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And Alibre Design example, I'm very new to Alibre but was able to figure out the same process in minutes without even googling anything. The one thing that caught my eye with Alibre is when you hover the mouse and it shows you what is going to disappear before clicking it to confirm. _Alibredesigntrim.mp4 I'm out of software that I own to try this operation any further. Please believe me though, there does seem to be a problem.

I gave this a go in Rhino 7 and it seems very similar also, the process works just fine as per the video. _Rhinotrimandextrude.mp4

Tech, For what it's worth, this process is very nearly exactly what I can actually get done in Plasticity, it works, it's conceptually easy to pull off. Precise measurements can be entered I just didn't bother as I was trying to demonstrate the workflow. Is this what is meant to be happening in Form Z and I'm just missing something? _PlasticityTrimAndExtrude.mp4

Tech, I have created a video of what I believe to be the process you described. I gave it 2 goes, both falling short of what I was intending to create (the profile shape given on the website). _Trim tool.mp4 I have also sent an email to support linking this forum post so I don't need to spend more time repeating my issues (and whoever is reading support doesn't need to read the same thing over and over). Edit: And straight after this, closed Form Z to this:

Hi Justin, I can create the square rotated, I have trouble scaling independently using the Transform Tool (I use spacebar to search for Transform and it is the one called Transform Tool), when I click the object it positions to the top corner rather than the middle as you have pictured. Clicking towards the centre does nothing. If I try to just go ahead and scale, the shape extends out toward the bottom right creating a kind of rectangle. If I try to use the I-Scale tool (which I assume to mean Independent Scale, like scale on 1 axis not all at same time like Uniform), I can get the diamond shape. I cannot do the next step which is fillet, it simply fails with an error message. I have tried different values for the Circular Radius and I'm just getting errors. I would have hoped I can just click and drag to get the shape of the fillet and then come back in dial it in numerically if needed. I am curious what version you are using Justin? I have tried the latest available version on both Windows 11 Pro (fully up-to-date) and Mac OS Sonoma (fully up-to-date), I seem to be getting wildly different results from yours. For the most part, the Mac version seems to be working out a little better overall, though I am getting some weird pallet window re-adjustments/disappearances while I try to take screenshots and post in this forum (while swapping between windows basically). Both versions seem to want me to log-in with the web-form at a minimum every day, which seems a bit excessive even though I told the Mac version to use the "I'm on a laptop and don't have regular internet option".

Thanks Justin, I did not think of that approach. Tech I believe I did try your approach and it is just not working, for me at least. Perhaps I am driving the tools incorrectly. I did review the relevant sections in the manual and tried to make sense of the tools that way, I also tried just madly clicking about in different order and locations of the curves and that didn’t really help either. I have also sent off some emails to the support email and awaiting replies. I seem to be having a very rough start as a new user. Unfortunately google and YouTube searches aren’t plentiful for the type of work I’m trying to do with Form Z either. I am spending more time sending emails and forum posts than actually creating anything.

CMick, If you like to draw directly on 3D objects to modify them, select any of the 2D drawing tools, and in the tool's options, select one of the generation modifiers (3D Extrusion, Insert Opening, etc.). Hover over the face of the 3D object, then click to draw. For the shape above, the Offset Outline, Imprint, and Reshape tools may also come in handy.

Hi CMick, Another approach will may afford more dimensional control: 1. Draw 3 circles 2. <Tangent Line> tool to create the 4 tangent lines 3. <Trim Lines> tool to trim the circles to arcs. The resulting arc will be the section clicked on, and will proceed to the circle start/end point on the circumference, so you will want to make sure the start/end lies outside the arc you'd like to keep. To view and edit the circle/arcs endpoints, use the <Pick> tool to select the circle/arc, then in the Inspector palette, click the Show Controls button. 4. Select the 8 lines/curves and use the <Join Lines> tool to make them into a surface. You can search for each of these tools using the formZ Assistant (hit the spacebar, then start typing and part of the tool name you are looking for). Please note this forum is for customers to help one another, as Justin has (thanks, Justin!). For formZ technical support, please write to us at support@formz.com

This workflow is easily done in formZ. Though I would have to warn you that anytime you add 'Rounding' to an object, it will lose it's Parametric qualities and becomes a solid object. So Rounding should be the last step after you have all your thicknesses dialed. If you are still playing with part thicknesses, you may want to keep a seperate 'core' part copy on another layer in case you need to go back and adjust thicknesses later. You would just then need to reapply the Controlled Rounding as the final step. For exact placing of your cutouts, I would simply use the center point snap and a Polygon using the Polygon Drawing (Center Radius) option. This should let you draw on the middle line of your part and you can then adjust it's size up and down as you need it.

Ah, yes, that profile isn't obvious on how to create. While there are a couple of ways to do that, like you said, starting with circles then joining them with lines to create a face. However, I would just start with a 4 sided Polygon, then move or scale the edge points in to the right size and then use the Fillet/Bevel tool to round them. From there you can ReShape or Push/Pull the face and I think you got the rest...

I am trying to re-create the part shown as an example on the website: - https://videos.files.wordpress.com/X54GpTBL/s4_3.mp4 I am failing at creating the profile shape the example starts off with. If I was to do this (and I have) in another application Rhino or Plasticity for example. I would: - Create 3 circle curves - Use tangent lines to connect the circles - Use Trim to remove the inner parts of the circles - Join the curves and turn it into a surface and extrude up I try the same technique in Form Z and I fail to pull it off. I have tried clicking on different parts of the lines and just end up with unconnected lines, part circles or even error messages. I have switched to the Mac version at this point as I was getting a tiny bit further than Windows 11. I have consulted what I believe to be relevant parts of the manual, I am at an absolute loss as to figure out how to do this or pretty much anything with this application. I'm not sure if this version (10 Pro with Vray) is broken? Absolute frustration and bewilderment.

On the form Z website, this video snippet is what got me in the door, so to speak: https://videos.files.wordpress.com/X54GpTBL/s4_3.mp4 Found on (I couldn't see it for some reason on my phone, desktop works okay for me though): https://autodessys.com/formz-pro/ I have also done a mock-up with plasticity which for me the process is something like: - Lock to Front (construction) plane, draw a rectangle (which I believe results in a sheet) - Draw the inner squares/rectangles in same plane - Extrude the sheet away into a solid, this seems to auto cut the square/rectangle regions - From the back of the solid, press space which auto aligns and creates the next plane (construction) - Draw further shapes on this plane and extrude out - Continue doing this and using the shapes to cut and boolean (they are positioned correctly within the shapes due to the construction planes) To me this feels a bit like sketching straight on the shapes and having some freeform operations like moving and filleting directly on the edges. The wordpress/main website video seemed to show something similar, the big draw card for me was form z being parametric, because right now I printed the plasticity version and found my clips broke off when press fitting, so I need to go back and move them about or thicken them up. Would be great to go in and adjust a number with some precision and have them update.

Thanks, I'm going to be sending a few support emails today. If they already know I guess there is no point in sending one about this issue.

Something strange is happening on your end. That green bubble should not be showing up when the Insert option is unchecked. Try toggling it on and off again? Even so, the Insert option should not be causing your cursor clicks to become inaccurate. The only time I have seen this is if the Numeric Accuracy wasn't set with enough places. Try changing it to 0.0001 mm and let us know if that improves.

Hello, Can you show an example of the workflow you are trying to replicate?

Hello again, Yes, this is a known bug and has been reported. Hopefully this is fixed in the next release. This used to be a good way to access the YouTube videos, but I think the video player is no longer supported, so it causes a crash. For now just go directly to the formZ YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@formz3D

Hi Thommo, Can I ask what is your screen resolution? I don't use formZ Draft Layout much but opening it with a fresh install looks like it has plenty of room on my 1920x1200 screen: That being said, there is a lot of flexibility in formZ. With the Palettes in particular you may find clicking the edge of the Palette Dock will let you drag it smaller or larger. You can also try moving or turning off the Palette Dock (right side palettes nesting place) will buy you a lot of screen space. In formZ I actually have this on my second of three monitors so my modeling window is larger. All of the palettes and their docks can be turned on and off from the Palettes menu. After a quick customization, I'd setup formZ Draft Layout like this with the Status Bar - Bottom hidden after CTRL+Click+Dragging the Snap Tools and Reference Plane Tool bars to the empty space in the top bar. I also much prefer having my Toolbar on the right next to the Tool Options for cursor moving all the way across the screen continuously. To do this you right click on the Tool bar and select Move Dock Right: Does this help?

For a moment, I thought you were from Chile, @Sebastien, which is my country! 😁 Your work looks excellent. Congrats! I have one comment. The architect of the building, Centro de Innovación UC Anacleto Angelini, Santiago, is Alejandro Aravena / Elemental. Aravena is a Chilean architect; Elemental is his office. He is a Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate. That's why I am commenting. https://www.pritzkerprize.com/laureates/ale-jan-dro-ara-ve-na

Yes !!!

And… you can develop your taste. 😏

Good architecture is not only based on taste. It’s universal.

Thanks everybody for your comments. I must say that I had a bit of strugles with Unreal at first ( still lots to understand and master).. About the architecture I guess that it depends on your taste.. I was atracted by its monumental and minimal style.

Sebastien, the architecture is beautiful!!!

Hi Folks I've just come back to Form Z after being away using other drawing programs because I want to get back more into modeling. I have upgraded to V10. The links to the manuals and tutorial videos don't seem to work very well which is making refreshing my old brain (even for the most minor issues) about the subtle nuances of various tools etc a bit frustrating to say the least. To my current point: I've been using drafting mode on my laptop and the main tool palette is taking up a lot of real estate on the screen even to the point of making the bottom tools in accessible. Does anyone know how to resize the main tool palette. I presume that it is possible but I can't find any details in the manual anywhere?

I am having an issue with Form Z crashing after right-clicking a tool and choosing the View Video option. A window/panel/palette pops up but the panel never gets filled in with anything, the moment I click anything the program seems to become unresponsive. I then need to go to task manager and kill form-Z which usually results in me having to login again, last time it told me all licenses were in use which is a bit of a concern also. I'm not sure if anyone else is able to get these to work or maybe somethings up with my install of Form Z and I need to raise a support issue?