TouchCAD 3.5.1 released

[ludesign]

TouchCAD 3.5.1 has been released. It is primarily a maintenance release, though there are quite a few new features as well, such as much improved rendering and editing, support for generating QuickTime movies, etc. The Macintosh version is now Universal Binary, which means that it runs at full speed on both PowerPC and Intel based Macs.

TouchCAD licenses are cross platform, and runs on both Windows 2000/XP as well as on Mac OS Classic / OSX.

For those unfamiliar with TouchCAD, I recommend a look at a six minute live introduction movie, where you will get a short introduction, some modeling examples, and see a simple boat hull / deck being modeled, rendered and unfolded in less than five minutes.

http://www.touchcad.se/WhyTouchCAD.wmv
(Windows Media Player - 9 Mb)

http://www.touchcad.se/WhyTouchCAD.mov
(Quicktime - 8 Mb)

More info, demos, examples, etc. can be found at:

http://www.touchcad.com


Claes Lundstrom
Lundstrom Design

[Grant Nelson]

Nice, I did not know that TouchCAD could make hull like shape. The unfolding feature is also great. How does that work - most hull surfaces will not be developable - do you generate a close, but accurate developable set of surfaces?

[Gypsie]

Thanks for that Claes, very exciting design software.

[ludesign]

Originally Posted by Grant Nelson

Nice, I did not know that TouchCAD could make hull like shape. The unfolding feature is also great. How does that work - most hull surfaces will not be developable - do you generate a close, but accurate developable set of surfaces?

Of course you can do hull fairing in TouchCAD! It actually started as a hull fairing program, though it's flexibility as a modeler, and powerful unfolding features has lead to an extensive use in other areas.

It is for example used by many sail makers as it exports ready to cut files to most commonly used plotter/cutter systems. The image unfolding features also allowed them to apply high resolution full color images on sails and unfold them in exact scale relative to the vector based unfolds.

Other uses include industrial designers, architects, sculptors, for tents, blimp, awnings, inflatables, hot air balloons, sheet metal work, and so on.

The unfolding features are very accurate, and enables you to find an optimal unfoldable shape by interacting with the 3D shape. The true five dimensional method means that you can actually select one or several control points in 3D and move them in full 3D with the arrow keys in the Unfold view. The updates are so fast that you can actually see the shape changing as you nudge. This feature is also useful as it allows you to tweak the shape slightly in 3D to make a certain panel fit into the given material dimensions, to avoid ugly joints. After all, a good design is not just pretty or practical, hopefully both, it is also production friendly.

TouchCAD also supports stretch unfold calculations, that is, you calculate the shape as it looks before you start stretching. Since it is an approximation, it is even possible to balance the tensions of the panel.

The Unfold view also allows you to nest any number of unfolded panels by moving, dragging, rotating and flipping panels without loosing the dynamic link to the 3D shape.

TouchCAD does not have a limitation in the number of panels that can be used, so you essentially design and fit all major panels in the boat, relative to one another, in one package. Even small TouchCAD boat models typically consists of hundreds of panels.

Each panel also comes with its own set of weight or weight per area unit property, which can be compiled in a built in spreadsheet to keep track of weights and the center of gravity.