Learn the best 3d modeling program for architecture and design.
Longtime form•Z user Evan Troxel has created an amazing new way to learn 3D modeling with form•Z. Whether it’ll be your first time opening the program, or your 300th, you’ll learn techniques that will ensure your success in building and visualizing the best 3d models you’ve ever made. Using the powerful tools form•Z puts at your fingertips, you’ll be inspired and ready to make more great designs with your newfound skills and tools.
This course has more than 6 hours of form•Z video training. Unlimited viewing allows you to watch the videos at your own pace and use them as reference for years to come.
As a special introductory offer Evan is offering $100.00 off the course thorough April 21st. Click here for details and to view a few sample lessons.
HOW TO GET THE BEST 3D PRINTED ARCHITECTURAL MODELS
On a regular basis we have people and companies from around Australia approach us to 3D print scale models of their buildings, developments and projects. The results are very impressive and we often get positive feedback from our clients including hotel developers in Brisbane pitching to investors, apartment planners in Sydney looking to better understand their space and an Architect in Melbourne who uses 3D Printing to show clients his plans and drawings. However there is usually more preparation that goes into these models than most but done properly you’ll be wowing your audience and giving them a real foundation to see the projects potential .
Below we’ll run through common issues and how to get a well priced robust model from your current full scale (1:1) CAD models.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURE
COST
The first step taken is usually for you to internally decide on a budget, as downstream this will affect the size of the models and therefore to what degree the files may need to be adjusted to account for small details.
As a guideline on 3D Printing costs:
A building printed at a size of 360 x 300 x 300mm will cost between $2,400 to $8,900 + GST
A building printed at a size 0f 250 x 200 x 200mm will cost between $1,200 to $2,700 + GST
A building printed at a size 0f 150 x 100 x 100mm will cost between $180 and $420 + GST
The reason for the variation in cost depends mainly on how much material your part will use, how much machine space it occupies and how risky it is to print. The larger the part the more this has an effect.
You can optimise the cost with the following techniques :
Hollow your building and any other thick enclosed parts out and remove the base, so you end up with a ‘shell’ of the buildings. This significantly reduces the amount of material used and therefore the cost.
Nest parts of the building in your file if possible.
SIZE/SCALE
With a budget in mind we can work out how to get the largest scale for your structure whilst coming in at/under cost. The size is one of the most important factors and is influenced by price, however other considerations are detail sizes, maximum printable size, orientation and likeliness to warp/deform due to thermal stress.
Min. Detail Sizes
In almost all architectural jobs we’ve done the original files need to be modified to account for details that become too small to print when scaled down from the full size. Anything under 1mm at printed size has a risk of being broken during the cleaning of the parts, so if something is 10mm thick full scale then at 1:10 scale it will be 1mm which is fine, though at 1:20, 1:100, 1:200 etc scale then this becomes undersize. The common workarounds to this are either to remove it all-together if they are ‘nice to have’ but not ‘need to have’ details, or to thicken/exaggerate the details at full size so that when they are scaled down they are thick enough to print.
Particular features to keep an eye on are stairs, balustrades and railings, pipes, windows etc.
Max. Printable Size
The largest we can print in one go is 340 x 340 x 580mm so the model will either need to be smaller than that or split into sections. If you are wanting to do a development for example try splitting it into lots.
SECTIONING AND SHELLING BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES
If a part is too large to print in one piece it’ll need to be sectioned into smaller pieces which can be printed and assembled afterwards.
It’s best to try avoid cutting the part on a uniform section where a join line will be obvious, aim to cut it somewhere more obscure or somewhere that will be covered by something else.
Shelling a model is an important step in aiding it’s printability, it will also help reduce cost. The idea of shelling something is basically to preserve the outward appearance of the building etc, though inside is completely hollow and featureless. If you do want interior detail like rooms, fittings, furniture etc then you can include this and an alternative is to have the roof separate so that you are not trapping large quantities of loose powder inside.
The following was a tutorial is about creating a padded chair in formZ that was recently uploaded on the formZ forum/Tutorials page in response to a question raised on how to model this particular type of chair.
So one of the formZ forum members (FZnoob) took up the challenge and he said it was best to use the Sub-D’s toolset. So If you go through these instructions any user of formZ PRO 8.5 will be able to see the power of these tools to generate a very close likeness.
We’ve pulled out all stops to bring you this news.
The newest UP Mini 2 – 3D Printer has a myriad of smart features so smart we believe it is the smartest 3D printer in Australia! & It’s so clever, it has teamed up with the UP BOX.
So, when you buy an UP BOX today, you can get the UP Mini 2FREE. Double the muscle!
Read on to find out more.
One of the biggest head-turning new features the UP Mini 2 has to offer is the touch screenand WIFI capabilities.
It gives you as the user more flexibility to control and print with your printer. From changing filaments to reprinting any of your 10 most recent files, you won’t have to be connected to a computer!
Both the UP BOX and the UP Mini 2 are fully enclosed 3D printers, equipped with HEPA filters, making it office and classroom-friendly equipment.
Why is this important? 3D printers have been characterised as high emitters of Ultra Fine Particles. So, the HEPA filters work to help reduce your exposure to these particle emissions. Choice!
Terms and conditions:
Buy 1 UP BOX and Get 1 UP Mini 2 promotion valid for purchases made on beginning date 01/11/2016 through to ending date 31/12/2016 only or while stocks last. || Purchase Orders from education providers must be received in between 01/11/2016 to 31/12/2016 to be eligible for the promotion. || Error & Omissions Exempt. || Cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion. || Promotion valid in Australia. || Promotion available until stocks last || Smart Technology reserves the right to change or cancel the promotion during the promotion period. ||
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Maxwell Render 4 to offer GPU rendering
Next Limit has announced the upcoming release of v4 of its renderer. New features include:
GPU rendering – the new engine runs on NVidia graphic cards. All the technology under the hood is identical to the classic CPU engine – which means your images are exactly the same.
Maxwell Multilight Standalone – save infinite lighting variations from one single render
Lighting setups in real time
Work faster by editing lights before and after the render finishes
Create a lighting catalog for your client
Automatically update your catalog with different lighting positions or geometry
New materials gallery – the renovated gallery features a hand-picked selection of high-quality, optimized Maxwell materials ready to use in your scenes. You can search using the usual tags, such as wood, plastic or metal, but also by performance level – so that you can filter materials depending on your exact needs.
Rhino for Mac support – new Rhino for Mac plugin workflow, providing a live-link between Rhino and Maxwell Studio
Significantly improved Revit integration
Maxwell Render v4 is scheduled to be released in September. A pre-release promotion is available with a 30% discount. More here for Australia & NZ on Maxwell Render Special Offer
Dramatic fluid dynamic effects can be created for high res. still shots or as displayed here for 3D animation effects replicating real fluid motion.
For Cinema 4D we offer two (2) levels of capabilities at the entry level there is “RealFlow for Cinema 4D” that is upgradable to “RealFlow 2015” for all the full features that RealFlow has to offer including the RenderKit for Cinema 4D.
RealFlow for Cinema 4D offers a high end particle system that can be upgraded at any time to the full version of RealFlow 2015 [see here]
Crown Splash Tutorial from inside Cinema 4D using RealFlow 2015
Here is a new RealFlow 2015 Dyverso application that is unique and dramatic but in this newer version is much faster to create. Learn more about how you could use this capability with whatever modeller you have. In this case the demonstration is shown in Maya but could apply to other modellers.
Archicad 20 Visualisation uses CineRender Engine Upgrade a subset of Cinema 4D renderer
When CineRender was first introduced in ARCHICAD 18 the CineRender Rendering Engine took “out of the box” renderings to a new level by replacing the older Artlantis based rendering engine.
With the release of ARCHICAD 20 it now runs the latest CineRender engine based on the Cinema 4D R16 engine. ARCHICAD 20 also allows full export of its models in Cinema 4D file format to the newest version of Cinema 4D Studio R18 that supports even higher capabilities, realism and faster animation.
Cinema 4D Studio Visualization
This Upgraded Engine in conjunction with a number of Improvements is sure to improve ARCHICAD’s already impressive rendering capabilities while still allowing easy transition to using Cinema 4D Studio R18 as above.
See below here for the added new rendering features in ArchiCAD 20 and its CineRender.
New Surface Channel: Reflectance
The new Reflectance Channel (replacing Reflection and Specular) allows for multiple reflection layers, each with its own bump map and reflection model. You can use “masks” to control reflection parameters, such as blurriness, and the Distance Dim mode to fade them out.
Other new Reflectance options:
Conductor Fresnel mode, optimized for metallic surfaces
Anisotropic mode for reflection distortions, e.g. for brushed/scratched metal
A special cloth shading model (Irwan) with presets, for realistic‐looking cloth surfaces
Improved Shaders
Brick Shader: new Displacement mode for more realistic brick walls
Filter Shader: Gradation Curves, to precisely set brightness/color regions of an image
Backlight Shader: New shading algorithms
Improved Global Illumination (GI) for Renderings
Use the new, faster Irradiance Cache to enjoy incredible contact shadows. The Irradiance Cache includes presets for specific types of Project lighting, both internal and external.
If needed, select separate GI settings ‐ including separate Saturation and Intensity settings ‐ for the two GI calculation methods (primary and secondary).
With the Show Samples option, you can disable display of shading points, if they are not needed during prepasses.
Improved Physical Renderer
“Turbo Boost” your rendering times, with no quality loss, using the new Intel Embree raytracing engine for the Physical Renderer.
Faster grass renderings and a quick preview also enhance the Physical Renderer experience.
Other Rendering Improvements
Updated scenes using the new settings for faster and even more realistic renderings
Set Noise Distribution as a single, global setting (General CineRender Option)
Get Cinema 4D R17 with MSA Included at No Additional Charge and Spring Into Release 18 as Soon as it Ships!
Spring is nearly here and arriving with it will be the exciting new Cinema 4D Release 18.
Buy between now and August 31 and receive both the current R17 and a 12 month MSA support agreement, which includes a free upgrade to R18 providing a great way to “spring into” Release 18 with significant savings for Australian and New Zealand customers.
But hurry. This special is only available until August 31st 2016.
Maxwell Multilight™ Standalone Sneak Peek 
