TurboCAD Pro 17 History and News

TurboCAD still the leader in retail CAD in the US

Ever since the early days of computers, CAD programs proved to benefit drafting professionals tremendously. In the early days these applications ran on main frame and mini computers and were very expensive. AutoCAD opened a niche by being one of the very first CAD applications to run on a PC. It was low cost, comparatively speaking, providing a feature set that was on par or better than the traditional CAD applications of the day. Today we sit with a similar case. Over the years the price of AutoCAD crept up and up with relatively little incremental benefits in their annual upgrade cycle. TurboCAD, like AutoCAD in the twilight days of the CAD applications for mini-computers, provide a feature set that is not only on par with that of AutoCAD, but also provides a wealth of productivity enhancement features, making an ROI argument that cannot be ignored. TurboCAD which was created in South Africa and the richness of its feature set along with the value proposition made it what it is today - the leader in retail CAD in the US.

The early TurboCAD could only be used with Hercules monochrome graphics cards and HP7475 Plotters. One thing about it though, is that it could fit on a 360k floppy. That is something one can barely imagine these days considering many programs can take up to two or three gigs in order to fit all of their features. Things have changed since then however. TurboCAD Pro 17 was released in March of 2010 and it is jam packed with features and bran new tools that exist to enhance your overall CAD experience, improve productivity and aid in exchanging files between different CAD applications.

TurboCAD Pro 17 faster than ever before

The first thing you will notice is that the program is much faster. It is approximately 60 times faster when in wireframe if you have on of the supported graphic cards. TurboCAD now uses the GPU in modern graphic cards to speed up the display performance, something 3D users and users with large 2D files have been asking for for a long time.

TurboCAD Pro 17 and TurboCAD Pro 17 Platinum Editions

There are many other features to take into consideration such as new 3D patterns, parametric door and window with muttons support, and even a layer filter. Prior to this version of TurboCAD there were four editions of TurboCAD Professional: the Basic edition, the Architectural edition, the Mechanical edition and the Platinum edition. The number of editions have been reduced to two and if you upgrade from a previous edition, the pricing is structured to take into account your previous investment.
There is enhanced support for 3D modeling in TurboCAD Pro 17. You will find that the 3D ACIS modeler has been heavily upgraded just for this version and exhibits higher levels of performance than its predecessors, making it easier and faster to model items with repeating patterns. There is also more support for 3D Booleans and selecting multiple entities which will help with the building process.

That's not all there is also an upgrade for the wall system allowing for newer top and bottom profile modifiers. In addition to that there are a few more link wall segment options. Multi-component walls allow you to define each part of the wall which allows for more material creation. As you know, there are many layers to a wall, from the exterior, to the interior, and finally the side that faces the interior of the house. For instance on the outside you could have siding, in the middle you could set up the insulation, and finally the interior drywall. This allows for the maximum amount of realism in your models.

With node editing, placement is easier than ever meaning you won't have a problem placing your windows. You even have more options for defining the style of your window panes. Railings have also been upgraded meaning that you can attach rails and banisters to both sides of a stairway at the same time. This also means increased placement for railings on balconies and porches.

No house or building is independent of its terrain. In TurboCAD Pro17 you will find that the terrain tools have been enhanced, and you can even import terrain from XYZ or CSV files. Create hills, valleys, streams, and any other terrain oddities that you can think of. When you are designing a building you need to know exactly how the terrain will affect it, and TurboCAD will be able to demonstrate this for you.

There are many other tools that have been added to TurboCAD Pro17 that were not present in earlier versions. For instance there is now a twisted extrude options for 3D models, as well as more parameters for the simple extrude. There are a number of different 3D tools now that go far beyond extrusion and object manipulation, some of which will be extremely useful to those who have knowledge of both CAD and 3D modeling.

Remember that you now have an extrude to face option along with a mid-point constraint. In addition to that you can create symmetrical constraints for end points. One thing to remember is that many of these features are included in the platinum version of the software, so if you want the whole package you know exactly where to go.

In these economic times it is good to consider the bottom line. Not only does TurboCAD compare favorably to AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT in terms of price, but the rich feature set, exchange of different file formats, including .DWG, makes it a very compelling application. TurboCAD exists to provide you a realistic alternative to the tight grip that AutoCAD has maintained on the drafting and design world for countless years.

Conclusion

Though TurboCad has improved greatly since the introduction of TurboCAD Pro17, it has stuck to its roots providing a high quality product that is still comparable to some of the more robust packages on the market today. At an affordable price you will be able to build, design, and create any structure that you conceive of. Since the product was first sold in the United States in the eighties is has improved and innovation in the product shows no signs of slowing down. That being said, it's time to start looking into the brand new version of TurboCAD and use it to be more effective in the field. If you have ever worked construction, then you know just how difficult it can be, and how accurate your blueprints need to be. So keeping that in mind, choose the software that will suit you and your business best. Choose TurboCAD Pro17, and begin your journey into a world of high tech architectural design.