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FZ future


pkcn

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We finally decided to use both version: FZ 8.5.7 with Maxwell plugin for clients jobs and FZ 8.6.0.1 (10027) with VRay plugin for testing and less critical deadline. The first one is more stable and has the ability to launch several renderings overnight. However, we would like a bigger mxm library. The results are very nice but at time expens . The second provides a more integrated UI (even with some annoying overlap windows), good material library (with additional vismat collection) and speed but VRay has to be integrated in FZ Imager for launching several renderings. Sadly the GPU (Quadro P4000) is useless with both plugins.

 

​We are old FZ users (for more than 15 years now - FZ 2.5), like many other in this forum (old users only remains now?), and still happy to work with. Too many bugs in the last updates and irritated UI require more and more patient however.

What is new now, Autodessys seems not very prompt to adress these problems and to answer at many threads of this forum.

 

​So, our question: Is FZ became a dead end choice and we should change our workflow? Or is FZ able to become again the more advanced modeler we knew and like?

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I agree that the silence from Support these days is strange and is not typical of them over the years but I don't think FormZ is a dead end choice, especially since they have put in a huge effort implementing vRay.

Like you I still use v8.5.7 with Maxwell for my everyday modelling and have v8.6 with vRay for testing on another machine.

I have always stuck with a stable release over the years until the new version is ready proper, I think it is sensible for any software.

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As a long time user (-97) I also have noticed the silence of Support team which used to be very quick and responsive. Maybe ADS have difficulties to address resources to support at the moment. I really hope they can change this situation. My quess is that ADS is not so big company that few persons missing from the crew can be seen. Of course this is just my quessing. On the other hand it wouldn't be a big effort to give quick few line responses to the forum topics to show that something will done, I think.

 

It is the big difference to the past which is somehow alarming. Let see what happens. I'm not worried yet.  :)

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They are a tiny company in an industry that lives or dies on new users.  That's just a fact.

So they either have to recruit first time users, or convince people to switch from another platform.

​In either case they better have something really stellar to offer, and at least play well with other file formats,

so the the back and forth is not a big hassle. 

 

Just my .02¢  That and $5.00 will get you a small coffee at Starbucks. :) 

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Paul was a hero, he would somehow manage to get to the bottom of every problem and fix it.

More importantly, he would respond to every problem on this forum no matter how trivial.

Historically these were normally user errors but more recently it is now the application that is struggling.

FormZ is getting old and for a small company, this means that the key visionary developers have retired or otherwise moved on.

I also use SharkCAD which very closely resembles Vellum Cobalt. It too is suffering from the similar issues and I don't see either application developing much in the future.

 

I'm most likely going to replace both FormZ and SharkCAD with SpaceClaim this year, much easier now that I have moved away from Mac Os and iPhones etc. 

SpaceClaim seems to sit comfortably between the two and the annual subscription is marginally more than the yearly upgrades for SharkCAD and FormZ.

If Autodessys fix the terrible component system and sort out the interface glitches there would be no need to consider other applications after all these years, but I do not feel my usual optimism going forward.

 

 

 

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It appears that after getting vray implemented, ADS is in now hibernate mode.

 

The silence here is not a good sign, lets hope it is just due to collective effort on the new Version....9.

But if the latter is true why not communicate it ?

On the Forum it appears some new people have appeared, which is good, but FZ need to get the word out and advertise the new rendering capabilities to attract new users.

( i.e. Look at Chaosgroups website, big announcements for Vray for Revit, Rhino and Sketchup - nothing on FormZ (unless you search for it))

Make a rocksolid 8.6.x release and dont overpromise on things to come. my2c

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Hi All, 

 

Sorry for the lack of response here in the last few weeks. We have been absorbed with the response to V-Ray for form•Z and work in progress on an updated 8.6 and new features and collaborations for form•Z 9.  

 

We have received some great feedback on V-Ray for form•Z. We are really excited the results that form•Z users have been able to achieve in a very short time. Some users have requested additional V-Ray features that were not in our original scope. These will be coming soon along with a few adjustments that you would expect with a new product. Some of these are features that you will find in V-Ray for 3D Studio Max, but not V-Ray for SketchUp or V-Ray for Rhino. We are working on compatibility with the form•Z Imager. pkcn, the card you mention should work with V-Ray for form•Z. How did you conclude that it was not working?

 

Yes we are a small team, but we love what we do and we care for everyone who uses our creations. Please recognize that the development of V-Ray for form•Z was a huge undertaking and investment that we would not have made if we did not believe in the future of form•Z and its users. Chaos Group creates the plugins for the other solutions so you will naturally see more marketing of these solutions on their site. Expect to see more publicity on V-Ray for form•Z in the coming months.

 

We are certainly not hibernating. The founders are involved in the company so your speculations are misplaced. We all miss Paul and his efforts on this forum. We will try to do better at following the standard he set. Keep in mind that you can reach us by email at support@form•Z.com as well!

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