ArchiCAD + Modo 701?

[stefannowak]

Hi guys, I've a few questions and I hope you'll help me make final decision.

 

First things first. My wife makes first steps in interior design using ArchiCAD (edu license for now) and I need something to be helpful in modelling objects for her. Every time she needs specific model/object she has to find it online or create it herself using ArchiCAD. This software has some modeling tools, but they are very basic and IMHO not efficient, so it's huge waste of time. That's why I came up with idea of helping her by using different tool for modeling and rendering. I'm not new in CGI, but I haven't used any 3D software for almost 10 years. A decade ago I used 3ds and rhino (just for fun).

 

So, as I said, I think I might need a nice tool for object modelling. Is Modo the one I should think of? I also consider Modo as a good rendering engine. As everyone knows most ArchiCAD owners use Artlantis for rendering purposes. In my opinion it's too simple, however it might be a good choice for people like my wife. Is it a good idea to use ArchiCAD + Modo? Or maybe it would be better to buy upcoming Artlantis 5? It's really simple and made mainly for CAD users, however if I had to spend money on separate rendering engine I'd choose Maxwell Render (v3 to be released soon).

 

I know there's a lot of questions, but I'd like to make a decision and move on. One last thing, what is the best way to share (import/export) files between ArchiCAD and Modo? Is there any hope for good cooperation between those two applications?

[nicolasmiard]

I don't know Modo, and I won't answer to your main questions, but.

 

For the objects:

- ArchiCAD can import SketchUp models pretty well.

- There are lots of ArchiCAD Objects on the internet, for free (BIMcomponents.com and some others, take a look)

 

Object Making with ArchiCAD

- Try the MORPH tool, It's a lot like SketchUp

- If you have the time, you might want to start learning GDL (Geometrics Description Language), the basic language used by ArchiCAD for making objects.

 

hope you'll find what you need, or find the proper tools to do what you want to do!

Cheers