Building a lowrider 3. I got the SKR board from the V1 store which has a V1 version of marlin. I am familiar with 3d printing but not sure how to use this firmware to CNC. Like is there a different format file I need to prepare from something like inkscape
In the pictures I see a nice looking colorful UI. How do I get that on my machine
Look at the Software Workflow section of the Docs. There are several steps in the chain of activities to get a job from idea to physical object, and you have distinct options and choices at each step.
Firmware controls the machine hardware and executes gcode commands. V1 firmware is a customized version of Marlin firmware set up to support “subtractive” machining methods like routing and laser cutting/engraving, with as many machine-specific settings as the software support team can build in that will apply to all examples of particular V1 machines. There are pre-built versions of the V1 firmware for specific machine and controller combinations available for download. Most users can flash the matching firmware without having to recompile, and most settings can be adjusted with gcode commands and saved to non-volatile memory on the controller so the settings are remembered when the controller is restarted.
CAD (Computer aided design) software is used to create the model of the work piece.
CAM (Computer aided manufacturing) software interprets the CAD file and creates gcode commands. These commands may be modified to adhere to machine-specific requirements with a Post Processor. (This is similar to the “slicer” in 3d printing.)
A gcode sender application feeds the gcode commands to the machine firmware, and manages the ongoing delivery of the commands as the machine completes the commands and is able to receive the next ones.
In the pictures I see a nice looking colorful UI. How do I get that on my machine
It sounds like your display is in Marlin mode. Assuming you have all three cables from the display to the control board installed, you can just hold down the control knob for a couple of seconds to switch to the TTL mode.
When 3D printing you create or find a 3D model, slice that model, and deliver the resulting g-code to the machine. With a CNC you create/find either a 2D or 3D path/model, CAM that path/model to create g-code, and deliver the g-code to the machine. As Tom says, there are multiple choices for each of those steps. The most popular CAM solution I see on the forum is EstlCAM with Fusion 360 as a distant second. Fusion 360 is more powerful and provides both CAD and CAM, but it has a steeper learning curve.
In addition to software for delivering g-code to your control board, your display has an SD card slot, so you can run your jobs from the card and not have a computer connected.