Cadalyst - August 2008 - (Page 19)

cadalystlabsreview Learn More about the Products We’ve prepared an online table that compares the features of these visualization software products side by side. Visit Cadalyst.com to get detailed information about supported operating systems; modeling abilities; rendering methods; base, import, and export file formats; and included models and materials. www.cadalyst.com/0808visualization-table within another design solution. Although some of the usual roundup participants didn’t have products ready for public scrutiny this year, Cadalyst received a variety of programs that I’ll overview here. Keep in mind that this article is not a nuts-and-bolts examination of product details, but rather a survey of general features intended to provide an overview. Consult the table on Cadalyst.com (www.cadalyst.com/0808visualizationtable) to compare software features side by side. As one might expect, the array of applications represents numerous approaches — and end results. The images they produce span the spectrum from hyper-realistic, abundantly detailed renderings that highlight every perfectly lit detail to traditional looks that mimic hand-drawn art. The House Chmar by Scogin Elam and Bray Architects was modeled in form•Z and rendered in form•Z RenderZone Plus by John Alexander (AutoDesSys). Moving to 64-Bit Systems The past year has seen more 64-bit versions of major visualization applications become available. The growing availability and popularity of these applications should come as no surprise, as design applications have been bumping into memory constraints for some time. This development is very good news for those whose work tends to make extreme demands on hardware and software, because 64-bit versions of their favored design applications offer access to larger stores of memory and more capable management of that memory. It appears that visualization software is becoming one of the driving forces in making 64-bit computing more mainstream. Wherever it goes, the growth and development in this segment of the industry is always interesting to watch, with end users being the ultimate beneficiaries. Faster and more capable computer systems and improved software design helps speed the process somewhat, but a lot of time and effort typically are required for creating visualizations. But many design firms have found that a well-done visualization can be a deciding factor in whether a project ever reaches completion. Design visualization software is about compelling communication of ideas using visual media tools such as those described in this article. form•Z RenderZone Plus AutoDesSys 614.488.8838 www.formz.com Price: $1,995 AutoDesSys introduced its form•Z solids and surface modeling product in 1991. Today, this extremely adept and sophisticated 2D/3D product — available in both Windows and Macintosh versions, with easy interoperability between the two platforms — is a favorite of design studios in nearly any discipline. form•Z RenderZone Plus, the company’s top-level software bundle that was evaluated for this roundup, includes all the modeling, drafting, and animation tools found in the basic form•Z package, plus photorealistic rendering based on the LightWorks rendering engine. Libraries with numerous predefined materials are also included and can be extended or customized. Three levels of rendering are available: simple, z-buffer, and ray trace. You can start developing the image of a 3D model at the simple level and gradually turn on features and render it at the most realistic level. Images can be rendered and saved in a variety of usercontrollable sizes and resolutions, to a maximum of 16,000 x 16,000 pixels. Partially rendered images can be produced and saved. RenderZone Plus supports multiple processors for accelerating ray-traced renderings, and large rendering and animation tasks can be distributed over networks of rendering clients, which are controlled by a dedicated server application. An unlimited number of clients can be assigned to any network rendering. AutoDesSys’ form•Z RenderZone Plus requires at least 512 MB of onboard RAM (1 GB recommended), at least 500 MB of hard disk space (2 GB recommended), and a DVD-ROM drive for software installation. The Macintosh version requires at least OX X 10.4.3 (10.4.9 or later recommended). The Windows version of form•Z requires Windows XP home, Windows Vista Home, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Vista. You’ll also need a USB port or a USB hub for the hardware dongle. For $1,995, form•Z RenderZone Plus does it all, from drafting to modeling to photorealistic rendering. Visit the company’s Web site for a full list of product features; additional information about the form•Z family of products and available plug-ins; several free downloads, including a partially disabled demo version of form•Z; and extensive software documentation in PDF format. The Web site also has a 19 August 2008 cadalyst www.cadalyst.com http://Cadalyst.com http://www.cadalyst.com/0808visualization-table http://www.cadalyst.com/0808visualization-table http://Cadalyst.com http://www.cadalyst.com/0808visualization-table http://www.formz.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - August 2008

Cadalyst - August 2008 Contents Editor's Window CAD Central Tech Trends: Rotor Bug Strikes Again Cadalyst Labs Reviews: Digital Dreams — Visualization Software: Make Your Design Visions a Reality Maple 12 — Math Software AutoLINE 2009 — Linetype Management Add-On Deep Access — Digital-Media Asset Management Software View Point: Examining the Autodesk–Bentley Agreement CAD Manager: Managing Multioffice Mayhem MCAD Modeling: Do You Need Modeling Standards? AEC Insight: Modeling Technology for Building Engineers CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Hot Tip Harry: Better Living with Objects and Smart Entities

Cadalyst - August 2008

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