Novato-based IMSI-Design, the software developer of the #1 best-selling CAD in retail, has announced this week the release of the all new TurboCAD version 9 Mac lineup, including: TurboCAD Mac Pro V9, TurboCAD Mac Deluxe 2D/3D V9, and the new TurboCAD Mac Design V9.
“The version 9 release is aimed both at traditional improvements in usability and performance, as well as areas of precision design such as 3D printing, enhanced visualization capabilities, and sophisticated 3D modeling tools that our customers are asking for,” says Bob Mayer, President and CEO of IMSI/Design
TurboCAD Mac V9 pays particular attention to enhancement areas such as 3D modeling, rendering and interoperability.
New 3D Modeling Features
TurboCAD Mac, which utilizes the Spatial ACIS modeling kernel at its core, boasts of several new features for precision 3D modeling, including a new Push/Pull tool which, although not considered a high-level advanced modeling tool is nonetheless a high-volume productivity feature. Other more detailed modeling improvements include:
- New Rip/Lip Feture — for the construction of a support with parameters for thickness and draft angle
- New Bridge Tool — connects to facet regions together for combining and merging facets, edges and vertices
- New Add Loop Tool — provides additional control over regions of a meshed part
- New Fill Hole Tool — adds triangles or quads to close an open hole
- New Cylinder Subdivision Primitive — added to the subdivided mesh tools to quickly smooth a quad mesh
New Suite of 3D Printing Tools
A very large area of new features in TurboCAD Mac V9 include a hosts of tools for precision 3D printing. These include tools that allow for checking parts prior to 3D printing to make sure they are viable models. This saves time and wasted effort in the 3D printing process itself.
01 – IMSI/Design’s new TurboCAD Mac v9 features many new precision modeling features and a bounty of new 3D printing features among other items.
There is a new Surface Normals Check feature that does what it says it does, performs an analysis of a part’s surface normal. A new Wall Thickness Tool confirms to make sure an area in a model doesn’t get too thin for 3D printing. Other tools include:
- New Overhang Analysis Tool
- New Preview Slices Tool — provides a user interface to slice models given a direction and thickness, to verify a part has closed, no overlapping sections, etc
- New Auto Position Tool
- New Support Structure Tool — that manually adds geometry to support material as it is created by the 3D printer
- New Show Printer Volume
- New Printer Definitions — a dialog box to set key parameters of the 3D printer
- New 14 Sample STL Files — for instant 3D printing
New Rendering and Presentation
The latest V9 TurboCAD Mac features a new special lighting effects, including Strip, Dome, and Area Lights for more photo-realistic rendering images.
Performance & Productivity Enhancements
IMSI/Design has added some interesting new features in the performance and productivity category, including a new Save for Review command which saves the current file to a new name while locking the layer list. There is a new Batch File Converter which can quickly process a variety of file formats into other file formats for interoperability.
A new and improved Gripper Tool helps to dynamically move, rotate, scale, duplicate, translate and face copy objects in 2D or 3D. And finally the new Navigator adds the ability to view your drawing by Sphere mode or by Step mode, independent of your drawing.
Availability and Pricing
The entire TurboCAD Mac V9 lineup is available now from the Apple Mac Store or www.TurboCAD.com. Pricing is:
- TurboCAD Mac Pro V9 — 499.99.USD
- TurboCAD Mac Deluxe 2D/3D — 129.99.USD
- TurboCAD Mac Designer 2D — 69.99.USD
For more information readers can visit www.TurboCAD.com.
Architosh Analysis
IMSI/Design’s newest update follows through on the Mac TurboCAD lineup’s strengths in mechanical CAD markets. Other than the Push/Pull tools there are slightly updates here that address AEC CAD workflows and that is likely quite okay as TurboCAD on the Mac has grown in popularity in other CAD areas. With a relative absence of high-quality mid to low-range mCAD products for the Mac platform, IMSI/Design has filled a growing void.a
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The list of 3D printing features is impressive and with TurboCAD’s always impressive interoperability with various CAD file formats users will have a flexible tool in which to work on models from various sources (there are large 3D parts libraries online) and then take them towards a 3d printing pipeline.
We also want to note that the quote above says that Bob Mayer is now President and CEO of IMSI/Design, a change in leadership has taken place at the leading retail CAD software maker that was apparently not made public, at least in any larger voice. Royal Farros was formerly CEO of IMSI/Design, while it should be noted that Bob Mayer has been its President for many years and a company co-founder dating back to 1983.