Does TurboCad equals AutoCad?

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Ravenvalor said:
Hi Folks,

If I learn TurboCad will I be able use the learned skills to operate AutoCad?

Thank You,
Click to expand...

Rav,

TurboCAD is much cheaper than the $3500 tag on my AutoCAD 2000.
TC may do enough for you making electric circuit diagrams.
AC will allow you to design a spaceship, which is not your game.
:)
 
TurboCad equals Autocad

TurboCad equals Autocad

glene77is said:
Rav,

TurboCAD is much cheaper than the $3500 tag on my AutoCAD 2000.
TC may do enough for you making electric circuit diagrams.
AC will allow you to design a spaceship, which is not your game.
:)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply glene77is,

If I master Turbocad Electrical will I have the skill set to get a job using Autocad Electrical?
 
Ravenvalor said:
Thanks for the reply glene77is,

If I master Turbocad Electrical will I have the skill set to get a job using Autocad Electrical?
Click to expand...

In my opinion, no. You'd be better off learning Bricscad if you want to transition to Autocad and want to stay affordable. As for Autocad Electrical, is there a reason you want to go that direction? All of the electrical engineers and designers I know use plain Autocad or Bricscad, or are transitioning to Revit.
 
The command line is what makes autocad what it is. There is no real substitute, unfortunately. Better approach is really to learn Revit, also by AutoDesk. It is an awful system for electrical engineers, but architects force us to use it.

If I was looking at a resume for an electrician who had learned revit to a functional level (3 months intense use or 6 months consistent but casual), I would be intrigued. It shows forward thinking and the ability to visualize and operate in 3D. You can get a free 30-day demo, and I think there are ways to re-up it, but I don't know the details.

When it comes to single line diagrams, you can actually do better in Visio in many ways.
 
Ravenvalor said:
Thanks for the reply glene77is,
If I master Turbocad Electrical
will I have the skill set to get a job using Autocad Electrical?
Click to expand...

No.
But you can (conceptually) have great fun
in the process of changing your way of thinking about CAD operations.

I used to design small electronic instruments
(when I was younger and was paid for the ideas),
now I have started throwing the ideas into a "Spice" program
(when I am old and no one pays me),
and letting the computer calculate its way through all the defined nodes.

It would have been better to start early with some CAD program.
The down side is that
IF the learning curve is too steep,
THEN we tend to forget the 'ideas' that drove the effort in the first place.

For example, I have a son who was great at AutoCad,
but had lost his sense of generating 'ideas'.
He has moved on to something called Solid Modeler,
and laughs at AutoCAD now.
So, he draws other peoples' ideas,
but not his own.

At any rate, now is the time to convert your way of thinking
(1) from hand drawing into (2) computer aided drafting.

Hopefully,
(a) the conversion will occur on a program
that enables you to get started now, and
(b) does not take you away from the 'ideas'
that started this whole endeavor.

In the long run, having started 'somewhere', within your budget,
will open the door to a better way of 'thinking' about the electrical circuits.

Just an observation, suggestion, opinion.
Buena Suerte, :)
 
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I have used TurbocAD, Bricscad, and Autocad. In my opinion, and I am really neither a CAD expert nor a draftsman, Turbocad is much easier to learn and much less expensive than Autocad. It has limited file interchange with Autocad, but far from great - I have always found something that did not translate properly. It is much cheaper than Autocad. It is still my first choice when I need a quick, simple drawing, such as a schematic or panel layout, and no-one else will use the files. It won't help you learn to use Autocad.

All of the architects I know use either Autocad or Bricscad, so you may need to use their files. Bricscad files appear to be fully interchangeble with Autocad and is very similar to use. It is much less expensive to purchase and update than Autocad. It is not identical to Autocad from the user perspective, but is reasonably close. If would be pretty easy to transition from Bricscad to or from Autocad.

If your goal is to learn Autocad, I strongly recommend taking a course at the local community college. Learning on your own is very difficult. Once you are familiar with Autocad, you can download trial versions of the other programs and see which you prefer before spending your $$$.

Good luck.
 
I have used both Turbocad and Autocad. I learned on Autocad and bought Turbocad for use at home because it was inexpensive. I found that the user interface was so different that it was very difficult to use both. As sgunsel said, I also found that there was always something that didn't translate correctly in importing Autocad files into Turbocad. This made working on office drawings at home impractical. This was several versions of Turbocad earlier, so maybe things have changed.

If you want to start out inexpensive and then go on to full Autocad, I'd use Autocad Lite, although it isn't exactly cheap.
 
Ravenvalor said:
Hi Folks,

If I learn TurboCad will I be able use the learned skills to operate AutoCad?

Thank You,
Click to expand...

If you have never used a CAD software there will be a set of prinicples that will help you get on the road, so to speak.

It will enable you to get the conceptual idea of how different things are created, dimensioning, scaling, line weights and types, objects, layers, etc.

Electrical drawings are fairly simple until you get in to database orineted 3D design that creates a lot of other information, therefore it relies upon those.

The actual 'how to' may differ, but once you've learned the concept, the 'how to' may be different between the different programs, but the underlying concept is either the same or similar and you 'learn' some level of intuitivness in one that will help you in the other.

The main question is what is it what you intend to do in the future?

If you will be working on projects that have architectural or other CAD design documents you would be using those files to efficiently create the electrical plans. So you would want to do your research and orient yourself toward compatible programs.
 
Turbocad vs Autocad

Turbocad vs Autocad

Thanks weressl,

I looked at Revit and found it to be higher than my budget will allow. I also looked at Bricscad and found it to be closer to my budget allowance and also it is capable of working with Autocad files.
 
Ravenvalor said:
Thanks weressl,

I looked at Revit and found it to be higher than my budget will allow. I also looked at Bricscad and found it to be closer to my budget allowance and also it is capable of working with Autocad files.
Click to expand...

Rav,

FWIW,
For yourself, research and define the extent to which Briscad will work with ACAD files. As you work along, keep the differences in mind.
 
Ravenvalor said:
I didn't know there were any differences between the two. Thanks for the word of caution.
Click to expand...

Rav,

Between TurboCAD and AutoCAD
I noted that TC imports a multilater AC file
as if it were a single layer.

If you have a whole warehouse of equipment,
multi-serviced load-centers, etc.
then you will have placed each
'type' / 'department' / 'object collection'
of diagrams on a different layer.
So, when your boss imports your 11 layers into TC,
he will have a a real problem modifying things.
Big time problem.

For example, you have all the recepticals for Panel LA3 in one layer.
And a layer for LA2, and LA1.

Say you have 3 Panels, located 300 feet from each other.
Say you have 511 recepticals and power outlets for equipment,
with Red , Green, and Blue outlets located side-by-side, mingled.
Say your recepticals are mingled throughout the whole warehouse,
due to various phases of construction over a period of 30 years.

Say you want to map/plot recepticals for Panel LA3 in red (highlight)
and the others in blue and green.
Having several layers means you can change the color in each layer.
This map/plot would allow location of all the LA3 power outlets,
which is an OSHA requirement.

An example scenario / rationale could be
that if equipment at LA3.21 receptical is operating unsafely,
or the outlet device is broken & requires some maintenance,
you will need to know which Panel is the source and kill it.
The color coded map/plot shows this information immediately
even when Red / Green / Blue recepticals are located side-by-side
and all the painted labeling is rubbed off from usage and traffic.
(For recepticals, the Panel is usually the 'disconnect'.)

Hows that for a example & rationale ?
HTH. :)
 
Ravenvalor said:
I didn't know there were any differences between the two. Thanks for the word of caution.
Click to expand...
Well, first I want to discuss price. If you take any AutoCAD course through a school which has joined the Autodesk Education Community, you can get the software for free (terms unknown to me).

http://students.autodesk.com/

In your shoes, I would persue this route first.

As for the debate about TurboCAD vs. AutoCAD, many of the statements made are true, and some are utterly false or outright exaggerations. Last I knew, both use the ACIS modeling engine, only AutoCAD was about two to four versions behind. AutoCAd by itself, does not have a photo-realistic 3D rendering engine, whereas TurboCAD [pro version] does. There any many similarities and many dissimilarities.

I have a hard time using AutoCAD because I find TurboCAD much more proficient in 3D. Yet AutoCAD is more proficient in 2D. AutoCAD actually stole many of its so-called features from TurboCAD (though you won't hear them or their adamant users admit it; e.g. TurboCAD was first to feature modelspace/paperspace). Who cares about AutoLisp (the command line function) if you can do the same thing with your mouse and/or the Inspector Bar... it's just different hand motions, so its a mind-to-hand coordination thing.

With that said, you have to define what your goals are. If you're aiming to get into the professional drafting realm, go with AutoCAD [or its offshoots]... it is still the defacto standard, though losing small pieces of sod yearly due to its price tag.


Oh, BTW, there is no such thing as TurboCAD Electrical to my knowledge. I admit I've not been keeping up with any of the mentioned programs, but I still get TurboCAD and AutoCAD sales literature in the mail :roll:
 
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