PowerMill Reviews

You have basically everything in this program. 2,3,4 and 5 axis milling.. should I count more ? :) I would like to mention one thing especially. 'Nurbs' machining makes your process super fast. You will have smoother surface you've ever had. You won't need any hand finishing process.

Interface could be better. It's usual Autodesk product's interface but it could be much user friendly for like this program which has so many things inside.

Actually I mentioned so many things above but if you need to have smoother object and don't want to use hand process, this program is exactly what you're looking for.

5 Axis and 'Nurbs' Machining.

There are some codes for toolpaths for adding and editing them which is the most thing I've liked. Your project becomes together with your model file which is also positive thing. You have so many guides online. When you face any problem you probably will find the solution online.

Can't say that this program is user friendly because menu bar is so complicate especially for new users.

Don't hesitate to use it. It's usual quality of autodesk. We were delightful about it.

Tried to understand how to work and is that program suitable for showing to students

- Comprehensive solution

- Easy to study

- Wide range of strategies

- Point distribution is the best way to smooth the toolpath and tool axis, that is essential problem in Robot programming.

- The best thing about this software is you don't neend to change whole toolpath when you did any kind of mistakes or wants to change something.

- Love the quality of Autodesk and their support

- Easy to Understand

Program works very well but all in one would be better otherwise the software is amazing

In PowerMill the main advantage in machining 5th axis, a skill that software has for saving time in the machining of complex shapes and in a single machine preparation. In PowerMill are two forms of machining 3 and 5 axis, providing strategies for the additive and subtractive manufacturing of the same.

The key feature of this machining program lies in the wide range of high efficiency cutting strategies such as roughing, finishing, 5-axis machining techniques, the exceptional speed in the internal mathematical calculation and in the power of the tools of editing to ensure optimizing the performance of the machine tool. PowerMill can import models in standard formats from any CAD system such as IGES, VDA, STL, among others and also from its own PowerShape products.

For calculating trajectories on old equipment

It's the fastest program for 3 and 5 axis machining. Complex parts are not complex anymore. It has a smooth and fluent animation which locks you in front of the screen.

Program runs out my CPUs. I'm using additional cooler for my laptop. There is no issue.

Don't hesitate to use it. This program gives you the performance you need. Learning and finding tutorial is so easy. You will learn it quickly.

Worked 4 or 5 projects at university to understand milling in programming better.

Its flexibility and automation capabilities. Even PowerMill is a software developed fpr machining purposes, we used it for laser-based technologies (surface treatment and additive manufacturing). We could do it thanks to its high possibilities of automation by macros and API.

Comparing with other softwares such as Siemens NX, which includes all the CAD and CAM functions in the same software, Autodesk has split the CAD/CAM capabilities into two different softwares: PowerShape and PowerMill. This is sometimes quite uncomfortable and time-consuming.

It is not the cheapest software, but it gives you a level of flexibility and automation that other softwares don't.

Research in laser-based manufacturing technologies, mainly surface treatment processes and additive manufacturing of metal parts. Some client's parts have been successfully treated/manufactured thanks to PowerMill.

So many companies worldwide use PowerMill which makes it so easy to share information with such a well-known and exciting software program.

PowerMill often has multiple updates that I have to install on my personal software, so it would be nice if PowerMill could more easily be updated.

With the amazing 3D technology, I can easily convey new ideas that I can bring to my company. I was actually able to virtually create a prototype for a new medical instrument I am working on.

Versatile and highly user-friendly software. Few, if any, alternatives come close in terms of ease of use, intuitive learning curve, and overall usability. It also offers a solid range of strategies backed by a strong and supportive community.

One major downside is the presence of several software bugs, some of which have persisted for years without resolution. There also haven’t been any significant software updates in the last 4–5 years, which makes the platform feel somewhat stagnant. Another major drawback is the subscription cost—especially in India—where it can often exceed the profits of small-scale industries, making the total cost of ownership quite high. Additionally, Autodesk PowerMill is quite inefficient in utilizing multicore processors, which limits performance gains from modern hardware and can impact productivity for compute-intensive tasks.

Autodesk PowerMill has helped us generate safe, reliable, and efficient programs for our VMC machines. Its support for macro programming is a major advantage, allowing users to automate repetitive tasks, improve efficiency, and even extend the capabilities of the base software through custom workflows.

In our project, we needed to move endpoint of the robotic arm on a curved surface and so we needed to have the path on that surface. We used Powermill to get the path. One of the good things about Powermill is also you can use it to program industrial robots. There are not a lot of Softwares that could give G-code on a non-flat surface and also could simulate how the robot can do that movement and check the possibility for the robot to do it and at the end give me the data in robot's language.

In the beginning, it was hard to use and I needed to spend a lot of time to learn how to start using it. I think it can become more user friendly and if I could find a course about how to using the software that would be awesome.

I really recommend the software to people who want to get g-code on a curved surface. especially for those who need the data for 3d printing purposes. I searched a lot to find software which would give me a g-code and also robot code on the non-flat surface.

Producing G-code on a curved surface and use the data to program industrial robots to use the data for 3D printing purposes and use the data for industrial robots.