NOVATO, CA, Apr 24, 2023 – IMSI Design, a leading CAD software developer, announced the release of its TurboCAD 2023 line, including Platinum, Professional, Deluxe and Designer versions for Windows desktop PCs. The TurboCAD 2023 release is highlighted by the inclusion of a new Physical-Based Rendering (PBR) engine, TurboLux, included in all of the 2D/3D versions of the product line.
“The release of TurboCAD 2023 has a strong focus on visualization, 3D modeling and architectural enhancements, as well as integration with our new in-app Content Server that contains 100,000’s of parts to speed-up design,” stated Bob Mayer, president of IMSI Design. “We are excited to announce the release of TurboLux, a first of its kind Physical-Based Rendering engine now available in TurboCAD Deluxe, Professional and Platinum versions. The TurboLux rendering engine addition has taken TurboCAD’s visualization capabilities to a whole new level of photo realism. Both CPU and GPU rendering are incredibly fast, there’s hundreds of additional materials, and when coupled with the other 2D drawing, 3D modeling and interoperability enhancements, we know all of TurboCAD users will find 2023 a great new release,” added Mayer.
To view videos showcasing the product’s new and enhanced features, click here.
Key New and Improved features include:
Usability & Interface
- Update Thumbnails in Blocks Palette – A new option “Update Thumbnails” has been added to the local menu of the blocks in the blocks palette. Blocks Thumbnails can be updated in terms of rendering and views. All views list and rendering types with rendering modes are available in the Update Thumbnail dialog box.
- Blocks Palette – Block Preview – Block Preview option has been added to the Blocks Palette options. Now user can preview the block without inserting it into the drawing. Blocks can be previewed in all views and render modes.
- Isolate/Hide Tools – A new tool “Inverse Isolation” has been added to the Edit menu. Clicking this tool makes the hidden objects visible and vice versa. Previously, End Isolation tool remained activated even without using Hide/Isolate Tool. Now, End Isolation tools gets activated only if its pre-requisite tools are activated. Also, it is possible to show the hidden objects in Selection Information Palette in “All Drawing” mode.
- Clash Detection Tool – A new tool, “Clash Detection” has been added to the Tools menu. The purpose of this tool is to detect any clashes in the drawing with multiple entities. If any clash is detected, it prompts user to save the excel file where it stores details of all the clashes detected.
2D Drafting and Editing
- Find and Replace Text – A new Tool “Find and Replace Text” has been added to the Edit menu. User can find a specific text in the drawing and replace it with another word with one click. With a wide number of advanced search and text options, user can search for the specific text easily and replace it with less effort.
- Automatic Callouts – A new tool “Automatic Callouts” has been added to the Dimension menu in TurboCAD 2023. The purpose of this tool is to automatically add callouts (leader dimensions) to the drawing in just a few clicks. These callouts can be arranged in circular formation or along a polyline. After callouts are generated, a BOM table is created with callout details.
- Hidden Line removal for Block insertion – A new option “Remove Hidden Line” has been added to the Block insertion properties. On enabling this property, the removal of the hidden rows is applied to the block content. Two other properties, “Show Invisible Lines” and “Show Intersections”, become available on activating “Remove Hidden Line”.
- Drafting Object dimension improvement – A new property, “Show actual dimensions” has been added to the drafting object properties. This property gets enabled if drafting object has break lines. Previously, dimensions for a Drafting object with break lines used to be specified without taking into account the break line. For showing the actual size with no break lines, this property is checked.
- Join Polyline Tool – A new local menu item “Unmatched connections” has been added to the Join Polyline tool. This tool provides an ability to join polylines that do not have exact connections i.e., the ends of the adjacent polylines either have an intersection or a gap between them. On enabling the option, the maximum distance between the polylines in the Tolerance field need to be defined for connection.
- Exploded View – A new menu item “Exploded View” has been added to the Format menu. This tool creates exploded view for a layout. User is able to pull apart the component along defined axes, X, Y and Z. In case of two axes, then the exploded view will be created along a plane, whereas, in case of 3 axes defined, the exploded view will be created in a 3D space. As a result, a block of the view is created in the blocks palette.
3D Drawing, Modeling, and Editing
- Shell Tool Improvement – Shell tool has been improved for TurboCAD 2023. Previously, Shell tool used to create a thin-walled solid shell from a solid body, with the same offsets for all facets. Now, it has been improved to create a solid shell with different offsets for selected facets.
- Facet Offset Tool Improvement – Facet Offset tool has been improved for TurboCAD 2023. A new local menu item “specific Offset” has been added to the Facet Offset tool. This gives user a possibility to define specific offset for face.
- Updated ACIS Solid Modeling Engine – TurboCAD 2023 updates the underlying modeling engine providing improvements in the following areas:
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- Multithreading
- Booleans
- Constant and Variable Radius Blends
- Direct Face Operations
- Shelling
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Architectural Improvements
- Roof – New type of Cut Edge: Horizontal – New roof cut edge type, Horizontal, has been added to the roof properties page.
- Multi-Level Roof (Gambrel Roof) – New roof properties have been added to TurboCAD 2023. Now, every roof is a Gambrel roof with roof levels. Roof level has two properties, “Angle” and “Height”. User can edit levels, angle, and height. Gambrel roof properties can be accessed from properties page and selection Information palette.
- Unification of option names for all types of renders – The names of the menu items for all types of renders in ‘Program Setup’ and ‘Drawing Setup’ have been updated to the correct names. In Program Setup, ‘Visualize Preferences…’ has been updated to ‘Visualize Engine…’. In Drawing Setup, ‘RedSDK…’ has been updated to ‘RedSDK Scene…’, and ‘Visualize…’ has been renamed to ‘Visualize Scene…’.
Photorealistic Rendering and Visualization
- Dynamically Update Render Palettes after Native Draw Switching – TC2023 update render palettes dynamically after Native Draw Switching. Previously, application restart was required to update materials set in the palette after native draw switching. Now these changes are applied dynamically while switching in native draw. Also, scalable render engine icons have been added to the flyout palette.
- LightWorks Plug-in – TurboCAD 2023 now supports LightWorks plugin as an additional render mode option. LightWorks is activated using the IDRM via Install Shield custom action. The LightWorks Plug-in for TurboCAD Deluxe enhances the program’s lighting, luminance, and photorealistic rendering capabilities for more robust, high-powered renders. This plug-in integrates directly with the TurboCAD material editor and Desgin Director.
- Materials Database – A couple of new changes have been made to the Visualize materials database. Visualize root category and Visualize Material Settings have been added to the Render Manager. 743 new materials have been added to the materials database. Additionally, visualize render has been added to the render list in graphic Properties/Materials page.
- Luminance Support & “Use Luminance” option – Three types of visualize light shaders have been added to TurboCAD 2023, i.e., point, spot and directional.
- Environments Support – Four types of environment shaders have been added to Visualize in TurboCAD 2023. i.e., Plain, Image, Environment Map, and Gradient. Visualize root category has been added to the Render Manager.
- Light Support – Support for regular light sources has been added to TurboCAD 2023. The light types include Distant Light, Spot Light, and Point Light. New option “Use Lights” has been added to the “Visualize Scene” property page. This enables using drawing lights when switched on.
- New Visual Styles – New visualize visual styles, “Realistic”, “Gouraud”, “Sketchy”, and “Shaded” have been added to the render modes in the Camera Properties dialog box. Realistic visual style is for the most realistic rendering including lighting and shadows. Gouraud and Shaded are with the middle lighting quality, whereas, Sketchy is used to extend geometry edges during rendering.
File Support / Interoperability
- Professional Mechanical CAD File Translator Improvements – New and Updated version support includes:
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- IGES, STEP (updates)
- SAT/SAB (updates)
- CREO 8 (new version support)
- SolidWorks 2023 (new version support)
- Parasolid 35 (new version support)
- NX 1980 Series (new version support)
- CATIA v5-5 2023 (new version support)
- Solid Edge 2023 (new version support
- AutoCAD 2023 Support
- SketchUp 2023 Support
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For a more complete listing and descriptions of all of the new and improved features in TurboCAD 2023, please visit www.TurboCAD.com
Availability and Pricing
TurboCAD Platinum 2023 is now available for $1,499.99 USD for a full, permanent license, ($499.99/year for an annual subscription), TurboCAD Professional for $999.99 ($399.99/year for an annual subscription), TurboCAD Deluxe for $249.99, and TurboCAD Designer for $69.99.
For more information, download a 15-day trial, or to upgrade online, please visit www.TurboCAD.com.
About IMSI Design
IMSI Design is a global leader in mechanical and architectural CAD and a pioneer in mobile solutions for the AEC (architectural, engineering, and construction) industry. With over 16 million products distributed since 1988, IMSI Design products include the award-winning TurboCAD, DesignCAD, TurboFloorPlan, TurboViewer, TurboReview, and TurboSite families of precision design applications for desktop and mobile.
Please visit www.TurboCAD.com or www.IMSIDesign.com for more information.