form•Z supports both a modeling and a drafting environment, with the current environment being indicated by the word Model or Draft at the top of the graphics window. The drafting environment is for making 2D drawings that are either created from scratch, or based on a 3D model. Most of your work, though, will be within the modeling environment, and that is the environment we will concentrate on.

The Window Toolbar
The Window toolbar, which is located in the lower left margin of the Graphics window, contains tools that affect your view of your model and establish the drawing and movement conditions within the Graphics window. One set of buttons (or palette, as form•Z calls them) is for changing the magnification level (the zoom level) of the Graphics window and for moving (panning) the center of the viewport. Real-time zooms and pans are handled by buttons in the View palette. Palettes for setting a variety of object snaps and for setting direction and grid snaps are also in the Window toolbar.

As is the case with virtually all 3D modelers, you are confined to a 2D plane in drawing with your pointing device. form•Z refers to this plane as the reference plane, even though in effect, it is the xy plane. Two of the palettes in the Window toolbar are for establishing the location and orientation of the reference plane in the current Graphics window. If you have multiple Graphics windows open, each can have its own reference plane.

The Menu Bar
A horizontal menu bar listing nine menus is positioned at the top of the screen. The items in these menus are for managing files, setting preferences and drawing parameters, establishing display modes and viewing directions, and obtaining information. These menus are not for creating objects or for initiating modification and editing operations on objects.

The Toolbar
You invoke the commands for creating and working with objects from the toolbar that is located, by default, on the left side of the screen. With the exception of the Delete objects button, every button in this toolbar can be pulled out to access additional buttons in the set. Also, each set of buttons has a name, such as "Parametric Derivatives." You can pull a set of buttons out and away from the main toolbar, as shown in Figure 2, to more easily select a specific tool. When you select a tool, the background of its button is darkened, and the tool remains active until you select another one.

Three sets of the buttons are turquoise colored to indicate that they modify the actions of other tools, and within each set one button is always active. For example, when 3D Extrusion in the Object Type set is active, every open object you draw, such as a line, will be a wall, and every closed object, such as a circle, will be a solid.

The Prompts Window
When you select a tool, its name appears in the Prompts window along with instructions and requests for data to perform the operation. For instance, when you are drawing a circle the words "Circle, Center, and Radius" appear in the Prompts window, and on the next line the prompt "Center Point (x, y,z):" will be issued. As you move your pointing device about, its coordinates are displayed to the right of the prompt, and you can either pick the center point with your pointing device or else type the center point coordinates in the Prompts window. Next, you will be prompted to specify the radius of the circle, with either your pointing device or by typing in a radius value. The boxes labeled A, W, and C determine whether the coordinates are absolute or relative to the previous point; according to world or to reference plane coordinates; or in Cartesian or polar coordinate format.

Other Palettes
By default seven other floating windows, which form•Z calls palettes, are initially open. They are as follows:

• Coordinates displays the current coordinates of the screen cursor.
• Tool Options is a dialog-box type window for you to use in specifying the options and parameters of the current tool.
• Objects lists every object you create. Through this palette you can control the properties, including visibility, of your objects.
• Layers is for creating and managing object layers. When you click in the top row of this palette, a dialog box for managing layer properties is displayed.
• Views is for establishing, managing, saving, and restoring parameters for viewing your model.
• Animation creates and activates walk through animations with your model.
• Surface Styles sets the material properties of objects during renderings.

In the next 3D column we'll begin looking at at specific form•Z tools for creating 3D objects.