I started using TurboCAD a month ago. I had not used a CAD or any other kind of design program before this so if you can help me I will need step by step directions. I have TurboCAD 2015 Deluxe. I do know this is old, but being this is our first time trying to draw 3D models we did not want to spend a ton of money on something when we don't know what exactly we need. Our company designs ventilation systems for calf barns so having a barn with calf pens and a ventilation tube running down over the pens is the final goal. We want to use these designs to show potential customers. We are still just using word and drawing out design using shapes so a CAD program is a big step up. I am currently stuck on trying to use the 2D hole design of the tubes and putting them on a 3D model. The 2D design comes from the company who makes the tubes and is in a dwg file. I do know how to convert the file. The tubes have a winter hole pattern on one side (many small .5" holes) and a summer pattern on the other (few large 6" holes). I will attach a picture of the winter design. Please help in any way you can or if you have any thoughts or suggestions. I am very new at this and don't really know what I am doing.

Modeling a 3D tube with a whole LOT of actual holes would result in a ridiculously huge file that would be difficult or impossible to work with. I think the best approach would be to create a cylindrical object that simply looks like the real thing when rendered. This requires that you create an appropriate new Material and apply it to the cylindrical object. As you are presumably working in Redsdk native draw mode (the default), and I'm not competent in that mode, you may have to wait for further help from a Forum member who knows how to make a suitable Redsdk material.

Henry H

Welcome.       Don't know if this is the type of thing you looking for (a bit rough because I just knocked up a quick texture rather than look for something proper),   the left tube has simulated holes using transparency, but it does slow the render down a bit, the right one has a bump map (gives the appearance things are sticking out or sinking in a bit), and although not actual holes, may be worth considering, especially as proper holes won't show up much anyway on a 100 ft length of pipe.

Hi Andy
Thanks for commenting and helping me. I think at this pointing I should just try the easier option. I think that looked good the one on the right. If I sink in the holes a bit can I also change the color of them? The bigger holes on the bottom for summer I would like to color red and the top holes I would like to color blue. I don't think I really need to see into the tube at this point. Also If I have an end cap at one end and the other end is attached to a fan do I really need to make the cylinder hollow? I also don't know how to make a hollow tube so that is another problem. But to focus on the first problem how do I make the hole pattern on the tube? and can I use the 2D pattern already supplied to lay on the tube?

Hi Andy
Thanks for commenting and helping me. I think at this pointing I should just try the easier option. I think that looked good the one on the right. If I sink in the holes a bit can I also change the color of them? The bigger holes on the bottom for summer I would like to color red and the top holes I would like to color blue. I don't think I really need to see into the tube at this point. Also If I have an end cap at one end and the other end is attached to a fan do I really need to make the cylinder hollow? I also don't know how to make a hollow tube so that is another problem. But to focus on the first problem how do I make the hole pattern on the tube? and can I use the 2D pattern already supplied to lay on the tube?

The "holes" in Andy's example aren't really sunken in; they only look that way because of the Bump Map texture he applied. If you can live with a cylindrical object that is just covered with a pattern of red or blue circles, that's fairly easy to do, but it does require you to create a suitable image as the basis of the Material to be applied to the cylinder. Can you post the hole pattern drawing that was supplied by the company?

Henry H

Henry H
 I have attached three images for the summer pattern on the bottom and the winter pattern on the top. Hopefully they all work. I think for now just the cylinder with the correct hole pattern will work. It is definitely more then what we were doing now. So if it is possible I just need detailed directions on how to place the colored pattern of holes onto the cylinder.
Thank you for you help!

Alex