Review: TurboCAD Pro Platinum 19

TurboCAD is a computer-aided design package from IMSI/Design that premiered in 1986 as an alternative to industry mainstay AutoCAD. We spent a couple of months testing the latest version, TurboCAD Pro Platinum 19.

For those unfamiliar with design software, CAD applications are used to draft physical objects – from machinery to fashion accessories to entire houses. 3D objects are created through extrusion – adding depth to 2D shapes – and ‘parametric’ edits – ‘this should be bent 45 degrees on this axis’, or ‘there should be a hole here, with a 2mm screw thread’.

This differs greatly from 3D modelling/animation programs such as Maya and 3D Studio Max, which primarily work with ‘meshes’ of vertices, lines and surfaces to create the kind of 3D images that are used in movies and games, but couldn’t be sent directly to a 3D printer or delivered as a set of diagrams to your design firm’s machine shop.

I point that out because one of the more significant additions to TurboCAD 19 is a set of ‘smooth surface’ mesh tools, which allow you to work with tessellated 3D meshes. These allow you to create the kind of ‘organic’ shapes that previous versions have always made difficult. I found it great for creating ‘soft’ objects – for instance, quickly mocking up a human-like wrist to design a watch around, or shaping realistic terrain for architectural projects. It feels a little clunkier and less intuitive than truly mesh-oriented modelling suites, but the new features do work. It doesn’t turn TurboCAD into a modelling/animation suite, but it’s a genuinely useful addition to the existing CAD toolset.

Full 64-bit support allows for up to 32GB of memory, a huge leap up from the 2GB supported by the previous 32-bit versions of TurboCAD. This is great for working with complex models or multiple models at once. Both 32- and 64-bit versions are included in the box.

TurboCAD 19’s new user interface offers a “more contemporary look”. While it’s true that TurboCAD 18’s UI looks like something out of Windows 3.1, I personally prefer it to the new white-on-black toolbars and menus of TurboCAD 19. Fortunately, it can easily be changed back to the ‘classic’ style.

TurboCAD uses its customary LightWorks engine for photorealistic images and for real-time previews, it uses Redsdk from Redway3d. Redsdk is compatible with most – possibly all – current-generation AMD and Nvidia graphics cards, and supports both Nvidia SLI and AMD Crossfire multi-GPU setups.

Tested with a Nvidia GTX 480 (now two generations outdated), Redsdk rendering made working with complex models in full, shaded 3D much smoother. It’s particularly useful when you’re setting up for a photorealistic render, and need to whizz around in ‘draft render’ mode making camera and lighting tweaks. The only downside is its incompatibility with Windows Aero: whenever you turn on Redsdk rendering, the Aero interface is disabled. All you really lose is some Windows eye-candy, but it’s still a bit of a pain.

If you’re considering a move from the higher-priced AutoCAD, TurboCAD offers a highly competitive set of 2D drawing and 3D modelling tools with mechanical design and architecture in mind. However, there’s a fairly steep learning curve, as tools and UI navigation are quite different between the two packages. Having used AutoCAD immediately prior, it took me a couple of weeks to get back up to speed in TurboCAD (I last used TurboCad 18 in 2011).

If you’re just getting into technical drawing, or need to ‘graduate’ from an entry-level 2D CAD application to a full 2D/3D professional suite, TurboCAD is a very reasonably-priced offering.