A lot of problems installing it. The end of the story can not install it. D/loaded it yesterday- Followed the readme instructions, and still does not install. What a waste of time.

The suggestion at Curvy3d forums and here about the setpath.exe (in the installed folder)works and fixes the black screen so you can see the gui... A nice little program. Wings3d is also a good free 3d modeling program.

www.wings3d.com

Just what I need! Installed fine on Vista Ultimate. Works well, no errors. Seems to be easy to use, and it exports files to a popular format. Thumbs up here!

I followed the advice of one user to go the the Curvey website and download the demo program. I was able to install and activate both the demo version as well as the GOTD version without any problems. When I compared the files, the demo version contained far fewer files and examples than the GOTD version. Therefore, anyone following this advice has ended up with a hobbled demo version.

#193 follow up.

Using the setcurveypath.exe does not solve the issue.

Resolved the problem by Manually setting the the Start In directory in the Icon/link Properties menu for the Shortcut to:
"C:\Program Files\Curvy3D\"

GOTD & PUBLSHIER PLEASE TAKE NOTE...

I have isolated the video problem to starting it from the Icon/link installed in application folder.

-Downloaded & tested the demo from publishers website. Ran fine 5 times.

-Downloaded, Activated & Installed from GOTD. The program ran fine when started at the end of the install script.

-Closed program and ran again, this time from the Start Menu Applications link in the group created during installation. Now I have the video problem with the white blocks and problems other users are having.

-Tried running several times, logging off, rebooting, etc.... still has white blocks and none of the tools/pallettes showing on the right side of the screen.

-After I re-installed the program, it ran and operated perfectly at the end of the install script. Closed and re-opened program... has the white blocks,etc.

-The program runs fine when started from the install script, but not when starting from the program icons/links.

-If I run the program or the Demo from the installed link/Icon from the GOTD, it has the video problem.

**-But if I run the Demo that I downloaded from the publishers website, it does not.

What gives? Should there be some compatability setting or command line parameter for starting it from the icon/link that the installed version has???

It just does not work. On XP, that is...Nice

Crashed my computer running XP Home every time I tried to run it.

I installed and ran the activation, launched the program and it crashed my computer.

I tried to run it again and it crashed it again.

I have a decent machine and run Adobe Photoshop and Ilustrator as well as some video editing apps all of the time with no problems.

This program I had installed for all of ten minutes before un-installing it and deleting the .zip file containing the download.

Installed on laptop with WinXP SP3 & an Nvidia 7950 - had the corrupt display until running the "SetCurvyPath.exe" file. All seems to be working very well now.

This software is best described as virtual play dough :-)
I'm a 3D modeller by profession and can see myself using this software whenever a project doesn't require absolute geometric precision.

Excellent stuff GAOTD !!!, this makes a very welcome change to the usual system utilities.

Installed and ran fine on both my XP and Vista machines.

Activated and installed with no problem on Windows 7 Ultimate Beta 32-bit. Looks like a fairly simple 3D modeling program that is similar to Google Sketchup or Milkshape. A basic knowledge of 3D modeling is helpful with this program. If you want to learn the basics, try:

http://www.webreference.com/3d/

There are better 3D programs out there. The most powerful "Free" program is probably Blender. It has an extremely steep learning curve, though. It's better to learn some basics with a program that has more simplicity (like the one offered here).

This is a very interesting program if it works properly. I like things that are so complicated that you have to read the manual before you can use all the features. I tried to install this on an older Compaq running XP. I tried 6 to 8 times with no luck. Then I tried registering it first and then running setup. That worked, however, every time I tried to run the program, I got all types of strange geometric grey blank spots on the screen. It looks like this prodeuct has som bugs that need to be worked out.

This is really a nice little program. Thanks to the ones who posted before about going to program files/Curvy3D and pressing set CurvyPath.exe. It registered easily and I played with it a little. It looks like it will be a fun program for the kids to try their artistic little hands at. Thanks for the program GOTD. Great site here, I found you accidentally and now come to see what you have to offer every day.

I just downloaded it on my computer & I run Windows XP sp2 & I had no problems. it dowenloaded & activated without any problems. I need more time to work with it but from the few minutes I did it seems to be pretty good.

It installed fine but when I ran the program a black screen came up with different sized white rectangles, and a red square on the lower right hand side. I really wanted this program but if it's that much of a problem the logical thing to do is to get rid of it.

The software appeared to install on a HP Pavilion OK. It appears to be functioing. I tried installing on a presario laptop and the software is definitely having problems. Both are running windows XP. On the presario, the software refuses to render a a figure per the help 1st time user instructions. (the help tutorial doesn't work if you follow the steps to create the chest 3D figure) all you get are lines - everytime you select the shapes, the program automatically glitches to create a line and the select boxes righ below are locked.

@Windows 7'ers:
Win7 FTW!

Here's additional info on Curvy: http://www.thebest3d.com/curvy

You need a good 3D card/driver for it to work well. If you're on a laptop with a Intel 945 chip it just won't cut it I'm afraid. CHances are, with a decent Nvidia card you're in good shape.

-Philip

Update to my comment #33 Found here: http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/curvy-3d-15/#comment-128408

I found my problem. The computer I'm using was actually running off an on-board graphics chip and had no graphics card at all. No surprise that Curvy3D couldn't run right.

So, I installed what I had, an ATI 7000. [Legacy/OLD Radeon] After that the Curvy3D display was perfect, but as soon as I tried to do anything with either the mouse or my graphire 3 graphics tablet, it froze and eventually crashed. Because my Radeon is old, this is still no surprise that Curvy3D couldn't run right. Also, this isn't an Nvidia card, which is recommended.

So, I can't use it, but I still like the idea of this software. It's just sad that it doesn't run on my machine, but Daz3D, Bryce, and Blender will, and that was before I added the radeon.

Using W2K SP4
(Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 and now the Legacy/Old Radeon :b )

hi n hello to all of u n special thnx to the giveawayoftheday website for providing regular free licensed activated softs but as far as Curvy 3D soft is concerned it is gud but i culdnt pass the SECURITY CHECK pop up window as user name n key code r required...so plz mail me the solutions soon to get rid of the problems.

Installed fine on WIndows 7 but had to run the " setcurvypath " File and it all worked great.

Would have liked it but I guess my puter does not support 3D oh well thanks any way will look tomorrow maybe something I can use

wish people would have better pcs to handle software. this works fine on vista sp1 64 bit. i have 4 gbs of ddr3 and a 512 mg nivda 9700 card in my laptop. works great. to bad other people cant get this to run it might be some fun on a rainy day.

Nice program, now if I could only draw and tell what the heck it is that I attempted to draw? And this program is good for?????

Had same problem as most people: no icons, comes up black, looks farked up. Did the setCurvyPath, and that worked!! Didn't download the other files from their site, just used what was downloaded here.

Go to: C:\Program Files\Curvy3D

Run SetCurvyPath.exe

I was pretty excited when I saw the software that was being offered on GOTD today as I'd been wanting to try my hand at 3D for quite some time but really needed something easy to start off with. However after reading all the comments listing the various problems that people were encountering, I didn't hold out much hope.
However the program did download and install faultlessly on my XP SP3 system without having to run the SETCURVYPATH.exe. My problems started when I tried to actually use the program. I had exactly the same result as Ingerson @ #117 with the giant technicolour triangles all over the screen. Scary! Having seen Macaques comment(#112) I decided to try a driver update before I gave up on it and went to the Intel site where an online scan of my computer informed me that I did need one. (And to Hamtey,#127, this machine's only 18 months old!)
Anyway, after a reboot I restarted the program, not expecting very much, but lo and behold! This time it worked! Looks quite promising, too...So hopefully I'm now on my way to becoming a whiz at 3D modelling, lol!
Thank you so much to Aartform, the folks at GOTD and also to you, Macaque for steering me in the right direction. Hopefully this might work for a few other people with problems, too.

Um. I have no idea if this is good software or not. It seems powerful, but I'll have to get my brain around it. I have Vista Business and installed by unzipping, running the Install as Admin and then NOT running the software. Used the "activator" and THEN ran the software. I then met the "black squares" which are apparently different views (realities? LOL) of the same surface. One named "Base Light" one named "Front" ... you get the idea. I guess the tutorial would be in order. It is not "Bug Free" (in fact, when I tried to drag this window to see what the other two black boxes were entitled, it just turned everything white because that software is not redrawing its surfaces, but after i waived the mouse over it, it righted itself). But I did get Toolbars, etc. And I get the impression that a beginner artist would seriously get into this. My daugher will be thrilled. Maybe. LOL

Thanks to all these comments, I finally got it installed and GUI working!

It was simply to install it as instructed, then run the "SetCurvyPath.exe", in the Program Files\Curvy3D-folder.

First times I didn't get any functional GUI, just black and white blobs (or, squares), as many others. Running Windows XP SP2.

Seems to be fun to try. Thanks GAOTD

Thank you #78, I too got the black screen with white blocks in vista. Once I went to the programs install directory and ran the setcurvypath file everything worked great! Thanks again, I really wanted to play with this program and now I can :)

YOU MUST RUN SetCurvyPath.exe WHICH IS IN THE /program files/Curvy3D

THEN, THIS WILL WORK 100% PERFECTLY - even help.

Thumbs up! patience is a virtue.

Another great GotD application! Thanks.

installed fast on my XP and runs like a dream...no issues at all.Also my fiances Vista machine has no issues with installation or running.

love this program.

Installing: Follow the directions
Run Setup.Exe (don't bother to have it automatically launch the program at the end of the install. If you do, it will ask for registration. Just cancel and exit the application)
Run Activate.exe from the same zip file.
Now launch Curvy3D

I had the same issue. Just a black area with no panels and no tool bars, etc. But I also got warning messages about not having DirectX 8. That is a big clue. I have DirectX 9 so it should work.

Go to control panel and you will see a DirectX icon. Click it and run the diagnostic DxDiag. I found that it could run the Direct Draw on Display 1 but not Direct 3D and on display 2 it was vice versa. Well that makes some sense. I have 1 video card with VGA and DVI outputs and have my primary (Display 1) set to be the DVI. Apparently DirectX is not too happy working with it either because of the DVI or its wide screen or that I have it rotated 90 degrees. I changed the primary display to be the VGA (Control Panel / Display / Settings. Click on your VGA monitor and select the "Use this device as the primary monitor" checkbox. Now run DxDiag and it works perfectly on display 1. Display 2 (the DVI) only has the option to run DirectDraw and that fails. Oh well, when I want to run DirectX, I just ensure my primary monitor is the VGA.

Now run Curvy3D and it launches on the VGA monitor and runs well. At least well enough to show what the tutorial says the initial screen should look like and no more warnings about not having DirectX 8.

I hope this helps some of you with installation problems or problems like mine due to 2 monitors.

Incidently I ran into the same situation on a game that used Direct X and had to swap monitors for it as well.

the program appeared to install with no problems but when attempting to run it all i got was a white screen with a shadowed toolbar & then my laptop froze then restarted itself, tried a couple of times with the same result even after un-and-re-installing, gutted!!!!!

Installed smoothly on Windows XP. Instructions are extremely necessary in my opinion. I tried the program and gave up and have already deleted it. Thanks for the software. Maybe I'll like the next one better.

downloaded it, let it add a shortcut menu, (for those who only seen black boxes and white ones and no tool menu) it seems the short cut for the desktop does not load everything, I deleted it and then went inot the folder made a shortcut again form the exe file (not the demo) and placed it on the desktop and it all works good now, the user guide is there also just get rid of the shortcut if you let the install create one and do it yourself and it all loads great.
Can't wait to play around with this freebee :)

To no.1 and similar comments, if you're using vista home premium, try uninstalling the whole thing first and then installing as administration ("Run as Administrator"). Don't launch it yet, activate it first and then open the program. It worked for me.

Same problem others are having. The interface just doesn't display correctly. No tools available. Nothing that actually lets you do anything with the program. No help either. I noticed it does let you save to .obj, .3ds, and another file format that I can't remember right now. Thanks anyway, GAOTD. I was interested, however, it seems the program just isn't ready for distribution.

Installed and works just fine on Windows 7. In case of the registration box opening and asking for codes on first run, just close that box and the program, restart the program and it should come up fully registered, provided you have run the activation program prior to setup.

downloaded just fine for me and im usng the new windeows 7 beta
ativated fine and setup ran smooothly
seems as if all works but i just dont know what im doing when i run it
will play with it awhile and then let you know more

Junk.
downloaded and instal;led OK on XP/SP2. Just got a black screen of death when it ran. De-installed it and tried the 1.5.1 demo as recommended above. Same result.
This program isn't even worth the small amount of disk space it occupies. Will avoid this company's other products in the future, too.

Runs fine for me on XP sp 3. It does have a learning curve, which I THINK I will make the effort for this time, as it does seem interesting & I want to know if it really is easier to use than some other 3D modeling programs. I personally think most people won't use this much, & it's sad they don't have an online community that uses this to make interactive worlds with chat, so that you have something fun & ongoing to actually DO with it, such as the 3D worlds of Cybertown.com & even Second Life. Otherwise, you'd pretty-much have to be a 3D artist with a JOB to find much use for it, and that's commercial use, so... Sounds like a couple people here are employed as 3D artists, & know a lot about it & will use this. For me, I am an amatuer 3D peep, & I really need all my 3D renders work to be in .wrl format. Hopefully I can find a converter to change 3DsMax this creates to change them into .wrls, or I can't use it for what I do anyway. Will see. Looks like it MIGHT save me some time if I can find a converter.
FOR MOST PEOPLE, TAKING 4 HOURS TO MAKE SOMETHING IN 3D IS NOT WHAT THEY'D CALL FAST & EASY, I DON'T THINK. :) But for those into 3D already, it may help speed up some hard, time-consuming work, which I myself not only hate doing, but often it keeps me from finishing an item, simply because I get sick of it before I'm done with it. SO.. it MAY be a great help. JUST WISH IT DIDN'T MAKE IT INTO 3DsMAX. THAT KINDA LIMITS IT IN MY BOOK. BUT.. I will be keeping it & giving it a hearty try! :)
Thanks for a cool program to check out! :) Very nice offer, GOTD! Congrats!

Go to: C:\Program Files\Curvy3D

Run SetCurvyPath.exe

Run Program, ta da!

Installed and ran flawlessly on xp home sp2 Compaq machine. Just checked to see if it would run, have not tried it out yet though.

If you want free 3D software...and I'm suprised I didn't see it mentioned...try SketchUp. It was purchased a few years back by Google and they offer a free version and a pro version. The only difference is the sandbox tools and a few other fuctions that most people wouldn't use. Its super easy to use and really user friendly. Google even offers technical support and has a user group where people can share their files.

I have been using the pro version for my business for the last 5 years and couldn't live without it.

Download: http://sketchup.google.com/
User Group: http://groups.google.com/group/sketchup
File Sharing: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/

Then give this free rendering software a try, which plays well with SketchUp and is also very easy to learn and use.

Kerkythea: http://www.kerkythea.net/joomla/


Enjoy!

I downloaded, installed, and activated just as the directions said, but the program will not allow me access without a user name and password. I have sent an email asking for both, but will have to wait and see if I get the info needed to open the program.

I downloaded without much confidence, having read earlier frustrated comments. But the program loaded and activated OK first time (XP Home) and opened with an easily understood screen and action icons. Drew a sqiggle in top left quadrant and got instant "3D" views in all 4 quadrants. Should be an easy learning curve from here on.

XP sp2
Load ok
ran ok
a bit strange on work flow
Not a all in one 3d program but it has some nice things
it appears to be a grown up clone of "teddy" a similar but way more limited concept demonstration 3d program
Thanks to export objects can be sent to other 3d software (I use Lightwave)
It is a tool i think i will keep. may not use often but worth the hard drive space for when i might need it.

I followed the instructions in the readme file and had the same problems as everyone else here (black screen with white blotches, help didn't work, etc). I saw #20's comment about downloading the demo, so I did that, ran the demo (ignored the nag screen) and then went back and ran the version from GOTD - it now worked. It's disappointing that installing this s/w is so obtuse.

This looks like an interesting s/w that I will take some time and learn it.

BTW, #43,#53 (and others), my graphics card cost me $35 and it works fine.

RE: Vista Home Premium Install

1) Install program after extracting files using "Run as Administrator". If on a 64-bit machine, program will install to Program Files (x86). Close program.
2)Run Activate.exe same way... run as admin.
3) Open program. If crappy GUI and not a clean one, close program, go to where the program installed using Windows Explorer.
4) Find SetCurvyPath.exe in directory and run as admin. Accept the path shown in lower field by clicking OK button.
5) Reopen program and you should have one beautiful GUI showing now. The Help should work perfectly for you.

The nice Tools menu should be on your right and the main work screen split into 4 quadrants. A very good program.

I think this is screwy, Program is all jumbled, mixed up mess. Installed twice but just can't get to work, surprised to see high % like this program, yet so many can't get it to work?