The complete review will walk the reader through some history, product introduction, basic orientation and learning, new features in version 2016, and finally comparative information as it relates to Autodesk’s AutoCAD itself.

Astute readers will note that Architosh has a longstanding tradition of deliberately not discussing much if anything about competitor products inside of product reviews. We have done this deliberately to focus reader attention on what a product’s features do, are capable of, and not to enter the nebulous area of making superior/inferior distinctions between rival products. There is enough banter on the internet coming out of product-centric blogs, product fan sites, et cetera, and we need not go there.

Clone Wars

However, the decision has been made to treat products like ARES Commander as members of a unique “group,” along with AutoCAD itself, and thus do make key distinctions and comparisons inside of reviews of these products. At the very least, it is helpful to relate these products to each other because they are remarkably similar. This means too, that in future AutoCAD on Mac reviews we will make comparisons to the DWG competitors or what some others have called clones of AutoCAD.¹ Thus, the reader will find comparative commentary on ARES 2016 at the end of this review.

Some Brief History

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Graebert’s CEO and founder, Wilfried Graebert, when I was at the Graebert Annual Meeting event back in October, (see, Architosh, “Graebert Annual Meeting—ARES Breaks Down Walls in CAD,” 19 Oct 2015.) He gave me a brief run-down on the company’s history. Graebert has been in the business of selling and supporting CAD for over 30 years and was a valuable Autodesk reseller in Germany, helping to spread AutoCAD throughout German industry.

01 – Graebert ARES Commander 2016 shown here on Mac OS X. The user-interface is fully OS X native and there are ways to customize it. Note the Command Line palette below.

In the early 1990’s Graebert developed its own CAD software, called FelixCAD (later rebranded PowerCAD, not to be confused with the Mac-only PowerCADD). FelixCAD was not DWG based, nor was it aimed at being like AutoCAD. In 2010 the company spawned the ARES era with a brand new CAD engine behind it.²  And yes, it is DWG native. In fact, ARES Commander was the first CAD tool utilizing the DWG libraries from the Open Design Alliance (ODA) that used the format (.dwg) as its native file format, without any conversion layer. For those interested in Graebert more densely, we have a feature on the Annual Meeting event from Berlin.

Introduction to ARES Commander

“ARES Commander,” the latest version being 2016, is the name given to Graebert’s own international product offering; however, the company packages this entire CAD application and code base and licenses it to OEM’s (original equipment manufacturers) in the CAD industry. In the later years of the last decade, and prior to Autodesk releasing the Mac version of AutoCAD, Graebert begun discussions with key industry licensees, including Corel Corporation of Canada and Dassault Systèmes of France.

As such, today’s CorelCAD and DraftSight (from Corel and Dassault, respectively) are OEM-based versions of ARES Commander, with minor developer modifications to reflect, and relate to, those two company’s product lines and missions.

User Interface

The ARES Commander 2016 for Mac user-inteface (UI) embodies the older AutoCAD format UI prior to the advent and use of the Microsoft Ribbon-Style UI common now across many Windows-based CAD programs. (image 01 – 02) This means the primary Tool palette is on the left and the Properties palette is on the right, with the Command Line palette on the bottom. This should all feel instantly familiar to both veteran Mac CAD users as well as AutoCAD users.

02 – Individual toolbars can be free arranged in the ARES UI.

03 – A classic Mac mode UI option separates UI elements (non-docking).

04 – SDI mode is the preferred way as palettes dock smartly with the window.

Most of the UI is quite customizable. The Tools Palette can be altered and re-arranged with individual toolbars dragged off into the graphics window, where they free float over everything, or placed above the graphics window where they can lock into the UI arrangement. The Window menu Switch UI command enables the user to toggle between a classic Mac mode or the default SDI model for smart dock-able palettes. (images 02 – 04)

The Ribbon UI format exist in the Windows version of ARES Commander 2016 and it isn’t an option on the Mac. Most Mac CAD users will not care that the Microsoft Ribbon UI is unfamiliar to them and somewhat counter-intuitive to Apple’s longest standing UI standards.

Orientation and Help

AutoCAD users will instantly orient themselves around the program quickly. Like AutoCAD each drawing loads into its own window with tabs across the bottom to navigate back and forth between “model space” and initial “paper space” layouts. Right-clicking on these tabs will enable adding, deleting, editing or other functions related to model and paper space, including printing functions. (see image 05)

05 – Right-clicking on tabs for model and paper space.

ARES Commander has always had a command line structure and longtime AutoCAD users who steadfastly rely on the Command Line interface will be right at home with ARES Commander 2016. Most commands are identical to AutoCAD, though reportedly a limited few vary.

For new users, especially those in the Mac side of the CAD world, unfamiliar with either AutoCAD or systems with Command Lines or both, the best place to start with ARES Commander 2016 is to open up the Help system.

Like any standard help system, this one contains a Home, Context and Index page and from each one can navigate learning about ARES 2016. For those experienced with DWG based CAD systems, and especially those experienced with using Command Line entries, the Help system is also helpful as a quick path to the complete Command Reference.

The first weakness that shows up in ARES Commander 2016 is actually in the Help system. There is no tutorial section for new users. The “Getting Started” section simply tells new users things like this:

“To create a drawing, Click File > New.”

“To open an existing drawing, Click File > Open.”

This “Getting Started” section is too basic and incomplete. A true tutorial would be a more “step-by-step” guide to actually doing something fundamental and task related, like creating your first drawing of a basic mechanical part or simple site plan for a building.

The Command Line Newbies

For those who are totally new to CAD systems with Command Lines—which is likely going to be a lot of CAD users if they are rather young or have been long-time users of popular solutions on the Mac platform— having a Command Line around in their CAD system is going to feel weird. So why not an example?

To get a quick taste of Command Line power, make sure the Command Line palette is actually visible by going to the menu Window > Palettes > Command window.

06 – This image focuses on the Command Line, which is powerful and handy but new to most Mac CAD veterans.

The first step is to locate the cursor in the bottom left row of the Command window. Then type the word Grid (ignore caps, as it doesn’t matter and are used with command line shortcuts for legibility and understanding). For example, you can type “grid” in all lower case, all caps, or a mix, it won’t matter.

Type the word “grid” into the Command window and hit the return key. Options will appear in BLUE. The underline segment is the next command line option (e.g.: Off or ON). Type the word “on” and hit the return key. Now a grid array will appear. (see image 06 above).

next page: New Features in Version 2016

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Any veteran Architosh reader knows that this site can talk the “kernel” talk like no other. Take a look at our extensive coverage of the new Vulkan graphics API and you will see that getting to the technology behind the technology matters to us. And it should to you as well if you are in the market for software in the CAD industry.

Key Modeling and ACIS Improvements

Since a major set of features in the latest TurboCAD Mac Pro involve the incorporation of the Spatial ACIS release 24, we can start our review there.  For readers who are totally new to TurboCAD Mac products, our last review includes a bit of an introduction to how the program works. (for learning purposes…).

Back in 2013, TurboCAD Mac Pro was powered by Spatial ACIS R 22. Now in version 24 of the modeling kernel (aka: engine), TurboCAD Mac Pro gains many new advantages. The chief one among these is that TurboCAD Mac Pro 8 is now fully 64-bit. ACIS R24 itself introduced new 64-bit binaries for its Mac version and in the process deprecated the 32-bit version for the platform. Another big change related to overall performance of the latest TurboCAD Mac Pro 8 is that ACIS R24 delivers binaries for the Mac platform that are thread safe. This applies to multi-threaded operations—using more cores or processors on your Mac.

You may be curious to know what is meant by “thread safe” as it relates to ACIS R24 and its explanation bears value on this review. In a nutshell, the tricky business of using “multi-threading” in code development is making sure that individual threads do not compete for shared resources such as shared memory. When two threads write concurrently to the same shared memory resource problems can occur. Thread management is an important aspect of “multithreading” and the overall effectiveness of utilizing the latest CPU processors with many cores.

Core ACIS R24 Benefits 

There are several new modeling features that come about because of ACIS R24 in version 8, but before we get to those we should summarize the core benefits as well.

• New fully 64-bit only (TurboCAD Mac Pro 8 requires 64-bit native OS X machines)
• Thread safe multi-threading
• Faster load, process and render of larger models and assemblies (directly relates to multi-threading notes above)
• 2.3 GB model limits have now been lifted to working with models of any size (only limited by on-board memory within your Mac system)
• Some boolean operations operate up to 60 percent faster (Spatia’s data)
• New and enhancements to Meshes
• Faster file saves, especially with larger models

On the second to last point about Meshes, TurboCAD Mac Pro version 8 now features new Quad mesh and Subdivision modeling tools. Let’s look at those next.

New Quad Mesh Tools

New in TurboCAD Mac Pro 8 are Quad Mesh modeling tools. Quad meshes, versus triangular meshes, offer other types of benefits, including the use of ring or loop selection tools in other 3D software programs. They are also useful for UV mapping.

01 – New quad mesh tools in TurboCAD Mac Pro 8, with new subdivision tool highlighted.

In TurboCAD Mac Pro 8 a range of Quad mesh tools are available, including a mesh surface, mesh sphere, mesh block, mesh torus and, importantly, mesh skin. There are also mesh extrude, where you can extrude an arc, for example, and mesh lathe and mesh cover. The last tool on this palette is the subdivision tool. (see image 01 far tool on right)

With a mesh block, for example, the user creates the x, y and z dimensions of the basic block. A block mesh is made up of six quad mesh faces, each with its own grid blocks based on #X, #Y and #Z numeric input fields. Those fields can be edited before or after the mesh block is created.

The subdivision tool then enables the user to specify the level of mesh subdivisions, adding vertices and surfaces (quads), to surfaces to increase smoothness. Two choices for SubD’s include Faceted and Catmull-Clark method. Faceted smooths the mesh by subdividing the quads incrementally by three faces. Catmull-Clark is an algorithm that subdivides the existing faces and edges to smooth the quads.

02 – A basic box quad mesh with numerical input fields shown above.

03 – With the subdivision tool quads can be “smoothed” using faces or Clark-Catmull method.

When working with the new quad mesh tools and using subdivision, the user can control-click (left click) to bring up a context menu with numerous options, among them Show Subdivision. The result is a red colored subdivision surface grid showing the smaller faces generated by either of the two subdivision methods (Catmull-Clark or Faceted). (see image 04 below).

04 – quad mesh subdivision based model of a spoon.

Importantly, while quad meshes enable complex smoothed shapes, they start essentially from one object type that is manipulated using the Gripper tools to pull discreet parts (faces) of the overall subdivision surface. From this process it is possible to create just about any smooth-bodied object, from a teaspoon to a concept for an atomic force space craft. (see next series of images – 05 – 06)

05 – Using a series of operations that edit individual mesh segments (scale, move, rotate) on a SubD model one can develop all kinds of forms.

06 – The same model of a concept for a space craft shown in lit OpenGL surfaces.

In our final space ship model concepts you can see that surface formation is rather infinite in possibilities. In terms of degree of subdivisions possible, the limit we ran into is four (4) levels of smoothness.  This is not a limitation of the Catmull-Clark algorithm, but perhaps a limit set by IMSI-Design itself within the framework of the ACIS R24 modeling engine.

next page: More Modeling and Woodworking Tools

The post Product Review: IMSI Design TurboCAD Mac Pro 8 appeared first on Architosh.

As it turns out, Altair Corporation has some of the world’s leading multi-physics CAE software technology, deployed via an open-architecture, cross-platform set of solutions. HyperWorks, now at version 13, is the hub product of those solutions and runs on Windows and Mac and features a series of “solver” solutions. One of the key solver solutions is OptiStruct, an award-winning conceptual design and structural optimization technology. It’s this technology that is closely tied to the unique features of solidThinking Inspire 2014.

Introduction

When we originally set out to review this product the aim was to focus specifically on the exploratory architectural aspects of its use. However, as luck would have it, our review grew too large. Therefore, we decided to publish a general review with a companion special feature article on the use of Inspire 2014 for generative and conceptual architectural and civil design. (article coming in a few days). It’s important to expand the notion of this tool beyond architecture. As you will see, both here and in the special companion article, Inspire has wide applicability to structures of all types.

This review will contain three main parts. Part 1 will detail the features that are new to solidThinking Inspire 2014 and cover the general workflow within the program. Part 2 will then take the reader through some sample problems to familiarize the reader with the nature of the program. Finally, Part 3 will briefly touch on the architectural aspects of the program and offer conclusions. The companion feature will delver deeper into the architectural nature of the program through case studies of how to use Inspire 2014 to ideate, to generate inspiration, and even to solve particular real-life workflow challenges.

Part 1: New in Inspire 2014 and General Workflow

solidThinking Inspire 2014 gained more power in this release in the areas of computational analysis germane to the nature of the program. More specifically, more solver technology is onboard Inspire 2014 than in previous versions. Here is a brief run-down:

• Linear Static Analysis — You can now run linear static and “normal modes analysis” on your model. Architects will be familiar with the concept of linear static analysis on structures but normal modes analysis is less familiar to them.
• Geometry Simplification Tools — Less important for architects than mechanical and industrial designers, these new Simplify/Patch tools help clean-up areas in the geometry prior to establishing the key “design space” required for the analysis and mass optimization. With it you can remove holes, rounds, fillets, et cetera.
• Concentrated mass parts — are used to account for the mass of a part when running an optimization using frequency constraints or when analyzing for normal modes.
• Smoothing options — used for smoothing the optimized mass in preparation to sending it out to other programs for refinement modeling and design.

A significant change in Inspire 2014 is that you can now make new parts from solids. Coming from more of the architectural world, this author found this tool quite familiar and different at the same time. The push/pull modeling tools in Inspire 2014 are really quite nice. And they work particularly well in conjunction with the way in which one orbits, pans and zooms the model. (see image 01)

01 – Inspire 2014’s Push-Pull tools have a nice feel and features for accuracy, affordances, and ease-of-use.

It won’t be possible to create very complex massing models for your parts in Inspire 2014 and that’s actually a good thing. It turns out that when it comes time to optimizing parts and structures for minimizing mass, the “design space,” which you use and we’ll discuss in a minute, benefits from simplicity. It may be common for users to struggle with this general idea, perhaps more so if they are in the architectural world as this author is. What happens when parts are too complex is that the optimizations either fail or simply take too long to run.

There are definitely cases where particular shapes, that are not necessarily too complex to be good candidate “design spaces,” will need to be generated in other CAD software. This is fine. We brought in several test models. Inspire can bring in models from all the major MCAD players and also open industry standards like IGES as well as geometry kernel file types such as ACIS and Parasolid. This means architectural tools are also very well suited to sending models to Inspire 2014.

In fact, this is why there are the geometry simplification tools. If you have designed a part prior and now want to see how to evolve that design part so that you can reduce its weight while making it stronger, simply bring that model into Inspire 2014 and clean it up using the geometry simplification tools.

General Workflow

Before we launch into explaining how one works in Inspire a quick word or two about the program’s general environment is due. solidThinking Inspire 2014 doesn’t share the same UI as solidThinking Evolve, another program we have recently produced a feature on. For those who have read our feature on Evolve you may notice this immediately from the screenshots below.

MORE: solidThinking Evolve for Architectural Design Modeling – Part 1

Inspire’s technology, while related to solidThinking Evolve, was fully developed by Altair Engineering. The two products share the same “solidThinking” brand name but their program origins are quite different. And so are their user-interfaces. I bring up solidThinking Evolve because it is germane to the discussion of the workflow in Inspire.

02 – Inspire 2014’s user-interface, toolbar at top features intuitive icons, with property editor to the left where edits can be input on values. A sample beam problem is shown above.

The general idea is that a product or industrial designer would sketch out ideas and bring those rough ideas into Inspire. Knowing how the product is meant to function and what forces it must deal with, including gravity, the part or product would go through a mass optimization process whereby Inspire generates an “optimized mass” and often organic-looking revised part. This more organic result is meant to inspire the designer and not necessarily be taken literally. Rough structural analysis of the part or product can be run in Inspire, further informing the designer and his or her process. That specific information can be shared with product engineering or in the case of civil or architectural design with a civil or structural engineer.

With engineering input, a further iteration may take place again through Inspire or the resultant work may move onto another program for further evolution, such as solidThinking Evolve. This is the general Inspire workflow.

next page: Part 2: Sample Problems and Workflow

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Learning TurboCAD Mac Pro

We always emphasize here at Architosh the importance of ease-of-use. As we have noted in the past, this is because we feel dramatic ease-of-use and scalable ease-of-learning (something we are going to coin here as SEOL) are essential features of Apple’s ethos…even before the legendary Mac. Apple was always good from the beginning at helping users into computing and providing learning that scaled gracefully. If you owned or used any Apple computers from the Apple II onward and into the 80’s you will know doubt know what we are referring to.

Let’s be more specific. Scalable ease-of-learning (SEOL) involves things that are analogous to “training wheels” on a bike. The software provides the user with aids which can either be ignored later or turned off entirely. Some popular examples we see in many tools include things like help bubbles which can be turned on or off. IMSI’s TurboCAD Mac Pro includes audible prompts, which are actually helpful if you’d rather focus your eye on what you are doing (under cursor) than look at the property bar for next-step guidance. (see image 01)

01 – Audio prompts in TurboCAD Pro Mac 7 are not new but a useful learning option. We also like that in this program we can decide which background color we utilize (white is the default) for our model space. Other preference options include reverse mouse wheel zoom, use small palette icons, dialog collapse delay for expand and collapse timing, resolutions for display of object line thickness by element type, aerospace standard for view definitions, etc.

We also are happy to see a complete series of QuickTime instruction and guide videos all accessible from the Help menu. There are actually thirteen videos built into the app that cover various topics and at least one complete tutorial video (the Goblet tutorial). We draw our own goblet below as part of our review testing.

02 – The Tip of the Day is another learning aid in TurboCAD Mac Pro 7 that allows a scalable learning option.

There is a complete electronic user guide, which is fairly complete and well written. There is also a “tip of the day” feature that is very nice, which can be shown at startup. You can quickly toggle through these quick tips or close the Tip of the Day palette with one button, as well as not make it show up at startup again. (see image 02) Lastly, one final new feature in the area of learning and help is the new Context Sensitive help system. Hit F-1 after putting the cursor over any tool and the guide section for that tool opens right up.

New Drawing Wizard and DWG Paper Space and Model Space

Version 7 includes a New Drawing Wizard from the File menu that helps you setup your drawings. You can select Custom Drawing or 2D Templates. When you choose the former you proceed to setup items like units, print paper size, orientation, drawing scale, annotation settings, dimension formats (eg: ANSI), etc. If you choose from 2D templates you get a pre-formatted title block. If you choose the latter you must finish your title block or bring in another from a different file. (see image 03 below).

03 – The New File Wizard helps users setup drawing files easier.

04 – Another major change in version 7 is the new DWG Paper Space and Modeling Space capabilities.

One of the biggest changes in TurboCAD Mac Pro 7 is the new DWG Paper Space and Model Space capabilities. All major leading CAD and MCAD systems that are not owned by Autodesk, have largely already implemented this ability in their own programs to better support the import and export (but more so the former) of native AutoCAD files. In addition, this paper-space/model-space paradigm forces the use of what is commonly known in the industry as a “Viewport.” And a “Viewport” is a vital concept behind BIM (Building Information Modeling).

One of the unique features of this program is that you can open a DWG (AutoCAD file) that is a 3D file and it will automatically create a 2D paperspace setup complete with side and top views. Or you can optionally open it up directly into model space as a 3D object. (see image 04)

This feature doesn’t just apply to the importation of AutoCAD files. Native TurboCAD Mac Pro 7 files have this feature too. This means you can model away in 3D and then auto-generate drawing sheets using the new Model to Sheet tool. This tool works very well and with experience and practice one can quickly setup drawing sheets.

next page: Modeling – What’s New

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One of the nice things about AutoCAD for Mac 2013 is that it can play nice in a mixed AutoCAD setting. The program supports both network and standalone licensing as well as cross-platform licensing. This makes it easy for IT and CAD managers to try to mix in a blend of Mac-based AutoCAD workstations into a design or engineering studio. Of course, while other Windows-only issues may still prevail, the licensing simplification is a headache eliminated.

What’s In – What’s Still Not

Before we head into taking a more detailed look at AutoCAD for Mac 2013, we should scan various other features that are not supported in the Mac version of AutoCAD yet. Let’s start with customization. AutoCAD for Mac 2013 doesn’t support many areas of customization that are typical to the Windows version. The argument here is Mac users, by-and-large, don’t care about such things and are more than happy with or even desire the pre-packaging and control that typically comes with Apple’s platforms, (see, “Autocad’s Fateful Return to the Mac–The Full Story,” Architosh, 17 Dec 2010).

Interestingly, Autodesk list Ribbon Customization as a feature that the Mac does not have. That’s quite okay with us Mac CAD and 3D users–as Apple users we don’t tend to think much of Microsoft’s user-interface creations and we are well aware of the debacle associated with the adoption of the MS Ribbon user-interface feature in many a CAD application.

While AutoCAD for Mac 2013 supports CUI files, Command Aliases, ObjectARX and LISP, it doesn’t support some customization features which end users and third-party developers may wish to have. For instance, users cannot do things like password protect drawings or digital signatures. There is no workspaces and CAD standards tools. Perhaps in later versions some of these items will make their way over.

Workflow connectivity is decently robust in AutoCAD for Mac 2013 with key items like SAT import and export and Autodesk WS and 360 Connectivity. Because many landscape architects, architects and civil engineering professionals use Microstation it would be nice to see DGN underlay support added like it exist in Windows. Another missing key piece of interoperability is AutoCAD FBX.

What’s New and Cool in 2013

There are a lot of new features in AutoCAD for Mac 2013 and most follow along what is new on the Windows version. This is equally true of the most important new features. For example Context Sensitive PressPull is a new capability with modeling and is common to both platforms. On the other hand, sometimes a new feature actually debuted on the Mac version, like Surface Curve Extraction, which is only new to AutoCAD 2013 for Windows this year as it was present in the 2012 version on the Mac.

Context Sensitive PressPull

We think the new Context Sensitive PressPull features are cool updates and so let’s review them here a bit in detail. A new feature is the Control key modification of a pull or push surface at an angle associated with a shape. The default function of the presspull tool extrudes a face straight out; the control-key option pulls the face in offset mode relative to another angle. (see comparison in the images below, images 01 – 02). And further updates to the presspull tool allow it to act on open 2D shapes like a spline.

01 – The context-sensitive presspull tool has new options. You can pull faces parallel to themselves (normal mode) as shown.

02 – The presspull tool has a new option to pull faces out in relation to an angled face on the object, as seen in this image as compared to the previous view.

New Project Manager

While not as interesting from a design perspective as the modeling improvements noted above, the Project Manager (or Sheet Set Manager) is an important big new feature.

03 – New in AutoCAD 2013 for Mac is the Project Manager palette.

04 – Creating a new “way finding” layout group using the Project Manager.

05 – The new Way Finding layout group.

For those new to AutoCAD on any platform, a Project in AutoCAD is an organized collection of layouts from several drawing files. Another term in this program for a Project is a Sheet Set. Same thing. As we all know, sets of drawings are the primary deliverable from architects and engineers and managing these sets of drawings at the CAD-organization level can be complicated and tedious. Autodesk’s new Project Manager palette (see images 03 – 05) allows you to create a project from scratch or use an existing project to define properties.

From the main Project Manager palette you can open up recently opened projects, create new projects, create new groups and layouts, associate files and layouts with a particular project and eliminate items as well. You can also publish your projects (sheet sets) in addition to use the Project Manager palette to locate and reveal files (in the Finder) used in layouts and sets. In our example project, named “New_2013_test,” we added a Way Finding group and created a new file and layout based on standard templates. (see images 04 – 05).

Key to this review of AutoCAD for Mac 2013, it is important to note that one can use the Projects feature in a multiple operating system environment. For all releases of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT that support the Sheet Set Manager on Windows and AutoCAD for Mac that support the new Project Manager on OS X, a multi-platform environment can be fully configured in an office, utilizing the benefits of Projects to orchestrate team work. The Project (DST) file that gets created is an XML-based file which allows files to be used between both platforms. The one key ingredient is to make sure all drawing files (DWGs) referenced by the layouts in the Project Manager (Sheet Set Manager on Windows) are located in a network location (i.e.: server) that is accessible to both Windows and Mac OS X. A Mac OS X Lion Server would be ideal since OS X Server fully supports mixed operating systems.

Next page: PDF Underlayment Feature and more

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After reviewing TurboViewer 2.0, our previous view that Farros was already speaking our language, was further confirmed. It is not just that he is making a bold prediction about the impact of a game-changing device–anyone can do that! But rather that IMSI/Design is clearly showing what they mean by “inflection point” in the CAD industry.

The Key is Immediacy

On a personal note, I’ve been toting around an Apple iPad 2 since it came out. I couldn’t wait to use it as a tool for practicing architecture. I was very excited about what I could possibly do out in the field and what older processes could be replaced by this new tool. I was particularly interested in “speeding up” work flow processes that normally were tied down to limitations in the field or repetition back at the office or both. But here is what I learned: if the new process on the iPad isn’t fast enough to keep up with the old analog process, it doesn’t matter all that much if you are speeding up workflows downstream.

Let me explain it more clearly. Say you typically take field meeting notes on a pad of paper. Then you type up those notes back at the office. Say you often sketch up details and ideas for the client or the contractor as part of those notes on paper. Now you have an iPad. And you want to do all this work directly in the field and not burden yourself with the conversion from analog to digital back at the office. In theory, you should save time. But here is the rub. If the process on the iPad is anywhere more than 25 percent slower than the old analog process, you will not find the reward you are looking for. And if the process needs to keep pace with the flow of meetings, then it must be just as fast as analog or faster.

As it turns out, not a lot of iOS apps for AEC professionals meet this criteria yet. They offer streamlining by “everywhere access” and elimination of “double data entry” back at the office, but if you can’t keep up with others or an existing workflow it doesn’t matter how great the tool is–eventually you will stop using it.

Why TurboViewer Pro Succeeds

Given that criteria then, the reason why TurboViewer and TurboViewer Pro succeed as top notch tools in the new mobile app space is this: They are simple viewers that provide the market with CAD file viewing needs that normally have been served with mobile laptops. But they exceed laptops because they view the data faster, provide easier mobility, and also provide unique “one-of-a-kind” viewing experiences.

01 – Pixar’s Wall-E robot is the star of this CAD file. The Views menu is shown in TurboViewer Pro 2.0. Selecting a view choice switches to that saved view.

Let’s start with the uniqueness factor. With TurboViewer and its Pro sister app you have the power to spin 3D models around effortlessly with your finger tip. It is like having the object in your hand. The combination of Apple’s Multi-touch user-interface and CAD/3D is wonderful when it is delivered this smoothly. And it is very smooth! Take the Wall-E.dwg file shown in the image above. (see image 01). TurboViewer Pro gives you an excellent Views menu with easy to understand icons and viewing options. It is so easy to reach out and touch the object on the screen and start spinning little Wall-E around.

If you get to where you have lost control and spun the model around in a way you don’t like (sometimes that can happen) you simply re-choose a typical view from the Views menu. (image 01) From there you have the option of axon, and all the various sides of an object. And with the Pro version you get Perspective options as well, giving you preconfigured lens starting at 28mm Landscape mode up to 50mm Object mode. (see image 03)

02 – Visual styles are available and the Pro version features X-ray mode, which is very useful for architecture urban design model files. You also have Perspective as an option.

03 – In the Pro version you have “Perspective” in addition to side and axon views. Camera options are available, including Custom.

Other unique things that are not so easy to do in a CAD application on a laptop are the simple way you can switch to various visual styles. You can easily toggle between line view, hidden line view, X-ray mode, shaded openGL and more. The X-ray mode is particularly cool for buildings; SketchUp users in particular with be at home with this viewing method. (see images 02)

next page: Other Details & Closing Comments

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