Form-Z
Encyclopedia
form·Z is a computer-aided (CAD) design tool developed by AutoDesSys for all design fields that deal with the articulation of 3D spaces and forms and which is used for 3D modeling
, drafting, animation
and rendering
.
and surface
modeler with an extensive set of 2D/3D form manipulating and sculpting capabilities, many of which are unique. It is an effective design tool for architects, landscape architects, urban designers, engineers, animators, illustrators and movie makers, industrial and interior designers and all other design areas. It facilitates the development and execution of projects from conception to complete detailed structures, animated and automatically fabricated. form·Z can be used on Windows as well as on Macintosh computers and in addition to English it is also available in German, Italian, Spanish, French, Greek, Korean and Japanese.
Key modeling features include Boolean solids to generate complex composite objects; the ability to create curved surfaces from a variety of splines, including NURBS and Bezier/Coons patches and mechanical or organic forms using metaformz, nurbz, patches, subdivisions, displacements, or skinning; specialty tools such as Terrain models, Platonic solids, geodesic spheres, double line wall objects, stair cases, helixes, screws, and bolts. In addition form·Z modeling supports methods for transforming and morphing 3D shapes and allows the production of both animated visualizations of scenes and the capture of 3D shapes as they morph into other forms, introducing modeling methods that explore 3D forms beyond traditional means.
Technical output oriented modeling allows users to refine the design with double precision CAD accuracy to full structural detail for 3D visualization for the production of 2D construction drawings, 3D printing, rapid prototyping, and CNC milling and offers information management of bills of materials and spreadsheet support for construction documents.
based on final gather (raytrace), ambient occlusion
, and radiosity
, for advanced simulation of lighting effects and rendering techniques, which result in renderings with the most realism, as the illumination of a scene takes into account the accurate distribution of light in the environment. Consequently excellent results are achieved in a short time, with little effort to set up and easy to control.
Key rendering features include multiple light types (distant (sun), cone, point, projector, area, custom, line, environment, and atmospheric) whereas the environment and atmospheric lights, which may be considered advanced light types, are especially optimized for global illumination. Both procedural and pre-captured textures are offered and can be mapped onto the surfaces of objects using six different mapping methods: flat, cubic, cylindrical, spherical, parametric, or UV coordinates. Decals can be attached on top of other surface styles to produce a variety of rendering effects, such as labels on objects, graffiti on walls, partially reflective surfaces, masked transparencies, and more. State of the art shaders are used to render surfaces and other effects. A surface style is defined by up to four layers of shaders, which produce color, reflections, transparency, and bump effects. They can be applied independently or can be correlated. Libraries with many predefined materials are included and can be easily extended and customized.
Also available is a sketch rendering mode that produces non photorealistic images, which appear as if they were drawn by manual rendering techniques, such as oil painting, water color, or pencil hatches.
Maxwell is a rendering engine developed by NextLimit based on the physics of real light. The Maxwell plugin allows for the assignment of Maxwell materials to form·Z objects. Once the materials are established, the plugin transfers the scene including objects, lights and the viewing parameters to Maxwell for rendering.
Additional movie references:
Pirates of the Caribbean http://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2007/Volume-30-Issue-7-July-2007-/Ship-Shape.aspx
Victor Martinez (Solaris, Minority Report, Cat in the Hat, Transformers, etc.) http://www.formz.com/gallery2/gallery.php?A=206&L=M
Richard Reynolds (Lecturer @ AFI, Planet of the Apes, Mission to Mars, Pearl Harbor, etc.) http://www.formz.com/gallery2/gallery.php?A=231&L=R
Oliver Scholl (Time Machine, Independence Day, Mission to Mars, Stealth, Jumper, etc.) http://www.oliverscholl.com/portfolio/Selects.html#3
Stage design:
John Troxtel http://www.formz.com/gallery2/gallery.php?A=255&L=T
3D modeling
In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of object via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model...
, drafting, animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
and rendering
Rendering (computer graphics)
Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model , by means of computer programs. A scene file contains objects in a strictly defined language or data structure; it would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shading information as a description of the virtual scene...
.
Overview
form·Z is an award-winning general-purpose http://blog.novedge.com/2007/05/an_interview_wi_2.html solidSolid modeling
Solid modeling is a consistent set of principles for mathematical and computer modeling of three dimensional solids. Solid modeling is distinguished from related areas of Geometric modeling and Computer graphics by its emphasis on physical fidelity...
and surface
Computer representation of surfaces
In technical applications of 3D computer graphics such as computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing, surfaces are one way of representing objects. The other ways are wireframe and solids...
modeler with an extensive set of 2D/3D form manipulating and sculpting capabilities, many of which are unique. It is an effective design tool for architects, landscape architects, urban designers, engineers, animators, illustrators and movie makers, industrial and interior designers and all other design areas. It facilitates the development and execution of projects from conception to complete detailed structures, animated and automatically fabricated. form·Z can be used on Windows as well as on Macintosh computers and in addition to English it is also available in German, Italian, Spanish, French, Greek, Korean and Japanese.
Modeling
In general, form·Z allows design in 3D or in 2D, using numeric or interactive graphic input through either line or smooth shaded drawings (OpenGL)among drafting, modeling, rendering, and animation platforms.Key modeling features include Boolean solids to generate complex composite objects; the ability to create curved surfaces from a variety of splines, including NURBS and Bezier/Coons patches and mechanical or organic forms using metaformz, nurbz, patches, subdivisions, displacements, or skinning; specialty tools such as Terrain models, Platonic solids, geodesic spheres, double line wall objects, stair cases, helixes, screws, and bolts. In addition form·Z modeling supports methods for transforming and morphing 3D shapes and allows the production of both animated visualizations of scenes and the capture of 3D shapes as they morph into other forms, introducing modeling methods that explore 3D forms beyond traditional means.
Technical output oriented modeling allows users to refine the design with double precision CAD accuracy to full structural detail for 3D visualization for the production of 2D construction drawings, 3D printing, rapid prototyping, and CNC milling and offers information management of bills of materials and spreadsheet support for construction documents.
Animation
form·Z offers a seamlessly integrated animation environment, where objects, lights, cameras, and surface styles (colors) can be animated and transformed over time. The animation features are object-centric and are applied as modeling operations, which, in addition to supporting the production of animated visualizations, they also support dynamic modeling and the creation of forms that go significantly beyond the repertoire of conventional modeling tools. This offers a powerful avenue for design explorations.Rendering
RenderZone Plus provides photorealistic rendering with global illuminationGlobal illumination
Global illumination is a general name for a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes...
based on final gather (raytrace), ambient occlusion
Ambient occlusion
Ambient occlusion is a shading method used in 3D computer graphics which helps add realism to local reflection models by taking into account attenuation of light due to occlusion...
, and radiosity
Radiosity
Radiosity is a global illumination algorithm used in 3D computer graphics rendering. Radiosity is an application of the finite element method to solving the rendering equation for scenes with purely diffuse surfaces...
, for advanced simulation of lighting effects and rendering techniques, which result in renderings with the most realism, as the illumination of a scene takes into account the accurate distribution of light in the environment. Consequently excellent results are achieved in a short time, with little effort to set up and easy to control.
Key rendering features include multiple light types (distant (sun), cone, point, projector, area, custom, line, environment, and atmospheric) whereas the environment and atmospheric lights, which may be considered advanced light types, are especially optimized for global illumination. Both procedural and pre-captured textures are offered and can be mapped onto the surfaces of objects using six different mapping methods: flat, cubic, cylindrical, spherical, parametric, or UV coordinates. Decals can be attached on top of other surface styles to produce a variety of rendering effects, such as labels on objects, graffiti on walls, partially reflective surfaces, masked transparencies, and more. State of the art shaders are used to render surfaces and other effects. A surface style is defined by up to four layers of shaders, which produce color, reflections, transparency, and bump effects. They can be applied independently or can be correlated. Libraries with many predefined materials are included and can be easily extended and customized.
Also available is a sketch rendering mode that produces non photorealistic images, which appear as if they were drawn by manual rendering techniques, such as oil painting, water color, or pencil hatches.
Third Party Rendering Plugins
MaxwellMaxwell is a rendering engine developed by NextLimit based on the physics of real light. The Maxwell plugin allows for the assignment of Maxwell materials to form·Z objects. Once the materials are established, the plugin transfers the scene including objects, lights and the viewing parameters to Maxwell for rendering.
form•Z on the small and big screen
In addition to its widespread use in the architecture and 3D design worlds, form•Z and RenderZone Plus are also extensively used in Hollywood - in all production stages, in and behind the scenes (set design pre-production and construction, miniature model design, pre-vis animation, CG special effects and post-production, etc.). The following thread http://www.formz.com/forum2/messages/16/40392.html?1262203691 mentions the practical use of form•Z in almost all blockbuster movies of the last decade, including successful TV productions.Additional movie references:
Pirates of the Caribbean http://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2007/Volume-30-Issue-7-July-2007-/Ship-Shape.aspx
Victor Martinez (Solaris, Minority Report, Cat in the Hat, Transformers, etc.) http://www.formz.com/gallery2/gallery.php?A=206&L=M
Richard Reynolds (Lecturer @ AFI, Planet of the Apes, Mission to Mars, Pearl Harbor, etc.) http://www.formz.com/gallery2/gallery.php?A=231&L=R
Oliver Scholl (Time Machine, Independence Day, Mission to Mars, Stealth, Jumper, etc.) http://www.oliverscholl.com/portfolio/Selects.html#3
Stage design:
John Troxtel http://www.formz.com/gallery2/gallery.php?A=255&L=T
See also
- CAD
- 3D computer graphics software3D computer graphics software3D computer graphics software refers to programs used to create 3D computer-generated imagery. This article covers only some of the software used.-Uses:...
- 3D Modeling3D modelingIn 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of object via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model...
- Comparison of CAD editors for AEC