Hey folks,

since my trial of MOI has run out a few months ago and I have to wait until I can work with MOI again in terms of saving stuff (so when´s the next release out? ;) ) I can´t test it myself, but thought I´d give you all a heads up.

I just recently found a great AutoCAD clone called DoubleCAD, developed by IMSIDesign, and sharing a huge chunk of code with their famous TurboCAD.

It´s a 2.5D CAD drawing software that concentrates on being an easy to use tool for taking 3D models and creating 2D drawings with it.

I found it because of an ad over at a sketchup site, because they advertise DoubleCAD as an addition Sketchup. You can import a SKP model and work with it. So, if you can import a MOI model into Sketchup, you can import it into DCAD or 2CAD as well. I am not sure how well it behaves with other formats, since my PRO has run it´s course as well, but they

They do offer a PRO version for 595 US-$ (often combining that software into packages e.g. with Corel Designer at 695 US-$), but the basic version is free. You can download the PRO version, it reverts to the standard free XT version after 30 days.

Head over to www.doublecad.com and download it! Their support forum can be found at forums.doublecad.com

Michael

I agree! Even though I've been a long-time user of the "Big Brother" TurboCad Pro for many years, I've used DoubleCad for some simple work that was destined to be imported into other applications. I've suggested DoubleCad to quite a few people who have "full featured" CAD applications at work and need something cheaper/easier for home use.

Hey, great to see that DCAD continues to get into the market!

Do you import native MOI files into DCAD, or are you using another file format directly from MOI? I am sooo tempted to get MOI at one point!!!

Hi Michael, that's a great tip! One thing to keep in mind though is this part here:

> So, if you can import a MOI model into Sketchup, you can
> import it into DCAD or 2CAD as well.

One problem with this is that SketchUp is a polygon format, so all curved objects in your model are diced up into triangular facets when exporting to SketchUp and that could be an issue. For example it may be hard to accurately measure a diameter dimension or stuff like that with just a bunch of faceted data.

It tends to be better to use one of the NURBS formats for transferring data into other CAD programs, which are: 3DM, IGES, SAT, and STEP formats. These formats hold the same kind of curved surface data as you create in MoI so when you use these formats things like a sphere will stay as a true sphere when imported into the other CAD program.

- Michael

After 30 days the XT version runs out, and you can no longer import files. For my money, I use ViaCAD 2D/3D (latest version is $99 USD) to import MoI files for drawing creation.

Michael T.

XT version should still import skp files, but, yes the list of file types is greatly reduced.