Basic Questions and Initial Thoughts

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I have been looking into switching from the T-Splines plugin in Rhino to SpeedForm and Alias.  I have a few basic questions and some thoughts as I continue to play around with a trial version of Speedform.  I am sure I will have more questions as I dive deeper, I will continue to add them to this thread.  I aplogize in advance if any of these have already been asked/answered.  Any help is appreciated!

Questions:

1.  It seems that Fusion 360 and Speedform are currently very similar at first glance [Other than that Fusion 360 is "cloud enabled"] .  Is there additional t-splines functionality within Speedform that Fusion 360 does not have?...Or is there additional functionality planned for a later date?  The price discrepancy between the two would suggest so, but I have not had a change to play around with Fusion 360 yet.

2.  I can turn on zebra stripes within "Inspect", but I cant seem to find a way to turn them off?...I am sure I am missing something simple here 

3.  I did not see a hotkey for welding vertices?...I use this a ton in T-Splines for Rhino and it seems cumbersome to have to click weld in the toolbar every time...although I do realize the tool stays open for multiple use which is nice

Thoughts:

1.  I know this has been brought up in the forum, but it would be really helpful to be able to customize the hotkeys...I am so used to the T-Splines commands in Rhino I'd like to mimic these [smoothing, welding, extruding, edit-form mode, views, etc.]

2.  I would love to be able to freehand sketch in 3d directly within Speedform [for use with a Wacom tablet]...Myabe as a fourth category Sculpt, Detailing, Render, and "Sketch",  Similar to paint in Alias, but more like Sketchbook Pro for use on a chosen plane would be really helpful... Something similar to uMake would be even cooler.  

Thanks a lot for the help.  

Cheers,

Peter

[Michael-GG]

Hello all,

Alias SpeedForm 2016 PE1 is now available:

http://www.autodesk.com/products/alias-products/free-trial                

Happy testing,

GG

[Anonymous]

Thanks GG,

I just downloaded the trial and I seem to be getting some strange viewing behavior when in a single view viewport.  It appears the model is being viewed in a perspective mode rather than orthographic.

The model view is not "normal" to the chosen view [Right, Left, Top, etc.]

Please see the attached images for details.

Note that the orthographic views in "Multiple Views" option behave correctly [See attached image "Example_2"]

Is there a viewing preference that I am missing that is causing this?  This is happening when in either the "Azimuth/Twist" or "Tumble/Zoom" Alias Alt/SHift Action dropdown option within Preferences, General, Alias SpeedForm.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I figured out the anwer...

Right click on the view cube and choose Orthographic:

[Michael-GG]

🙂

[Anonymous]

I have a couple more Speedform interface/workflow questions relative to using T-Splines within Rhino:

1.  In Rhino I can draw a curve and "extrude" the curve into a t-splines surface by holding down alt and using the translate tool.  In Speedform holding alt and clicking on a direction to tranform only transforms the curve...alt does not act as an extrude hot-key.  To Extrude the curve you have to use the Extrude tool.  Only t-splines surfaces and edges can be extruded using the alt key + translate.  This seems to be a much slower workflow...Is there a better/faster way that I am not aware of? Ideally I could extrude the curve by holding alt.  See image 1.

2.  In Rhino, when holding alt and translating as noted above in 1, the t-spline surface is extruded in the same plane as the curve.  In SpeedForm it is extruded normal to the sketch plane by default.  See image 2.  Is there a way to get this same behavior by default?  I am used to this workflow and currently I have to choose a user defined direction every time to mimic Rhino.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

One more thing to add.

Regarding #1, in Rhino when extruding a curve using alt-translate, you can choose to translate using the "square" "Plane" manipulator rather than the arrow direction manipulator.  In Speedform if you use choose a custom extrude direction, you have to shoose an arrow direction, you cannot move the extrusion around manually using a "square" plane manipulator.

To me this points out another advantage of having the ability to extrude a curve using alt-translate...You are not limited to extruding in XYZ or a defined reference direction.

Thanks

[Michael-GG]

1. Not being able to extrude a curve is known as enhancement request 1429.

2. Well, to "translate" you need to "drag" the curve, don't you? And this doesn't seem to be possible by pressing Alt+LMB alone, so I need the manipulator/gumball? But as soon as I use that, there is no default direction, as I have to chose an explicite axis? Not arguing against the change, just trying to understand the need for it first.

Cheers,

GG

[Michael-GG]

Making the choice of the extrude direction much easier / more intuitive is known as enhancement request 1862.

Thanks for your input,

GG

[Anonymous]

Hi GG,

Thanks for the quick reply.  Hopefully my frequent posts are not getting annoying...

Nice to know about enhancement requests 1429 and 1862 are already in.  Is there a place I can see all of the current requests so I do not double up the same request?  Sorry, I am pretty new to Autodesk and am not familiar with the organization.  At this location would it tell the timeline on when to expect a request to be implemented?

"2. Well, to "translate" you need to "drag" the curve, don't you? And this doesn't seem to be possible by pressing Alt+LMB alone, so I need the manipulator/gumball? But as soon as I use that, there is no default direction, as I have to chose an explicite axis? Not arguing against the change, just trying to understand the need for it first."

Sorry, I was not very clear here.  Yes, the manipulator would be required.  I guess a simpler way to state it would be to request that a "planar" manipulator to be added to extrude...currently there is only a single axis available.  Please see the attached image.

Cheers

[Michael-GG]

Hi,

no, unfortunately there is no visibility of existing requests available, nor a timeline on when to expect certain features to be implemented, sorry.

Regarding your extrude proposal, this should be covered by 1862: "Make choice of Extrude direction easier", which is about offering a manipulator for angle control in addition to the base direction.

Cheers,

GG

[Anonymous]

OK, noted.

Thank you for the reply.  I look forward to the 1862 update when it hits.

Cheers

[QuasiLoci]

Hi GG,

1.  I do not have the incremental save option...I just installed SpeedForm via my Alias concept license.  I do not show any product updates availalble.

Is my current version 2.0.46 to most recent version [PE 1]?  If not, how do I install this?

2.  Also, I see there is a timed incremental save option in PE 1.

I use the manual incremental save option in Rhino all the time [See attached image].  Could something like this be incorporated?

3.  Even better than 2...This plugin made for Modo for incremental saving is awesome [check out the video].  I'd love to see something like this...super helpful when modeling without history.

Thanks

[Michael-GG]

Hi,

no, 2.0.46 is not the latest version, it's the official 2016 release. The latest version (2016 PE1 SP1) can be downloaded here:

http://www.autodesk.com/products/alias-products/free-trial

The manual incremental save you mentioned is already in that one. I checked out the video, but find it hard to find any additional value of the plugin beside the ability to limit the numbers of incremental saves (which is, by the way, also already in SpeedForm 2016 PE1 SP1). The regular "logged" snaps are nothing more than a "save as", are they? Where do you see the additional value I obviously don't see? 🙂

Cheers,

GG

[QuasiLoci]

Thanks GG.

I guess I am confused why the most recent version [PE1] is not installing when installing Autodesk Concept...Or why is PE1 not showing up as an update within the Autodesk software update app, or within my account online?  Shouldn't PE1 be installing by default [or showing up as an update] since it is the most recent version?

Since I already have SpeedForm installed, should I uninstall and install the trial?  Can I add my license info to the trial so I am not held to the 30 day trial? 

Regarding the incremental save, I guess I need check out the functionality in PE1 and compare before I can comment further.

Thanks

[Michael-GG]

Hi,

not sure how you are installing Alias Concept? Is it part of the Automotive suite? If yes, the Automotive suite doesn't have a PE release, so updated components of it must be instelled seperately. But we are going to have software which takes care of this and informs about updates, and the next upcoming version of SpeedForm will have that.

Regarding the licensing, if you have a permanent key for 2016, that one should work for 2016 PE1, too.

Cheers,

GG

[QuasiLoci]

Alias "Concept" is its own package, it is not AutoStudio...see "2016_Alias_Concept_Package" attached.

I am installing the Alias Concept package via my Autodesk account online.  See "2016_Alias_Concept_Installation" attached.  This installation method includes all of the software in the package.

So it sounds like I should uninstall SpeedForm, and install the PE1 trial which should accept my yearly license serial?...and after 2017 is released it should update on its own?

Is serial the same as "key"?  See "2016_Alais_Concept_Seriel" attached.

Thanks

[Michael-GG]

Ah, okay, but nevertheless, also "Concept" is a suite, so what I said about the Automotive suite is also true for the Concept suite.

Yes, you can uninstall 2016 RTM, but an automatic uninstall should also be offered when you run the PE1 installer. And yes, it should accept your license serial.

The software updater comes with 2017, so there a last time the update needs to be manually.

No, serial is not the same as key. You get a serial when you buy a product, the product key for SpeedForm 2016 is A62H1.

Cheers,

GG

[QuasiLoci]

OK, thanks a lot for the info.

I will uninstall my current version and install PE1.

Looking forward to the 2017 version.

Cheers

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, I would also be in favor of a manipulator with colored axis'. At the minimum, offer this as an option

[Michael-GG]

Hi Mark,

the manipulator will be colored in the upcoming 2017 release. 🙂

Cheers,

GG