Hi All,

Been a while, but I'm back for help!

Recently decided to upgrade from 2017 Expert to 2018 Expert.

Have had a read of the adrianh78 thread here and encountered similar problems/criticisms of 2018.

For me, they range from very slightly annoying through to 'why did I pay for this?' annoying.

Slightly annoying is the constant splash page everytime I start 2018 offering me an upgrade to Platinum for so many dollars. I keep clicking the 'do not show this again' box and it keeps on showing it to me. Not the end of the world, but may be an indication that it's on the way. 

Very annoying problem is that Walls don't seem to work properly anymore.

I can insert Turbocad's standard doors and windows into walls and they are fine, but my own opening blocks? It's a mess.

Initially the block gets inserted and there's no problem. Everything looks fine.
But once you come out of the program and then open the drawing file back up, while the block is there it hasn't cut a hole in the wall. When rendering, the block disappears from view, obscured by the wall itself.

I can examine properties of the block and this can make the block form an opening again, but for some reason this sometimes appears to be offset by an arbitrary amount, so basically, in wireframe you can see the block and you can see the opening, they just aren't in the same place.

You come out of the program, and re-open the drawing file and the block is there, but again it hasn't cut a hole in the wall.

Nothing wrong with the actual block, as far as I can see (everything on layer 0 and the Reference point in the correct place)

For a current project I have now replaced affected walls with extrusions and cut holes for the blocks manually. Time consuming!

I do like Lightworks though! (But this seems to be all I have paid extra for!)

Similar to adrianh78  I am very disappointed we have lost the 3d selector thing from 2017.
2018 is very unclear when selecting an object to move or rotate it.
I see you have to buy a plug-in to get this back. I thought upgrades were supposed to be improvements?

Another strange loss seems to be that 2D Bolean operations, whilst still listed in the menu, don't seem to function at all. I can select a 2d Bolean operation, but when I select and object it is just..... selected. No operation occurs or prompts made for selection of another object.

Oh, I do like the infinite construction lines, much more like the old AutoCad lines, though I had go used to editing construction lines in 2017 to make the longer when needed, so I have to unlearn that step now.

Anyway, I have tried reinstalling the software, turning off Norton while doing so, and running software as administrator, but nothing has giving proper functionality back for walls and 2d bolean.

I even uninstalled previous versions of turbocad and reinstalled 2018, but that didn't work either.

Tried 32 bit version, but that had problems starting at first because of a dodgy DLL file, but manged to get that sorted and found the same issues existed with regard to the Walls.

So, while quite pleased with the appearance offered by lightworks, I'm disappointed that it wasn't clear that the selector thingy was going to go awol with this upgrade and very cheesed off that walls aren't working properly.

Had to reinstall 2017 as I cannot trust that older drawings using walls and blocks to form openings can now be edited in 2018 version, so that further complicates things.

Can't see anyone else having similar issues with walls and blocks so I guess it may be something to do with my computer..... I don't know. I try to keep it running smoothly and have software to track and solve problems, and no other software has any issues.

Running Windows 10 64bit Home on
Intel Core i5 7400@3.00GHz with
8 GB RAM and
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (MSI) graphics card

Thoughts?

 D

Well, lots of views but no solutions!

However, this thread....

https://forums.turbocad.com/index.php/topic,23560.0.html

.....did solve my splash screen problem

Out of curiosity, and since I still haven't solved the mystery of the malfunctioning walls in TC2018, I see I can purchase Lightworks for a 2017 version of the program....

...but it states on webpage....

"TurboCAD 2017 (Deluxe, Pro, and Pro Platinum versions) include a powerful rendering engine for quick and easy presentations of your design. For customers looking for more rendering options, the LightWorks Plug-in for TurboCAD 2017 enhances the program’s photorealistic rendering capabilities with more robust, high power rendering."

I assume this would include 2017 Expert?

D

Expert is sort of a pimped Deluxe IMO.
In 2015 they changed from have both LW and RedSDK included in the program to only have RedSDK and LW become a plugin.
It seems like that was not an good ide'a so in 2018 they did a turnaround on it, now LW was back as default and RedSDK is a plugin, who say it should be easy

So if you want LW in 2017, it will be as a plugin, in your 2018 it is default.
It is possible to convert materials from RedSDK to LW materials in 2018, at least in PP edition.

Torfinn

Edit:
About Block's, do you have the latest built of TC ??, i remember your issue about Block and opening was not on the same place, but was fixed long time ago in PP, i dont have 2018 Expert on my pc now to check.
If you have latest built and still have issues with blocks you could try to delete or rename the Built in, TC will remake a new when start TC again, there could be some settings hang around there, TC wil then start with factorysettings next time and you need to set it up again to your like.

If you try to "re install" TC, un-install and delete all the TC folders in Document and Appdata about your TC version, but be aware, there are normally stuff you want to keep there like drawings, symbols etc etc , so take that and move to a seperate place first, outside of TC folders.

Then close your pc, wait 10-15 sec and restart pc ( coldstart ) and you will have a "clean install" of TC when you re-install and start it up again.
Un/ re-install is basically waste of time if you have problems that will not be solved with a normal Repair or delete/ rename Built in and deleting the 2 folders
You should do very much wrong to be able to touch the main program itself, but you can "infect" it true this other 2 folders and by that get problems with your TC.

Torfinn

Hi Torfinn,

Thanks for the reply.

As far as I am aware my version of TC2018 is latest..... at least, it's the version I downloaded when I bought it and it says it is up to date.

It is a bit concerning that the program is so fragile that it may need to be re-installed after manually removing any mention of it from my machine and doing a cold boot, but I may give it a try.

Obviously the program should be working as designed or there would be loads of people experiencing the problems I have encountered, so the trouble may well be at my end.

One thing I noticed recently was an issue when rendering a viewport. Not only did it take ages for the render to finish (I'm talking over an hour for something not too complex) but when I viewed the pdf output there were some parts (blocks again!) which were missing. In model space these were present and correct and TC rendered them properly, but in paperspace they went AWOL. (layers were all properly configured)

Eventually, I just started a new drawing file from scratch and copied and pasted the 3d model in to this and then set up viewports and paperspace again and TC rendered them within minutes and the output was complete, so maybe a rogue element was lurking in the original file and I got rid of that by pasting into a new file. Would be nice if there was some kind of audit system to check a file for errors so it didn't have to be all trial and error, especially when some processes such as rendering can take a long time to complete.

D

The reason for why i do a reboot is that i want to be 100 % sure TC have relased everything if i get an issue that is very persist.
TC like to keep stuff in memory, and if you in example have done many renders and interupt them it will take like "a million years" to render it finish as it should sort of clean up the system, or it could just have been something in the drawing that make it, if there is many Blocks in the drawing or a lot of splines like in a Hatch, TC dont like that eigther

And a simple un-re install will not clean out your settings that maybe is the reson for the problem, henche delete the folder to be sure that is not the problem.
Repair first and then delete Built-in if Repair not help is normally enough

Torfinn

ok, decided to give example of wall/block problem.

Simple wall created and two blocks inserted. All good so far.
scrnsht1

but then I exit the program, and then re-open the file, and the blocks can be seen, but strange things have happened....
scrnsht2

the blocks have not cut an opening into the wall, hence when we render....
scrnsht3

drawing file attached
it was created from scratch

 

It works like a charm here in PP, maybe they did not fix the issue in Expert back then, i will report it.
I added materials, look so sad in black, the Block show in black also.

Torfinn

 
Oh well, I've uninstalled TC2018, deleted every folder I could find (apart from the downloaded install file, obvs)

switched off computer

waited

switched on computer

switched off Internet, Norton and every other running program

Re-installed TC2018

Rebooted

Run TC2018, left settings as factory default, and tried a wall and blocks and the same problem occurs.
 

Only thing I am wondering about is that I have only had to input the 'Product Activation Key' (five groups of four characters), but it has not asked for the 'Activation Key' (four groups of four characters).....

....so is it possible there is yet another folder lurking somewhere?

Why is it so hard to make this damn program work properly?

 

Oh well, I've uninstalled TC2018, deleted every folder I could find (apart from the downloaded install file, obvs)
....so is it possible there is yet another folder lurking somewhere?

Do you have a Registry editor?  There's a lot of program presets to be found in there that affect operation and it may be worth deleting them in between installations.

However, if you are not comfortable doing this, then you should not muck around with it.  I've been building computers for decades, so it doesn't worry me too much. 


Jeff

Thanks for the reply Jeff.

I do use Glarysoft Utilities to clean up the registry, and have used it after uninstall to (I presume) get rid of anything left behind.

But you're right, I am nervous about messing with the registry manually.

Interestingly, my problems with TC2017 Expert included an inability to define a plot style table when running TC as administrator. It was ok when run 'normally'.

Also, with TC2018 the splash screen offering me an upgrade to platinum pro won't go away despite clicking the 'do not show again' box...... so I am wondering if this does all stem from my registry?

I dunno....

Could there be a corruption in the downloaded file?

Should I consider downloading it again, or should I download from here https://forums.turbocad.com/index.php/topic,23381.0.html ?

The one here at the forum work, that i have tested with customers aswell.
Un install and
Deleting everything about TC 2018 in Document and App data AFTER you have take out what you want to keep like drawings etc
Should fix it and make you ready for a new clean install, that said, as clean as you can get it, if that not help ask support for a reg cleaner, they do have it.

The TestTCWelcomesplash.exe should be able to turn of if you start TC as admin and check dont show again, but many people have problems with it in 2018, so find the file and rename or just simply delete, it will cure the problem if admin route dont work.
John R have made a nice tread about it in Tips and Trick section i believe it was

Torfinn

re: …John R has made a nice thread about it in Tips and Trick section, I believe it was…

It's in the "FAQs" board: How to turn off the “Splash Screen”.

SOLVED!

Ok, here's my theory.....

the version of TC you download when you purchase it is obviously out of date by that time, so when you run it the program has to install updates and patches.

Something was stopping those patches being applied on my machine.

Possibly Norton, as it was recommended to turn this off during the initial installation, so presumably having it running while the program starts might also impact the ability to update. Not a good look, and maybe something TC and Norton should sort out.

So, with the up to date build I downloaded today, there was no need to apply any patches after installation, so now blocks remain in walls even after restarting the program.... and the splash screen has gone away without having to delete any folders.

Maybe IMSI should offer this latest build for the purchased download as I have a feeling, from the number of views that this thread attracted, that maybe a lot of people have a lot of problems with the installation of 2018??

Anyway, all appears to be good now....except I have to go through the process of setting up the program to my liking once again.... but still, I can now use the program for the purpose for which I purchased it.

Thanks for all the advice, we got there in the end 

Glad it's solved
The file here is a full version, it will after some times become old, but TC detect if there is an update of it and start the update prosess so why use time on it if it fix itself sort of thing.
And it's free to update also, not like others i know about that force you to buy a socalled service deal to get the latest updates.

Torfinn

Actually, one issue it didn't solve was the inoperative 2D Bolean functions.

Are these now redundant in TC2018 Expert?

I used to be able to (for example) draw one rectangle inside another, use 2d Bolean Subtract and form a 2d shape which could then be extruded.

Now, none of the 2d Bolean functions seem to do anything...... though they are shown as functional in the user guide

Actually, one issue it didn't solve was the inoperative 2D Bolean functions.

Are these now redundant in TC2018 Expert?

I used to be able to (for example) draw one rectangle inside another, use 2d Bolean Subtract and form a 2d shape which could then be extruded.

Now, none of the 2d Bolean functions seem to do anything...... though they are shown as functional in the user guide

I can get 2D Add & Subtract to work in 2018 Expert, though they don't have features found in 2018 Platinum. I don't have a "Finish Selecting" option in the Local Menu, so I can only subtract one object from another object. I believe this is 'as designed' for Expert. In Platinum I can select the Rectangle, then "Finish Selecting", then select one or several 2D objects within the rectangle and "Finish Selecting". I get a "Region".

In Expert, I select the rectangle; it becomes highlighted. I then select the 2D object within the rectangle. Everything highlights momentarily, then it's done. it's just registers as a Polyline in Selection Info when completed. Another PITA Expert feature, you have to activate the 2D Boolean tool after each use. If you have several holes to make, it's gonna take some time.

V25.0.49.0 Expert

Thanks for the reply John.

I think I've found a solution (I really should get paid for this stuff!!)

If I use key assignments, I can force the 2D bolean functions to become activated.

Workspace > Customise > Keyboard

I assigned Shift+Alt+S to the 2d Bolean 'Subtract' function and it works.... it also works from the drop down menu now, though no button seems to appear on a toolbar anywhere.

Will try with other 2d functions.

Only worry is what if I choose a key combination intended for something else....but I assume TC will flag this up if it happens.... but maybe I shouldn't assume too much with this program... 

* Edit: It does warn you

It appears they left out the 2D Boolean tools from the "Boolean & Facet" toolbar. Go to "Tools / Workspace / Customize". On the "Toolbars" page checkmark "Boolean & Facet". It should display just three of the 3D Boolean tools. Now, go to the "Commands" page. The first three commands are what you want; drag each one to the toolbar. If you want to keep them somewhat separated, right-click on the 3D Add icon and chose "Begin a Group".

You might want to scroll down and bring out the "3D Slice" icon.

Thanks for that, very useful to know

Now have a full compliment of buttons for 3d and 2d bolean operations (strange how the slice button was also missing, just as I had to do the keyboard assignment for it manually as well)

 

Now that you've got things set up the way you like, You should save this configuration. Go to the "Options" page in that dialog. If you don't already have a custom configuration, click inside the "Save In" list window and overwrite the current name with a new name. The overwritten name is not affected, you're just creating a file name. Once you have a name placed, click on the "Save In" button. Your setup is saved in the "Config" folder and you can bring it back by selecting the name in the "Load From" list, then clicking on the "Load From" button. If you keep tweaking tools, etc, you can click on the "Save In" button to update your custom configuration.

 
okay this is bizarre..... 2d bolean has gone again.

the key assignments are still shown, as are the buttons, but none are functional.... TC just ignores the fact that they are selected.

I tried forcing it again by assigning different key combinations but it still just pretends nothing was chosen.

Thoughts?

Sorry, but this is just a guess as I don't have Expert version..   

Have you tried re-loading the configuration.  (Tools - customise - options tab - load from (using the drop down list to find ones saved config)).  This is assuming you followed John's advice above, about saving the configuration.    Very occasionally some things can stop working, no matter which version one is using (deluxe, expert, platinum).

 

okay this is bizarre..... 2d bolean has gone again.

the key assignments are still shown, as are the buttons, but none are functional.... TC just ignores the fact that they are selected.

The first thing I would do is exit TurboCAD and delete the Built-In Folder (go here for instructions: http://forums.turbocad.com/index.php/topic,9797.0.html), then re-start TurboCAD (which will automatically re-build the Built-In folder).

If that doesn't work, then uninstalling and re-installing TurboCAD may work (but I would also delete the Built-In folder as well).

The above two should cover most problems, but there is also the option to install in Administrator Mode (find the Setup.exe file, right-click and choose Run as Administrator).


Jeff

Thanks for the reply Jeffin.

I tried the 'built in' folder delete but that didn't change anything, and I really do not want to go through the process of re-installing the program yet again!!

Maybe, eventually Imsi will figure out a patch to make this work again.

New problem discovered today:

I can't make a new line style including shapes, because the shapes drop down box is empty apart from "None"
I want to make an insulation bat line type. I have tried copying over this line from over drawings but I just get a series of dashes.

Deleted built in folder etc, no change.

 

re: …New problem discovered today:
I can't make a new line style including shapes, because the shapes drop down box is empty apart from "None"
I want to make an insulation bat line type. I have tried copying over this line from over drawings but I just get a series of dashes.

Do you have any SHX files in the "Shapes" folder? I believe you need the "ltypeshp.shx" file to make a BAT.

Interesting..... my shapes folder is completely empty 

I do however have shapes in my TC2017 shapes folder......


....could i just copy them over???

Edit: That's what I've done and now I have shapes available in TC2018