CJTFORM-Z Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 To All, Although I joined this forum in 2015, I've never had a chance to actually try out Form-Z 🤔 Anyway, I thought I'd download Form.Z free to see how easy or difficult it is to use compared to SU for architectural works. First question, where is the Draw Guide tool for placing Permanent guides. See attachment extract of the manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJTFORM-Z Posted July 20, 2023 Author Share Posted July 20, 2023 Ok, I thought I'd look at the basics in Form.Z free with the: Part 1 - Quick Start. It certainly feels different than SU with more detail to invoke for each specific tool. Anyway, it notes after completing Part 1 - Quick Start, (done) to continue with tutorial open: Part 2 - Sculpting from the Help pull-down menu, select Getting Started to access addition tutorials. However, no Getting Started in this menu.... 🙄 So how does one continue ❓ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJTFORM-Z Posted July 26, 2023 Author Share Posted July 26, 2023 To all, No takers with my previous two posts 🥺 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2D2 Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 FZ Free is great, and has a lot of capabilities. Whats also true is that it is not properly documented, and even on the products page and the feature comparison page (free>junior>pro) not everything is correct. There are only temporary guides (ortho snap, that is) in free. It does not import all the formats stated, etc. It has no ACIS-Kernel smooth geometry, but it is great for booleans, sections, planes.... So you will have to dig in for yourself, but I think it is worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJTFORM-Z Posted July 26, 2023 Author Share Posted July 26, 2023 40 minutes ago, R2D2 said: FZ Free is great, and has a lot of capabilities. Whats also true is that it is not properly documented, and even on the products page and the feature comparison page (free>junior>pro) not everything is correct. There are only temporary guides (ortho snap, that is) in free. It does not import all the formats stated, etc. It has no ACIS-Kernel smooth geometry, but it is great for booleans, sections, planes.... So you will have to dig in for yourself, but I think it is worth it. Hi R2D2, Thanks for clarifying these matters, its much appreciated, albeit, rather confusing if you want to learn FZ with the free version. So, are we also saying there is no Part 2 - Sculpting tutorial ? I'm thinking FZ HQ could encourage new users with some new free learning material/courses, similar to the SU ones = https://learn.sketchup.com/collections If I've missed these or other material, please point me in that direction. Not thrown in the towel yet....🤔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJD Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 the fact that the FZ free video is 8 years old tells you everything you need to know. I don't know what happened to ADS - they used to be amazing with such potential. Now I think it's just one man working from a shed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJTFORM-Z Posted July 26, 2023 Author Share Posted July 26, 2023 45 minutes ago, SJD said: the fact that the FZ free video is 8 years old tells you everything you need to know. I don't know what happened to ADS - they used to be amazing with such potential. Now I think it's just one man working from a shed. Hi SJD, I hear you, I posted similar items on this forum a few times & although Matthew Holewinski's video tutorials & others are nearing a decade in age, I still find them fascinating. SketchUP seems the nearest similar programme & appears to be everywhere, however, their in-house tool-set (without extensions) have not progressed much in the same time period & is far less than FZ's. Despite the growing 3D market, FZ-HQ don't seem to be interested in waving their flag to hook-in new customers, its an odd one, but they still seem to plod on regardless & drop in teasers from time to time, i.e. the PowerCADD partnership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJTFORM-Z Posted July 27, 2023 Author Share Posted July 27, 2023 12 hours ago, CJTFORM-Z said: Hi R2D2, Thanks for clarifying these matters, its much appreciated, albeit, rather confusing if you want to learn FZ with the free version. So, are we also saying there is no Part 2 - Sculpting tutorial ? I'm thinking FZ HQ could encourage new users with some new free learning material/courses, similar to the SU ones = https://learn.sketchup.com/collections If I've missed these or other material, please point me in that direction. Not thrown in the towel yet....🤔 To be fair, I should've also referenced Evan Troxel Form.Z Fundamentals courses as well, (see links below) which I've mentioned on this forum before, however, the course isn't free (some videos are free). I muted FZ-HQ & Evan Troxel perhaps could make this available at a one off discount or something similar, given the course is quite old now & not based on the current FZ version in an effort to draw in users, but that idea didn't seem engage with both parties....🙄 COURSE:-https://getmethod.teachable.com/p/formz-fundamentals FIRST FREE VIDEO:-https://getmethod.teachable.com/p/formz-fundamentals Justin Montoya 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJTFORM-Z Posted February 20 Author Share Posted February 20 RE: FORM ∙Z ver 10 FREE Part1_QuickStart.fmz & Part2_Sculpting.fmz To all, I think some of the links to Form∙Z website with the above version is broken including where to find the above tutorials. I was able to find these tutorials & have completed Part 1 QuickStart, but Part 2 Sculpting on Scene 9, the instruction to ‘insert Ellipse1’, as the three point ellipse is proving to be evasive, as can’t find this icon anywhere ! Therefore, can anyone clarify further & see enclosed UI screen capture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJTFORM-Z Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 With all this new Form.Z website & ver.10 activity & Evan Troxel's video tutorials (now all watched ! great), I was inspired to try the Form.Z ver.10 tutorials again. So would be good to move on with these if someone can confirm my previous query on Part 2 Sculpting on Scene 9, the instruction to ‘insert the..... illusive Ellipse1 🤔 I'm sure it's there somewhere & these tutorials are up to date, as per the new website discusses......... https://autodessys.com/formz-free/ I think form.Z free is very important, as I'm sure new users would start the Form.Z free journey here, before bucks on the table so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 It's possible the tool was removed from formZ Free after the production of the video. Perhaps on purpose or accidentally in the one of the updates, I don't have an answer to that. You could just use one of the other drawing tools in its place. It won't be a perfect ellipse, but that gives you a chance to be creative with the spline or arc and continue on with the tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZTEK Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 I don't have formZ Free installed to test on my computer. However, in formZ Pro, and I am confident that FZ Core is the same, the way these tools work makes no difference. They can all be edited and converted separately to arcs, circles, and ellipses, depending on the parameters using the Inspector palette or changing the controls on the screen graphically. I don't see why this could not be possible, and I am trying to remember if FZ Free allows this parametric editing, but you could check. If so, it would be more of a tutorial update issue, using the Arc or the Circle and editing them in two steps instead of the Elipse tool. In this area, the main limitation of FZ free, apart from its reduced toolbox, is that it does not include export capabilities via ACIS and, therefore, can only export polygons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJTFORM-Z Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 RE: FORM ∙Z ver 10 FREE Part1_QuickStart.fmz & Part2_Sculpting.fmz Hi Snow & ZTEK, Thanks for your assistance, I'm almost sure these self paced tutorials aren't specific to Form.Z free as noted on the new Form.Z website, which is confusing for any new user. I tried to emulate the ellipse with the Arch & Circle tool, but couldn't manipulate the parameters after the fact & again may equally be limited with Form.Z free. This may be something AutoDesSys HQ could update in due course to ensure self paced tutorials are specific to Form.Z Free with the limited tools/functions. I'm not put off though, so will continue where possible & be a little creative.....🙃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJTFORM-Z Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 RE: FORM ∙Z ver 10 FREE When you right click on an icon tool, a submenu pops up indicating access to the manual for that tool & a video. I didn't notice this submenu before, but the manual link I get a message saying: 'access denied' when the manual is displayed. As for the associated video for each tool, that would be good to see, however, when I click on this, it just hangs & the programme needs to restart. So, is this a new feature or work in progress ! Perhaps it just works on Form.Z-Core or Pro, can anyone confirm please ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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