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Get Revvvved with TurboCAD 7Geoff HarrodCAD products have come and gone, especially low cost ones, but TurboCAD has proved a durable and popular one, providing an exceptional combination of value, capability and compatibility. Geoff Harrod reviews TurboCAD v7 ProfessionalTurboCAD's HistoryTurboCAD has been around since the earliest days of Windows and the IMSI company. I think it actually had its origins on the Mac but that version was dropped when TurboCAD was drastically redesigned and greatly expanded in capability. Its early versions were too limited for serious use and gave TurboCAD a reputation as a toy CAD system. After its major revamp that reputation ceased to have validity although the market perception was harder to shake off. Since then TurboCAD has been expanded and refined with each release and has become a fully capable serious system. It was one of the first CAD products to add extensive AutoCAD compatibility, even extending to LISP. At one stage it seemed to go overboard with bells and whistles and umpteen modules, to the stage that it was all rather confusing. IMSI also took on several other CAD products and adopted extremely low pricing. Then they suffered a major company upset and their CAD products were unavailable for a while. Now IMSI are strongly back in business with a rationalised line of products, and TurboCAD is again available. Version 7 is considerably revised from the previous version. It has cleaned up many of the confusing options, especially in 3D, and has very successfully addressed the issue of compatibility with AutoCAD 2000. TurboCAD was initially a 2D system that used its own operational rationale, command system and data file format. A 3D product was introduced as a separate, but inter-workable product with rather limited wireframe-only facilities, and lagged visibly behind the 2D product. Then an ACIS-based solid modelling module was added with rendering. Now in version 7, TurboCAD is an all-in-one system. Like AutoCAD, it is clearly primarily a 2D system, but it now has quite good 3D facilities built-in. Previous versions had added AutoCAD compatibility in terms of ability to read and write DWG files and use AutoLisp, but there were some issues associated with differences in operational logic. In version 7, TurboCAD has adopted AutoCAD concepts to a greater extent, which makes it easier to be fully data compatible, and also makes it easier for people, who have had exposure to AutoCAD at colleges or workplaces, to be productive with TurboCAD. Formerly, there was more need to re-learn techniques, which was a bit off-putting for many, even though TurboCAD’s operation methods were arguably easier and more modern than AutoCAD’s. Today's TurboCADIn this version we have a good combination – a logic that is quickly understandable to those who have used AutoCAD, one that is easily learned if that does not apply, and an on-screen control system that is very easy to use. Some of TurboCAD’s terminology differs from AutoCAD’s but the correspondences are clear. I think TurboCAD’s concept of ‘Pen’ and ‘Brush’ is very intuitive. Pen options control line qualities, including outlines of enclosed objects, and Brush options control infills to enclosed objects, whether solid color or hatch patterns.
TurboCAD has, like most CAD products other than AutoCAD, always had a separate property for width of lines. Now that TurboCAD can open AutoCAD 2000 DWG files, that facility matches AutoCAD’s new Lineweight property.
The compatibility with AutoCAD 2000 and 2000i is extensive. It has unlimited multiple PaperSpace tabs, irregularly-shaped PaperSpace viewports, Regions, and Hyperlink compatibility.
LimitationsA few odd limitations surprised me however. There appears to be no way of setting any Pen Width as a default for particular layers. Pen Width seems to be purely set as a current drawing property or by modifying selected objects. That is a common scheme in CAD systems and works fine, but is a problem when working in conjunction with AutoCAD data, or for users with an AutoCAD operational mind-set. When a DWG file is loaded any Lineweights set for layers are ignored. So far as I could determine, they are not transferred to individual object Pen Widths either. Also, there is no provision in the printing setup for assigning printed line-widths to line-colors (the old AutoCAD logic), or assigning other colors, such as all-black, to object colours. This is no problem for drawings created in TurboCAD, since its Pen Width properties will be printed, and TurboCAD logic assumes you will draw using color for the color to be printed. But it means that the only way you can handle DWG files created before 2000 or using pre-2000 plotting logic is to manually select lines and assign Pen Widths to them. I think that will seriously limit the usability of TurboCAD in an AutoCAD context despite its other compatible features. Help - Now On-LineEarlier versions of TurboCAD, especially around version 4, were noted for voluminous and well written printed manuals. They included an introduction to CAD for newcomers, which was an excellent text in its own right for any CAD product. [Ed: The old TurboCAD documentation is still available -- online in electronic format . Click here.] Sadly, as for most software now, TurboCAD 7 is supplied with very little printed material. The on-line help is good, but I prefer a printed manual. The 94 page book supplied with v7 is, however, quite helpful. The installation includes tutorial material in interactive multimedia form, which provides a good answer to the need for training specifically for TurboCAD, which is generally not available in classes. Help from other users for those subject not covered in reference manuals can often be found by participating in the active TurboCAD discussion forums online.
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The Brush Pattern drop-down selection list. This corresponds
with AutoCAD's hatch patterns but can be applied as an automatic infill.
The Pen Width drop-down list. This is equivalent to AutoCAD's new Lineweight property in 2000 but has always been a feature of
TurboCAD. The width displays in the units of the drawing.
