FORGECNC ACADEMY — VIDEO 01
First launch and basic setup
Script draft · screenshots captured · recording pending
Browser practice and application setup. Physical installation, controller commissioning, homing, probing and live cutting are separate lessons.
Estimated duration: 12:58 at 130 words per minute with demonstration pauses.

SCENE 01 — Welcome and open the practice environment
Estimated 0:00–0:48

Welcome to ForgeCNC. In this first lesson, we’ll organise the screen, create a practice machine profile, and preview a simple job. We’ll use the browser preview, so you can follow along without connecting a CNC. On the website, open the Browser demo page. Choose Get preview sample, then Open browser workbench. Keep the downloaded file for later. The installed Windows and Linux apps provide the physical controller workflows; their installation and commissioning are covered in separate lessons.

SCENE 02 — Find your way around
Estimated 0:48–1:34

Choose Basic from the workspace controls. Start by finding four areas: connection status at the top, tasks down the left, the job and three-dimensional view in the centre, and Machine watch on the right. We are disconnected, so live position information is unavailable. That is expected. Read the words beside a light, not just its colour. NO DATA means ForgeCNC has no current report. You do not need to unlock, home or move anything to follow this lesson.

SCENE 03 — Make the screen comfortable to use
Estimated 1:34–2:22

Open Manage to see the display choices. Choose Dark, Light or High Contrast to suit your screen. Workshop mode gives you larger controls when you need them. You can resize panels and choose a different workspace for a different task. Save updates the current saved arrangement; Save As gives a new arrangement its own name. These controls change how the screen is arranged. They do not change machine home, work zero or permission to run a job.

SCENE 04 — Locate the machine profile settings
Estimated 2:22–3:09

Open Settings, then Machine. This is where you organise your workshop machines. You can search the directory, choose a manufacturer, model and size, or use Custom Build. Read the information beside the model, including its dimension source and hardware-validation status. A catalogue entry is a reference; it does not prove that the fitted controller or machine has been tested. The QueenBee reference is protected. For this exercise, we’ll create a separate, clearly named training profile.

SCENE 05 — Enter the practice profile
Estimated 3:09–4:14

Name this profile TRAINING ONLY, Example router. I’m using fictional travel of four hundred millimetres in X, three hundred in Y, and eighty in Z. These numbers exist only for this exercise. On a real machine, enter confirmed usable travel, not the outside frame dimensions. Leave Fitted controller as Not identified yet for our fictional machine. The displayed baud rate is also unverified. Add a note that this profile is for training. For a physical setup, identify the actual controller, firmware family and connection rate before proceeding.

SCENE 06 — Save and verify the profile
Estimated 4:14–5:00

Choose Save and select machine. Read the confirmation: the profile is saved for connection setup, and no controller settings were written. It should now appear in Saved machines. That distinction matters: saving this record does not configure a controller, establish machine home or authorise movement. When you create your real profile later, give it a name you will recognise and check the saved values. For now, keep this training profile clearly separate from any real machine.

SCENE 07 — Export the application configuration
Estimated 5:00–5:50

Before making more changes, scroll down to Export application configuration and save a copy. Keep the file somewhere you can find again. This backup covers application setup information such as saved machines and work datums. The Tool Library and controller settings have their own backups, and native job journals are separate. We are exporting a practice configuration here. We are not restoring anything or replacing an existing workshop setup. A later lesson will cover checking and restoring each kind of backup.

SCENE 08 — Connect to the virtual controller
Estimated 5:50–6:40

Return to Saved machines and select the QueenBee reference for the practice connection. Open the Setup workspace, then the connection menu at the top. Choose Virtual xPRO and the Normal, Idle scenario. The virtual controller always represents the QueenBee reference, even if another profile was selected earlier. Choose Connect. This is practice data inside the application. Physical serial is the separate installed-app route for real hardware, which we will cover after installation and the initial machine checks.

SCENE 09 — Read the connection state
Estimated 6:40–7:29

Use Request status to refresh the displayed state. Notice Connected and the SIMULATED badge. Machine Status shows the practice controller’s coordinates and operating state. MACHINE and WORK are different coordinate views: machine position uses the machine reference, while work position uses the selected work coordinate system. We’ll explain that relationship properly in the datum lesson. For now, recognise that these are simulated readings. A normal-coloured light, or an idle state, does not independently prove that a physical setup is safe.

SCENE 10 — Understand the preparation sequence
Estimated 7:29–8:24

Open Setup guide in the sidebar. It gives you the order for a real job: connect and identify; home and enable; load the job; review stock and fixtures; select the work datum; fit the tool and set Z; inspect and simulate; then check and run. Some information is detected, while other steps are reminders you review yourself. Ticking a reminder does not approve motion. Today we are learning the interface. Leave physical setup steps outstanding and follow the current Start reason when preparing a real job.

SCENE 11 — Load the offline practice file
Estimated 8:24–9:20

Open the connection menu again and disconnect the virtual controller. Confirm Disconnected at the top. Choose CAM Review, then Load Job, and select ForgeCNC offline preview only, dot N C, from your downloads. Check the filename after it loads. This file contains two simple rectangular routes for visual practice. It is not a cutting programme for your machine. The file area shows the analysed job, and the three-dimensional viewer shows its route. A loaded file still needs its own setup and review before any physical operation.

SCENE 12 — Inspect the route before playback
Estimated 9:20–10:10

In the viewer, JOB focuses on the loaded toolpath. TOP shows its plan view, and ISO gives an angled view. Fit brings the route back into frame if you lose it while exploring. Read the legend to distinguish cutting moves from rapid travel. You can orbit by dragging, pan with a right drag and zoom with the wheel. Notice the warning that machine placement is unverified. Looking at the route does not set a datum or position real stock on the machine.

SCENE 13 — Open the stock-carving preview
Estimated 10:10–11:02

With the controller still disconnected, choose Simulate stock. The panel on the right describes the proposed blank: its origin, width, depth, top surface and thickness, plus the flat cutter diameter used for this preview. These are visualisation inputs. If you change them, choose Apply and reset stock to rebuild the preview. For this practice file, keep the displayed example values. In a real job review, you would compare them with the intended stock and tool before interpreting the result.

SCENE 14 — Play, pause and scrub
Estimated 11:02–12:02

Choose Play to watch the approximate material removal, and Pause to stop the preview. Drag the timeline to examine a particular point. Show route overlays the cutter lines; Reset takes you back to the beginning. These controls send no commands to a machine. The preview uses one flat-end cutter and a two-and-a-half-dimensional approximation. It does not model collisions, all tool shapes or tool changes. Use it to understand the route and likely shape, then complete the separate setup and preflight process for a physical job.

SCENE 15 — Find help and check your progress
Estimated 12:02–12:58

Close the preview and open Help and guides, or press F one. Search for the task you want to understand next. The website Academy and illustrated manual provide the matching written instructions and full-size screenshots. You should now be able to find the main controls, save a practice profile, export configuration, recognise a simulated connection, and preview the sample while disconnected. Pause here and repeat any step you want to practise. Next, follow the installation lesson for your operating system, then the controller connection and commissioning lessons.