formZ 6.0.1 review
DownloadformZ is an award winning general purpose solid and surface modeler with an extensive set of 2D/3D form manipulating and sculpting capabilities, many of which are unique.
|
|
formZ is an award winning general purpose solid and surface modeler with an extensive set of 2D/3D form manipulating and sculpting capabilities, many of which are unique. It is an effective design tool for architects, landscape architects, urban designers, engineers, animators and illustrators, industrial and interior designers, and all design fields that deal with the articulation of 3D spaces and forms. formZ is highly responsive to the needs of mature designers and, at the same time, novices can use it with ease.
Here are some key features of "formZ":
Modeling
Primitives
Spherical objects
Metaballs
3D solids and 2D shapes
Patterned polygons
Derivative surfaces, extrusions, enclosures
Parallel objects
Projection objects
Unfolding
Terrain models
Revolved objects
Helixes
Screws and bolts
Stairs
Sweeps
Skinning
Lofting
Meshed objects
Subdivisions
Moving and disturbing meshes
Deformations
Image based displacements
Rounding
Blending and filleting
Draft angles
Splines and c-curves
C-Meshes
Nurbz
Patches
Metaformz
Boolean operations
Trimming, splitting, and stitching
2D and 3D sections
Deriving contours
Cages
Joining and separating
Grouping and ungrouping
Placing and editing text
Symbols
Editing 3D lines
Adjusting topological attributes
Converting representations of objects
Surfacing wires
Extracting controls
Inquiring and measuring
Moving, rotating, resizing, and mirroring
Attaching
Aligning and distributing
Extending segments
Placing
Ghosting and unghosting
Inserting
Deleting
Drafting
Rendering
Special features
Extensive import/export
Panoramic views
Straight up perspectives
View matching
Walk through animation
Rapid prototyping
2D/3D digitizing.
What's New:
Interface
Scene palette: A new palette that allows you to set up and save scenes, including views, lights, rendering options, status of objects, and layers has been introduced.
Contextual menu: This is a shortcut for accessing frequently used items and is invoked using the right mouse button (or the left button with a key combination).
Direct view navigation: A series of new key and mose driven navigation commands have been introduced. They facilitate view navigation without the need for icon selection.
Modeling
ACIS R14: A new version of smooth modeling has been implemented which includes corrections for a number of irregularities and performance enhancements.
Bend along Curve tool: This is a new modeling tool that bends an object along a curve, according to a variety of alignment options. A powerful tool for creating complex deformed shapes.
Query Parameters tool: This new tool allows a user to directly invoke the editable parameters of an object by clicking on it.
Import/export
DWG/DXF: A new plugin for DXF/DWG import and export based on the Open Design Alliance DirectDWG library. It adds support for the AutoCAD 2004 and 2006 formats, improves the transfer of smooth objects, and addresses a number of the limitations found in the legacy OpenDWG based translator.
STEP: This optional plugin has been extended and now includes support for layers and for dual names, when found in a file. For complete details see the formZ Plugin STEP Translator User's Manual.
Rendering
Lightworks 7.5: The latest version of the LW rendering libraries is now supported and includes a number of bug corrections and performance improvements.
New surface styles: Surface Evaluation (Zebra) and Fabric are new surface styles that have been added as plugins. The former is useful for evaluating the smoothness of surfaces and the latter generates a large range of woven patterns.
Imager/network rendering: The Imager can now be used to send batch renderings to the network rendering server. This improves workflow when a set of images need to be rendered frequently.
LWA predefined material: In addition to the formZ predefined materials previously available, Lightworks Archive (LWA) files can now be opened to extract a variety of sample materials made available by LW and a variety of manufacturers.
Other enhancements: A number of defaults in both the RenderZone Options and the RadioZity Options dialogs have been adjusted to facilitate the immediate generation of images with default setups. Also, the previous Quality bar has been replaced by the Silhouette Quality and Surface Quality slider bars, which makes the control of smooth shading easier.
Sketch Rendering: A new sketch style, called Lines And Strokes has been added to the optional Sketch Rendering plugin. It gives control over edge lines as well as a fill pattern that is created as a set of brush or pencil strokes. This new style introduces a large number of parameters that a user can control to create a variety of effects. For complete details, see the formZ Plugin Sketch Rendering User's Manual.
Scripts
Script Helper: The Script Editor automatically generates script shells. A shell is a script that has all of the necessary elements and syntax for of a script, but no real functionality. This allows a script writer to fill in the desired functionality without being burdened with creating the entire script structure. This makes script writing easier and shortens development time.
formZ 6.0.1 keywords