Best cam software to use for plasma cutting

What's the best cam software to use for plasma cutting? I've tried fusion 360 and found it to unstable and not really geared towards plasma cutting. I like sheet cam I really do but I find it's missing some features. I don't know if it would be possible to easily add these features or if there's a open source option or a reasonably cheap cam program I can purchase (i cant spend 10 grand a year on a software). I would really like a program that supports. Auto nesting, skeleton cutting, tip up avoidance, wiggle or custom lead in would be sweet. Setting slats on the spoil board so you can see where your slats are positioned when nesting. A plate inventory system and cut time estimator / price calculator would be great but I can deal without it. Is there any options for a program like this or a program that is open source enough to modify your own scripts to add features like this? How is hypertherm pronest is it worth the money? 

It has none of what you asked, but it is very usable, Inkscape.
Open source, very easy to use, can do some nesting by using groups of ojects and layers, does leadin/leadout somehow, uses gcodetools extension included, so can be modified to your hearts content.
I just modified it to export the plasmac.cut.feed-rate, so i can use the material settings in PlasmaC.

I never really fully got the hang of inkscape. It sounds like it's the most open source but the least user friendly. I really want to try to build my table idiot proof so if I get lucky and it gets to the point I'm not doing all the work myself and I can easily have a newbie operator run the machine. I know linux cnc has plugins for plate centering is it possible to make this work with multiple work planes? So like if you load 5 sheets on the table can it centre all 5 or do I have to stop in between sheet.

I'm using Hypertherm Pronest since 2017.
I do not have the full feature set subscription, which includes auto nest etc.
I find the manual nesting to be sufficiant and working good for my needs, I'm usually not nesting full sheets of steel.
It is not the cheapest software around, but I figure the yearly subscription maintainance fee is worth it if you do a fair amount of cutting.

 

tcbmetalworks wrote:

It sounds like it's the most open source but the least user friendly. I really want to try to build my table idiot proof so if I get lucky and it gets to the point I'm not doing all the work myself and I can easily have a newbie operator run the machine.

Inkscape is not a CAM software, it just has a CAM plugin that outputs gcode. It is a drawing/scetching/whatever it does software, so the CAM is just an add on made by a single user (probably with some help of others, but back then he was alone with about 500 people asking for help and features from him), but it does work magnificently for what it does.
As for newbies, almost all machines i build are used by other people, sometimes people with absolutely no computer experience (yes i do bump into them occasionally), but it takes at most two days of 3-4 hours a day to learn to draw something or trace a path from a picture or image, edit it a bit, save it as gcode and use LinuxCNC to run that gcode. I am trying to say it is by far the easiest to use for plasma cutting.
Luckily, i do have a client that spent xxxx (nearly 2000$ i think, it was long ago) on every plasma CAM he could get, still uses Inkscape.
After all this i have a feeling you might take this the wrong way, as me pushing, well i am, so if you try other CAM's, please do report back how it goes, i would really appreciate it, a lot has changed by now in Plasma space.
What do you mean by "plate centering" ?

Plate centering so if a plate is set crooked on the table, you can define where it sits with 3 or 4 points. This avoids the chance that a plate is placed crooked operator error and it cuts off the side of the plate.