Axis profile onto any 2-dimensional (XY) rectangular shape in our many attempts. We can take a Z-Axis profile and get a radial object with the Z profile, and make a bunch of these circular radials to produce a round 'dish', but a rectangular pocket with Z-Axis profile has eluded us. It seems like it should be easy, but doesn't work and we've tried and tried.
Creating a simple X1,Y1,Z1 -> X2,Y2,Z2 move is also a challenge. Making that move in an XYZ arc (very simple on the Hurco) has been frustrating with Dolphin.
And now we get to the real problem with Dolphin: There is ZERO support. There are no documents, and the few videos they have are not really tutorials, they are just demos of features. Technical support is spotty at best - about 10% of our emails are answered. Why bother asking if there's seldom a reply?
When we emailed them 12 years ago about the problem with the Hurco post-processor file we expected it to be fixed in the new version we purchased last December. No, we got exactly the same error-filled post processor file and had to tell them again. Then we got a custom post file back - whether it gets from Dolphin to the other Hurco users is anyone's guess. I don't think a Hurco Ultimax is that obscure a machine that no other end user noticed the problem (with the file error it would not output fractional decimal inch values in the G-Code - whole inches only!) and not fixing it seems a bit careless.
Sadly, I really like what the Dolphin product could be - so much potential! - but it just isn't. I'm sure once this review hits the street there is not a ghost of a chance of getting any further support from Dolphin - which is why I've waited... But if we're getting no reply to support question now, how much worse could it be after this review?
Carla
"A fool learns from his own mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others". -Anonymous
