TouchCad, AutoCad, Free!ship

[bluekayak]

A while back I asked about boat design softwares for mac and folks recommended TouchCad

Lately I'm thinking about it again and went over to Stanford to see what they had, the only cad they sell is AutoCad(though nicely discounted)

So then I was wondering if a cad program is a cad program or should I stick with the original recommendation from boat designers

Then to complicate matters further I've read some of the posts here and it almost seems like it'd be worthwhile to get a PC laptop(for my wife of course ) and use Free!ship

It'll be a one project(kayak) splurge if I do it so the last idea seems most sensible

thanks

[CGN]

merry xmas

Touchcad is the way to go if you are using mac, Any CAD (similar to ACad) is "just a cad" and limited for free surfacing, so if you prefer to stay with mac and becouse is xmas, TouchCad will be a great xmas present...

Freeship is great but TouchCAD is more complete, I for example use freeship for hull modeling but i finish the rest on rhino, Touchcad is both applications in one, i stay with freeship/rhino becouse i can render and and work with other many softwares, but for hobby or a good way to get involved in boatdeisgn and boatbuilding touchcad it's top notch.


cheers

[Tim B]

The only reason I have a PC is to run Rhino (and we're talking to the developers about a linux version). I also have my own CAD software (LMH) which can be compiled on Win32/Mac/Linux. I don't currently have a MACOS binary for it, but if you want to compile it it shouldn't be too hard.

QCad is a good package to look at (again, multiplatform), though it is only 2D. It is useful for technical drawing though, and producing lines-plans etc.

Tim B.

[nero]

TouchCad is a sober program. Because the control points for the mesh are directly on the curve/mesh, manipulating the surface is much easier. Like Adobe Illustrator, there are many ways to evoke the tools and commands by the keyboard/mouse combinations. TouchCad has a smooth interface!

You may have only one boat project in mind now, but later ???

And TouchCad does blimps, tents, and anything else you want to build.

[Raggi_Thor]

I have used AutoCAD for 20 years, and tried to teach others,
it's NOT easy to learn,
it's not any good at 3D free form shapes (hulls),
it's quite expensive (if you want to use it after your studies).

[pavel915]

Is there any thing special in touch cad , so that I should go for it , though I have maxsurf(or freeship) and rhino?
please tell what kind of Good naval architectural work which can be done in touch cad compared with other softwares.
thanks!

[ludesign]

Originally Posted by pavel915

Is there any thing special in touch cad , so that I should go for it , though I have maxsurf(or freeship) and rhino?
please tell what kind of Good naval architectural work which can be done in touch cad compared with other softwares.
thanks!

In the end I guess it is a matter of personal preferences. In a resent thread, you complained about weight and center of gravity calculations being time consuming. TouchCAD has an integrated spreadsheet that does it for you automatically. It has marine design necessities such as dynamic cross sectioning, and at the same time enough modeling power to be a good general purpose free-form modeler. It does not have a limit in the number of panels that can be used. It has a very powerful set of unfolding features, which are true five-dimensional to allow dynamic interaction between the 3D and unfolded panels, and you can even experiment with nesting of the unfolded panels without loosing this link. Etc. I don't know if any of this is appealing to you, but if it is, I suggest a visit to www.touchcad.com. Besides lots o examples, demos, etc., you will also find several tutorial movies (in the Training section of the web site) showing how to work with TouchCAD. If nothing else, and just as a very short and simple demo of TouchCAD's abilities as a seriously fast and efficient modeler an production preparation program, I suggest a look at the movie called "Why TouchCAD", found on the front page.

[pavel915]

thanks ludesign!
Now I am going to try touch cad!
hope it will give a special work in my design!

[Felix-Arees]

Hello Felloes. i've been using autocad & maxsurf for almost five years and i found it good..but i am reading your post all over into it..and it caught ny attention about the touch cad....hmmm maybe i will give it a try..why not..i will go with you pavel915..i hope i can use this software for representation for my costumer..thank you felloes...HAPPY NEW YEAR..HAPPY NEW SOFTWARE (i hope)