Why isn't there a MicroStation section. . .

[garethace]

In the software section at cgarchitect forums? The Parasolids solid modelling kernel in Bentley software is as good or even better than that in AutoCAD and FormZ now.

 

I use Bentley Triforma or MicroStation and VIZ almost exclusively now, having tried Z and ACAD and Archi and all the rest.

[ingo]

I think we had this discussion earlier this year, but i'm to lazy to search.

[garethace]

Thanks, i don't feel there is enough need to have a MicroStation section of it's own, but still i would not mind being able to start a Triforma thread in the AutoCAD ADT or ArchiCAD section, since they are virtually identical products. It is just a case of which you feel most comfortable with. My boss feels most comfortable with MicroStation, even though i own and run VIZ for my own uses. At least, i did a couple of years ago when i was on my own. Since then however i have had to toe the line and use what is being used in the practice. Which hasn't altogether been a bad experience.

 

BTW, the Parasolids modelling kernel in MicroStation now is in Unigraphics and a whole load of great mech eng solid modellers - so it has the right kind of predigry. It is flawlessly stable, which i cannot always say for some AutoCAD or ArchiCAD installations on systems i have been fortunate enough to use over the years. I remember one particular 3.0 version of Z which sucked on the MAC G3 platform, and possibly on Windows too. That was the BIG re-write they did if you remember back to 1999.

[ingo]

Yes that famous version 3.0 of FormZ, i'm glad for the update to 3.5 i'm still using now, although 3.6 seems a bit better.

 

I have done nearly five years of Microstation support and service for the Mac platform, before it suddenly died. There was even a Triforma version on the Mac available, which is anywhere on my backups. Microstations reference system is still the best available and unbeatable for large projects, hopefully the FormZ reference system planned for the next (after 4.0) release is as versatile and easy to use too.

[garethace]

Well i would very much like to pass out the whole MicroStation for MAC period in Bentley History. Literaly because MicroStation only had a real piss-poor ASIC solids kernel in Version 5.0 for MAC and Triforma version 7.0 for Windows. This could not even by imported into a rendering software such as lightscape, Artlantis, VIZ etc.

 

However in Version 7.1 of Windows MicroStation the Bentley brothers finally got sense and licensed the Unigraphics Parasolids solid modelling kernel, which is industry standard, stable, brilliant and never has any probs talking to other softwares.

 

Therefore i can now model with confidence in MicroStation version 7.1 (still have not moved to version 8.0 and see no real reason to) and still use my other licenses like VIZ and so on.

[Richard McCarthy]

Hehe, I like a Revit Section myself too? (hint hint)

 

The way I see it, Revit is the future, call me bias, but ack, I see no other product comes to it in term of robustness and usability.

 

 

Originally posted by garethace:

In the software section at cgarchitect forums? The Parasolids solid modelling kernel in Bentley software is as good or even better than that in AutoCAD and FormZ now.

 

I use Bentley Triforma or MicroStation and VIZ almost exclusively now, having tried Z and ACAD and Archi and all the rest.

[Chris_A]

Much of the Microstation crowd hangs out in Bentley's own newsgroups (yes you can say what you think there) which have quite a bit of traffic. It's still sort of a closed user group though for a variety of reasons. Might be successful here at CGA if there's significant interest from that side. They may look forward to a 'forum' based system, at least within the viz group.(?)

 

The Bentley's have a really good suite of multi-disciplinary products but lack the hype-engine that Revit and Autodesk have to generate a buzz. (Except for Lightscape, AD let that one die a slow inconspicuous death didn't they?) Did I say that out loud???

[garethace]

Well, Discreet developed and sold Lightscape long before Autodesk came along. Kinetix sold VIZ R2 and MAX R2.5.

 

In those olden days, i think more Lightwave people were into rendering with Lightscape than anyone else, including MAX users. But then again, Lightscape users already had a great ray-tracing engine in their own software, and a great mesh modeller.

 

So the additional cost of the radiosity package really made alot of sense.

 

At the time, VIZ could work with a plugin called Radioray, which did die very fast.

 

Really instead of offering VIZ users the choice to buy Lightscape separately, i think they should really sell it to you as part of the whole deal now.

 

The integration of VIZ and Lightscape products could have been a great team-up of products.

 

Is radiosity native in VIZ 4? Or is it still just the standard MAX rendering capability?

[Chris_A]

And there was even a past life for LVS before Discreet

[Richard McCarthy]

Well, "global Illumination" is integrated in VIZ4. Notice the difference, GI, Not Radiosity. (they are 'ever so slightly different')

To be honest, I still think Lightscape's ease of use and the rendering looks far better than VIZ4's radiosity.

 

Originally posted by garethace:

 

Is radiosity native in VIZ 4? Or is it still just the standard MAX rendering capability?

[garethace]

Thanks very much, and i agree with you, the Lightscape interface was very straightforward to learn.

 

But everything that Autodesk seem to do with MAX, was always way more complicated than needed be. Compare it with the ease and simplity of other high end 3d packages like Lightwave, or even Maya with the contextual menu etc.