Archived news
  Below are news items from July 1999 - December 1999.







Patch form•Z 3.5.0.1


December 23, 1999

This patch has been released (as of December 23, 1999) and can be downloaded from the Updates area on this site.


form•Z 3.5 has shipped

December 16, 1999

AutoDesSys, Inc. is please to announce the release of form•Z 3.5. This new version contains 20+ new features including direct access to the web, the import/export translator for Art·lantis, right to left text, transformations about object centroids, and much more. Please see the complete list of features.

Along with this release come some developments that are worthy of special notice:
  • form•Z 3.5 supports network licenses. There is now a network license of form•Z that runs under KeyServer®. It requires a single key attached to a server machine. This allows site licenses to float, rather than requiring an individual key at each computer. This version requires the installation of Key Server® 5.0, available from Sassafras Software, Inc. (sassafras.com).
  • Independent key for the Imager. This is now available to facilitate batch rendering and animation on a second computer without having to buy a second user license.
  • Alpha version to be discontinued after v.3.5. This is due to the fact that both Compaq and Microsoft are discontinuing the development of Windows NT for the Alpha platform.
NEW FEATURES IN form•Z 3.5 Options menu:
  • Three new colors, Control Editor Color 1, Control Editor Color 2, and Active Drafting Pane, have been added to the Project Colors dialog, invoked from the Project Colors... item, which makes them definable by the user.
Palettes menu:
  • A previously available palette, the Status Of Objects palette, which was discontinued with version 3.0, has been reintroduced. The respective item also has been reintroduced in the Palettes menu to be able to open it.
Help menu:
  • Three new items, form•Z Web Site..., form•Z Web Support..., and email Tech Support, have been added to the Help menu. They either take you to the AutoDesSys web site or they set you up for e-mailing to our technical support group.
form•Z Imager:
  • The option to eliminate duplicate lines, when saving wire frame and hidden line images as form•Z draft files, is now available.
  • The ability to define the search path for files referenced in a project processed by the Imager has ben introduced and works as for similar searches in the main program.
Modeling
  • When nurbz revolved objects, helixes, sweeps, and skins are derived from parametric sources and/or paths, the original controls of these shapes are now used for the derivation of these objects.
  • Additional adjustments and clarifications have been made to a few options of the above objects.
  • The ability to switch smooth control points of nurbz objects to non-smooth points has been introduced in the Edit Controls procedures.
  • Right-to-left text, such as Arabic and Hebrew, now can be handled by form•Z when running under operating systems that support these types of script.
  • When the Symbol Place tool can not find the referenced Symbol library, the option to search and locate the library file to be loaded is now available at the time the warning is issued.
  • When reversing the directions of parametric objects, the new directions are now remembered when the parametric object is edited.
  • Options for executing the geometric transformations relative to the local coordinate axes of objects are now available.
Drafting
  • Option for controling the resolution of the arcs included with angular and arc dimension is now available.
RenderZone
  • Enhancements have been made to the interface of the Texture Map tool to allow deletion and replacement of previously defaulted texture maps and for handling the choice between simple and parametric texture map assignments for parametric objects.

form•Z earns the 1999 CADENCE Editors' Choice Award


November 18, 1999

The December issue of CADENCE magazine includes the 1999 CADENCE Editors' Choice Awards, 2nd Edition. Arnie Williams, Peter K. Sheerin, Heidi Hill, and Nathan Ghio looked at software and hardware released in the past six months and chose what they "think are the top 20 products on the market." They think the quality of these products "is evidence of things to come." form•Z 3.1 is among the chosen.

The editors' selections were based on "products... and the vendors/developers behind them [that] stand above the crowd. They have a gritty edge that's hard to ignore and that's a pleasure to recognize.... They've set the bar on quality and value pretty high for their successors in the Year 2000."

AutoDesSys is particularly proud and honored to see form•Z among the chosen. The editors note that " form•Z 3.1 delivers an industrial strength 3D modeler that can create both solid and surface models with any conceivable shape." They find it suitable for architects as well as industrial and consumer product designers. They note its ability to accommo date smooth, sculpted shapes. They also praise the ENCLOSURE command in particular, which they consider "a key feature for converting simple massing volumes into more devel oped architectural models." The multi-platform presence of form•Z is also mentioned.

A complete list of the 1999 CADENCE Editors' Choice Awards, 2nd Edition may be viewed at www.cadence-mag.com.


form•Z in an industrial strength modeler

November 18, 1999

The December issue of CADENCE magazine includes a review/trial run of form•Z 3.1, written by John Wilson.

The review starts by recognizing a fact that not too many 3D users know. "Most of today's CAD programs for desktop computers started as electronic versions of the drafting boards, T-squares, scales, and pencils that have been used for generations in making technical drawing on paper. 3D features were added to these programs as the power of computers and interest in 3D modeling increased. But since the features were tacked-on piecemeal, their functionality is sometimes not coordinated or even complementary."

Mr. Wilson notes the advantages of using form•Z , which was conceived and developed as a 3D program from its inception. He finds it particularly well suited for industrial and archi tectural design but also mentions its value for manual illustrations, publications and adver tisements.

His findings indicate that form•Z contains all the tools and features that one anticipates to find in a 3D modeler. He praises the hybrid use of solid and surface modeling while main taining all the parameters of given objects when blending them to create another object , regardless of whether the objects combined are surface or solid ones. This gives form•Z its versatility to create both organic and angular shapes and, as Mr. Wilson notes, the "well deserved reputation for being able to model almost any shape you can imagine."

The review includes references to form•Z 's solid import/export capabilities which allow the users to interface with programs that use the ACIS kernel, the file formats DWG, DXF, and 3DS used by Autodesk's products, as well as the IGES and STL translators that are crucial for rapid prototyping. The manuals are considered "complete, well written and fully illus trated." The rendering capabilities found in RenderZone and RadioZity are seen as en hancements to the program by adding photo-realism to the models created in form•Z.

In his conclusion Mr. Wilson finds form•Z to be a "flexible 3D modeler that can create geometric shapes that are beyond the capabilities of many other programs - even those that cost more than twice as much...." He also indicates that the parametric technology in form•Z is not as fully developed as in the exclusively parametric modelers, but quickly adds that "after reviewing form•Z, I am confident that it will become a major 3D modeler for these [Windows] platforms because it can handle 3D geometry that the parametric solid modelers cannot."

"We are particularly happy with Mr. Wilson's insightful review," said Chris Yessios, president of AutoDesSys. "It is not very often that people recognize the backbone of form•Z: the fact that it was developed as a 3D program from its inception and how this helps the smooth integration of its 3D tools and other features. We are also happy to see that the shortcomings he refers to in his review are being addressed in the next major upgrade of the software. The ACIS kernel will be incorporated into form•Z, its architecture will open to add ons, and programming extensions will be included."


For immediate release - difficult to pigeonhole, hard to beat!

September 15, 1999

The September 1999 issue of Computer Graphics World Magazine, includes a review of form•Z 3.0. Jeffrey Rowe is the reviewer and the title of his review is "Difficult to pigeonhole, hard to beat".

Jeffrey Rowe finds several unique aspects to form•Z. One is the fact that it appeals to a wide range of users in a variety of industries which include architecture, industrial design, and entertainment production. Another is form•Z's ability to handle multiple personalities. "Version 3.0 can merge different object types so that NURBS, Bezier curves, Coons patches, analytic primitives, polygonal objects, and metaballs can be separate representations or can coexist on the same object. Each object can have a distinct personality and behavior... NURBS and parametric primitives five form•Z 3.0 some of its 3D design flexibility."

"Mr. Rowe, captures the essence of form•Z very well", remarked Chris Yessios, president of auto·des·. "From the outset, the goal of auto·des· has been to develop a general purpose, quality 3D product which brings workstation power features to the personal computer at an affordable price. We are happy to see the recognition of the design flexibility that form•Z provides."

The reviewer also talks about the new animation feature introduced in version 3.0, the improved drafting tool set, and the restructuring of the import/export file formats that offers uniformly predictable behavior when moving files from one program to another. His conclusion is that "the product has no compettion in its particular market space."

The complete review may be viewed at http://pennwell.shore.net/cgw/body.html.



Beyond form•Z 3.5

October, 1999

How will life with form•Z be after v. 3.5? Following are highlights of some of our future directions that we can disclose today. More details will follow at a later time.

Modular and open architecture:

Both form•Z and form•Z RenderZone will become modular allowing some parts to be installed while others are not, depending on the needs of individual users. Also, support for plug-ins will be made available, allowing 3rd parties to expand form•Z.

Specialized versions:
Taking advantage of its open architecture, the general purpose modeling core of form•Z will be supplemented with profession specific modules. Among the first specialized modules to be offered by AutoDesSys will be one for product design and one for architecture.

ACIS support:
form•Z's modeling will be complemented with the ACIS modeling engine, intended to better support parametric primitives and CAM (computer aided manufacturing). The ACIS modeling procedures will be integrated into form•Z and will coexist with the currently available modeling operations. Our goal is to offer the best of two distinct modeling worlds, a task nobody else has undertaken on any platform.

 

form•Z 3.1.4 patch

November 23, 1999

This patch is now available to be downloaded from the Support area of this site. It corrects the irregularities reported to us since v. 3.1.3.

 

 
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1998-99 Joint Study award winners announced

November 02, 1999

AutoDesSys , Inc.recently announced the winners of the form•Z Joint Study Program Awards of Distinction and Honorable Mentions. These awards were presented at the 1999 ACADIA (Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture) Conference held in Snowbird, Utah, October 29-31, 1999.

In 1998-99 over 250 schools were involved in the program, which each year grants awards to deserving students. The awards are in four categories: Architectural Design, Urban and Landscape Design, Product and Industrial Design, and Visualization and Illustration. Students are nominated by their Principal Investigator, and final selection is made by a jury. The jury for this year's award nominations consisted of:
  • Craig Beddow, AIA, Digital Architecture, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • Nicolo Ceccarelli, Professore, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
  • Charles Eastman, Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
  • Bennett Neiman, Associate Professor, Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island
  • Bruce Palmer, AIA, Gensler and Associates, New York, New York
  • Michael Stacey, RIBA, Brooks/Stacey/Randall Architects and Technology Consultants, London, England
The Award recipients are as follows:

Award of Distinction in Architectural Design

Tristan Sterk, University of Adelaide, Australia - Clouds, Final year project

Award of Distinction in Urban and Landscape Design

John Endersbee, University of Adelaide, Australia - The Meeting of Two Worlds, Final year project

Award of Distinction in Product and Industrial Design
Damian Etrocassi, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina - Office Furniture, 5th year

Award of Distinction in Visualization and Illustration
Dean DiSimone and Joseph Kosinski, Columbia University, New York, New York - Frank Lloyd Wright's National Life Insurance Building, 1924, 3rd year, March Independent Research, Masters of Architecture Program

The recipients of Honorable Mentions:

Architecture:
Wilson Au-Yeung, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
Andrew Maletz, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
Kjersti Hegland Nordbotn, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

Urban and Landscape Design:
Olaf Pfeifer and Binke Lenhardt, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
Markus Olechowski, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
Stefan Laub, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria

Product and Industrial Design:

Matt Gerules, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois
Jake Tucci, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina

Visualization and Illustration:

Ben Rossi and Jeff Schmierer, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California
Matthew Jones, Blackpool and The Fylde College, Blackpool, England

Congratulations to all the winners.

For additional information please contact:
Trica Weaver, Joint Study Administrator
AutoDesSys , Inc.
2011 Riverside Drive, Columbus, OH
phone: 614-488-8838
fax: 614-488-0848
e-mail: jointstudy@formz. com


Patch form•Z 3.1.3


September 14, 1999

This patch has been released (as of September 14, 1999) and can be downloaded from the Support area on this site.


form•Z Joint Study report released


September 08, 1999

The 1997-98 form•Z Joint Study Annual Report has been released and will be sent to the member schools (and family plan users) within the next two weeks. It comes in two versions: the complete report (450 pages) is on a CD; a condensed version (150 pages) has been printed and also has been placed online, on this website. It can be accessed from the Education section.


form•Z users win cover competition

August 31, 1999

AutoDesSys, Inc. is delighted to announce that the results of the first annual A/E/C SYSTEMS: The Magazine of Computer Solutions Cover Image Contest have been decided, and three out of the four entries that won an award involved the use of form•Z.

The Grand Prize has been awarded to Neoscape Inc. of Cambridge, MA and specifically to Rod MacLeod, Bob Quinn, Buzz Morrissey, Nils Norgren, and Robert MacLeod. The winning image is one of a galleria inside a 19 story office tower. The architecture was created with form•Z.

Christopher Hendrix of Digital Sky Studios of Virginia Beach, VA is the winner of the Judge's Award. The winning image depicts a swimming pool, and once again form•Z is the main modeler for the geometry.

The two other prizes were Honorable Mentions. One of the two is a garland window ornamentation, the pattern of which is being cast in brass for use over an arch-topped window. The creator is Peter Dahms, Design Fabrication Dahms of Huntington, Quebec, Canada. form•Z is one of the two software packages used to produce this image.

"Congratulations are in order for all the contestants and their great creations," said Chris Yessios, president of AutoDesSys. "We cannot contain our pleasure for the fact that form•Z facilitated these designers to visualize and communicate to others their 3D projects."

In order to view a screen capture of the announcement as printed in A/E/C SYSTEMS: The Magazine of Computer Solutions, go to /news/aec_cover.html. For the online announcement by the magazine, go to http://www.penton.com/cae/aec.


Advanced tutorials for form•Z


August 15, 1999

"form•Z: Modeling for Digital Visual Effects and Animation," by David Rindner, has been published. For more information, go to /support/rindner.html. To order, go to http://www.charlesriver.com/titles/formz.html.


form•Z is Y2K Compliant


July 30, 1999

For more details, see y2k_readme.txt.


New book about form•Z


July 28, 1999

"Into 3D with form•Z" by Lachmi Khemlani (McGraw-Hill, Publisher), is now available. For more information, go to /support/khemlani.html. To order, go to http://www.bookstore.mcgraw-hill.com.



Patch form•Z 3.1.1


July 28, 1999

This patch has been released (as of July 27, 1999) and can be downloaded from the Support area on this site. The most notable irregularity it corrects relates to importing DWG files that contain ACIS entities on Windows machines.