Looking for advice on CAD – Turbo CAD or SketchUp?
Quickstep
| Posted in General Discussion on
I just got a Mac and I’m eager to try my hand at using a CAD program to draw cabinets. I really only want to be able to draw 2D plans with dimensions. Being able to see a 3D rendering would be a bonus, but not a necessity. I’ve tried SketchUp a few times and found that the many many features made it feel like i had to learn more than I wanted to be able to perform the simple tasks I want to do (I’m impatient). Apple has an application called TurboCad and I was wondering if anyone has experience with it compared to SketchUp.
Replies
try it
See if you can get a trial version of TurboCad, so you can give it a try and make your own comparison to SketchUp. An application that is "intuitive" to one person can be completely confusing to another.
For SketchUp, consider:
http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore/item/sketchup-guide-for-woodworkers-tim-killen-ebook-077846.html
Cad
Turbo cad should work fine for you. Check Ebay for the best prices.
2-d, 3D
For years we have used a mac based drafting program called PowerCadd by Engineered Software which you can find at engsw.com. I was told years ago that it was one of the best if not the best drafting program for the Mac. It is however only 2-d. That said it is wonderful at what it does and has one of the best translators around to go to a dwg file type that you can import into Sketch-up. The company has a wonderful user group that is responsive and helpful. If you go with PowerCadd you will probably need the Wildtools add-on, which is a very refined modification and expansion of the tools.
I don't think for most furniture builders (or most of us) there is a much better 3-d program than Sketch-up. There is a free version that is really quite powerful. It is the only 3-d program I've tried that I could actually use. You will need to go through their tutorials to be able to use it.
There is also a user group for Turbo-Cad. You could probably find them and ask there what they think. And there are a number of cadd packages for the Mac including AutoCad once again if you can afford the cost. Good luck. none of these programs, despite what they claim is intuitive and will take a while to master. Good luck
Peter
I used a house design product years ago called 3D Home Architect. It was really simple to use and only cost about $20. It's 3D renderings were a little cartoon like, but more than adequate for my needs. I'd love to find a similar product for cabinet design.
Sketchup vs Turbo Cad
I have no experience with Turbo Cad. What I did invest in, was the free version of Sketchup, and took a half day class at a local W__DC___T store. It greatly accelerated my ascent up the learning curve, and probably equalled what I would have invested just to buy a number of other programs. Food for thought. Good luck!
A last thought
Turbocadd has a free trial version for 30 days. If you buy it is only $90.00, a tenth of the price of PowerCadd and a 50th the cost of AutoCadd.
I would suggest that you need to identify what you need the cadd package for. Are you producing "shop drawings," for review by others, or simple drawings for yourself. If you are just doing what you learned in shop class for yourself, I'd skip the drafting packages and tackle Sketchup.
Still it is nice to have have those front, side and back elevations dimensioned every which way, when you go to make them. That's easier to produce in a 2D cadd package than 3D program. On the other hand Sketch-up sure lets you see what it will look like better than a flat image. Using it you can avoid some nasty surprises.
Peter
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