As I spend a fair bit of time explaining the role of Google SketchUp to people that have only a vague idea of the package, I thought I’d provide a few links here to show its capabilities. These are mostly high end users, although the video ‘Create Cool Stuff’ shows you the application used to design a simple CD rack.
Continue Reading →

When DoubleCAD was first brought out by IMSI, I kept it at arm’s length mainly because I’m wary of new software and would prefer to let others waste their time driving it around the block and also because of the sure fire inevitably of unforeseen snags with new products.

However that’s now all behind us, I’m starting to sell and talk to more and more people about it and users are north of 180,000, at last count.
Continue Reading →

Photorealistic Plug-in for Google SketchUp

There must be a dozen different photorealistic plug-ins for Google SketchUp. I’ve seen some demonstrated, listened to people talk about the one(s) that they use and played around with a few myself. So I can’t say that my opinion on the general landscape of these plug-ins is anyway perfect, but I do need to showcase photorealistic solutions for my SketchUp colleagues, so I’ve made a decision on what seems to me the best three. I could be wrong, I’ve been wrong before, but the three that I’ve chosen are all ones that I have seen working and are impressed with. They are also ones that I hear professionals talk about and praise. Continue Reading →

Four new training dates have been added to the events calendar on the front page here.

Call me to book, 01962 835 081, £200 for the day. Lunch thrown in.

Paul

New Engineer’s Group / Forum

Doug Rundle is a retired engineer still keeping his hand in with various projects. Via this site he has made contact with other like minded TurboCAD users who like to swap ideas and benefit from each other’s expertise.

If you’d like to contact Doug regarding any aspects of engineering design, he’d be pleased to hear from you.

doug_rundle@hotmail.com.

(there’s an underscore between doug and rundle)

Paul

The twin concepts of ShapeSpace are clear, simple to understand and the advantages and savings in time and money that it brings, very obvious.

For a small company the cost can be as little as £1,000.

Concept 1

Over the years, the chances are that an engineer will draw the same part several, if not many, times, a lever, a key, a cog, etc etc. Sometimes the part will be exactly the same as they drew it a few years ago and sometimes with a slight variation, but whatever way you look at it, they will reproduce work previously done – we’ve all done it. This is obviously a waste of time and therefore money. Now if the engineer could remember what they had previously called that part and what assembly it was part of, then there’s a fair chance of finding it and it’s easy enough to search by name through your files. However if that is not the case, then it’s going to be a long job finding the part – dead time. Or give up and draw it again.

With Shapespace you simply quickly sketch out the rough shape in 3D and the program looks through all your files and finds the one’s nearest to your sketch, you then choose which one to import, (or refine your search), and then make any changes you need for the present drawing. Continue Reading →

I’ve now got the latest 2D training books for TurboCAD v18. These have fourteen exercises, the last one an introduction to drawing in 3D. The exercises are both written and come on audio visual format on a disk included in the book.

I also still have a pile of 3D training books written for v15, but would be a good introduction to working in 3D.

Anyone calling me and buying the 2D training book, (£35) will get the 3D one free.

ptracey@processflows.co.uk

Paul

01962 835 081

The offer of £100 off the recommended price ends at the end of this month.

Just go to the shop and enter the promo code ALT2DCXT.

If you buy and give me a call I’ll send you the training CD for free.

Paul

ptracey@processflows.co.uk

01962 835 081

Please click here to view our shop.

Don Cheke’s TurboCAD Tips

One new tip went up this month as well. Be sure to check out:

17) Importing & Creating Hatch/Brush Patterns

Visit Don Cheke’s TurboCAD Tips page for 17 free TurboCAD Tips.

TurboCad v. 18.1

TurboCad has been updated frequently during the past few years, leading to the current upgraded 18.1 version. This version saves drawing with a different file protocol to earlier versions, resulting in files made by earlier versions continuing to be read, but v.18 files cannot be read by earlier versions. There is however the facility to write files in v.17 format if required. If v.17 is running on a machine it alters the way that v.18 is loaded. Upgrades of CadCam and Animation Lab are available that function with v.18.1 so that there is no necessity to maintain v.17 on your machine when upgrading.

Users will notice the improved use of modern graphics cards, the rearrangement of icons on the toolbars and the changed content and order of the menus. As in earlier versions the desktop is customizable. The macro recorder and parametric parts editor remain as before and their documentation remains the same. Earlier parametric files of much used parts are still usable. IMSI documentation is appalling. A guide to using the parametric parts editor is found in the programming notes at www.illustratingshadows.com/stats-TurboCAD.html .

The major advance in v.18 is the embedding of a Ruby interpreter within the programme. This makes TurboCad an even more formidable piece of software than ever and is a reason to make this upgrade a ‘must have’ for TurboCad users. The Ruby interpreter enable the user to access all the variables in the programme and to control the writing of files. Unfortunately IMSI has once again failed to provide proper documentation or indications of how to use the facility. The following paragraphs relate my experiences during the few days that I have had the programme.

Ruby is a totally object-orientated interpreted scripting language of Japanese origin. Its structure is influenced by Perl, Lisp and Python. Autodesk developed a subset of Lisp for use with AutoCAD. Ruby is an open source programme which can be downloaded from ruby-lang.org together with its interactive prompt irb. Suggested books on the language are Beginning Ruby, from Novice to Professional, Peter Cooper, Apress and Programming Ruby 1.9, Dave Thomas, The Pragmatic Programmers.

Ruby is embedded in Sketchup. Sketchup can be downloaded from sketchup.google.com. The download has sample Ruby files to facilitate its use. It is clear from the IMSI documentation that Sketchup has been used in the development of the TurboCad version. TurboCad users should use Sketchup as a tutorial and are recommended www.autosketchup.com . The console in TurboCad is very similar to the one in Sketchup. When Sketchup loads it looks for Ruby files in the subdirectory /plugins. When TurboCad loads it looks for Ruby and loads files in the subdirectories /RubyEngine and /RubyScripts. If any of the Ruby files in these directories contain the following code then they will appear on the menu bar.

UI.menu(“New”).add_item(“TestCounters”){testCounters}

Details of the sample files will not appear on the menu bar if TurboCad v17 is running when TurboCad v.18 is loaded. The sample files can be used with the previously noted literature to comprehend how Ruby can be used with TurboCad. Further explanation and a programming guide will follow.

Stuart Harrison