Hi Todd.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback! We use the following WildTools on a daily basis:
Scissors Tool
Knife Tool
Parallel Offset Tool
Trim Tool
Fillet Tool
Needle Tool
Tornado Tool
The following WildTools are used less frequently, but are still heavily relied upon:
Linear Repeat Tool
Linear Move Tool
Linear Duplicate Tool
Linear Duplicate Tool
Rotate Tool
Radial Duplicate Tool
Radial Repeat Tool
Radial Distribute Tool
Polygon Tool
Spline Tool
B-Spline Tool
Cloud Tool
Break-Line Tool
S-Break Tool
Offset Line Tool
Chamfer Tool
Flood Tool
Squiggle Tool
Aloha,
Leonard
PowerCadd 10
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David Jones
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2019 2:27 am
- Location: Inverell NSW Australia
Re: PowerCadd 10
PixelTOOLS is very important for me and most of the tools mentioned by Derek and Leonard above. I realise that there is some overlap with PowerCADD tools and WildTOOLS but I do use WildTOOLS a lot.
I am very disappointed in the fracture between Alfred on one hand and Todd and David Kropp on the other. I think Alfred has been of immense value to me with his ideas and help he has provided to me in particular, and he has always been supportive of PowerCADD and exporting to and from 3D programs. I think an attempt should be made to bring Alfred back into the fold. I know he has had a long term relationship with David Kropp and this must count for something.
David
I am very disappointed in the fracture between Alfred on one hand and Todd and David Kropp on the other. I think Alfred has been of immense value to me with his ideas and help he has provided to me in particular, and he has always been supportive of PowerCADD and exporting to and from 3D programs. I think an attempt should be made to bring Alfred back into the fold. I know he has had a long term relationship with David Kropp and this must count for something.
David
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Jean Claude EuanCADD
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2019 3:24 pm
Re: PowerCadd 10
Is the anticipated release date still late summer 2023?
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JoyceWeise
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 4:50 pm
- Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Re: PowerCadd 10
I would love to know that as well.
Re: PowerCadd 10
Agreed, I’ve had a number of personal calls with Alfred over the years. He’s always been incredibly kind and generous with his time walking me through issues that I’d had. We’ve all benefitted greatly from the many tweaks that he’s made to WildTOOLS when gaps were identified or the desire for another new tool was requested. I'd love to see this long time relationship between all parties repaired/resolved even if the end result is that WildTOOLS doesn’t continue.David Jones wrote: ↑Wed Aug 09, 2023 9:30 amPixelTOOLS is very important for me and most of the tools mentioned by Derek and Leonard above. I realise that there is some overlap with PowerCADD tools and WildTOOLS but I do use WildTOOLS a lot.
I am very disappointed in the fracture between Alfred on one hand and Todd and David Kropp on the other. I think Alfred has been of immense value to me with his ideas and help he has provided to me in particular, and he has always been supportive of PowerCADD and exporting to and from 3D programs. I think an attempt should be made to bring Alfred back into the fold. I know he has had a long term relationship with David Kropp and this must count for something.
David
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chip.clark
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2019 5:36 pm
- Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Re: PowerCadd 10
Exciting times once again. The solicitation for "preferred tools" gives me a glimmer of hope.
The uncertain future of WildTools is a bit disheartening as so many are reliant on it for critical workflow, but so it goes. This issue does shed a critical light on how software is developed and controlled long term - a single gatekeeper does not lend itself well to long-term growth / development / maintenance: case in point - the dreaded "bozo technology" time stamp on WildTools which we all battled with for far too long. I know why it was implemented, but it brought our world to a screeching halt when Alfred went MIA. That is not a software environment I want to continue to live in, but I also acknowledge how/why it exists. This seems like a great opportunity for PowerCADD to both integrate long-cherished features and carefully open up the platform to new development.
Instead of a list of my favorite things, I am going high level with a BIG tool suggestion: could PowerCADD 10 sustain a scripting plugin environment based on a "common" programming language. I am talking about something analogous to the "grasshopper" environment of Rhinoceros (which started as a plugin and became integral to the software platform) or Dynamo for Revit. Those are open-source visual programming (graphic-based) interfaces that help overcome the off-putting text-based scripting environment by dressing it up with graphic buttons arranged in diagram form. Even Sketchup has a plugin environment. I am not familiar with FormZ, so I cannot speak to its existing provisions. Having come from a university background with a decade of teaching computational design and fabrication in a top-tier architecture program, these were game-changers that helped flatten the learning curve for modern CAD environments and allowed novel developments and workflows. I would be thrilled with a Python plugin or similar straight out the gate. A potential benefit for the software developer is that it allows the user community to feed in future upgrades and improvements while simultaneously troubleshooting and debugging or breaking the software. It also allows users to create clever workflow solutions, much as Alfred has for so long, that can then be shared with and improved by the community, and the best can be adopted and included into the base software over time. We could essentially develop an open-source WildTools "as we go" and let it get updated behind the scenes through software patches as users develop scripts that the developer can then "clean" and integrate.
an incredible opportunity of what this can deliver is demonstrated in the Food4Rhino environment - countless plugins people develop, both paid and free, to run inside the software and deliver hyper-specific results. I do realize that the PowerCADD community is likely magnitudes smaller than Rhino and Revit, but they are passionate. and it would likely entice a new user base that values "style" and opportunity to differentiate itself in a world of homogenized Autocad blah and design solutions limited by its toolsets (I'm looking at you, REVIT...)
I do not expect a 100% version of PowerCADD 10 out the gate, nor should it be. that would be silly. I would be grateful for a 95% version that provides opportunity for USERS to help further build the environment we want/need, versus sending in a wishlist and waiting for a benevolent dictator to provide it. everyone is concerned about maintaining the platform we know and love, but we should not squander the opportunity to grow it and tune it.
The FormZ users are just as frustrated and in the dark as we are. A choice "socials" video of the two platforms being demo'd by the developers would drive the world nuts and could probably generate a frenzy of presale revenue... just saying. A 2-5 minute "fly-through" video would do wonders and can be closed-caption translated with little effort. screenshots feel a bit lazy these days.
oh my, that was a longer rant than I intended. but cathartic. thanks everyone for the "group therapy" b**ch sessions, but I must say I am eager to move away from a complaint forum and into a community developing SOLUTIONS!
The uncertain future of WildTools is a bit disheartening as so many are reliant on it for critical workflow, but so it goes. This issue does shed a critical light on how software is developed and controlled long term - a single gatekeeper does not lend itself well to long-term growth / development / maintenance: case in point - the dreaded "bozo technology" time stamp on WildTools which we all battled with for far too long. I know why it was implemented, but it brought our world to a screeching halt when Alfred went MIA. That is not a software environment I want to continue to live in, but I also acknowledge how/why it exists. This seems like a great opportunity for PowerCADD to both integrate long-cherished features and carefully open up the platform to new development.
Instead of a list of my favorite things, I am going high level with a BIG tool suggestion: could PowerCADD 10 sustain a scripting plugin environment based on a "common" programming language. I am talking about something analogous to the "grasshopper" environment of Rhinoceros (which started as a plugin and became integral to the software platform) or Dynamo for Revit. Those are open-source visual programming (graphic-based) interfaces that help overcome the off-putting text-based scripting environment by dressing it up with graphic buttons arranged in diagram form. Even Sketchup has a plugin environment. I am not familiar with FormZ, so I cannot speak to its existing provisions. Having come from a university background with a decade of teaching computational design and fabrication in a top-tier architecture program, these were game-changers that helped flatten the learning curve for modern CAD environments and allowed novel developments and workflows. I would be thrilled with a Python plugin or similar straight out the gate. A potential benefit for the software developer is that it allows the user community to feed in future upgrades and improvements while simultaneously troubleshooting and debugging or breaking the software. It also allows users to create clever workflow solutions, much as Alfred has for so long, that can then be shared with and improved by the community, and the best can be adopted and included into the base software over time. We could essentially develop an open-source WildTools "as we go" and let it get updated behind the scenes through software patches as users develop scripts that the developer can then "clean" and integrate.
an incredible opportunity of what this can deliver is demonstrated in the Food4Rhino environment - countless plugins people develop, both paid and free, to run inside the software and deliver hyper-specific results. I do realize that the PowerCADD community is likely magnitudes smaller than Rhino and Revit, but they are passionate. and it would likely entice a new user base that values "style" and opportunity to differentiate itself in a world of homogenized Autocad blah and design solutions limited by its toolsets (I'm looking at you, REVIT...)
I do not expect a 100% version of PowerCADD 10 out the gate, nor should it be. that would be silly. I would be grateful for a 95% version that provides opportunity for USERS to help further build the environment we want/need, versus sending in a wishlist and waiting for a benevolent dictator to provide it. everyone is concerned about maintaining the platform we know and love, but we should not squander the opportunity to grow it and tune it.
The FormZ users are just as frustrated and in the dark as we are. A choice "socials" video of the two platforms being demo'd by the developers would drive the world nuts and could probably generate a frenzy of presale revenue... just saying. A 2-5 minute "fly-through" video would do wonders and can be closed-caption translated with little effort. screenshots feel a bit lazy these days.
oh my, that was a longer rant than I intended. but cathartic. thanks everyone for the "group therapy" b**ch sessions, but I must say I am eager to move away from a complaint forum and into a community developing SOLUTIONS!
Chip Clark
Re: PowerCadd 10
Chip,
You have raised some great points but I must disagree with one issue:
This is an easy trap for us to fall into however Bozo Technology did NOT ever apply to WildTools. If you purchased WildTools some many years ago or even up until this day, all those tools operate without any restrictions.
Since the last commercial release of WildTools Alfred has continued to produce many tools and even entire palettes of tools that he has shared for FREE as beta versions of his software. For some these have become so useful they now can't see how their workflow can continue without them and many of us just expect them to be there. But they are still just beta versions and Alfred has received no remuneration for his work. Bozo Technology only applied to his beta releases and even Alfred finally realised there was no point hanging out for things to change. As such he removed the whole bozo thing well before he decided to call it quits on continuing development of WildTools. Even now you can download his latest beta release and it is bozo free.
Alfred was far from being a 'single gatekeeper' on his software as you put it. I'm always staggered by the number of tools he created and let us use without any requirement for us to pay. I can't see how there is any argument to support how bozo technology was any kind of imposition for something you were getting for free.
Cheers,
Derek
You have raised some great points but I must disagree with one issue:
chip.clark wrote: ↑Fri Aug 11, 2023 2:07 pmThe uncertain future of WildTools is a bit disheartening as so many are reliant on it for critical workflow, but so it goes. This issue does shed a critical light on how software is developed and controlled long term - a single gatekeeper does not lend itself well to long-term growth / development / maintenance: case in point - the dreaded "bozo technology" time stamp on WildTools which we all battled with for far too long.
This is an easy trap for us to fall into however Bozo Technology did NOT ever apply to WildTools. If you purchased WildTools some many years ago or even up until this day, all those tools operate without any restrictions.
Since the last commercial release of WildTools Alfred has continued to produce many tools and even entire palettes of tools that he has shared for FREE as beta versions of his software. For some these have become so useful they now can't see how their workflow can continue without them and many of us just expect them to be there. But they are still just beta versions and Alfred has received no remuneration for his work. Bozo Technology only applied to his beta releases and even Alfred finally realised there was no point hanging out for things to change. As such he removed the whole bozo thing well before he decided to call it quits on continuing development of WildTools. Even now you can download his latest beta release and it is bozo free.
Alfred was far from being a 'single gatekeeper' on his software as you put it. I'm always staggered by the number of tools he created and let us use without any requirement for us to pay. I can't see how there is any argument to support how bozo technology was any kind of imposition for something you were getting for free.
Cheers,
Derek
Re: PowerCadd 10
All,
While I’m sure this has been asked and answered, I’ll ask: Where will v10 be for sale; when it becomes available?
Thank you,
While I’m sure this has been asked and answered, I’ll ask: Where will v10 be for sale; when it becomes available?
Thank you,
Bill Sprague
Ancient Civil Engineer
Ancient Civil Engineer
Re: PowerCadd 10
Despite fear of the wrath of Alfred (for whom I am eternally grateful for his work on WT, sense of humor, and incredible stick-to-it-ness), I'll dare to ask:
If Alfred isn't involved in PC10 development, can the developers "copy" some of his ideas (or maybe buy them)? (I'm hesitant to use the term "steal".) It seems to me in the past, when Alfred ran across an idea that he found intriguing or worth pursuing, he "copied" it and incorporated it into WT. Please don't hate on me, just (naively) asking. Naturally, my preference would be to have Alfred in the fold and an active (and well compensated) participant in PC10 development, and that PC10 contain all the capabilities of PC9+WT10.
If Alfred isn't involved in PC10 development, can the developers "copy" some of his ideas (or maybe buy them)? (I'm hesitant to use the term "steal".) It seems to me in the past, when Alfred ran across an idea that he found intriguing or worth pursuing, he "copied" it and incorporated it into WT. Please don't hate on me, just (naively) asking. Naturally, my preference would be to have Alfred in the fold and an active (and well compensated) participant in PC10 development, and that PC10 contain all the capabilities of PC9+WT10.