2015 Releases of TurboCAD Pro and TurboCAD Pro Platinum Ship

TurboCAD Pro Platinum offers a professional-level set of mechanical design tools including 3D solid and surface design and modification tools, constraints (geometric, dimensional, midpoint and pattern), assembly tools and a powerful parametric parts manager. Image courtesy of IMSI/Design LLC.

IMSI/Design LLC recently released the 2015 editions of its flagship CAD applications TurboCAD Pro and TurboCAD Pro Platinum for 3D modeling and mechanical design engineering, general-purpose drafting and AEC (architectural, engineering and construction) professionals. New features and enhancements range across all operational areas including rendering, visualization and detailing. Version 2015, the company reports, also offers a number of productivity and usability enhancements as well as new and improved interoperability features.

IMSI/Design describes TurboCAD Pro as a collection of professional-level tools for designing, modifying, presenting and documenting of 2D and 3D designs in an integrated fashion. TurboCAD Pro Platinum, the company’s top-of-the-line CAD solution, enhances the features of TurboCAD Pro for 2D/3D drafting, detailing, modeling, rendering and file sharing with advanced tools for greater control and flexibility, according to the company.

TurboCAD Pro Platinum 2015 offers a new capability that enables users to slice any solid with an ACIS surface. Image courtesy of IMSI/Design LLC.

For 3D modeling and mechanical design, TurboCAD Pro 2015 offers a new feature that lets you wrap a wire around a 3D solid for use as an extrusion or sweep path. The software’s Quick Pull tool now offers multiple selection criteria, which means you can manipulate several co-planar faces simultaneously. The company adds that you can also thicken ACIS surfaces with the Quick Pull tool as well as dynamically switch between Quick Pull and Imprint modes. Additional 3D modeling and mechanical design enhancements include the ability to create a surface from faces and generate a surface from a solid.

TurboCAD Pro Platinum 2015 now offers a set of tools for editing a Smooth Surface Mesh (SMESH) as a symmetrical model. Beginning in version 2015, when a drafting object is too large to display fully, TurboCAD Pro Platinum lets you add a break gap to abbreviate the displayed object. Multiple breaks per drafting object are supported. The Unbend Sheet tool can now be used to generate required bend lines.

Version 2015’s rendering and visualization enhancements include an updated engine and a new displacement shader said to provide more realistic materials. The Platinum Pro’s Dynamic Cutaway Plane feature for looking inside a 3D model has been improved to work in draft, mixed draft and wireframe modes as well as in mixed draft and hidden line modes.

TurboCAD Pro Platinum provides fundamental drawing tools and drawing aids that speed design, according to its developer. It also offers such advanced tools as drafting palette, a part tree and advanced layer controls. Image courtesy of IMSI/Design LLC.

New productivity and usability features in version 2015 include a Conceptual Selector as well as a Contact Manager and File Sharing functionality. The new Conceptual Selector lets you customize any visual and editing parameters available in the application, such as Move, Scale or Rotate. The new Contact Manager and File Sharing functionality gives you the ability to create and maintain contact lists as well as send files to individuals or groups from within TurboCAD.

TurboCAD Pro and Platinum Pro 2015 also provide a more flexible user interface than previous releases, according IMSI/Design. You can now resize dialog boxes as needed for your design environment and adjust such settings as the screen size and resolution. Other usability enhancements include improved block/group editing, and the TurboCAD Nudge function now offers more efficient pick-up and placement of a selected object or objects using the number pad.

Drafting and detailing enhancements in version 2015 highlighted by IMSI/Design include improved dimension text and sorted layers in drop-down lists. The Trim tools now give you the ability to trim hatched or closed objects and maintain the hatch or closure. Additionally, the Join Polyline tool now works on Beziers and splines without requiring conversion to a polyline, which also maintains their original curve status.

TurboCAD Pro Platinum includes UV mapping, a technique used to “wrap” a 2D image texture onto a 3D mesh. It also provides a materials editor, library of materials, lighting and luminances to define physically accurate photorealistic presentations. Image courtesy of IMSI/Design LLC.

TurboCAD Pro also sees the introduction of a new Dimension Units Format “By Drawing” function that lets you globally define dimension units at the drawing level. In the Platinum edition, the Format Painter tool can now be used to transfer custom properties and property set definitions (PSD) from one object to another.

On the interoperability front, the 2015 versions of TurboCAD offer improved AutoCAD 2013-2015 DWG/DXF read/write filters and a new SketchUp read/write filter based on SketchUp 2015. Also, you can now control the brightness, contrast, saturation, and transparency of any image that you add to a TurboCAD drawing.

For users of TurboCAD Pro Platinum 2015 in AEC-related industries, the software’s Simple BIM (Building Information Modeling) capabilities now can import intelligent walls, doors, windows, slabs and roofs saved in the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) format. Additional improvements include new slab roof object types and new mitering of roof slabs.

In TurboCAD Pro and TurboCAD Platinum 2015, the new Conceptual Selector feature allows users to customize any visual and editing parameters available in the application. Image courtesy of IMSI/Design LLC.

“Enhancements like [these], coupled with the robust suite of mechanical, architectural and general-purpose drafting features, make 2015 one of our most innovative releases,” said Bob Mayer, president of IMSI/Design, in a press statement.

TurboCAD Pro and TurboCAD Pro Platinum run with Microsoft Windows on 64- and 32-bit workstations. TurboCAD Pro 2015 is $1,495 and TurboCAD Pro Platinum 2015 costs $1,695. Both are available now. IMSI/Design offers annual subscriptions for $399.99. Current users should contact IMSI/Design for details on upgrading their edition of the application to version 2015.

Click here for complete details on TurboCAD Pro 2015.

Click here for complete details on TurboCAD Pro Platinum 2015.

Learn how to obtain a free 30-day trial version of TurboCAD Pro Platinum 2015 here.

Watch a video on the new features in TurboCAD 2015.

See why DE‘s editors selected TurboCAD Pro and TurboCAD Pro Platinum 2015 as their Pick of the Week.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.