SUPPORT

The function of this QUICK START text is to get you started without reading the manual. It is meant to explain the basic ideas of DeskProto, and you will need this information to be able to understand what is happening. The help menu offers on-line help, and contains this quick-start help page as well. Or try the online demonstration (FLASH-player required) on this website for a guided tour. After that, new users are advised to first use the DeskProto Wizard, that will guide them through all the steps needed to generate an NC toolpath file using their own geometry.

The central concept of DeskProto is a Project. All information about a prototype is stored in a Project file, which is the file to be opened when starting and to be saved when finishing. The project file contains all milling parameters and viewing parameters, and also contains a reference to the geometry file (although it does not contain the geometry itself).

Within one project you can define parameters on three levels:
1. Project parameters include the name of the geometry file and the number of parts that you want to use to create this prototype. Each of these parts has it's own set of parameters:
2. Part parameters define which geometry will be machined.
Within each Part you can use one or more milling opeations, each of them called an Operation. Each Operation has it's own set of parameters as well:
3. Operation parameters define how the geometry will be machined.
These are in fact the only real "milling parameters". Two different types of operation are available: in addition to the standard (3D) Operation, a 2D Operation is available as well.

You can imagine the tree-like structure of a project, which is displayed in the Project Tree at the left side of the DeskProto screen. The basic Project consists of one Part called "Part" and one Operation called "Operation". The project will be named when saving it for the first time.

Note: to load a new geometry file in DeskProto you must use the NEW command to start a project. After that you have to choose Load Geometry in the File menu to import the geometry file. In order to load a 2D DXF file you have to create a 2D Operation and Browse the 2D file in the Operation Parameters.

Two different versions of DeskProto are available: Lite and Full. The Lite version only contains a subset of the Part and Operation parameters as available in the full version. For the rest both versions are equal.

The functions of DeskProto can be reached using the pull-down menus (or ALTernatively using the button-bar or the right mouse button). The most important menus are described below:

The VIEW Menu offers the opportunity to change the way you look at the geometry. To reach the View commands in most cases you will use the buttons.
In the PARAMETERS Menu you can edit all geometry and milling parameters. For simple prototyping it is sufficient to edit only the Front Tab screen for both Part and Operation: the other Tabs can come later as all parameters have suitable default values.
The CREATE Menu is the most important; this is where you can start the milling calculations and write the NC program file.

Do open the example project files that have been installed with the trial version. After loading the geometry a drawing will be created: the triangles you see are typical for the STL file format. Experiment with the thumb-wheels and with the mouse to rotate, zoom and pan. To calculate a toolpath use the CREATE-menu (or use the right mouse button with the cursor on the drawing).

With this trial version you can produce complete NC program files during a 30 day long trial period: sufficient to completely test whether DeskProto indeed works for your application and on your milling machine. In case of problems here, do use the configurable postprocessor to solve them.