ANVIL EXPRESS OVERVIEW

Quite simply, ANVIL EXPRESS is the future of mechanical CAD through CAM technology. It has all the tools a designer needs, and it's easy to learn. One of the first industry analysts to review ANVIL EXPRESS was David Weisberg, the publisher of Engineering Automation Report:

"During the past several years, the cost of CAD/CAM systems has come down dramatically. Unfortunately, most of the systems available today still require an inordinate amount of time to master. ANVIL EXPRESS breaks the paradigm with an extremely productive user interface and a new concept in interactive multimedia coaching tools. Most design and manufacturing engineers should be able to sit down and produce useful work in a matter of hours. You can learn as you go. This is definitely the biggest advancement in automated learning tools in the CAD/CAM industry."

In addition to being a complete, integrated system, ANVIL EXPRESS is a modular system. You buy only the capabilities you need now, without compromising your ability to add new modules in the future.

• A complete set of 2-D and 3-D design and drafting tools.
• Complete Parametric Drafting capability
• True automatic solids from a machinable 2-D drawing.
• Interactive tutorials for both novice and experienced users.
• A large toolkit of advanced surface modeling tools.
• 2 1/2, 3, 4, and 5-axis CAM that can handle almost any machining requirement.
• Visual tool-path simulation and verification.
• Photo-realistic rendering and animation.
• Advanced customization and automation capabilities.

Essential Benefits
ANVIL EXPRESS gives you everything you need to compete in the 21st Century:

• The best combination of high-end functionality and an affordable, mid-range price
• True automatic solids from a 2-D drawing
• Full CAD through CAM integration with drafting, surfaces, 2-D parametrics, NC programming, tool-path verification, rendering, and animation
• The first true interactive on-line help in the CAD/CAM industry

Total Integration
ANVIL EXPRESS is a complete, Windows-based CAD-through-CAM-and-more product line. In addition, ANVIL EXPRESS has powerful ties to the outside world, with a full suite of translators:

• IGES
• DWG
• DXF
• STL
• VDAFS

Use these to import existing data and to share ANVIL EXPRESS data with others.

On-Line Audio-Visual Tutorials
The ANVIL EXPRESS Tutorial Executive sets a new standard for on-line CAD through CAM help with an extensive set of multimedia tutorials. You can use these tutorials at any time, even in the middle of work on a production part, quickly bringing new users up to full productivity.

Room to Grow
ANVIL EXPRESS is available in a variety of configurations, ranging from basic design and drafting systems to full-featured CAD through CAM systems with automatic solid modeling at the most competitive prices available in the industry. No other system offers a cleaner, easier growth path than ANVIL EXPRESS.

So register now for your free 30-day trial disk or contact our Scottsdale office.

Design Drafter
The ANVIL EXPRESS Design Drafter module is a full 3-D wireframe design and detail drafting package that includes free-form curves, a comprehensive set of manipulation methods, plus curve and section analysis for basic CAE. And, of course, it supports all popular international drafting standards. Also included is Parametric Drafting, which lets you to apply geometric constraints to the geometry and relational control to the dimensions. Relational technology is particularly useful when multiple designs are based on a parent design (family-of-parts projects) and when a design is frequently adjusted or revised during the course of product development.

Automatic Solids
SNAP2-3D, the first true automatic snap-to solids generator, makes its debut in ANVIL EXPRESS. Just draw 2-D views of your part, then click the SNAP2-3D icon. ANVIL EXPRESS automatically creates a solid model, complete with the features you've drawn.

See SNAP2-3D in action! (179 kilobyte animated GIF)

Surface Modeler
ANVIL EXPRESS Surface Modeler includes all of Design Drafter and it creates all the important surface types:

• Free-form NURB surfaces
• Blending surfaces
• Analytic surfaces (planes, cones, etc.).
• Curve-based mesh, surface of revolution, projected, and curve-driven surfaces
• Trimmed surfaces

Surface Modeler extends your CAE capabilities with mass-properties analysis and your visualization capabilities with a variety of software hidden-line and shading techniques. It also outputs STL files for stereolithography and related uses.

2 1/2-Axis Machining
The 2 1/2-axis machining module includes everything in Design Drafter, but the heart of this module is its 2 1/2-axis milling, drilling, and lathe capabilities. Because CAM is integrated with design, ANVIL EXPRESS provides bi-directional associativity between your geometry and your tool paths. Change the geometry, and you can update your tool paths automatically.

ANVIL EXPRESS machining supports a wide variety of tool types and provides functions to help you manage them.

3-Axis Machining
If you need additional capabilities, the 3-axis machining module adds:

• Extensive surface modeling capabilities
• Full power 3-axis milling
• Single and Multi-surface 3-Axis milling

The heart of 3-axis machining is the multiple-surface milling function, which can machine large numbers of surfaces with a single tool path.

3-axis machining also lets you choose from a variety of machining options, each of which imparts a different character to the finished part. These include:

• Constant-angle machining
• Constant parameter - based on surface parameters
• Plane-slice roughing
• Waterline machining

5-Axis Machining
For the most advanced machining capabilities, ANVIL EXPRESS also includes a 5-axis machining module. It allows your ANVIL EXPRESS system to handle exceptionally complex tasks on the most versatile and powerful machine tools. You can perform both end and swarf cuts, with complete control over the tool lead and/or tilt angle.

Wire EDM
The wire EDM package adds an exceptionally powerful set of tools for the creation of wire-erosion tool paths. It is designed for use by mold makers, extrusion-die makers, and others who need the special cutting capabilities that only wire EDM can provide. These include the ability to machine smooth blends between complex, greatly differing top and bottom shapes and the ability to machine hard materials such as high-grade steel that are difficult to cut using other methods.

ANVIL EXPRESS wire EDM can create both 2-axis and 4-axis contouring tool paths and coreless pocket tool paths that help prevent unwanted pieces of stock from shorting out the wire.

Verification and Postprocessing
In addition, ANVIL EXPRESS machining includes two essential NC programs that are high-cost add-ins with most other CAM systems:

• ANVIL Verify Lite
• NCPost

ANVIL Verify Lite is a graphical tool-path simulation and verification program that makes it easy to visually inspect and adjust your tool paths on your computer screen. This reduces or eliminates the need to use precious shop time to cut expensive physical prototypes.

NCPost is a numerical-control postprocessor that comes with templates for many of the most popular machine tools. These templates are ASCII text files that can easily be adapted to work with machine tools that are not directly supported.

Visualization
Besides creating great products, ANVIL EXPRESS creates great-looking images of your product with its optional rendering and animation capabilities. Use ANVIL Render/Animator to create photorealistic images for manuals and sales materials. You can also use it to create action sequences for multimedia presentations and management review. ANVIL EXPRESS does more than just help you create products, it helps you explain and sell them, too.

Customization and Automation
ANVIL EXPRESS includes two ways to customize and automate your CAD-through-CAM system.

The first is GRAPL, the native graphic-application programming language for ANVIL EXPRESS. It includes both Windows-based and command-line versions of the GRAPL build utilities. In the Windows-based GRAPL program builder, you are only a few mouse clicks away from creating custom GRAPL programs that are ready to be executed from inside ANVIL EXPRESS.

In addition to providing a native programming language, ANVIL EXPRESS includes an application programming interface (API) designed specifically for those who prefer to use Microsoft's Visual C++ or Visual Basic. This API provides system-level access to many ANVIL EXPRESS functions in a form that lets you work in today's most popular programming environments.

Learning More
Industry in the 21st Century will be faster paced and more competitive than anything we have ever seen, and yesterday's CAD/CAM tools just won't do the job. You need a 21st Century CAD-through-CAM system, and you can get it without waiting for the next millennium: ANVIL EXPRESS is available today.

So don't be left behind. Register to get your free 30-day trial disk.

ANVIL and ANVIL-5000 are registered trademarks of Manufacturing and Consulting Services, Inc. ANVIL EXPRESS, ANVIL Verify, and SNAP2-3D are trademarks of Manufacturing and Consulting Services, Inc. Other companies' trademarks are used for product identification only. The DWG translator is powered by Autodesk technology. ANVIL Verify is based on technology provided by Sirius Systems, Inc.

CAD Drafting Software | Computer Aided Drafting Software | 2D CAD | CADD Software
Auto CAD Lite | CAD Software | Drafting Software | CADD | 2D Software

Software

	Design Drafting
	Automatic Solids
	Surface Modeling
	Render / Animator
	Manufacturing
	Customization
	Related Tools
	Free Utilities
	Hardware Specs
	Pricing