form•Z 8.5.4 Update Released!

[Tech]

We are pleased to announce that the formZ 8.5.4 update is now available for pro, jr, free and student editions.  

 

Select Check for Update from the the formZ Help Menu automatically update your v8.5 software.

 

If you have any issues with the automatic updates you can access the full download here: http://www.formz.com/update

NOTE:  Please contact us at support@formz.com or start a new forum thread if you have any feedback or issues.

Enjoy!

 

Highlights of improvements in this version:

 

- Booleans on smooth objects no longer place results on the active layer (they stay on their original layer consistent with facetted objects).

- Imager now has a progress indicator.

- RenderZone performance has been improved on OS X to be consistent with previous versions.

- RenderZone shadow quality has been improved to be consistent with previous versions.

- Exporting files to STEP now works when objects are far from the origin.

- Clipping planes that clip transparent objects now render properly in shaded full and shaded work render modes.

- Clicking rapidly in the visibility icon in the Objects and Layers palette now behaves properly.

- Using the context menu in the modeling window on Windows no longer causes the screen to go blank while the menu is displayed.

- Moving from the center dot of the Clipping plane controller now acts like moving from the arrow as with previous versions,

- The context menu of the Clipping plane controller now works properly.

- Clicking on the plus + icon in palettes on Windows now keeps the text field highlighted for renaming as with previous versions.

- Deleting items from list palettes (layers, views, lights) with the context menu now works properly.

- Certain DXF/DWG files now import and export properly.

- Importing DXF/DWG files with Block and the Explode option now uses the Block insertion layer rather than the definition layer.

- Animating visibility of objects now works properly.

- Two-source sweep on single segment paths now work properly.

- Other various performance and stability improvements.

 

[AsOne]

Thanks for fixing the visibility icon bug!!!

 

Massive shadows also finally works for me.  This might have been fixed in an earlier version perhaps and I hadn't tested it yet? 

[Tech]

Hi Paul,

 

Great, glad you are liking the update!  

[Andre Conlledo]

Thank you!

[¢hris £und]

[bluemonkey]

"- RenderZone performance has been improved on OS X to be consistent with previous versions"

 

​Render zone speed test is now rendering in times I would expect to achieve.

 

FormZ 8.5.3 on OSX 10.11.2 was four or five times slower than FormZ 7 on previous OSX.

 

Thanks for fixing it guys!

[Justin Montoya]

Thank you ADS!

 

I'm also seeing a good speed increase in RenderZone now with OSX and 12 cores selected.   Using the ADS provided Performance Test Files. - http://forums.formz.com/index.php?/topic/194-performance-test-thread-how-fast-is-your-computer/

 

Before:

 

v6

12 cpu - 00:11:47

24 cpu - 00:12:11

 

v7

12 cpu - 00:11:59

24 cpu - 00:11:28

 

RenderZone v8.5.3 results:

 

4 cpu - 00:31:19

6 cpu - 00:21:20

8 cpu - 00:28:08

12 cpu-00:35:23

24 cpu-01:04:04

 

After - v8.5.4 results:

 

12 cpu- 9:56

24 cpu- 10:15

 

Conclusion - More than DOUBLE the rendering speed of v8.5.3, and a solid 20% increase from v6 and v7.  Hyperthreading is still not really helping, but I suspect that has to do with OSX's handling of it rather than RenderZone.  This is on 10.10.5 Yosemite, have been waiting to upgrade to El Capitan.  Should I upgrade now?  I know the new MacOS is going to take quite some time to be ready for a working environment.