TurboCAD Pro Platinum is comprehensive, professional architectural and mechanical CAD software for drafting, detailing, and modeling. Robust, powerful tools provide greater control and flexibility. Advanced mechanical tools include parametric control over parts, 2D and 3D symbols, patterns, and constrained arrays. TurboCAD Pro Platinum also includes an integrated suite of architectural tools that are AutoCAD® Architecture compatible. These tools include compound walls, doors and windows with muntins, slabs, roofs, stairs, rails, schedules, and powerful section and elevation tools. Because of the breadth of mechanical and architectural tools, the Platinum Edition also is perfectly flexible for users whose projects cross disciplines.
In TurboCAD Pro you will find many of the most advanced technologies in the industry: 3D ACIS® Modeler from Spatial, Siemens PLM Software division’s D-Cubed 2D DCM constraint manager, the Redsdk drawing engine for GPU-accelerated 2D and Wireframe display modes from Redway3d®, and LightWorks photorealistic and non-photorealistic artistic rendering capabilities from Lightwork Design.
The Platinum product includes all of the advanced features necessary for both architectural design and more specific mechanical design tasks. In prior years the TurboCAD product series included specific Mechanical and Architectural Editions. With the release of version 17, we have combined those advanced features into a single product — Platinum, as many of these tools' capabilities were applicable to a variety of tasks.
Because of the breadth of mechanical and architectural tools, the Platinum Edition also is perfectly flexible for users whose projects cross disciplines:
- Designer-builders and Contractors
- Electricians and Plumbers
- Sturctural and HVAC Engineers
- Plant Designers
- and more!
TurboCAD Pro Platinum functionality can of course be extended through one of the many plug-ins for TurboCAD such as Animation Lab, CAM, Furniture Maker, or the Beam Analysis Tool. In addition, there is a Software Developers' Kit (SDK) for TurboCAD Pro to allow you to create your own tools and customize behaviors.
Please click here for a feature comparison between TurboCAD Professional v17 and Platinum v17
- Easy to use Quick Pull tool
- Advanced Pattern Constraints
- History enabled editing of ACIS objects
- Numerous parametrically controlled modifiers
- Advanced Parametric Parts, and parametric symbols including the Weld Tool, Adhesive Tool, and newly updated Geometric Tolerance Tool
- Comprehensive door and window styles, now with Window Muntins
- Parametric Stairs, and enhanced Rails and Rail Styles
- New x,y,z data input in the Terrain Tool
- and so much more
Architecture Tools: TurboCAD® Pro Platinum includes an integrated suite of architectural tools that accelerate productivity in design, documentation, and drafting of architectural models. The TurboCAD AEC objects are AutoCAD® Architecture (ACA) compatible so that .DWG models with ACA extensions also may be read, modified, and documented as needed.
Using self-healing walls is dramatically faster than designing with standard double line tools. The TurboCAD Pro Wall tool includes compound wall definitions to generate multiple-component walls with separate design parameters such as width, offset, and the hatches to represent each material within the wall. Because AutoCAD includes object enablers for AEC wall objects, a design from TurboCAD will keep its self-healing properties even when modified in the basic AutoCAD, or AutoCAD LT®, neither of which includes the tools necessary to create the architectural objects.
The integration of the tools facilitates productivity: create a roof automatically by selecting the walls; add a railing to stairs with a click; drop in a schedule and see all the elements generated on the fly.
And all the architectural objects have both 2D and 3D representations, so that elevations, floorplans, and ISO views are easier to document. There are many other improvements to the tools including door and window muntins, a bottom wall modifier, new Rail tool improvements, and others. Many of the standard templates were also modified to provide better default settings for each of the tools.
Walls & Compound Walls: TurboCAD® Pro Platinum provides the tools to quickly design floorplans by using the wall tool. Self-healing straight or curved walls speed design over conventional drafting tools. Cleaning up intersections, moving walls, adding columns, windows, doors, and more is tedious with standard double lines, but not with the Wall tool. And because the walls have height, and with both bottom and top wall modifiers for custom shapes, the full 3D design is quickly underway.
Not only do walls heal properly and automatically at intersections, but they may be easily moved, cut, have openings inserted, and through the styles manager, may be made into compound walls with different wall styles selected. This adds appropriate hatches and fills, line weights, colors, and more for each layer of the wall. Different styles may be made for interior, exterior, load-bearing, non-load-bearing, or any other type of wall you design.
Polylines may be converted to walls, and then styles applied, to quickly modify or start a project. Blocks, whether standard, imported, or created on-the-fly, may be inserted into walls, and the walls will heal and automatically align the blocks.
As an integrated set of architectural tools, the walls also treat parametric AEC Door and AEC Window objects accurately and heal correctly, and the walls share information with the Roof and Slab tools for auto-generation of correct dimensions and roof lines.
Because the walls are AEC objects recognized by AutoCAD® object enablers for AutoCAD Architecture, a project with self-healing walls started in TurboCAD Pro will continue to be self-healing in AutoCAD, making even the AutoCAD experience better as well.
Parametric Doors & Windows: TurboCAD Pro Platinum provides parametric AEC door and AEC window objects. They are style driven, and multiple door and window styles may be created. These TurboCAD AEC objects are AutoCAD® Architecture (ACA) compatible so that .DWG models with ACA extensions may be read, modified, and documented as needed.
There are numerous door and window types and shapes available for use in creating your architectural drawing. These existing types and shapes can all be edited in the Style Manager to create an unlimited number of new door and window styles. Custom profiles may also be used for unique shapes. And with version 17, door and window muntins may be added well. Click on the Video tab above to see a demonstration of customizing a window design using muntins.
Window Types include: Picture, Single Hung, Double Hung, Awning Transom, Double Casement, Glider, Hopper Transom, Pass Through, Single Casement, Single Hopper, Single Awning, Vertical Pivot, Horizontal Pivot, Uneven Single Hung, Uneven Double Hung.
Window Shapes for each of these Window Types include: Rectangular, Round, Half Round, Quarter Round, Oval, Arch, Trapezoid, Gothic, Isosceles Triangle, Right Triangle, Peak Pentagon, Octagon, Hexagon. And using the Profile Manager, custom shapes can be made as well.
Door Types include: Single, Double, Single-Dhung, Double-Dhung, Double Opposing, Uneven, Uneven-Dhung, Uneven Opposing, Bifold, Bifold-Double, Pocket, Double Pocket, Sliding Double, Sliding Triple, Overhead, Revolving, Pass Through, Accordion, Panel, and Communicating.
Door Shapes include: Rectangular, Half Round, Quarter Round, Arch, Gothic, and Peak Pentagon. Also using the Profile Manager, custom shapes can be made.
These items are intelligent as well as parametric. This means they work well with other architectural tools — doors and windows communicate with the auto-generated Schedule tool, and they understand how to interact with walls.
AEC doors and windows that are inserted into self-healing walls are also recognized by AutoCAD object enablers, so they will be accurately represented in AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT®, or AutoCAD Architecture even though neither AutoCAD, nor AutoCAD LT have the tools necessary to create them (for that you need ACA, DoubleCAD XT Pro, or TurboCAD Pro).
This is yet another productivity advance over simply using standard blocks, double lines, and tables in AutoCAD LT.
Stairs, Rails, Slabs & Roofs: TurboCAD Pro Platinum can automatically generate roofs or slabs from wall objects. It understands the wall definitions and shapes, including arc walls, and generates the right rooflines based on object property settings for overhangs, pitch, and more. Roofs can be easily modified for different slopes on different faces as well.
Slabs such as concrete spandrels or others can be created in a variety of shapes and sizes. Holes can be added in different shapes and dimensions based on closed polylines to accommodate columns, elevator shafts, or stair wells.
Stairs may be added and managed parametrically, whether straight, curved, spiral, u-shaped, multi-landing, or another configuration. Their properties can be managed to determine the specific riser height, width, number of steps, and easily define landing styles and turns.
Rails can be added to one or both sides of stairs with a click, and can even be placed without stairs for use along the edge of balconies, or in a basic configuration for fences. Object properties that can be defined include rail locations, post locations, rail extensions, and styles may be created for those rails to be applied elsewhere.
Markers & Schedules: TurboCAD Pro includes industry standard architectural marker tools. These markers can be easily further edited to assist with proper annotation.
The product also includes a Schedule Wizard and tool that generates a table that includes all doors, windows, slabs, and walls used in the drawing. Each object type has its properties listed by style, and quantity by style. The Schedule can be inserted directly into the layout (paper space) and saves valuable time in the creation of your design documents. The Schedule may also be exported as a CSV file for inclusion in job costing calculations.
Style Management: TurboCAD Pro architectural tools are driven by Styles. Each architectural object type (door, window, etc.) comes with a default set of design styles that are stored in the Style Manager Palette. These styles can be used as is or may be modified to your design needs. And of course, additional styles can be easily added to each architectural object in the Style Manager.
Styles can also provide attribute information that appear in Schedules. Many styles also may be read from existing AutoCAD® Architecture .DWG drawings so that information is not lost and your intellectual property is protected.
Changes to doors, windows, and other objects may be made globally at the Style Manager level, or locally through the Selection Info Palette and local Properties menu for complete control over an individual part’s properties. This provides tremendous flexibility and productivity in both design and revision.
The Style Manager includes many basic window and door types, shapes, and even a Profile style for creating custom shapes for doors and windows. Wall styles can be created for separate properties on interior or exterior walls, load bearing, or insulated walls.
Rail styles for staircases can be defined with literally dozens of attributes for offsets, profiles, left, right, or centers of stairs, and rails can be used on flat surfaces such as balconies, or even defined with the right height and used as a parametric fence.
The Style Manager allows for the definition of Text, Table, Schedule, Wall, Window, Door, MultiLeader, Profile, Stair, Rail, Slab, Dimension, and AEC Dimension styles.
Terrain: The TurboCAD Pro Platinum Terrain tool lets you create a topographical terrain, represented by a triangulated network. You can create a terrain from scratch, or import coordinates from a file. There is also a smoothing function that allows you to automatically increase the triangulation, creating a smoother surface area. Each node in the triangulated mesh can be edited individually, and it is very easy to add or remove nodes as needed.
The Terrain Modifier tool allows for sections of terrain to be leveled, and slopes to be created around those shapes. This quickly simulates the grading of sites within a terrain for a proper view of site plans.
The Import Terrain function works with terrain data in a .txt or .xyz file. The format for each coordinate is presented with X, Y, and Z values, separated by commas or spaces. All values are relative to the origin of the terrain you specify during the import function, whether 0, 0, 0, or another location.
Platinum Constraints: TurboCAD® Pro constraints are enhanced in the Platinum Edition through two additional constraints. The first is a Midpoint Constraint, and the second is the ability to create pattern constraints.
Pattern Constraints: Pattern Constraints are not a specifically defined tool, but use the power of constraints, dimensions, and array tools to allow for parametrically defined arrays of drawn objects. What this means is that you can draw any 2D geometry, turn on autoconstraints, and then use any of the array tools to create your array. The relationships between the distances of items, like the dimensions of the items themselves, can be defined by creating variable dimensions. Those variables are then managed by in the Calculator Palette.
The variable dimensions may be used to define offsets, separation, angles of offset, and more. This is most powerful when creating designs for mechanical parts. Patterns appear in keyboards, telephone pads, ventilation gaps, and more. The patterns may also be used for laying out parking strips, cubicle designs, or for indicating where upon a surface to later place windows, ornaments or other architectural elements.
Pattern Tools: One of the most exciting new features of TurboCAD® Pro Platinum 17 is the Pattern Tools collection. Five new tools allow you to design models of incredible complexity.
Patterns are arrays of solid ACIS 3D objects copied in specific arrangements and which are controlled parametrically. Patterns are solid objects and they and/or their elements can be manipulated by 3D tools, like Bend; and patterns can be modified with Boolean operations with other 3D objects.
The five new pattern tools are:
- Array
- On Curve
- Radial
- Spherical
- Cylindrical
When an Array Pattern is created, for example, the number of rows, columns, levels, and the distance between items in the array's x, y, or z axis can be modified at any later time.
Advanced Design Tools: A number of design tools are available in TurboCAD Pro Platinum for 3D solid and surface modeling. These tools can enable the creation of parts that might not have been entirely possible in some cases, or which would have been far more difficult to create. Among them are:
- Thread Tool — Easily create threaded 3D objects. The pitch and height of threading are parametrically defined and editable.
- Twisted Extrude — Create a wide variety of twisted extrusions with this simple extrude tool that offers added parameters including twist angle, distance type, normal, full height, twist to top, twist start distance, twist end distance, and twist continuity (G0, G1 or G2).
- Extrude to Face — Now extrude or subtract a face of a solid to either another face of a solid or to a surface.
- Parametric Holes with Boss Hole Type — Create parametric holes in objects in a few easy steps and modify the properties at any time including an option for easy parametric cylindrical bosses.
- Imprint — Save up to 3 steps by optionally combining Booleans with the Extrude, Blend, and Chamfer tools in one single procedure. New dimple feature enhancement makes sheet metal work easier with this tool.
Advanced Modification Tools: TurboCAD Pro includes powerful tools for modifying existing geometry. These include:
- Bend — Create accurate bends measuring from a specific distance from the edge. Set the axis, angle, and radius and let TurboCAD do the rest.
- Tube Bend Tool — Make cylinders incredibly flexible. Simply choose where you want to bend on the tube.
- Unbend — Great for sheet metal and fabrication shops, creates an unfolded object, leaving the original object intact.
- Unfold Face — Unfolds faces of various ACIS objects including cone, cylindrical, planar, and NURBs surfaces; even those with a filleted rectangle as the base. This is also knows as obtaining the involute of a surface. It’s great for working with materials like sheet metal or fabrics.
- Facet Offset Tool — Move a facet in or out of its current position while updating all connecting surfaces.
- Flange Tool — Rapidly creates flat and bent flanges using the Smart Dimensioning tool for precision.
- Tube Flange Tool — Simply extend a tube and bend it in a few clicks.
These tools become even more powerful when combined with the Advanced Part Tree.
Advanced Part Tree: Although there is a Part Tree capability in TurboCAD Pro basic edition, the capabilities of the Advanced Part Tree are staggeringly more powerful! Each of the Pro Platinum design and modification tools, and most of the 3D primitives, and basic edition 3D design and modification tools may be driven by the Advanced Part Tree.
The Part Tree can be viewed as a selective UNDO/REDO tool: adjust the parameters of a bend, an offset, or a flange without having to UNDO the design steps that have been made to the model sincethe parameter of that object were originally set. Each subsequent step will be applied correctly on the newly updated geometry.
The TurboCAD Pro Platinum Part Tree includes this critical aspect of parametric design: by adjusting a value of any one action taken at any time during the design phase, the entire part is properly updated.
Another example of the power of the Part Tree is when using Boolean operations on two extrusions of 2D profiles. By moving one, or changing a profile, the entire extruded profile and Boolean operation are automatically updated. This is often referred to as history-based editing.
