This has been an ongoing issue with PreForm (Mac) since the beginning. I will frequently import something into PreForm, then realize I need to make a change, delete the model in PreForm, go back to ZBrush, make the change, save over the existing file with the same name, and reimport to PreForm.
PreForm doesn’t recognize that the contents of the file have changed, although any other program does. It doesn’t matter how many times I try to import the model, it never updates, and it re-imports the original. This is not a normal function…when you save over a file on a Mac, and try to import into another program, it always reflects the updated file, even if the name stayed the same.
I have to go back out to ZBrush and re-save the file with a different name, but the end result is that I end up with multiple copies that I always forget to remove, taking up space on my hard drive.
I could put this as a feature request, but I think it’s a troubleshooting issue…I guess in terms of a feature request, perhaps there could be an indication in PreForm that a file had changed. Many graphics programs will show if an imported file has changed.
Hi,
When you change one or more STL models which were loaded into PreForm and used to create .FORM files you can’t expect PreForm to take in account these changes - i.e. PreForm is making snapshot of the moment state of the STL models and uses them to create a new 3D FormLabs file.
When STL model was changed you need to to open the .FORM file, delete the existing model, add the modified STL file and regenerate the supports.
Even when I delete the existing file, and replace it with a new file (same name, but with changes), it doesn’t recognize the new file with changes. Even if I re-load in the NEW file (same file name, but with changes), PreForm doesn’t recognize that the file has changed.
Just saying that every other application on the Mac DOES recognize a file that’s changed. PreForm doesn’t. It would be nice if it did.
But that’s the issue…I don’t want to keep the original file because there is something wrong with it, and I made changes and saved over it. I don’t want to keep multiple files—even if they have “v1, v2, v3”—because I don’t want multiple files of the same object. I will never go back to these files, because there is something wrong with them.
It’s pretty standard on the Mac that when you save changes to an existing file, and it’s “placed” into another application, the other app recognizes that the file has changed and gives you the opportunity to update. However, in this case, PreForm acts like you never changed the file—no matter how many times you’ve saved changes—and when you delete the instance in PreForm and re-import the file that has changes, it imports the OLDER version with no changes. That behavior is nonstandard…and as a Mac girl, we really like our standards. A programmer has to go out of their way to bypass this kind of system-level functionality on a Mac.
I have a 2TB SSD drive on my MacBook Pro, but since I do a lot of graphics and video, I’m trying to eliminate duplicates of files. I have a 4TB external drive also, but I just don’t want the duplicate files.
As a former Apple Systems Engineer (got my first Mac in 1985 and my parents were Apple developers in the 1970s), I’m an Apple fangirl who won’t ever change…and thrilled that Formlabs works on both platforms. I’ve also taught CAD on both PC and Macs, so I’m familiar with both. I’ve been designing a lot lately in Shapr (CAD) on my iPad. I just like my little mobile Mac jewelry studio…someday I’ll sit on a Caribbean island and design ocean-themed jewelry. My eHarmony profile even said that the five things I couldn’t live without were my iBook, iMac, iPhone, iPod, and my Apple Newton. Landed me a date with a Dell programmer, a match made in heaven.
I also prefer Dunkin’ Donuts over Starbucks…interestingly, Starbucks smells like tunafish to me. I also have a rockin’ pair of Dunkin’ Donuts running shoes!
First of all, I know absolutely nothing about Apple products (other than a bit of a play with the first ever Mac when it was new!!). This sounds like a really weird problem. It’s as if Preform is retrieving an old cached version somehow. It seems unlikely but is there a file system cache you can clear out to see whether this is the issue?
