AutoDesSys products: form&middotZ
 
Spherical objects:

Platonic solids, soccer balls, lathed and geodesic spheres

The unique spherical objects that form·Z can create consist of the complete set of Platonic solids, the soccer ball, and both lathed and geodesic spheres. All the spherical objects can be derived directly in 3D space with a few clicks of the mouse, and can be scaled and stretched as they are created, which allows the creation of elliptical forms.

The classical Platonic solids are symmetrically "perfect" forms that consist of equal polygonal faces. These Platonic solids can be further manipulated using other tools in form·Z, such as beveling the corner points or edges, to create another vast group of symmetrically spherical objects.

The Platonic solids. Above, left to right: Tetrahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron. Below: After beveling points or edges of platonic solids a variety of spherical forms can be derived.

The soccer ball is a derivative of two Platonic forms and consists of equal pentagons and hexagons. The faceted faces of the basic soccer ball can be further articulated using other form·Z tools to smoothly round its surfaces, for a more realistic appearance, when it is viewed at a larger scale.


The unique geodesic sphere, which is in addition to the more commonly available lathed sphere, is a derivative of the icosahedron. It consists of equal triangles, and can be derived at different levels of resolution.


A special type of a spherical object is the star. It is generated from the Platonic solids by replacing each of their faces with a pyramid of controlable height. The variety of stars that can be generated is infinite.

 

 

form·Z feature list

Introduction


Interface


Modeling

Primitives
Spherical objects
Metaballs
3D solids and 2D shapes
Patterned polygons
Derivative surfaces, extrusions, enclosures
Parallel objects
Frames

Projection objects
Unfolding
Terrain models
Revolved objects
Helixes
Screws and bolts
Stairs
Sweeps
Draft Sweeps
Skinning
Lofting
S-lofts
Meshed objects
Subdivisions
Moving and disturbing meshes
Deformations
Bending along curves
Morphing
Image based displacements
Rounding
Blending and filleting
Draft angles
Splines and c-curves
C-Meshes
Nurbz
Formula curves and surfaces
Patches
Boolean operations
Trimming, splitting, and stitching
2D and 3D sections
Deriving contours
Lines of intersection
Grouping and ungrouping/Joining and separating
Placing and editing text
Symbols
Editing 3D lines
Converting representations of objects
Extracting controls
Inquiring and measuring
Repairing objects and projects
Moving, rotating, resizing, and mirroring
Clones
Attaching
Replace
Inserting
Deleting

Drafting


Rendering


Special features

Extensive import/export
Panoramic views
Straight up perspectives
View matching
Walk through animation
Rapid prototyping
2D/3D digitizing

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