Missing/Hidden Functions?

[alawrence]

Here are a list of functions that used to exist but now seem to have been lost. Please correct me and help me to rediscover them if I am wrong.

 

1. Custom heights. It used to be possible to extrude from a selection of heights or a custom height. This was great if for example you wanted to extrude many objects to a consistent height with just 1 click. E.g walls. https://imgur.com/MiZYXdi

 

2. When extruding, sweeping etc you could chose what happened to the original objects. The options were keep, ghost and delete. This was great if for example you knew you wanted to delete the original object as it was no longer needed, or keep which meant you could reuse the object for another purpose, like a sweep without having to unghost it. I found this option a very fast was of managing my workflow. https://imgur.com/xVfvmi1

 

3. Sweeping. It used to be possible to chose how the sweep was performed. The source shape could be moved in relation to the path so that you could get the exact result you wanted. https://imgur.com/nApiOVB

 

4.Resolution. There was an option to determine the resolution of the circles,splines swept objects etc. I see one workaround is to use the polygon object to fro e.g create a circle with 36 points. However this only works with a single option which is centre/radius. With the circle drawing tool there are additional options, Circle 1, Circle 2 and Circle 3 which are very powerful. Using the polygon tool is Avery poor substitute. https://imgur.com/jt4T6BQ

 

5. Bevel resolution . Again it was possible to define the resolution of bevels. I export my model to other programs and want exact control over the number of facets in a bevel. https://imgur.com/E5wsWTx

 

I am sure I am going to find many more features that I sue on a daily basis are missing.

 

6.For e.g I hate the new grouping method. At least give us the possibility to choose. The current version of group is more like unite. I want to me able to perhaps edit all the objects within a group by moving select points in each object in 1 move without having to essentially ungroup them, edit them and then regroup them all over again.

 

Any help is discovering how to find these features would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trick]

@1: Custom heights are in the Tool Options palette.

@6: Completely agree. Groups are completely useless now. As it is now Components are a far better way to group objects if you do not want to edit points/faces in the whole group, and at the same time you can edit a component and afterwards "close" it again. The convenience about groups was that it was a different entity level that could be selected: you could select the group, while still being able to select points/faces/objects without opening the group. Now the group is seen as an object where you can not select/edit the lower level entities. So completely useless!!

Edited June 3 by Trick

[alawrence]

Thank you Trick. I found the extrude height. It was greyed out as Dynamic was ticked.

Another question. I used to be able to chose to Pick a 'group' in addition to point, segment, outline, face, object, and hole. Where has it gone?

I find the pastel material colours very weak. There used to be an option to load 'surface styles' from a previous file but I can see that option any more.

Edited June 3 by alawrence

[Justin Montoya]

1 hour ago, Trick said:

@1: Custom heights are in the Tool Options palette.

@6: Completely agree. Groups are completely useless now. As it is now Components are a far better way to group objects if you do not want to edit points/faces in the whole group, and at the same time you can edit a component and afterwards "close" it again. The convenience about groups was that it was a different entity level that could be selected: you could select the group, while still being able to select points/faces/objects without opening the group. Now the group is seen as an object where you can not select/edit the lower level entities. So completely useless!!

• I know what you mean with Groups.  I find myself right clicking a frustratingly lot more these days to Edit Group and then Close Group.  I wish it were quicker and more accessible kind of like SketchUp where you can just double click on the Group to Open it for editing.  Maybe in the future?
   
• Another idea that might work for you is to use the Join Objects tool, which does preserve the original objects but lets you create a single entity out of them.  Then you can then still select the points/faces individually.  Using the Seperate Objects tool lets you go back to before they were joined as a single entity.  Does that help?

 

• Pick Objects also does groups now.
   

• You can load your Surface Styles by using the File > Open > Add To Project   option.  Then Select Only the Materials in the Project Merge Options Window:

 

• Keep, Ghost, Delete options are in the Edit Options Palette tools:  
  
   
• I beleive all your other question's answers are inside the Tool Options Palette, which should be visible at all times in the sidebar.  Are you coming from v6?  Where pop up tool option windows came up everytime you used a tool?   I remember that being a big transition for me and I really missed that in the beginning of the new interface of v7, but have since gotten used to it.  

 

 

[Trick]

58 minutes ago, Justin Montoya said:

• I wish it were quicker and more accessible kind of like SketchUp where you can just double click on the Group to Open it for editing.  Maybe in the future?

Well, you can edit/open/close a group like a component (with 2 simple keyboard shortcuts), but then I just prefer components for reasons explained earlier.

Edited June 3 by Trick

[Trick]

53 minutes ago, Justin Montoya said:

• Another idea that might work for you is to use the Join Objects tool, which does preserve the original objects but lets you create a single entity out of them.  Then you can then still select the points/faces individually.  Using the Seperate Objects tool lets you go back to before they were joined as a single entity.  Does that help?

Unfortunately, that's not exactly right. When seperating previously joined objects it results in all elements/parts. Like when I join a car with a bike, seperating results in all the single parts, like wheels, frames, saddle, etc.

[Justin Montoya]

It works for simple objects, but you clearly need something more.  A Deep Select type function where you can select faces, edges, and points inside of groups?

[alawrence]

Working in wireframe mode I find the lines are so fine. A 'show line weights' with a pull down for Print or Screen exists but I don't see any difference. I would like to make the wireframe lines a bit thicker so they are more visible.

[alawrence]

1 hour ago, Justin Montoya said:

 

• Pick Objects also does groups now.
•  
• Hello Justin. Please can you tell me how? I don't see an icon or a group in the Tool Options Pick palette.
   

 

 

 

Edited June 3 by alawrence

[Justin Montoya]

The last one on the right is Object in the Pick Tool Options palette.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/assets.autodessys.com/manuals/formz10/formZ_Pro/responsive_html/index.htm#t=05010_Picking.html&rhsearch=pick&rhhlterm=picking pick picked picks

[alawrence]

Ah ok. It is because once you have created a group it effectively becomes a single object. The previous group icon in the pick palette was three cubes together. Thank you.

Edited June 3 by alawrence

[Jim_G]

So, just to clarify: as I understand it, the *only* way to select and modify an object (or other topological element) inside a group now is:

1) Right-click --> select "Edit Group" from popup...this creates an orange bounding box around all the elements in the group, indicating that they can be edited.
2) Perform whatever edits to the group contents
3) Right-click --> select "Edit Group Complete" from popup to end editing session.

I will ask my usual question: Is this *anywhere* in the docs? Or is this another punishment for not watching all the videos carefully enough?

 

 

Edited June 4 by Jim_G
clarity

[Ivo]

No, another way is to enable Edit->Unlock Groups (there is an icon button toggle in the UI for this as well). When enabled, you can select any topological level of any object within any group directly.

(I always keep this enabled, and just select groups in the objects palette when needed, which works fine for my workflow.)

Edited June 4 by Ivo

[Ivo]

Another place to check for answers and tips is here https://support.formz.com/

 

[Trick]

1 hour ago, Ivo said:

...(I always keep this enabled, and just select groups in the objects palette when needed, which works fine for my workflow.)

I can see this workflow may have its advantages. Just wished groups were a seperate topo level, so you wouldn't need to dabble in the objects palette.

[Justin Montoya]

2 hours ago, Ivo said:

No, another way is to enable Edit->Unlock Groups (there is an icon button toggle in the UI for this as well). When enabled, you can select any topological level of any object within any group directly.

(I always keep this enabled, and just select groups in the objects palette when needed, which works fine for my workflow.)

Good Stuff.  I forgot about that new Icon button toggle!  

[ZTEK]

I assume that you always keep the Unblock Groups option disabled so that your experience with Groups is as you describe. If so, your problem is with how that feature works. I say this because Groups essentially work as they always have, and what is "new" or the change is precisely that feature added in version 7.

From my point of view, the way to operate and use Groups is through the Objects palette, with Groups and sub-groups of Objects, a fundamental feature of formZ, along with the Layers palette and Groups and sub-groups of Layers. I have never used the tool that locks/unlocks the groups because I find it a limitation without any advantage as a method.

I don't use Components either because I get almost the same results when using Groups and the Objects palette.

To be clear, I would like to use Components more. However, in their implementation, there are still unresolved issues when you combine them with the Scenes. Maybe someday.

As I mentioned in many of my previous posts, one of the most powerful features of formZ is its dual system of Objects/Groups and Layers. Capability that allows you to organize your projects with total control, no matter how complex. If you add to this the Scenes, the result in terms of project management is excellent, especially for complicated projects.

I just remembered mentioning the Rename Objects function, which is critical to organizing everything using the Objects and Groups palette.

Edited June 5 by ZTEK

[Justin Montoya]

On 6/3/2024 at 10:38 AM, alawrence said:

Here are a list of functions that used to exist but now seem to have been lost. Please correct me and help me to rediscover them if I am wrong.

 

 

 

4.Resolution. There was an option to determine the resolution of the circles,splines swept objects etc. I see one workaround is to use the polygon object to fro e.g create a circle with 36 points. However this only works with a single option which is centre/radius. With the circle drawing tool there are additional options, Circle 1, Circle 2 and Circle 3 which are very powerful. Using the polygon tool is Avery poor substitute. https://imgur.com/jt4T6BQ

 

5. Bevel resolution . Again it was possible to define the resolution of bevels. I export my model to other programs and want exact control over the number of facets in a bevel. https://imgur.com/E5wsWTx

 

 

Smoothly circling back round here I noticed we missed some of your questions.  

As mentioned in another thread, I think that most of us are using Smooth instead of Facetted these days as it is a superior Model Type where you do not need to worry about the faceting count at all.  Give it a try before you go back to the older Facetting method.

However, if you find you must still use Facetted for some reason, you can control the resolution in the Faceting Schemes from File>Project Settings>Faceting Schemes

[alawrence]

Hello Justin

Thank you for your additional information which is a help. I really miss the opportunity to choose the facetted resolution on a per object basis. For example a small 5mm 1/5 inch  cylinder I would model only 18 facets, but a large 1m/3ft round table top I would use perhaps 360 facets. Also when I am rounding/ beveling small objects like the rad on a cardboard box I would choose only 4 facets.

[R2D2]

Big advantage of smooth objects is you can represent them with different facetting (for export as well), using the inspector: