MC2026 Level manager

[JakeL]

There was no need to change what worked, they can redesign it to add groups and keep the stuff that has worked forever.
But instead they thought it was a great idea to remove things, move them around and make it pretty.

Due to the extra clicks and slowing down my workflow, 2026 is a waste of my time and company money. So was 2024, so I skipped both versions.

For something like the winky eye that I've read so much about, I agree. IMHO that functionality should not have been changed. However I'm sure when updating the managers like they did they had hundreds of decisions to make about what goes where and how things interact etc. If the winky eye is the biggest complaint I feel like they did pretty good (obviously there's other bugs, but that darn eye seems to be a VERY popular topic).

[JParis]

and yet some of us have managed to handle multiple time sensitive projects for these past weeks using 2026

[JakeL]

My overarching issue is the use of multi-function panels.

In my toolkit, multitools are garbage. I use a precise utensil for a purpose, and it is usually crap for other stuff. It was baked into my lizard brain by an old-school craftsman early in my life, and it has held true in many facets.

If we are heading in a direction where the same 1/4 of the screen is used for EVERYTHING. Toolpath tree(when will that become a hideous goblin of a multipanel?), tool manager, tool creation, MGS... It won't stop, and where is the visual/spatial anchoring zone for anything in the software? Where is 0,0,0 when locations, colours schemes, buttons and queues constantly change? To be frank, there is none. And having nowhere to anchor the session leads to it feeling scattered, unorganized and flimsy.

I'd much rather have 3 dialogues floating around than be 7 layers deep in a multipanel any day.

I need some seat time with MC26 until I can properly comment on the multipanel. Is it stuck to the side of the screen, or can you reposition it like the managers?

[gcode]

and yet some of us have managed to handle multiple time sensitive projects for these past weeks using 2026

all day, every day 

[Jeff]

and yet some of us have managed to handle multiple time sensitive projects for these past weeks using 2026

Everyone's workflow is different.
And my patience level is probably lower than most people here lol.

[SuperHoneyBadger]

Is it stuck to the side of the screen, or can you reposition it like the managers?

It is a Mill Assembly Designer tab, so yes behaves like the others as far as moving, docking. It has it's own fixed vertical tab bar on the left.

I really suggest installing MC26 and going through your usual workflow to see how different it is!

[SuperHoneyBadger]

and yet some of us have managed to handle multiple time sensitive projects for these past weeks using 2026

all day, every day

This is what I was asking about before hoping to get examples, paragons of NC wizardry, having zero issues delivering using the new system. Was it simply a matter of using it for a few days to get used to it? And do you feel as fast as you were under 2024/2025?

[JakeL]

It is a Mill Assembly Designer tab, so yes behaves like the others as far as moving, docking. It has it's own fixed vertical tab bar on the left.

I really suggest installing MC26 and going through your usual workflow to see how different it is!

I've been wanting to since 2026 came out, just haven't found the time. Gotta keep the machines humming

[neurosis]

Everyone's workflow is different.
And my patience level is probably lower than most people here lol.

I could drive my car home on a flat tire if I wanted to?  I just choose not to? 

[Dylan Gondyke]

For something like the winky eye that I've read so much about, I agree. IMHO that functionality should not have been changed. However I'm sure when updating the managers like they did they had hundreds of decisions to make about what goes where and how things interact etc. If the winky eye is the biggest complaint I feel like they did pretty good (obviously there's other bugs, but that darn eye seems to be a VERY popular topic).

-Personal opinion: the eye took me a long time to get used to after it first appeared in things like the Graphical Display options in Linking planes/colors/etc.

-PO opinion- it does one critical thing the X visibility cannot- It conveys three states:
Absent when element not selected AND not displayed
Closed when element is part of selection set/group AND not displayed
Open when element is displayed regardless of selection set.

That three state capability is part of a combination of dozens of little details necessary to make grouping work in the new levels/planes manager. I don't envy the job that team had of moving away from MFC dialogs to this new take at the same time as expressing all that new information.

[Dylan Gondyke]

Why do tool assemblies also have a tool and diameter offset #? Genuinely curious.

Assemblies is this really interesting thing because in Mastercam, technically you are ALWAYS working with an assembly even if you didn't have to interact with it. Crudely, that default hockey puck has to be stapled on when it gets passed down to the toolpath. Tools have a tool and diameter offset # that can populate the assembly numbers if creating from scratch, or you can have the parent assembly # that takes precedence/overrides it.

I'm a big proponent of extremely snappy workflows through these slideovers and we've worked on things like, ensuring a user could double-click on the tool/holder component to initiate the edit, starting to put edit shortcuts in some of the new toolpaths to take you directly to different areas of the tool pages (something that we didn't even do with the old popup dialog), get a holder preview in there when selecting a holder when building an assembly, etc. We've also worked REALLY hard on ensuring the "takeover" of the screen for tool display continues to be snappy even for large model sets. You're probably thinking of the pain points of entering Machine Group Setup where it takes over the screen, loads in the machine model, and can cause delays proportional to model or machine size. Those delays aren't acceptable for getting in and out of tools and need to be squashed anytime they're present.

[Zoffen]

The real question is:

Is this actually better and more functional than the way it was?


How was this new layout determined? User feedback group? or was it "Spoken by god" to be the best?

   

[Zoffen]

Assemblies is this really interesting thing because in Mastercam, technically you are ALWAYS working with an assembly even if you didn't have to interact with it. Crudely, that default hockey puck has to be stapled on when it gets passed down to the toolpath. Tools have a tool and diameter offset # that can populate the assembly numbers if creating from scratch, or you can have the parent assembly # that takes precedence/overrides it.

I'm a big proponent of extremely snappy workflows through these slideovers and we've worked on things like, ensuring a user could double-click on the tool/holder component to initiate the edit, starting to put edit shortcuts in some of the new toolpaths to take you directly to different areas of the tool pages (something that we didn't even do with the old popup dialog), get a holder preview in there when selecting a holder when building an assembly, etc. We've also worked REALLY hard on ensuring the "takeover" of the screen for tool display continues to be snappy even for large model sets. You're probably thinking of the pain points of entering Machine Group Setup where it takes over the screen, loads in the machine model, and can cause delays proportional to model or machine size. Those delays aren't acceptable for getting in and out of tools and need to be squashed anytime they're present.

Does the 2026 tool manager still have the dialog box's to create tools?

[Dylan Gondyke]

How was this new layout determined? User feedback group? or was it "Spoken by god" to be the best?

Quite a bit of external engagement and iteration with a range of user personas.

Does the 2026 tool manager still have the dialog box's to create tools?

No, they have been replaced by panels. You can still launch into just tool creation, which is a single "level" of panel that is largely identical to the previous dialog structure/workflow, or you can create an Assembly, which allows you to create and manage tool/holder for that assembly from one panel session.

[CNCAppsJames]

@Dylan Gondyke

Not to be picky but when is the ability to set gage length in the holder page going to appear? Tool Projection is WAY less important than Gage Length. Extension probably isn't going to result in a Service Call. A bad gage length OTOH... could cost upwards of $60,000 USD on a High-End 5-Axis machine. 

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