formZ Reviews

FormZ has made the design working process much more fun.

Some functionality not quite familiarly used.

Give a go.

Pretty advanced and smart software seems knowing where the 3D modeling were heading. Rendering is Pretty cool. Easy and realistic.

Intuitive interface and high software compatibility, Rendering interoperability with Vray. Agility to create complex forms easily and intuitively. Minimum learning curve timeframe, Useful tools and import files formats. Also, heir constant upgrades addresses bugs and possible crashes which makes the product highly reliable. Having the right support can be a true differentiator in today's architecture, so they will have your back safe in this matter. The great way to display geometry, makes it easy as well to prepare diagrams or isometrics when needed.

It might be slightly difficult to fully understand the platform, however that can be said for any new software. Some redesign to the menus, might be helpful for new users to interact with the software. This would definitely attract more people to the product.

If you are looking for a easy to learn and easy to handle software, FormZ would definitely suit your expectations. Also, their wide range of licenses are warranty that you find the right tool for your workflow. You should have a basic previous knowledge of 3d Modelling in order to succeed learning a new software, but with basic understanding, you will be able to make the most out of this product.

Conceptual massing and shape, immediate rendering with Vray, Quick and easy shape analysis on complex shapes. Understanding of programs and requirements trough 3D and changing them easily and fast enough to safe time and accomplish deadlines.

Efficient and seamless sync with VRay as well as ability to downsave, which seems to be missing in most other software. Most often I used parametric subdivision and parametric generation and then further the ease by which I can just 3D print the models definitely saved me a lot of time during submission deadline time crunches. The augmented reality feature gives a very accurate depiction of the space and takes the design to the next level.

The learning curve, it took me a while to get hold of it. But definitely worth it once you are past that initial learning period.

Mostly I used it for form explorations in architecture school. It gives me freedom and ability to imagine and portray difficult forms. It always gave me an upper edge over other students and helped me ace my academics. It packs the qualities of both rhinoceros as well as sketchup, 3D form building has never felt so easy before.

The power to 3D model quickly. It is a extremely robust and stable platform for huge polygon counts. It exports to almost every other platform of your choice.

The drafting tools could be improved for the 2D module of the program.

If your looking to start a business in architectural illustration I would encourage you to take a look at FormZ.

It's ease of use and speed allows you time away from the computer.

The developer Autodessys, based out of Columbus, Ohio, has hands down the most responsive customer support staff in the industry, and they always personally welcome and respond to new features suggestions. At the heart of formZ, Autodessys has developed an exceptionally competent and easy to use, topology-based surface and solid modeling core. With everything from the most competent Booleans to highly advance lofting, blending, and other advanced mathematical surface capabilities, I have watched formZ evolve into what is in my opinion the industry leader in these categories and object integrity preservation, which is highly important for 3d printing and prototyping. Beyond that, formZ's interoperability with Vray as a plugin renderer makes the combo a very affordable and completely undervalued option for industry professionals.

As with all 3d modeling software packages, you will encounter the occasional glitch, which is always corrected with a simple restart of the software. As I have watched the software evolve over the years, sometimes the UI is changed in ways small ways that do not necessarily improve upon the previous, but overall, formZ yields a very smooth and fluid workflow.

If your focus is in the design industry rather than animation, formZ's featureset, stability, and price make it the industry's best value in a 3d modeling package.

Architectural formerly & Product Design currently. In addition to the benefits listed above, formZ maintains high floating point accuracy down to micrometers, which is highly important to stereolithograpy and thin wall injection moulding processes. Exporting to other formats is also a breeze, as formZ offers export to every leading industry 3d format.

Supports both Windows and Mac, and files can be opened on both operating systems. Parametric tools and bespoke workspaces. Reasonably easy to use. It is affordable and basic geometry, and architectural designs can be created quickly

Lacks visual scripting capabilities. Requires a bit of time to comprehend fully

Eases collaboration on architectural projects by allowing compatibility between different users for both Windows and Mac

- Easy to learn and robust with lots of potential and opportunities to include new features

- Awesome tech support and active user community that are constantly working/providing feedback to improve software even better

- "Reshape" toolset is fantastic and incredibly efficient and quick in adjusting and fine-tuning your model

- Subdivision tools

- Components & Clones (similar to Blocks in autocad) are very helpful when creating repetitive models. Could be saved in local library for other projects

- Customized workspace/pallets

- Different view types (Perspectives for visualization and Axonometric and Isometric for technical drawings)

- Scatter tools to randomly scatter objects (very useful to create randomness in scenes)

- parametric Stairs tool

- Object Doctor; a very handy tool to fix/simplify geometry

- Import/Export FBX files - in my case I export fomrZ models to FBX to use it with Twinmotion and Lumion for real-time rendering

This is based on Version 8.6:

- Few integrated 3rd party render engines. Could add more for more options.

- Also the native render engine needs to be improved (maybe more realistic GPU rendering?)

- No visual scripting features

- Large project file size especially when using hi res textures and smooth geometry which leads to long time saving the file and also makes project file prone to crash

It's a great 3d modeling program in many aspects. It's being actively improved and new features are always being introduced with each update. It a great investment given also it's competitive price compared to other programs available in market.

- Create concepts for architectural projects..it's really good and quick in developing concepts and ideas, creating diagrams, sun/shadow studies, non-realistic quick renderings

- Linking formZ project files (through FBX) with other BIM or rendering software to keep all project files updated

- Create 3d details for construction with dimensions and tags

interface friendly use. smart choices to use

a lot of commands and icons. i prefer to make them interactive according to the usage

good luck

organical formsm better results and rendering

I like almost everything about this software.

- It has my favourite surface building methods: Nurbs and Subdiv modelling.

- I think it is great for modeling quick simple buildings or interiors; even it's free version can do wonders for architectural designers. You can build primitives on other objects' surfaces and scatter objects on an area: very useful for architects.

- You can easily create patterns like voronoi, without a hassle.

- It has a decent Nurbs engine. Despite being new to FormZ, I did not have much difficulty getting to know functions of various Nurbs tools.

- Modeling in general is quite simplistic here.

- I come from different NURBS software, where surfaces are handled with more technical detail. Here, it is more like an intuitive experience. Controls feel inadequate for an Alias Surface user like me.

- Its keyboard and mouse combinations are a bit different than other modeling software I use; so it gets a little frustrating when you mistakenly demolish your model or just fail miserably at findinf the necessary key combination.

It is a great program, but knowledge base is very thin. You might have difficulties at fiding a tutotial other than what Autodesys supplies. It is very strange that very few people know about this program, it deserves more praise.

Jusr try the free version first and get a taste of it. Then you will know if it is for you.

I generally use it for simple surface concept modeling. I also use it for architectural design projects. Voronoi tool extensively helps me build parametric patterns for facade design, without having to use any code or GrassHopper for Rhino.

FormZ is a highly accurate modeler with a wide diversity of tools for all types of modeling.

The interface is buggy, tool palette management is clumsy and requires too much management, particularly when using multiple monitors or switching between monitors.

I dont use FormZ as much as I did many years ago having switched to Revit for its collaborative production capabilites. I use FormZ now for complex modeling tasks that Revit cannot easily produce.