FZ Tutorial videos

[Justin Montoya]

Great info Rick!

Does FormZ still offer cheap licenses for students?  Universities getting volume licenses would go a long ways to help keep FormZ as a viable option for students.

Remember when there were FormZ Student competitions?   Maybe AutoDesSys could start that back up at Clemson with you??

[skybound13]

rickdm,

Your mention of Rhino and how it is popular with students at Clemson is interesting.  I saw a YouTube video made about two years ago where an architect in California made a comment about how she thought Rhino was the preferred modeling application for architecture students, I had never heard of the application until the last few years.  That architect is based in California, she doesn’t need to look far to see the amazing formZ modeling that Jones, Partners:  Architecture is putting out.  In my opinion the style of modeling they do is better than what is used on the formZ home page, I think it would be nice for AutoDesSys to showcase work like that.

[CJTFORM-Z]

15 minutes ago, skybound13 said:

rickdm,

Your mention of Rhino and how it is popular with students at Clemson is interesting.  I saw a YouTube video made about two years ago where an architect in California made a comment about how she thought Rhino was the preferred modeling application for architecture students, I had never heard of the application until the last few years.  That architect is based in California, she doesn’t need to look far to see the amazing formZ modeling that Jones, Partners:  Architecture is putting out.  In my opinion the style of modeling they do is better than what is used on the formZ home page, I think it would be nice for AutoDesSys to showcase work like that.

Hi Skybound13,
If its the same, AutoDesSys has an old-ish gallery of their work, link below:-

 

As for Rhino for architectural works, they have a separate programme called VisualARQ-2 you use as an add-on for better parametric architectural modelling noted as BIM. Not too sure if this indicates plain Rhino has less architectural tools than Form.Z, but its a costly add-on to say the least.🤔 

[skybound13]

rickdm,

Yes, that link is for the same firm, it’s a nice collection of images.  I love that style of modeling, I’m not into photorealism.  They have some great line drawings on their site, they use PowerCADD for their drawings.  I’d be nice if they would upload some new work.

I never got turned on by BIM, I’m cool with creating “unintelligent” geometry - it’s my job to add the intelligence!  :-)  I’ve been disappointed by drawings I’ve seen that were made with Revit - horrible lineweight hierarchy, inappropriate use of scale, a few sections with embarrassing modeling anomalies.

Oh, and I forgot to mention in my first post, I definitely agree with your comments about making some noise and drawing attention to the formZ product.

[Des]

7 hours ago, skybound13 said:

I never got turned on by BIM, I’m cool with creating “unintelligent” geometry - it’s my job to add the intelligence!  🙂 I’ve been disappointed by drawings I’ve seen that were made with Revit - horrible lineweight hierarchy, inappropriate use of scale, a few sections with embarrassing modeling anomalies.

I agree..

[CJTFORM-Z]

As I understand from Evan Troxel's fundamental video tutorials for modeling in Form•Z, FZ has built in intelligence as most of the manual geometry is parametric (unlike SU) & thus 'change' makes Form•Z a very smart programme & should fit very well with the architectural market, as 'change' is all part of the design process with various schemes.

Before BIM, most architectural Cadders like me, (as you say) added the intelligence to their plans. Some higher-end 3D Architectural CAD programmes that had parametric abilities, made this their forte to enable a building to be modeled with parametric menus for most building elements to create a whole 3D building. Then you'd extract the expected plans, elevations & sections etc for Planning & Construction drawing sheets for various approvals before one builds on site. However, this still means setting up quite a lot of menus for this work & perhaps slows down the initial drawing process. So, I can see why people like using manual 3D modelling programmes (SU or Form•Z) to achieve the same end result as the process feels more intuitive & immediate.

Adding BIM abilities to these 'high-end' more expensive 3D CAD parametric programmes I guess wasn't that difficult to undertake & I think as REVIT had this ability initially, perhaps encouraged others to add this in as well. This still comes down to the person attaching the construction notes for all these modeled building elements and another layer of time which can erode the creative design process.

BIM is meant for all to extract & scrutinise information for their needs i.e. Builder or specialist M&E services etc. For large-ish projects where everyone is expected to collaborate with like for like programmes, I can sort of see how BIM is evolving, but still think a lot of 'Hype' is given to BIM Cad programmes when advertising instead of the core ability to just make 3D parametric modelling easy to use.

For small building projects, BIM isn't really required in my opinion, this is why some 3D CAD manual programmes are still very popular & why 2D CAD programmes still have a place in the architectural market & perhaps having both types of CAD software in your toolbox is all that's required for some. The Form•Z & PowerCADD merge should make this very interesting for AutodesSys & may open up more markets in this regard, but not too sure how they will work together. I'm sort of thinking PowerCADD may replace Form•Z Draft Layout & will be flexible to use individually or both with exporting/importing items when you want to work in 2D or 3D.

 

[skybound13]

CTFORM-Z,

Your reference to how change is involved in the design process is right on.  The ability to model a building is great, whether it’s unintelligent geometry or parametric, it’s easier to make changes before construction starts!

Regarding construction notes, I wait until the very end of my drawing production process to add notes and dimensions so I’m not moving those things around if something gets changed.

All the projects I’ve done have been relatively small including lots of renovation work in existing buildings.  I’ve never felt like I needed to draw three-dimensional wall objects instead of two lines serving as an abstract representation of that wall.

Whether it’s CAD or BIM - or even manual drafting - it’s just a tool and people have different preferences and reasons for using the tools they use.  The Australian architect Glenn Murcutt is known for still doing all his drawings by hand, I doubt there’s too many people who would try to tell him he needs to start using a computer.

I question whether “merge” is the right word for the collaboration between formZ and PowerCADD.  I got the impression that formZ was helping with the development of PowerCADD and that it was not a union of the two applications to create some kind of CAD+modeling application.  I just looked on the PowerCADD forum, found a screen shot of their new version, it showed two floor plans, I didn’t see a reference to anything about modeling.  There is a February 18, 2022 AD post by Alfred Scott on that forum that says, “The companies are joining forces but FormZ and PowerCADD will continue to be separate programs.”  Not sure how he knows that but that’s what he said.

[CJTFORM-Z]

Hi Skybound13,
Yes, I meant, 'joining forces' instead of 'merge'....oops'.....😳......and although both programmes still look to be independent, it would be good to get clarity if both programmes are going to be able to share or benefit from one another.

As there hasn't been any Form•Z Draft Layout tutorial videos since version 8.5, I was wondering if anyone can confirm what if any changes has been made since that time 🤔 

[skybound13]

CJTFORM-Z,

No worries.  It does seem like it would be smart to find a way to allow PowerCADD to be used to set up drawing sheets based on some kind of reference to a formZ model.

[Tech]