form•Z users win awards

June 14, 2001

"One cannot help but take great pride and delight in finding out that one out of two Gold Awards and three out of seven Silver Awards for Exhibit Design went to form•Z users", said Chris Yessios, President of AutoDesSys, Inc. with visible satisfaction, when he saw the announcements of the 15th Annual Exhibitor Magazine's Exhibit Design Awards, in the May 2001 issue of the publication.

One hundred ninety two eligible entries were judged by an "eminent group of designers", the editors of Exhibitor Magazine tell their readers. They also observe that "the winners of our 15th Annual Exhibit Design Awards spat in the eye of the mundane and thumbed their noses at the ordinary. Mixing poetry with purpose, the industry's best and brightest created what can be called inhabitable sculpture... All in all, this year's judges delight in straightforward displays that tell a meaningful story in a understandable way." The judges' , Tel Aviv, Israel - "Our judges were wowed by the ruthless simplicity of the exhibit."

Silver Award - Double Deck Eva Maddox Associates (with Exhibit Partners Inc.), Chicago, Illinois - "Judges praise the ...booth as 'simple and powerful' and 'very appropriate to the product."

Silver Award - Before and After Sprick Creative Inc., Redmond, Washington - "In this it's the most improved of any exhibits."

Silver Award - First -Time Exhibitor Loren + Yoo Design, Roswell, Georgia - "Cool... pretty amazing."

Special Merit Award - Island Landor Associates, San Francisco, California - "it's so on brand."

CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners. AutoDesSys rejoices in their success. A complete list of the award winning projects can be found at http://www.exhibitornet.com/exhibitormagazine/articles/may01.asp.

form•Z 3.8 released

May 21, 2001

With version 3.8, form•Z evolves into a level of parametric functionality that compares favorably with any advanced modeler on the market and does so while it also preserves all the other goodies that have made form•Z so popular for all 3D design. Smooth parametric objects now exist next to the traditional form•Z polygonal objects. The two types of objects have been integrated to work together in a manner that maximizes their distinct advantages to result in a modeling environment that offers the best of two worlds and also allows to fluently convert one type of object to another.

form•Z 3.8 also offers one more direct translator to the LightWave format. Having recognized that many of our users want to take their form•Z models to LightWave to produce animations and that many Lightwave users like to be able to take advantage of the unique and extensive modeling tools that form•Z offers, the decision to wholeheartedly support this format was rather natural.

For more detailed information on specific features in form•Z 3.8 go to the form•Z 3.8 page.

form•Z earns BEST OF SHOW award at AIA Convention 2001

May 20, 2001

The AutoDesSys crew returned from the American Institute of Architects Convention which took place in Denver Colorado, May 17-19, with a BEST OF SHOW AWARD. CADALYST magazine editors reviewed the new and outstanding hardware and software offerings on display at the show and bestowed Best of Show awards on "products destined to change the way designers and engineers work."

CADALYST editors praised form•Z 3.8 for being "a robust and versatile 3D solid and surface modeling program... The software earns honors for its ease of use and powerful modeling capabilities."

Styles for all Seasons

March 15, 2001

"Unlike many 3D software programs targeted at a specific type of user, form•Z from autodessys is a general-purpose 3D solid and surface modeling product that is as popular with computer-aided designers and architects as it is with animators for articulating 3D spaces and forms. The software's popularity among diverse users can in part be attributed to the control it gives designers over the creative process," writes Karen Moltenbrey of Computer Graphics World Magazine, in the February 2001 issue. "To show off the versatility of the program, AutoDesSys for the past eight years has encouraged its user community to submit images to be considered for publication in the company's annual calendar." You can sample a number of these images at http://cgw.pennnet.com

Users In The Spotlight

March 15, 2001

B.J. Novitski of ArchitectureWeek.com wrote an article about a long time user of form•Z. "When John Marx, AIA, was a senior designer at a large architecture firm, a joke circulated that 'two guys and a fast computer' could accomplish more work, more quickly than a management-heavy design department. Indeed, with well-honed skills in both design and computer modeling, Marx often completed the firm's competition entries for very large buildings with a team of only two or three. Now he is further testing the veracity of the joke in the new 13-person San Francisco firm of Form4 with partners Robert Giannini, AIA, Gary Adkisson, and Paul Ferro. " Read all about it at http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2000/0531/tools_6-1.html

Historical Visualization

March 15, 2001

When the Norwich Cathedral in Norwhich, UK needed a new refectory, the architects turned to Cam3D.com, a Norwich based 3D modeling studio to come up with a model of the proposed development. How did they accomplished the task? With form•Z of course! You may link to http://www.c3mag.com/gallery/history.htm to find out more about this project and see the form•Z model of the cathedral and the refectory. It played a major role in the fundraising effort and in informing the public by displaying it at Norwich Cathedral.

Design Course Goes Digital

March 15, 2001

"In contrast to those who see computer use as a technical skill like 2D drafting, we believe that teaching an explicitly digital design process will substantially improve the students' design abilities... [and] strengthen design thinking and radically alter the students' fundamental processes. We believe that this shift will result in a substantial improvement over traditional practice." says John Marx who is both a practicing architect and partner at Form4, a firm in San Francisco, and a part time professor at the University of California at Berkeley. In an article he wrote in ArchitecturWeek.com he goes on to remark that "Some in the profession chastise the schools for not teaching the more technical skills. ..Computer-aided design provides architects with a highly effective simulated 3D design environment. This is a significant shift from the two-dimensional process architects have practiced for centuries. The 3D nature of these tools invites the designer to think and act in the third dimension to a greater degree than previously imagined. At the University of California at Berkeley, we have developed a course that teaches the process of digital design as an endeavor independent of the design studio." If you are interested in finding out their approach please follow the link to http://www.ArchitectureWeek.com/2000/0823/tools_1-1.html

Supercharged AEC and MCAD Visualization

March 15, 2001

"Two companies stand above the crowd in their innovative approach to desktop users" writes Arnie Williams, Editor-in-chief of Cadence magazine. One of these, as he points out, is AutoDesSys. Although frequently used as a visualization tool, "The product was - and continues to be - a full-featured 3D oriented modeler, and its audience of users has grown beyond architects to include product design and industrial and mechanical design... form•Z has emerged as a powerful visualizaiotn and modeling tool across all design disciplines". Mr. Williams emphasizes the innovative and visionary approach that the founders of AutoDesSys had ten years ago when they introduced a powerful 3D tool to a world that used computers to design in 2D. You can read the entire article in the February issue or Cadence magazine or at http://www.cadenceweb.com/2001/0201/issuefocus0201.html

form•Z: Of, By and For 3D Design

March 15, 2001

"Somehow it seems appropriate the official birthday of form•Z is Valentine's Day. Among the small number of programs that generate enthusiasm, affection, and even passion among their users, particularly architecture students, this is one that stands out." Eric Skjei, the CADENCE Web Editor interviewed Chris Yessios and Dave Kropp, the founders of AutoDesSys, and gives a factual account of their conversation and his findings about the company, the software, and the people that started it all. The interview can be found at http://www.cadenceweb.com/features/interviews/formz.html

Happy birthday to form•Z!

March 15, 2001

form•Z turned 10 on February 14, 2001. It was ten years ago on this day that version 1.0 shipped. Flowers were abundant at the headquarters of AutoDesSys and the mood happy with plenty of content smiling faces!