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FAQS: Export/Import

File associations: On Windows, when I double-click on a JPG or DWG file, why does form·Z open instead of my regular program?

When installing form·Z version 6.1 or earlier, you are asked if you want to associate form·Z with all possible file extensions. If you choose Yes, then form·Z will open these files if they are double-clicked. If you do not want this to happen, select No. Version 6.5 or later will no longer associate with third party file types.

 

If you already selected Yes, then you can reset this by selecting Folder Options from the Tools Menu of Windows Explorer (or My Computer). Click on the File Type tab. Scroll through the list until you find the desired file type (ie. fmz, jpg, etc.). Next to Opens With select Change, or click Advanced, select the Open command and click Edit. Browse to the actual application (not a short cut), select Open, OK, and Apply.

 

 

 

File formats: What file formats does form·Z support?

form·Z supports the following file formats: Art·Lantis, BMP, DWG, DEM Data, DXF, EPS, FACT, HPGL, IGES, Illustrator, JPEG, Lightwave, Lightscape, OBJ, Photoshop, PICT, Piranesi, PNG, QTVR, RIB, SAT (ACIS), STEP, STL, SGI, TGA, Targa, TIFF, 3DGF, 3DMF, 3DS, and VRML.

 

Thus you should be able to easily exchange data with most other 2D and 3D applications.

 

 

 

DWG: Tips for using 2D files from Autocad for creating 3D Models.

  1. Exporting from AutoCAD: Open the drawing in AutoCad and use the Layoff command to hide the layers that you don't need. Explode any proprietary entities, such as Architectural Desktop or Mechanical Desktop entities, select all and create a WBlock. Use DWG 2006 format or earlier for form·Z 5.5 or later. Use DWG 2000 for form·Z 5.0 or earlier. (See the ADT FAQ if using Architectural Desktop.)

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  2. Importing into form·Z: Use the Import DWG command to import this WBlock into form·Z. Disable Undo in the preferences for better performance. (If you have disabled your Undos, Save often. If you make a mistake, you can close and reopen your FMZ file. If you have saved a mistake, then you can open the FZB file.)
    Use the Select By command to select all point objects and delete them, then use the Select By command to select all text entities and delete them, or place them in a new layer and lock it. If you do not need smooth objects, use Select By to select these and convert them to facetted. If smooth data is needed, make sure to join these separately and do not join them to other facetted objects. Select each facade or floor plan separately, get the Join Volume tool, set the Status of Objects to Delete, and click to join these together one at a time. (Another option would be to create a symbol out of the imported data instead of using the Join tool.) Use the Set Layer tool to place these new objects on separate layers if you like, and purge all unused layers from within the Layers dialog.

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  3. Move your objects to the origin: While modeling calculations are incredibly accurate, rendering calculations can break down if your objects (or lights or views) are too far from the origin. In general you should keep your objects (lights and views) within ~5 - 10 miles, or ~10 - 15 kilometers of the origin. If you find that your file is farther than this, make sure that all your objects and layers are unlocked, Select All Objects (including the ghosted and invisible objects), select any lights or views that are in the same location as your objects, activate the Move tool and Point Snap, and place your cursor on a part of your file that you wish to move to the world origin. Make sure that the AWC boxes are checked in the Prompts palette, and make a note of the distance that is shown there (this can be useful for aligning additional data if you need to import / export to another program). Then click in the screen to start the move, enter 0 in the Prompts palette and press the enter or return key. All your objects (and lights / views) will then be moved to the origin.

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  4. Undos: If you have disabled your Undos, don't forget to turn them on again.

 

 

DWG with Architectural Desktop (ADT): Why can't I see my ADT entities in form·Z, or how can I import ADT entities?

ADT entities are proprietary and cannot be imported into other programs unless they are exploded first. To do this, open the file in ADT and switch to a 3D view. From the Desktop menu, select Utilities --> Explode AEC Objects. Check all checkboxes, including Explode to Anonymous Block. (Shorten names is optional.) Now all ADT objects should be 3D solids and can be exported to form·Z. Use the WBlock command to create a new DWG file.

 

Import this WBlock into form·Z. Use the Construct Solids (must be same color, must be same layer) and Join Adjacent Coplanar Surfaces options, if you wish to use this data directly within form·Z.
See the DWG FAQ for further information.

 

 

 

Illustrator: When I import an Illustrator format, why do I get an “Unsupported Format” error message?

Illustrator format is only documented up to version 8. Later versions are not documented and thus we can not read or write these. Save your Illustrator file using the File / Export and select Illustrator Legacy from the format pop-up to save to version 8 or earlier, so form·Z can read this properly.

 

Note also that if you wish to have smooth Illustrator curves, you can Query and Edit the curve and change it from Facetted to Smooth, or you can select Make Smooth from the Import Options with form·Z 6.0 or later.

 

 

 

STL or ZPR: When I export as STL or ZPR, I get an empty file, or some of my objects are missing. What causes this and how do I fix it?

By default, STL only exports solid, planar, and facetted data. If your file contains smooth objects, these will need to be converted to facetted and any non-planar surfaces will be triangulated. It is possible that a smooth solid object might become a surface during one of these two conversions. To prevent this from occurring you need to use the Additional Facetting options.

 

Versions 5.5 and later offer these Additional Facetting options directly from the STL Export Options dialog. In the Export Method, click the Options button to the right of Smooth. Check Additional Facetting and (typically) Grid Type: To Edges, Triangulation: Everywhere, and Facet Adjustment: All Points, or Triangle Points.
With versions prior to 5.5, you need to first select the smooth objects, use the Convert tool to convert them to facetted and then select the options listed above from within the Conversion dialog. Note that you can use the Apply to All option to convert the selected objects all at once using these settings.

 

Note also that when a smooth object is converted to facetted, the facets are generated based on the current display resolution of the object. The higher the display resolution, the more facets will be generated for a given object. Version 5.5 also added the ability to override the Display Resolution of all objects in the Smooth Export Options dialog. With previous versions you will need to set the desired resolution either individually or using the Set Attributes tool.

 

 

Save A Copy As: How do I save a file so that it can be opened in an older version, or how do I collect all of my image maps or symbol libraries to take them to another computer?

form·Z offers a Save A Copy As command (from the File menu) which allows you to specify which version of the FMZ format will be saved, as well as collect any loaded or referenced symbol libraries, image files, and even font files. This feature also offers the option to only save the picked or visible entities independently from either modeling or drafting.