The Design Director is a powerful and convenient palette in TurboCAD that helps you streamline your work and enhance your productivity. It offers advanced controls for managing Layers, Work Planes, Views, Cameras, and Lighting. It is suitable for both Mechanical and Architectural designs, and it is compatible with AutoCAD.

Layers

One of the most useful features of the Design Director is the ability to create and apply Layer Filters and Layer Sets. These tools let you quickly select, display, and modify layers based on various criteria, such as line style, pen width, print style, and more. You can also include layers from externally referenced files, such as .SKP, .DWG, or another .TCW file.

Layer Filters are an efficient way to display just the part of the model you want. For example, if you want to show only the framing in a home design you’ve created, you can create a filter for all of your framing layers, then use the Select by option to highlight only those layers.

Layer Sets allow you to change the visibility of large groups of layers with a single click. You can create custom layer sets for different purposes, such as drafting, rendering, printing, etc. You can also save and load layer sets for future use.

WorkPlanes

The Design Director also enables you to set and save Work Planes, which are essential for creating and editing 3D objects. You can create custom workplanes based on various methods, such as 3 points, face, edge, etc. You can also use the WorkPlane by World option to align the workplane with the world coordinate system.

You can save and name your workplanes for easy access and switching. You can also use the WorkPlane by View option to set the workplane parallel to the current view.

Views

The Design Director allows you to create and control Named Views, which are predefined views of your model. You can easily jump between views with a single click when the Design Director is open. You can also set the User Coordinate System (UCS) and the 3D View by the Current UCS, which lets you set perfectly aligned views to any workplane in the model.

You can create custom named views based on various methods, such as current view, camera, workplane, etc. You can also save and load named views for future use.

Cameras

The Design Director also lets you manipulate all the cameras and camera sets in the drawing. Cameras are useful for creating realistic and dynamic views of your model. You can create custom cameras based on various methods, such as position and target, two points, etc. You can also adjust the camera properties, such as perspective, angle, position, target, etc.

You can create camera sets, which are groups of cameras that share the same properties, such as visibility, render type, etc. This is handy if you want to apply the same settings to multiple cameras. You can also make a camera or a camera set active, which displays the view taken by the camera or the camera set.

Lighting

The Design Director also gives you access to the lighting options in the drawing. Lighting is important for creating realistic and attractive renderings of your model. You can create custom lights based on various types, such as point, spot, distant, etc. You can also adjust the light properties, such as color, intensity, attenuation, etc.

You can create light sets, which are groups of lights that share the same properties, such as visibility, render type, etc. This is useful if you want to apply the same settings to multiple lights. You can also make a light or a light set active, which displays the effect of the light or the light set on the model.