WELCOME to form•Z Quick Demo Script, the script for the demonstration version of form•Z, the 3D form synthesizer. Please download the demo version folders to your hard drive before proceeding. Do not run the program from the CD.
auto•des•sys was founded with the aim of offering advanced 3D modeling technology, previously available only in research laboratories and on large computers, at the level of personal computers and to offer the capability to create any 3D form existing or imaginable. The company produces form•Z, the 3D form synthesizer, which is a general purpose 3D solid and surface modeler with many advanced and unique modeling and CAD capabilities.
Introduction
form•Z is an award winning general purpose 3D solid and surface modeler with both drafting and rendering modes, which offers the tools to generate, manipulate, and sculpt objects directly in 3D space. It features a highly interactive interface, Boolean operations, dynamic 3D form editing and sculpting, terrain modeling, curved splines and meshes including NURBS, 3D Text, object rounding, symbol instances and libraries, deformations, helical and spherical objects, and direct format translators. Available in both 68K & PowerPC native versions, form•Z can be used to model any imaginable 3D form. form•Z Demo and form•Z Pwr Mac Demo are partial versions of form•Z which will allow you to experience the interface and most of the modeling capabilities of the system. It does not contain the drafting or the scan line rendering capabilities of the system, nor does it allow you to save or print. This demo is configured to run in metric by default, since it is intended to be used for international distribution. English working units are also available from the Working Units dialog, accessible from the Options menu.
As you run form•Z Demo or form•Z Pwr Mac Demo, information about specific tools and commands can be obtained by selecting Help from the bottom of the Options menu. The Help command invokes a dialog which contains information about the active command as well as buttons which lead to information about other areas of the program.
Launch form•Z Demo or form•Z Power Demo by double clicking on its application icon. A new project window will open automatically. You communicate with form•Z through the menu bar commands at the top of the screen, the icon tool palette on the left, various floating palettes dedicated to particular operations, and the window tool palette in the lower margin of the window. A variety of dialog boxes can be used to set parametric options. The dialog that affects a tool can be invoked directly from the tool by clicking on its icon while pressing the option key. Similarly when selecting menu items that have an asterisk (*) after their name while pressing the option key, the dialog for the options associated with that menu item is opened. The screen also contains a graphics window, in which three orthogonal or Cartesian axes and a grid are located. The grid represents the active reference plane, on which objects can be drawn and manipulated.
Tools are selected from the icon menu, or tool palette, by clicking the mouse on an icon of the tool palette. Holding the mouse button down on an icon pops out more icons which can be selected by dragging the mouse to the desired icon. Dragging the mouse beyond the last icon tears the icons off as an independent palette which can be positioned anywhere on your screen. The tool palette contains fourteen rows of color-coded tools. All icons shown in black are operators. When they are executed, they typically cause a visible affect on what is shown on the screen. Except for the icons on the fourteenth (last) row, which operate on the reference planes, all black colored icons operate on objects. The operators are mutually exclusive. When a new one is selected, the previously active operator is de-selected.
The teal and magenta icons are modifiers, which are used to set the system to a certain mode which affects the behavior of the operators. The modifiers are mutually exclusive within their own rows. Three rows of icons contain modifiers. Those on the first row tell the program what type of object to generate (or what type of insertion operation to execute). They work in conjunction with the drawing tools on the second and third rows, and tell the system what to do with the shapes drawn by the user. Those on the 4th row are the topological level modifiers. Most operations can be applied to any of these levels. The icons on the 10th row are the self/copy modifiers. When executing a geometric transformation (move, rotate, scale, or mirror) they tell the system whether to execute it on the object itself, on a single copy, or on multiple copies.
All objects can be generated graphically or with numeric input through the Prompts palette at the bottom of the screen. Graphic and numeric input can be mixed. As you draw an object, you can type a number in the Prompts palette, as well as clicking in the graphics window. This palette also prompts you step by step through each command, informing you what input is expected next. The position of the cursor is mapped onto the active reference plane, or parallel to the active reference plane. When the Perpendicular Switch (second icon in the window palette at the bottom of the window) is selected, the mouse will move in a direction perpendicular to the active reference plane. The position of the mouse in the 3D world can be observed in the Prompts palette or the Coordinates palette in the upper right corner of the screen.
Generating Objects
The first three rows of icons in the tool palette are involved in the generation of objects. As mentioned above, the icons in the first row are the modifiers which determine what type of object will be generated. The second and third rows of icons contain the drawing tools used to create the base shape on the reference plane.
You will now generate a rectangular solid.
• The 3D Extrusion modifier (3rd modifier in the 1st row, icon looks like a cube) should be selected by default at start up.
• Select the Rectangle drawing tool (1st icon in the 2nd row, icon looks like a rectangle).
• To make drawing simpler, turn on the grid snap by selecting the Grid Snap icon (3rd icon in the window palette at the bottom of the window, icon looks like a small grid). This will lock the drawing to increments of 100cm, which is the distance between the darker lines on the reference grid.
• Move the cursor to 100cm, 100cm (x,y) on the reference grid and click the mouse. This defines one corner of the rectangular shape, and as the cursor is moved, the shape is rubber banded on the reference grid. The opposite corner of the rectangle follows the position of the mouse. You do not need to keep the mouse button pressed while the shape is drawn.
• Move the cursor to 700cm, 700cm on the reference plane and click. This defines the second corner of the rectangle and completes the shape. The rectangle that was drawn is extruded 200cm to create the 3D shape now on the screen (a 600cm x 600cm x 200cm cuboid). The height of the object was determined from the setting in the Heights menu (4th menu in the menu bar). The color of the object was determined by the active color from the Color Palette in the lower right corner of the screen.
You will now generate a cone, and view it in different display modes.
• Select the 3D Convergence modifier (4th modifier in the 1st row, icon looks like a pyramid).
• Select the Circle by Center & Radius drawing tool (4th icon in the 2nd row, icon looks like a circle with a dot in the center).
• Change the active color by clicking on the green colored square in the Color palette.
• Change the active height by selecting 500cm from the Heights menu.
• Move the cursor to -600cm, 500cm on the reference grid and click the mouse. This defines the center of the circle and as the cursor is moved, the radius of the circle follows the position of the mouse.
• Move the cursor to -300cm, 500cm on the reference plane and click. This defines the radius of the circle at 300cm and completes the shape. A cone is generated that has a 300cm radius at the base and is 500cm in height.
• Select Surface Render from the Display menu (6th menu in the menu bar). This shows the 2 objects in a flat shaded mode.
• To see the objects from a different view, select z=220° x=30° from the View menu. Try the other default views in the View menu, then return to the default view by selecting z=30° x=60°.
• Select Wire Frame from the Display menu to return to the wireframe display.
At this point you may wish to experiment with the other types of objects. Try different combinations of the drawing tools and modifiers and observe the results. When you are done, use the Undo item in the Edit menu as many times as necessary to return to the state with the original blue extruded rectangle and green cone. The Undo tool in form•Z has an essentially infinite depth and remembers all of your actions.
Transforming Objects
Once objects have been created there are a number of tools for modifying them. One set of tools is the geometric transformations. These tools can be used to change the position, size and form of an object.
You will now move, and then rotate an object.
• Select the Move tool (1st icon in the 11th row, has the word "move" at the bottom). Position the cursor on the corner of the blue extruded rectangle shape at 700cm, 100cm. This will highlight the object in red to indicate that it has been selected. As the cursor is moved, the object rubber bands and follows the position of the cursor on the reference plane.
• Move the cursor to 1000cm,-1000cm and click. This completes the move operation, and places the object such that its corner coincides with the edge of the grid.
• Select the Undo item from the Edit menu to reset the extruded rectangle back to its starting position.
• Select the Rotate tool (2nd icon in the 11th row, has the word "rotate" at the bottom). Position the cursor on any edge of the extruded rectangle shape and click. This will highlight the object in red to indicate that it has been selected.
• Move the cursor to 400cm,-400cm and click. This defines the center of rotation.
• Move the cursor to the corner of the blue extruded rectangle shape at 700cm, 100cm and click. This defines the starting point of rotation and as the cursor is moved, the object rotates to follow the cursor.
• Move the cursor to 800cm,-400cm and click. This defines a rotation of 45° and the object is drawn in its new orientation.
At this point you may wish to experiment with the additional transformations. In addition to the Move and Rotate tools you will also find tools for Scaling and Mirroring objects which all work in a similar fashion. In addition you can make copies of the objects by selecting the Copy modifier (2nd icon in the 10th row, has the word "copy" at the bottom). When you are done, use the Undo item in the Edit menu as many times as necessary to return to the state with the original blue extruded rectangle and green cone.
Boolean Operations
Boolean operations are very powerful modeling tools because they allow you to use any object as a basis for making another object. The Boolean operators are the Union, Intersection, and Difference tools, which can be applied to any objects.
You will now subtract one object from another using the Difference tool, and then generate the intersection of two objects using the Intersection tool.
• Use the move tool to reposition the green cone such that it is centered in the blue extruded rectangle (you will need to move the cone by 1000cm,-100cm from the original position).
• Select Surface Render to see the relationship of the objects. Select Wire Frame to return to the wire frame display.
• Select the Difference tool (3rd icon in the 8th row, has "Difrnc" at the bottom).
• Position the cursor on any edge of the extruded rectangle and click. This will highlight the object in red to indicate that it has been selected.
• Position the cursor on any edge of the cone and click. This will highlight the object in red to indicate that it has been selected and initiate the boolean difference operation which will subtract the volume of the cone from the extruded rectangle.
• Select Surface Render to see the result better. Select Wire Frame to return to the wire frame display.
• Select the Undo item from the Edit menu to undo the difference operation.
• Select the Intersection tool (2nd icon in the 8th row, has "Intsctn" at the bottom).
• Select the cone and extruded rectangle objects in the same way described for the difference example above. This will execute the boolean intersection operation, which will result in an object which represents the common volume of the two objects.
• Select Surface Render to see the result better. Select Wire Frame to return to the wire frame display.
At this point you may wish to experiment with the other Boolean operations on different shapes and different orientations. In addition to the Difference and Intersection tools, you will also find a Union tool which works in the same fashion. When you are done, use the Undo item in the Edit menu as many times as necessary to return to the original blue extruded rectangle and green cone.
Rounding Operation
The rounding tool can be used to soften a model by rounding the hard edges of an object.
You will now round an object.
• While pressing the option key, select the rounding icon (last icon in the 7th row, looks like a cube with a rounded edge). This opens the Rounding Options dialog. Select the Plain Rounding option, and from the Rounding Method options select Use Radius and enter a radius of 50cm in the field to the right. Select OK to close the dialog.
• Click on any edge of the extruded rectangle to round all the edges of the object.
• Select Surface Render to see the result better. Select Wire Frame to return to the wire frame display.
• Select the Undo item from the Edit menu to undo the rounding operation.
• Select the Segment topological level (2nd icon in the 4th row, has "segmnt" at the bottom).
• Click on any edge of the extruded rectangle to round only the selected edge of the object.
At this point you may wish to experiment with the additional rounding operations on different shapes and different options.
This script has just scratched the surface of the capabilities of form•Z. You can experiment with the other tools not discussed in this script. You may find that the most valuable tools in exploring form•Z without the benefit of manuals are the Help dialog invoked from the Options menu, the Prompts palette, and the dialogs invoked directly from the various tools. Often, the parameters used to define the various operations, as well as the options available from these dialogs, provide clues and information which will describe the use of the tool itself. You can also open one of the sample model files provided to view some simple models.
