CAD programs

justonequestion · Mar 14, 2004

All,

I would like to get a good 3D cad program. I'm not looking for the ultra expensive thing, just one that I can creat good quality 3D drawings of some designs. Can I do stuff with something like 'TurboCAD Deluxe 9.2'?'

Thanks!

CGN · Mar 14, 2004

If you want to model to build (hull) then:

Turbocad tends to be buggy and some times inastable, but still many people use it, is the best in price, lots of features and the features are comparable only to those in autocad and more, but too buggy for me, it can works for sure, with patches and all that, now has "nurbs surfacing" not full modeling but is an start, but is just a big fat joke to use, is going to need some time to remotely improved this, so don't fell for that, Acis engine which is really good, but again buggy and lacks of surfacing modeling. i won't even bother for hull fairing.

Rhino3D (Surfacing), 2D drafting QuickCad. this is how far i will go on "low cost".

Just model boats for nice pictures? , Amapi Designer and Carrara Studio you can find this ones in very good bundles and good price.

good luck

Jack D Davis · Sep 16, 2005

TurboCAD v11.1 Professional

I've used TurboCAD for many years, but only for 2D architectural drawings in my business. Recently, I retired and decided to spend my golden years building aluminum boats. IMSI offered me an upgrade to version 11.1 Professional with 2D training disc for a very reasonable price and I jumped on it. I also purchased an additional booklet called "TurboCAD 3D Training Guide". I'd been struggling to design a couple of boats with my old version 9.2 Pro. and could do everything but put a skin on the frames. I'm sure it was capable. I just didn't know the secret. The 3D training guide put me on the right track and now with the new v11.1 Pro. I can't compare this with any other modeling software. I've never seen or tried any. But with a little perseverance and a few strong words and TurboCAD v11.1 Pro., I've been able to put this canoe together. I can't say that I've noticed any of the bugs noted previously.

First the 2D drawings

Now the 3D models