Bonzai 2.0 released
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Sounds all dandy but Form Z comes at a pretty steep price.
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Solo,
The price for formZ is really not too bad. (We checked out your (very nice) portfolio, and based on the quality of your work, you should be able to buy the software with the proceeds of a single job, right?)
Not to mention that purchasing a new license includes a free upgrade to formZ version 7, and there are very inexpensive options for students...
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i see there's a maxwell plugin for form-z, any change this will work with bonzai?
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Rocky,
The current MaxwellZ plugin for formZ will not work with bonzai3d (yet), but the plugin architecture of formZ and bonzai3d are very similar, so it should not be hard to adapt the formZ plugin so that it can also work with bonzai3d.
We hope that Next Limit will support Maxwell for bonzai3d, but we do not have a definitive answer from them at this time.
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thank you, appreciate your time. a couple more questions if i may.
- is there going to be an option to upgrade from bonzai to form-z?
- does or will form-z have dynamic dimensioning (dim1 = dim2/2 ...)and geometric relations like solidworks does (parallel, concentric...)? this would be a real deal maker for me, and i'm sure lots of others. its hard to go back once you've used these features.
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Can Bonzai3D be installed on more than one computer (like SU can)?
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Rocky,
Please contact sales@bonzai3d.com for answers to sales questions. (They have more details about options than our support team does.)
Regarding dimensions, there is not an option to relate one dimension to another, but the dimensions are associative -- so if you change the size of the part, the dimension will update automatically.
Please see the following tutorial video about dimensions in bonzai3d, and let us know if you have any further questions.
(We are keeping an eye on this discussion, but you can get faster answers in general by posting to our forum, or sending us an email...)
Daniel,
A single license of bonzai3d is allowed to be installed on any two computers at the same time. If you wish to move a license from one of these computers to a third computer, you can do this by simply sending us an email and letting us know.
(Of course you can install the Trial version on as many computers as you like...)
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@bonzai3d support said:
Tom (tfdesign),
Yes, and Yes.
The next major update for formZ (version 7) will include most of the interface improvements that bonzai3d has, making it easier and faster to use. Thus learning bonzai3d now can be a stepping point towards learning formZ 7.
(You may also find that bonzai3d is powerful enough that it meets your needs!)
Complete Cocoa implementation is in the works, and will be available soon.
I LOVE YOU!!
This is great news indeed!! Having become very disillusioned with the whole CAD market on the Macintosh platform in recent years, this is very refreshing to hear! I really need sheet metal tools (there are a lot of sheet metal fabricators still in Birmingham, so there is still work around). These are in FormZ. SAT export is another much needed option, as DWG export and the ability to do high quality drafting (not really present in Bonzai- but there in FormZ. I have drooled over UGS NX for Mac, but at £12,000??? OUCH!! SpaceClaim (hmm- you can tell who SpaceClaim have "copied from" right?
) is a fairly nice and reasonably priced engineering/ design application, which runs okay in virtualisation, but again it's a Windows app- and I'm again having to work out where everything is placed, because it's another Windows app, where positioning of controls seem to be arbitrary again, thus once more slowing workflow down again... I've been using ViaCAD too, for a while, but it has a "mind of its own", sometimes not quite pulling off what I need it to do 
Sorry rant over....I've had a hard day! But yes, great news indeed.... and if you need another beta tester too?
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Tom,
Glad we could get you excited!
Bonzai3d reads and writes both SAT and DWG formats (and others, as noted above). On Intel Macs and Windows, version 19 of SAT (and earlier) are supported, but we are limited to versions 18 and earlier on PPC Macs.
DWG formats 2010 and earlier are also supported.
Bonzai3d version 2.0 is now officially released -- so no need for anymore Beta testing with this, but feel free to download the Trial version and take it for a spin. You can sign up for the Trial version here:
Please let us know if you have any further questions.
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@tfdesign said:
LOVE
Okay maybe I was getting a bit carried away there?!
But you know what I mean?!
I've already downloaded the trial (and am using it).
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if 5 years ago i had to compare su and bonzai ..
i think i'd of learned bonzai.. i wish there was a way of knowing what would happen if i new both apps equally well.. i wonder which one i'd prefer to work in.i agree with tf.. maybe an apple specific version would make me commit
(and a tablet app with decent navigation and ability measure,take notes etc ) -
@unknownuser said:
if 5 years ago i had to compare su and bonzai ..
i think i'd of learned bonzai.. i wish there was a way of knowing what would happen if i new both apps equally well.. i wonder which one i'd prefer to work in.i agree with tf.. maybe an apple specific version would make me commit
(and a tablet app with decent navigation and ability measure,take notes etc ) Mmmmmm, that is a good question Jeff..... 'If you knew then what you know now!'. However SketchUp on its launch filled a huge gap in the CAD market and is still doing this and I imagine will continue to so so for many newbies.I still think SketchUp is very true to the original 'pencil and napkin' concept for idea generation and it seems even with V7 this is still the case as the GUI is still much the same as it was with V1. SU users will adopt other apps but I think SketchUp will still remain a favoured application for that quick idea generation.
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I'm sorry that I am asking you this question on the SU forum, rather than the Bonzai forum (I just don't want to join yet another forum yet!).
I can't import SAT or DWG data into Bonzai3D. I've tried both SAT v13 and v19, both with no effect at all. I was exporting from ViaCAD 2D/3D. I checked with importing into SpaceClaim, and exporting works fine there (both SAT and DWG), which says that there isn't anything wrong with VC's export function.
Any suggestions? (I haven't tried SKP files yet).
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@tfdesign said:
I'm sorry that I am asking you this question on the SU forum, rather than the Bonzai forum (I just don't want to join yet another forum yet!).
Tom,
SketchUcation is more than just a SketchUp Forum. I would like to think that we are open to discussing all kinds and types of applications. To limit discussions just to SketchUp would be a mistake in my opinion. The advantage of using a totally independent forum like SketchUcation is that a user will never have to worry about saying exactly what is on their mind. Heck, even SketchUp has been 'cussed' on this forum on many occasions and that is the way it should be if its justifiable.
Mike
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Jeff and Mike,
We have heard from a lot of new users to bonzai3d how easy it is to use (and how powerful it can be). I would guess that if someone knew neither bonzai3d or SketchUp, that they would probably have an equally easy time learning either program.
Of course, since bonzai3d is not a SketchUp Clone, if you are already familiar with SketchUp, then it may take a moment to become familiar with the ways that bonzai3d works. But I am willing to bet that if you give bonzai3d a serious try, you will find that the (rather small) learning curve is definitely worth the benefits that it brings. You can see many of bonzai3d's features here:
We have created quite a few Tutorial Videos that should make getting started quite easy, and you can find these directly in bonzai3d via the Help Menu: Tutorial Videos command, or you can find them here on our web site:
(As noted above, if you want it to "navigate like SketchUp" -- go to Edit: Preferences: Load Defaults: and select Preset 2.)
Tom,
Sorry to hear that you are having trouble with a specific file. Please zip and send this file (in both DWG and SAT format) to support@bonzai3d.com so we can find a solution for you.
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How about a some kind of BOM? Is there a way to export the objects data - such as name, size, material? And tool like FredoScale - to stretch group of objects?
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would be nice if the unfold tool was added to bonzai
also the grid snap doesn't seem to work as expected, it only seems to be active after you've started to draw. it would be nice if it would snap the tool (ie. rectangle tool) so one could begin drawing properly aligned to the grid.
and another question: once the renderosity demo expires, what render capabilities are left? are sketch and doodle left are are these renderosity as well.
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Dedmin,
Thanks for your suggestions, we will see what we can do to add these.
Rocky,
The Unfold tool is a tool that is reserved for formZ. (As you may know, formZ will soon be receiving the interface overhaul that we have given to bonzai3d -- and it will include many "even more advanced" tools than what bonzai3d currently has.)
The Grid Snap should affect the starting of a drawing (with a rectangle, vector line, etc) and it does in our tests. If you check this again, are you sure that this is not working properly for you?
If you compare your current Reference Plane grid settings (as shown on the top in the image below) is this set to be an integer multiple of the grid snap settings (shown at the bottom) that you are using?
(If you do not have the modules of your plane grid and grid snap aligned, then it may appear that it is not affecting the starting point.)(If you do indeed have a case where this is not working properly for you, please email us a more detailed description of the problem, and attach a BNZ.zip file (to support@bonzai3d.com) in which you are able to reproduce this so we can look into this further. )
The RenderZone Trial Plugin does not expire. Its only limitations are the watermark, and the resolution limit.
Sketch Rendering is based on the RenderZone rendering, and as such will have the same two limitations as described above.
Doodle actually produces vector information which is based on the Wireframe or Hidden Line display. You can display this at whatever resolution you like, regardless of whether or not you choose to add the RenderZone plugin.
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i guess the grid snap confused me a bit because there is no visual reference (highlighting possible snaps as one passes over them) and the grid setting is set to 5 divisions (2'), but the snaps are set to 1' ???. why don't the grid snaps show up on the grid (possibly ghosted) or just use the grid settings to snap to? i don't see the need for both. but thanks for the response.
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Rocky,
It is easy to align the reference plane grid and the grid snaps, but it is not required. For example, I frequently work with my grid snap set anywhere between 1/8" - 6" -- but typically keep a 12" or 24" reference plane grid.
(This way I can quickly work to create the size objects I want without completely overloading the screen with all the reference plane grid lines...)
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