bmeissner

Well, Illustrator is fine for drawing, but it's not "CAD precise". I wouldn't rely on Illustrator drawings for things further processed in a 3D file… and I'm doing a lot of work with Illustrator, and even take some of them to FormZ (for the looks, not the precision). This lack of precision has to do with Illustrator internally calculating in points (historically), which is then converted to the selected unit of choice. This won't work for booleans on things that are supposed to have identical shapes or curves. They probably aren't identical. Bernd

Wrong face. I'm so happy to switch computers using my WIBU dongles without having to tell anybody on the internet… as often as I wish to do it. So, that's the appropriate face: Bernd

Uh-oh… I know I'm late to the party, I didn't see this posting here. The last years it always has been in the tutorials section of the forum. Anyway, my best wishes to all are still true… a Happy New Year to you all Bernd

… and all the best to you all! Bernd (Note: 23 years of FormZ modeled Christmas cards :-))

OK, for now I've decided that using a bezier spline instead of the ellipse might be the easiest solution to the problem. While you cannot use snaps to the first spline while drawing the second one, it's totally fine (in this context) to simply snap to the object edges and midpoints. This will at least give usable results for the further progress of the tutorial. Comes close to the desired look as shown in my first screenshots at the beginning of this thread.

Looks like a great resource, will do, thanks 🙂

Hi Chris, thanks for checking again. The free version actually lacks some very useful things, like (controlled) rounding, which might also be helpful in this context. Of course I understand the reduction of tools for a free version (although rounding would have been nice), we'll try to finish the tutorial one way or the other. I'm not very proficient in this version yet, as I still mostly work in 6.7.3 (although I own all versions up to 8.6). Thanks for those tips regarding snaps, I'll check them out. Bernd

Hi Chris, thanks for your in-depth research 🙂 I was talking about the snaps to the objects already created throughout the tutorial steps. The ellipses are needed to create arches in a kind of building: The ellipse drawn here is set to "insert" on the building. When I try to do this via a circle, the inserted circle shape can can be scaled after being finished (needs to be selected via the Tab key), but the snaps on the existing object don't work for aligning the ellipse endpoints to the object edges. However, for the sake of continuing the tutorial it can be done without exact snaps: In the following steps of the tutorial there is no way to align the second arch (by means of snaps) to the dimensions of the first one by using the "circle scaling" method, the results are somewhat random: Of course, as an experienced user I might overcome some of these limitations by using numeric entry for drawing the circle and applying the independent scale afterwards (the scale won't be precisely ending on the edges nonetheless), but this is an absolute beginner's tutorial. I'm wondering if nobody ever tried it with the free version, but this might be discouraging for new users. As I said, I'm trying to get the next generation interested in FormZ, and of course I can always help my daughter, but the tutorial file might need a review for other first time users without that help. Bernd

Hi Andrew, yes, independent scale works for making an ellipse out of a circle. However, the snapping instructions as per the tutorial don't work this way, and the independent scale tool hasn't been explained in the (absolute beginner) tutorial yet. Anyway… so that's a "find out how to fake inexistent tools" tutorial… 😉

Hi all, I wanted to get my daughter started with FormZ and suggested she'd try the tutorials first. This is how I learned FormZ decades ago. Well, for total beginners there are those self guided tutorials in the "About" screen, consisting of 3 parts (QuickStart, Sculpting, Materials). Part 1 was easy, but now we get stuck on part 2, scene 9, which instructs to select the "Ellipse 1 drawing tool". Well… there is no Ellipse drawing tool. Or do I overlook something? Bernd

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all 🙂 Tradition (without fail) since 1997, the FormZ modeled season's greetings card: Bernd

Happy Holidays :) Bernd

Doesn't this one look like a pretty straightforward tool for the task? https://www.expertgps.com/gpx-dxf.asp Bernd

Hi Chris, please feel free to upload my models. They were meant for sharing back then, and this has not changed. I've just looked the folder up… that was in 2004. These models are now considered "vintage" Bernd

Happy Holidays to ADS and you all For the statistics: in 2017 it has been exactly 20 years that I've been making these annual cards with FormZ. Never change a working system Bernd