Clayoo 2.0 - Sneak Peek

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As a license holder and an OSX user, T-Splines is one of the last vestiges of Windows for Rhino. Grasshopper not mentioned, it will be cross platform soon ish!

From Wikipedia … T-splines were initially defined in 2003.[6] In 2007 the U.S. patent office granted patent number 7,274,364 for technologies related to T-Splines. T-Splines, Inc. was founded in 2004 to commercialize the technologies and acquired by Autodesk, Inc. in 2011.

I did beta test Fusion 360 starting dec. 2012, but it never worked well with whatever video card was in my old Mac Pro at the time, so I abandoned it. I do remember that the user interface was not all that user friendly coming from Rhino. If I was more familiar with some of the other AutoDesk / AutoCad programs like Rrevitt or Inventor it may have been more helpful.

Being a T-Splines user, i found Clayoo 1 to not be very comparable. I also use RhinGold but I haven’t upgraded since V3, since I never used it much.

This is sort of my direction as well. i have looked at both, but since my Windows box is right behind me, I can just turn around and boot up and use T-Splines for now. Off to look at 3D Coat again. Thanks for mentioning it. zBrush is a learning curve I will take when I have a few spare weeks to devote to it.

What about some sort of Sub-D modelling within Rhino? Isn’t that mentioned for V6?

Not sure I will go the Clayoo route unless it is ported to OSX.

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Correct. Integrated t-splines technology into the Scupt workspace of Fusion 360, along with Model (solids), Patch (surface), CAM, etc.

Reworked the interface (call me heretic, but I’d say for the better)

Continued development. Advancements to the core t-splines technology come to Fusion first, to the plugin later/never?

Though promising in intent, Fusion 360 stunk in its initial implementation(s). The “machine” kept plugging. Updates to Fusion (all modules that is, sometimes Sculpt) come fast and frequently. It has not stunk for a while now IMO.

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64K question. Build it (buy it) if even possible, or rely on the marketplace to “plug” it in…

AD with all its resources, chose to acquire, then build further. Says a boat load about the value of the original intellectual property.

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Tried Fusion 360 when it first launched and was not too impressed. Glad to hear it’s moving ahead better. Will have to take another look.

Overlooking The Dark Overlord aspect, my fears with AD are twofold:

First, and using AD’s purchase of Maya as an example, is that so-called “development” is largely relegated to user-interface updates, and these are annual(?!?!)— and not always backwards compatible*. Not only does this force upgrades, one gets increasingly lost navigationally with each new version, while many bugs and poor methods remain unresolved or undeveloped.

Second, and like Adobe, this whole subscription model is not one I’m attracted to in any way, shape, or form. I use so many different software tools that to keep each of them “alive” at one time (even if I only use them once or twice a year) makes little sense. I’d much rather buy software with a perpetual license, then update it when needed or desired.

All that said, AD is doing some pretty neat things now with mobile computing platforms and Meshmixer is really fun to play with.

Related to this is the constant churn of new Operating Systems. I learned my lesson years ago as a Devoted Early Adopter, finding that I was spending more time trying to get things to work again after upgrading, than I was taking advantage of the “Totally Awesome New Features You Can’t Live Without” (finding these “glorious inventions” to be things like new background colors or button icons). Then there was the time I bought a new HP plotter, advertised to work on a Mac, and ONE YEAR LATER, HP finally worked the bugs out of the drivers to get it working. Good times!

Nahhh… McNeel has the right model. “Build it right and they will come. When it’s improved and working, sell a new version, even if it’s years later.” The model that reaps long-term allegiance is one based on trust and customer responsiveness. Here is one of McNeel’s major selling points, and I know of few (any?) who equal them in this regard for 3D modeling.

~Dave

*A few years ago, I was at a conference chock-full of cutting-edge designers who use computational tools. The VP of AD delivered a Keynote, declaring how important cross-platform compatibility was to AD. The audience starting heckling him! (it was pretty awesome…)

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Here is something interesting to add to the mix of this discussion; the implications of the TDM acquisition by Stuller, Inc. (http://www.tdmsolutions.com/stuller-inc-and-tdm-solutions-join-forces/). Gemvision Matrix is a “port” of Rhino, with T-Splines and VRay. I wonder if the T-Splines usage within Matrix will, at some point, be replaced with Clayoo. Did the developers of Matrix foresee any future problems with T-Splines? I do know that SolidThnking had a deal in the works with the folks at T-Splines to implement it within their Evolve product, a while back. Suddenly the negotiations went quiet and shortly thereafter, the announcement came out about Autodesk acquiring them. SolidThinking ended up developing their own replacement, which is quite interesting, by the way.

Anyway, as pure speculation on my part, and a good dose of wariness about the longevity of T-Splines as a Rhino plugin, I wonder if that had anything to do with the acquisition of TDM by Stuller. Since Clayoo is the only competition to T-Spines and they are both Rhino plugins, it has me wondering, did the developers of Gemvision see any “writing on the wall”, so to speak?

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Sure, everyone loves the underdog, especially when he is a “nice”, friendly, benign underdog too.

Is it really worth one’s time to fret? Use what works for you, be it from Luke Skywalker or the Empire…

Seriously? The product may be used for free for students, educators, schools, hobbyists and startups if the comercial enterprise generates less than 100K in revenue. If your business earns more than 100k, you’re in for as little as $300 a year. And if the tool helps you generate more than 100k, where is the problem with $300 a year?

http://www.autodesk.com/company/legal-notices-trademarks/terms-of-service-autodesk360-web-services/autodesk-web-services-entitlements

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This is interesting analysis @mcramblet. Thanks. Was not aware.

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Was not aware of this progressive pricing scheme. Not bad, actually.

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Thanks, got it last night at home, doing it now here at work. This means I get T-Splines on my Mac, It did give me a year free.

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Precicly…

for Rhino surfaces and polysurfaces import native .3dm. For lines work, including 3D splines, use DXF default. Export STEP of your t-splines back to Rhino.

Since Fusion is timeline based, no worries going back and forth for edits.

Working off multiple machines across platforms, you may like the cloud aspect too. Check out the 360 web features too.

The Death Star is powerful…:wink: