Donald Wardlaw

Doh. Object snap were turned off. I'm just trying to show I guess, how you can use this program for 25 years and still make your dog look smart....

I've lost normal behavior of the measure distance tool. It is not properly catching the starting and ending points of a measurement. I get a value, but when I turn the view a bit I see it was running a measurement that looks like point to point, but were actually arbitrary points that were not in he plane of the points I was trying to measure. Used to work fine.

It looks to me that when I cut a section, it permanently alters the model. And, it doesn't remember what the model was. So, sections must be done on duplicates of the model in order to retain the ability to continue working with the model. I'm surprised to see this approach. Maybe, I'm missing something? Would not be the first time. I see that I can keep the model objects if I ghost or keep operands. Is the the route to retaining the model? Keeping them results in overlay confusion. Ghosting allows me to keep them visually separate, but then the model I want might intermingle with other ghosts I do not want to unghost with the model. Thanks, Donald

When I go to the help menu, and select "Manual" it opens a web page with the index. If I hit the search tab, I get gibberish, as attached. FZ 8.57 OSX 10.11.6 Safari 10.1.2 3.tiff

Thanks to both. I don't think, though, that industry standard for word processing, carries much weight with CAD. Vectorworks has never replaced the selected object if some other object is accidentally selected. To me it is more a question of what might we want to do. I do appreciate also the insight into managing the boolean operations. That is smart and I will up my game a bit there. Donald

I'm not sure if this is my deficiency or formz's. If it is me there is probably some setting I need to know about. In my files, if I have an object selected, and I paste a new object, the previously selected object is deleted. I would like to be able to paste an object without a previously selected object being replaced. There are frequently situations where an object is used to trim other objects. That object is deleted by difference, but it is re-pasted for the next similar operation. Problem it that when I'm zoomed in, it is very easy to select another object accidentally, which then gets accidentally deleted. This seems to be more of a problem with recent versions of formz due to the enhanced selection capabilities, which I otherwise like. Donald

"If lines that should be straight in the photo are curved, then it is too distorted to match view perfectly." Mastery is often a game of knowing the tolerances for imperfection. Not knowing them, I went with the speculation that since I was trying to fit the model into a narrow angle of the total angle of the scene, the curvature *might* be relatively flat and workable. Zoomed in it all looked rather straight. In fact, prior to solving, I saw red lines on the image which corresponded to the straight lines on the model----and they occurred on the lines in the image I expected them to. What I couldn't figure out, was how formz seemed to understand where it was supposed to put the model edges, and they looked straight, but when I solved the match, it didn't put the edges where it indicated it would. If those lines were actually curved, then in connecting them formz must have drawn them curved, since they matched the image in which the lines are thought to be curved. And yet, it didn't seem plausible that formz was drawing the lines curved. Finally, the mismatch in the solution was major, not subtle. As always I appreciate the help from the formz crew, you are such a great resource. I have since done matches on more normal photos and it works pretty much as advertised.

I am uploading the file to a drop box and will email the link to support. Sorry for file size---it's the image, not my model. Again, the formz file contains the model, but i've also made a simple solid, aligned on a separate layer, so that the control points on the matching model are few and separate. I put in 8 distinct points and can't get it to solve properly. When you see the horizon that may give a clue. Donald

Howdy, The background is a true image, but what I sent was a cropped version to keep file size low. The image was made with a drone and it has a fairly wide angle of view. Angle unknown. Yes I am clicking on the solve button. What I posted was the solution. The model definitely moved and adjusted. Problem is, that even giving it 5-6 points, major building corners do not move to where they are supposed to move. I'll compress the model and post it. Ok if I send a note to Paul H. with link? Thanks, Donald

Could you look at the attached? The bullets go to the right locations but you can see that the model does not map to where the targets are. You can look at the rubber band lines, the solid red lines showing collinearity, but the model points don't go there. I don't know how to get this to work.

solve.tiffI am new to match view, so I appreciate the help and patience. I found that match the view in my situation was easier if I created a wireframe model of the actual model. The wireframe is just the most simplified geometry of the model containing the points I want to snap to. It is another layer of the model and registered to the model. As you can see in the image below, the bullets are correctly snapped to the related points in the model. The wireframe model is rendered in a semi-transparent yellow. You can see that while the control points go to the right place, the solution is "a kilter." I'm looking for an explanation and I wonder if it is because the photo was taken with a drone with an extremely wide angle lens, which gives curvature to the horizon. If that is so, I suppose it will not be possible to match the model to this photo.

Yes, thank you. Set custom size and maintain proportions in the Display Menu are key. Donald

Hopefully learning new tricks... Manual says: "From it select Flat Image, which brings in a default image and places it as a background. To import another image, click on the Options... button (next to the Backgroundmenu) and in the dialog that is invoked click Load.." fwiw, current RZ Pro here has no options button as noted above. There is a little folder icon (with an umbrella or lock?) that does give access to the "load" button. What I found when I imported my image, is that it adjusts the aspect ratio to the proportions of the formz window. I was hoping to see the image in the proportion in which the photo was taken. I see the original in the import thumbnail with gray borders top and bottom, but not in the full window. Consequently when I resize the formz window, the aspect ratio of the image changes. I'm importing a 3264 x 2448 image into a 5k iMac. Thanks, Donald

Very nice. Thank you! Donald

The manual notes that Z can work with IES files in the creation of accurate custom lights. I don't yet see how to do this. Does Z import the IES file and attach it to a custom light, or do I merely note and transfer the parameters? Thanks, Donald