Animation Lab is a plug-in for TurboCAD that does exactly what you’d expect. It comes in a DVD box with the manual as a printable PDF file on the disk.

I’ve played around with it and easily managed to make boxes fly around, a bit out of control, but it looks like it would not be too difficult to get the hang of it. Unfortunatly there are no video tutorials as yet.

It describes the movements of the objects as the ‘scenario’ i.e. the sequence of events going on in your drawing. In order to create a scenario for your drawing, you need to define which elements of the drawing will be changed, how these changes will take place and at which moment in time.

You need to enter in the list of actors, i.e. the moving parts, each element of the drawing which is going to change according to the scenario. You can define the ‘part’ of an actor – a set of commands that describe its behavior on each step of the scenario.

The actor’s ‘part’ is stored in the TurboCAD object, and it stays with the object when it is modified or copied, as well as when the drawing is saved in a TCW file.

Examples of drawings done using Animation Lab can be found by clicking here.

As well as helping TurboCAD users solve practical drawing problems, I’m sometimes asked if I know trusted CAD Professionals that can undertake special jobs, either as one-offs, or as a resource that companies can use on a regular basis when they’ve got more work on than they can manage. These can range from simple Drafting Projects in 2D in either the areas of architecture or engineering to more complicated modelling in 3D.

Others, who have migrated from Solid Works or AutoCAD to TurboCAD may just need some initial help. Often all they need is someone to go and work with them on a project for a day or two. Swapping between DWG and DXF formats sometimes can be problematic, especially as so many CAD professionals seem to waver from the true path.

I have a small trusted team of TurboCAD Professionals that I refer these requests to, but I’m always open to expand the group and very interested to know more experts in specialist fields, especially you are north of Birmingham, in Ireland or Scotland.

I’d also like to meet a professional using TurboCAD Mac in whatever field.

So if you are a TurboCAD professional with an expertise in any area, I’d like to hear from you and see your work.