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Call for beta testers: form•Z mobile viewer for iPad and iPhone


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form•Z mobile viewer for iPad and iPhone

 

form•Z mobile viewer for iPad and iPhone is a new app that allows you to interact and share your form•Z projects like never before. This new app opens native form•Z files (v7 and later) and displays them in real time interface. This app is a great tool for sharing your designs with colleagues and clients.

 

Beta testing will start in the next few days. If you are interested in beta testing this app please send an email to betaz@formz.com!

 

form•Z mobile viewer Features:

- Interactive view navigation (spin, zoom, pan, fit).
- Standard preset views.
- Recall any view saved in your form•Z project.
- Recall any scene saved in your form•Z project.
- Recall any clipping plane (real time section) in your form•Z project.
- Create new clipping planes.
- Save and recall custom views.
- Select from three rendering modes: Shaded work, Shaded full (including shadows, bumps and ambient occlusion) and Wire Frame.
- Control layers (turn on /off)
- Control lights. (turn on /off)
- Transfer files via AirDrop, iTunes, iCloud, Google drive.
- Share images via Social media.

 

This app requires iOS 9.3 and one of the following devices:

iPad: Pro (12.9-inch), Pro (9.7-inch), Air, Air 2, mini 2, mini 3, mini 4
iPhone: 5s, 5se, 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus

iPod: touch (6th gen) 

 

 

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We hope to eventually offer an Android version as well but at this point we can not say when. 

 

The App has been submitted to Apple and we are waiting for it to be reviewed and released by their TestFlight system. We are not sure how long this will take but hopefully not too long. If you submitted a request to beta test, you will receive an email from the Apple iTunes Store with details on how to access the App when it is ready.

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really cool news.  

 

would be great to have Apple Pencil support and be able to add notes on top of images.  I export views and do this in other apps, but could be a nice feature.

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I agree, this is really where things are going.

 

For now I'd do this in Notability.

 

really cool news.  

 

would be great to have Apple Pencil support and be able to add notes on top of images.  I export views and do this in other apps, but could be a nice feature.

 

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The App has been released by Apple. If your beta request was received by 3:00 EDT today. You should have received an email from Apple TestFlight by now. All other requests will be submitted as we receive them and you should receive an invitation from Apple TestFlight within a couple of hours.

 

We have been looking into the Apple Pencil and the opportunities it presents. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

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When I attempt to load my own models in through iCloud, nothing arrives.    There is a quick message that pops up from the bottom, but far too quick to read.

 

One possibility is, I signed up for testFlight with one iCloud account, but both my device and computer are using a different iCloud account for the iCloud Drive

 

 

I presume the Drop box feature is a place holder for the future?

 

Plus, an inconsequential bug.  the app will crash if you share with no model loaded.   Repeatable.

 

Cheers!

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Chris,

 

Thanks for the report. We were able to reproduce the iCloud problem on one of our devices. Its not related to the iCloud account. There is not a connection between TestFlight and the iCloud account. We are working on a fix for this as well as the crash you experienced.

 

The items that appear when you tap the [+] icon are controlled by sharing (cloud) services installed by other apps (iCloud, Google drive,  Dropbox etc). If you see Dropbox in the menu then you likely have the Dropbox app installed. If Dropbox does not work when you select it, check the settings in the Dropbox app or Dropbox section of the devices settings panel (also be sure you have the latest Dropbox app.)

 

 

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This looks like a nice way to present and share projects.

I look forward to more testing.

 

A walk-through navigation mode would be a welcome addition for Arch models.

I suppose saving a series of views might get you close.

 

Is the recommended method of uploading files icloud / dropbox accounts?

I don't know my iOS as well as I do Android. But it seem like you don't have access to on device storage in an iOS device so a USB transfer of a file is likely not the best option. 

 

Bart

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Bart,

 

AirDrop or using iTunes will work in the current version. There is a security glitch in the this version that is causing files opened via iCloud and Google drive to not open for many people. We are testing a fix for this today and expect to update the app in the next few days. We are still looking into DropBox as it seems to have some other issues to be solved.

 

Thanks for your suggestions. A walk-through mode and  an easy way to play a sequence of views or scenes is certainly on our radar.

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Awesome job on the app!  I am really liking it!!!  I can really put this to use both for myself and with clients.  

 

I transfered one of my files and some, but not all, of the textures transferred over.  I have been transferring this file from work to my laptop at home successfully, including textures:  standard textures such as a default grass material and custom textures I have imported into a material.  See attached views

 

For some views I had a gradient texture mapped in for the sky in Shaded Full.  On the app it comes up black.  Would be nice to at least have control over the background color if skies are not possible yet.   See attached views
 

It would be nice to have a tool or gesture to be able to walk around the model.  Similar to the "walkthrough" tool in FormZ.   Pinch zoom sort of does it, but walking would be nice.  Maybe three fingers moving up to walk forward and three fingers moving down to walk back?

 

So far most other general settings are working for me.  

 

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Thanks on the iCloud part, looking forward to it working.

 

Regarding Drop Box,  yes I have it installed, but I do not see a setting in either the general settings App, nor in the Dropbox App Settings.   Wonder if a paid account would allow this.

 

¢£

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Thanks for your report on the background. We will look into this issue.

 

The "Edit" button in "Select Model" window will allow you to delete models from the device (this is still WIP).

 

The beta version is not restricted to any specific countries. We enter the beta requests we receive into Apple TestFlight every couple of hours and you should get the invitation soon after that. Andre we did not receive an beta request email from you (if you did we are sorry that we missed it, can you please do so again). 

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1. I have noticed that two finger panning is sometimes inconsistent.  It sort of starts and stops and does not seem fluid at times.  iPad Pro.

 

2.  Shadows are still quite poor and really obvious.  I built a simple model for testing.  I hope FormZ 9 can solve this issue.  Jagged edges and also issues where the shadow meets the object edge.  See attached edges.  Ground plane is set to not cast shadows.  

 

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3.  A dimension tool would be very useful. 

 

4.  I would assume when adding clipping planes and views that they would be saved.  When I close and reopen the file no new views or clipping planes are present.   

 

5.  Ambient Occlusion created some "interesting results" in my test model:

 

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6.  I am not sure what "Silhouettes" does?  Nothing seems to happen when I choose it.

 

7.  I also do not see "Multi-Sampling" doing much.  Could be my model is too simplistic?

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Thanks for your report. Here is some feedback:

 

1. We have observed this as well. Seems to be a tolerance issue. Panning woks best when your fingers are closer together. We hope to improve this.

 

2. What do you have the Shadow map setting set to in the .fmz file? This will affect the Shadow quality. We do not have access to this in the App at this time.

 

3. Do you mean the measure tool or do you want to add dimensions to the model?

 

4. We currently do not save the model as its a bit dangerous. Not all of the .fmz data is supported in the Viewer App (ACIS for example). If the file were returned to the original machine and was to overwrite the original file it would not be good. We are considering adding a new file extension for files saved from the viewer (.fmv) ar a way to preserve the additional information on the App only.

 

5-7 we are still evaluating the viability of these options in the mobile App (this is what a beta is all about!). iOS uses OpenGL ES which is a bit different than full OpenGL found on OS X (although they are getting closer with each new ES version) and the mobile graphics cards do not support all of the features of a desktop/laptop card. This means that we do not have as much accuracy with some features (Ambient Occlusion) and others may not be needed at all (like Multi-Sampling on a retina display).

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Andre,

 

We added you to the beta today. According to iTunes Connect an email was sent to you already. Look for an email from "TestFlight" or "iTunes". It might be in your Junk mail folder.

 

It's not in my Junk mail folder. I sent a new email from a different account but that too didn't work. My friend sent the email at the same time and she got a link almost immediately -- can I use the same link without affecting her?

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