Need 2d/3d software for mac

[Pete]

I'm not going to wait till Autodesk makes software compatible for Mac. So i'm pretty much forced to use mac compatible software. What combination would you recommend? Which on of these combination is suitable for design, construction documents and complex form modelling?

 

Vectorworks for 2d

FormZ for 3d

Cinema 4d for rendering

 

or

 

Archicad for 2d,3d

Cinema 4d for rendering

 

 

Damn, i'm gonna miss my autocad, 3dsmax/viz.

[STRAT]

any of those combinations is an excellent choice. i'd personally go for the archicad/c4d route though.

[Pete]

I have my doughts about Archicad. What i've heard, it is an exellent tool for constructions documents, or better said, if you know what your going to do it can be very effecient. However, can you design with it? It seems you have to make in an early stage decisions on materials and heights eventhough you can modify that in a later stage. In autocad a line is just a line and can be anything, not necessarily a material. In autocad you not limited to a certain shapes or materials. Don't get me wrong, i'm not an autocadlover. On the contrary, i'm looking for a software that has even more possibilities than autocad. Archicad seems to be it, but i hope is not a software for standard box type buidlings.

[NickJOB]

I would just say that you should bear in mind that ArchiCAD is not a free-form modeller at all. It does BIM/virtual buildings very well along with live sections etc. but if you want to model anything other than a building at any time you'll have to look elsewhere. VectorWorks and FormZ can both do general 2D and 3D with VW focused on 2D and FormZ focused on 3D.

Both are very capable packages, and when you add Cinema 4D for animation and smart renders You'll have a very capable set up.

If you want to do very efficient large scale building modelling then ArchiCAD would be the way to go.

Just my thoughts, Nick

[AJLynn]

I'd go with Vectorworks for the CAD package, mostly because I know more people who swear by it. These people say it's easy to work between AutoCAD and Vectorworks offices, but I have my doubts.

 

For the 3D package, C4D is definitely the way to go, FormZ just doesn't cut it anymore especially as a renderer. C4D has a great modeling and animation interface and shader system and a really good renderer. Download a trial copy and a "Quickstart Manual" from the Maxon web site.

[DennisHolland]

Pete,

 

Vectorworks/C4D is the team Maxon is travelling around the globe with on every event possible.

 

Dennis

[MFRW]

Before responding I want to emphasize 4 words that you used: “design”, “complex forms” and “construction”.

 

My answer is a single one: formZ.

 

If you complement it with VectorWorks for 2D and Cinema 4D to render, far better.

 

formZ is a program that merge an extensive toolbox for accurate CAD modeling with others tools more flexible and for general purpose work, and it does very well. IMHO, none of the other programs that you mention fulfills this characteristic. Moreover, you can export and import a good number of 3D formats.

 

In my architectural and design work I use formZ on Mac and PC for modeling and rendering, in combination with Autocad for 2D. Years ago, I reached to buy two licenses of Archicad, but since I bought formZ I never used it again.

[Christopher Nichols]

Before you go 3D on your Mac, you may want to wait until Apple releases their Intel version of the Mac, so that you will not be crippled by the slow processor.

 

PS... Before the Mac people start jumping around to much... I'm being sarcastic.