The window and the workspaces

Studio's window has the menus and a top bar at the top, six workspaces in the middle and the machine bar at the bottom. Each workspace does one main thing. The machine bar shows the machine's state and the next step wherever you are.

The parts of the window

From top to bottom:

Studio has no status bar: the machine bar does that job.

The title row and the menus

The menus are File, Edit, View, Machine, Program, Simulation, AI, Tools and Help.

While a menu is open, no key reaches the machine. A menu shows only the items of your user level (see User levels).

The top bar

From left to right:

The machine bar

The machine bar runs along the bottom of the window. From left to right:

  1. The state: Idle, Run, Jog, Homing, Hold, Door, Tool change, Check mode, Sleep, Alarm, E-stop or Off.
  2. The program: its name, the line it is on, the section it is in, a progress bar, and the time run and the time left. With no program it shows No program loaded, whether the machine is homed, the tool and the work offset.
  3. The next step: No alarm in green, or Next step: and the key that does it. In an alarm it shows the alarm, the next step and All steps, which lists the steps back to work (see Alarms and what to do).
  4. The clock: the simulation's time, its speed and the real speed it reaches. The hourglass key pauses the simulation.
  5. The keys: Single block, Cycle start (F5), Feed hold (F6) and Stop (F7). The key Studio suggests is filled in; a key you cannot use now is dimmed.
  6. E-stop (F1), the round red key at the right end.

In a narrow window the bar leaves out the clock's time first, then the program's section and times (they move into the tip), then the clock's speeds, then the words of the next step.

The 3D view

The 3D view shows the machine, the workpiece and the tool as they are now.

The same choices are in View > 3D view. View > Colouring colours the trail and the workpiece by feed rate, cutting force, chip thickness, chatter margin or program line (Engineer level and up).

The dock

The dock sits under the 3D view. Its tabs depend on the workspace:

WorkspaceTabs
RunProgram, Curves, Console, Messages, AI activity
SetupInspection results (once a part has been measured), Tool table
CAMCheck results, AI activity, Versions, Program preview
ProgramConsole

Analysis, Diagnostics and shop mode have no dock.

Press Ctrl+J, or click the arrow at the right end of the tabs, to fold the dock to its tab row.

The six workspaces

Switch workspaces with the tabs in the top bar, with Alt+1 to Alt+6, with Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab, or from the View menu. Pressing Cycle start in CAM or Program takes you to Run. While a program runs, the Run tab has a green dot.

Setup

Setup (Alt+1) gets the machine and the part ready, one step at a time: Power, Home, Setup, Tool, Zero, Program and Cut. The panel on the right follows the next step until you pick one. See Setting up a job; the machines, power and homing: Machines and power.

CAM

CAM (Alt+2) makes programs: the job's setup, shapes and operations on the left, the chosen item's fields on the right, Generate program at the bottom. See Making programs. Engineer level and up.

Program

Program (Alt+3) holds the programs and the example parts, the editor and a preview with the program's checks. See Programs and the editor.

Run

Run (Alt+4) runs the loaded program. The right column shows the position, the spindle and feed, the overrides, the cut, the panel's keys, manual control, and the tools and zero. See Running a program and resuming.

Analysis

Analysis (Alt+5) looks back at runs: their curves, each line's time and forces, and the stability lobes. Engineer level and up. See Analysis and diagnostics.

Diagnostics

Diagnostics (Alt+6) shows the machine's power chain, the controller's inputs and the drives, and lets you inject faults into the twin. Technician level and up. See Analysis and diagnostics.

Messages and what to do next

Studio tells you what happened, and what to do, in these places:

Machine > Do the next step does the step the machine bar shows, and only that step. When an alarm stopped a program, the steps end with the line to start again from (see Starting again from a line).

User levels

A user level shows what a person needs at that stage and hides the rest. There are five:

LevelAdds
DemoThe Run workspace with the example parts; the Program and Messages tabs
OperatorSetup and Program; the overrides, the panel, manual control, the tools and zero; the Machine submenus; the console, the tool table, AI activity; settings, the audit log, the AI menu; switching machines
TechnicianDiagnostics; arranging the workpiece; Factory reset…
EngineerCAM and Analysis; the cut readings, the curves, Colouring, exporting curves, the part to compare with
ResearcherThe Model and data card in Diagnostics

Each level has everything of the levels above it in the table. A new installation starts at Engineer.

To change the level, use Tools > UI level, the level in the top bar, or Tools > Settings… > General.

Note

A level arranges the window for teaching and learning. It does not lock anything: the machine's keys work at every level.

Light, dark and shop mode

View > Appearance chooses As the system, Light or Dark, and turns Shop mode (large) on or off. The two choices are separate: shop mode works in either look.

Studio's own panels change at once. Lists and text boxes that the system draws take the new look at the next start.

Shop mode is for working at the machine, at arm's length:

Panels and their sizes

Drag the edge between two panels to change their sizes; double-click the edge to go back to the design size. The 3D view keeps at least 360 × 240 pixels at 100 % display scale. Panel edges move with the mouse only. View > Reset the layout puts every panel of every workspace back at its design size at once.

Studio keeps, for each machine, the panels' sizes, the dock's tab and whether it is folded, and the workspace you were in. It keeps the window's place and size for the next start.