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  form•Z SDK

FAQS: Pre-Sale, Learning, Resources

Documentation: Where do I find the documentation and/or how do I search for a particular item?

 

form·Z comes with extensive documentation that explains how all the tools and features work. This information is accessible from within the program and also as an independent document. That is, while you run form·Z, you can inquire about specific tools and menu commands by shift-clicking on them. Most of the dialogs contain a help button and clicking on it opens the manual to the section that discusses the content of the dialog. Also, information about the program may be accessed by executing the Manual… command in the Help menu.


In addition to the on-line information, there is a document in PDF format that contains the form·Z User’s Manual. This is included on the DVD of the package and can also be found on the AutoDesSys web site. This document can be optionally printed or can be read on a computer screen. At an additional cost, a printed version of the manual can be ordered from AutoDesSys. Also available are tutorials in PDF format, examples, and a glossary that are included on the DVD of the package or can be accessed from the AutoDesSys web site.

 

Included in the User Manual is the form·Z Tutorial volume. It is strongly recommended that all users read through this while following along in the form·Z application or Demo. This gives the user a good introduction into the general philosophy and interface of form·Z. See the Tutorials FAQ below for further details.

 

 

 

Which version of form•Z should I choose: What is the difference between form•Z and form•Z RenderZone Plus?

form·Z is the "base version" which includes all of the modeling tools and basic rendering, which is Hidden Line, Surface Render, Interactive Shaded, Doodle, and Shaded Render. It can render with basic transparencies and simple shadows, but it only supports Distant light sources and does not generate photo-realistic renderings. Surface styles for the form·Z version will also contain only what is shown in the Simple tab of the Surface Style Parameters dialog. For more information on the basic version of form·Z, click here.

 

RenderZone Plus includes all of form·Z and it adds the ability to create photorealistic renderings. It allows the use of reflective and refractive materials, adds many procedural shaders, supports multiple light sources, texture maps, bump maps and many other effects, including global illumination produced with final gather, ambient occlusion, and radiosity techniques. For more information on the RenderZone Plus version of form·Z, click here.

 

You can use the form·Z Demo to check and experience first hand the capabilities of form·Z and RenderZone Plus.

 

 

 

form•Z Demo: How is the Demo version of form•Z different from the full version and what if I am interested in form•Z only instead of RenderZone Plus?

 

The form•Z Demo is essentially the full version of form•Z RenderZone Plus with the Print / Save / Export commands disabled. You can use all of the tools, generate renderings, go through the Tutorial, test Importing files from other programs, and even learn how form•Z works.

 

The form·Z version is the same as the RenderZone Plus version except that it does not do photo-realistic renderings. Thus the surface styles include only what is shown in the Simple tab, the RenderZone and Sketch Render commands are not available from the Display menu, the Texture Map and Decal tools are missing, and only Distant lights are supported. The form·Z "only" version can still create Hidden Line and Shaded Render images and allows you to use Interactive Shaded displays (OpenGL).

 

 

 

Tutorials and training: What resources can I use to learn form•Z?

The form·Z User’s Manual set includes an extensive Tutorial manual and it is recommended that all users read through this while following along in the form·Z application or Demo. This gives the user a good introduction into the general philosophy and interface of form·Z. It covers Drawing, Viewing, Rendering, Modeling, Picking, Transforming, and Deriving objects. Many sample projects are included that introduce the user to most of the tools in form·Z. Also, each tutorial builds on the previous tutorials, so it is generally recommended to complete these in order.

 

More advanced Tutorials are available from the Tutorial section of your form·Z DVD and can also be downloaded from here.

 

There is also a section on our Forum where users have posted tutorials that they have created (or requested).

 

Training is also offered by AutoDesSys, either at our office or yours. We also have a number of users and dealers who offer training for form·Z. You can find more information about this from our support page.

Note that we require that the user have completed the form·Z Tutorial (which is included in the manual set) in order to be eligible for training by our staff. This ensures that the user learns as much as possible during the training session, rather than just getting started. We have actually had many users schedule training, go through the tutorial and find that this gave them enough information to get started, and then call back to cancel the training. Thus, if you are considering training, you will probably want to go through the form·Z Tutorial first to see if this is sufficient to get started using form·Z.

 

Finally, there are also videos available for form·Z. More information is available in the Download: Videos section of our web site.