pmbdesign Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 I think Max modelling even with NPower plug-ins is a huge hassle. Although I am not an expert at max modelling - I don't think I will ever have the time to become one. Please inform on what is the top cutting edge tool for the most diverse modelling tasks other than organics and character stuff. Please don't say Rhino because I need something better and I need it to make nice export files into Max for vray and finalrender. Also I havn't tried sketch-up but I went to the web site and I like this ability to push and pull stuff instead of making booleans but I doubt this is the software I'm looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 It really depends on what kind of modeling you want to be doing. Rhino is killer for nurbs but not poly, Sketchup is really fast for poly and that's it. I'm a fan of Cinema4D because its interface is great, renderer is good and I like to use animation tools in modeling but for the commercial archvis people maybe that's not very helpful. BTW, with Max you don't need booleans so much - you can poly model in a sort of Sketchup like way but I find Sketchup to be a lot faster for this. And all of these can export files that Max can import and render, but once you get a modeler, plus Max, plus VRay and/or final render you're paying a lot for apps that have a lot of overlap. One thing to look at, cebas.com has a Cinema4D basic package + Final Render 2 bundle for $1300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manta Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 Well don"t take this the wrong way, but if you don't have the time to become proficient at modeling in max, you probably don't have time to be so in another App. There is some give and take though, some people are alot more comforable modeling in one program over another, have you tried Form Z, Silo, Modo, or any of the Mechanical Design softwares like solid works, Catia etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oluv Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 use rhino for modeling and don't export to max but wait until vray for rhino comes out. beta-testing of vray for rhino ist starting right now, so it should be available within the next weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornkn Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 You say that you didn't try SketchUp? Why not? You can use the full version for 8 CPU hours, and combined with viewing all the good video tutorials you'll get a better foundation to build your decision on. I think I used 2 of those CPU hours before I decided that SketchUp was defiinitely what I wanted for architectural work. SketchUp is not just fast for polys, but hidden behind its modest GUI there's a lot of power that you will appreciate when working in it. Just a simple task like adding windows and doors easily save me many hours on each project in SU, as opposed to doing it in LightWave or trueSpace. It also makes it very easy to model directly from dwg plans/elevations. If you're in a hurry you could easily build an entire building exterior in an hour or two. You should definitely give SketchUp a chance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaunDon Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 How do you Rhino users get your models into max? We just did an animation where our client was working on the site in Rhino, but the 3DS and DWG exports they sent us would cause max 7 to fatally crash every time we went to import them. No error message or anything. Just really weird. Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Alexander Posted December 10, 2005 Share Posted December 10, 2005 ....... Modo ........ http://www.luxology.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinice Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 It all depends of what you want. If you want something real quick and versatile, you should try sketch-up. If you want something real accurate, microstation, catia or autocad with AEC extension is the way to go. If you want something that provide seamless transition to the production ready rendering, texturing and animation tools, you need to use either Lightwave, Xsi or Maya. There is no size fits all. For example, Modo is supposed to have a really complete and robust modeling tools but you need to export them to other packages for rendering and animation. On the other hand, I would be the first to admit that Lightwave has a pretty limited modeling tools (no nurbs, history, lousy snapping etc) but for what I do, it is an excellent one-software-does-all solution. My advise would be to analyse in detail your needs first. As they say, asking the right question is the first step to getting the right answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario Pende Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 Check out SolidThinking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcorpe Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 How do you Rhino users get your models into max? We just did an animation where our client was working on the site in Rhino, but the 3DS and DWG exports they sent us would cause max 7 to fatally crash every time we went to import them. No error message or anything. Just really weird. Shaun I used to use 3ds for exporting too but it was a big hassle to optimize the poly meshes in Max. Rhino really is a great tool for modeling anything, it just requires more skill by the user to generate more organic looking models. As far as exporting to Max goes, nPower's Rhino to Max works great. I know the person who initiated this thread suggests that they have experienced nPower for modeling in Max (which means using plug-in NURBS in Max) but that is not the same as nPower Rhino to Max. R2M lets Max open a native Rhino file as a BREP object. I have found that the BREPS are easiest to work with at first in wireframe mode and then you can hide whatever it is you're not working with at the moment. I tried the demo for this from nPower first and at first I was disappointed with render mesh quality. However, because it doesn't use polygons, you have settings you can adjust, per object, to improve the density of the mesh it generates for renderings. The guys/gals over at nPower use it with V-Ray too so no worries there. All I can say is before you write off Rhino as a modeler because of exporting issues, try the nPower Rhino to Max demo and play with the render mesh settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notamondayfan Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 id continue to use max, i think its ace. get 2 know the short cut keys, and ull save loads of time and effort, which can them b spent on ur modeling skills. w,e,r, 1,2,3,4,5,6 are essential shrt cuts. more practice, the better ull become, have faith in ur self! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornkn Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 I don't know why many people think of SketchUp as unprecise? My experience is that it is very precise, down to 1/1000 mm if you want. And with its snapping and inferencing tools you can really build very precise models. Neither is there anything that prevents you from building them full of details, if you want to. I rarely find it neccessary to build doors with keyholes made with bevelled 48-sided circles though, like I sometimes get from clients, in 3D-models exported from other programs.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmbdesign Posted December 12, 2005 Author Share Posted December 12, 2005 wow - thanks for all the responses. But let me apologize for not being specific. I believe that Microstation is the best for accuracy and I have modelled the steel coordinates for buildings with non-developable surfaces using Microstation. But what I want is a design tool for modelling architectural design ideas quickly without any accuracy but perhaps with many parametric preset objects at my disposal like the extended primitives in Max but more of them. And I always end up making tons of booleans in Max to cut and edit solids which always get messed-up when things start to get more complex - for example they disappear when using Power Booleans. Then I would export this model into Max and probably use a plug-in like Vray to render - or maybe export to Maxwell (if it actually works - havn't tested V1.0 RC). It sounds like I should really try sketch-up if it exports nice files that render well. just checked out the solidThinking page - that looks great - any opinions on solidThinking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 Sketchup, Sketchup and more Sketchup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notamondayfan Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 shut up, shup up, shut up! lol :-P if ur using the same exended "primatives" y dont u just make a set ur self, keep them in a folder and import them when u need them? i do this 4 simple things like windows, doors, sky domes, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRAT Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 i second the SketchUp option Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmbdesign Posted December 22, 2005 Author Share Posted December 22, 2005 o.k. I checked out the tutorials and GUI of Modo, Rhino, Solidthinking, and Sketchup - already being familiar with Microstation, Acad, and Max modelling -although as I have already stated I am not an expert at Max modelling. I have come to the unfortunate but totally predictable conclusion that they each have really useful but totally different features. However I think a hybrid between Max, Sketch-up and Solidthinking would be best. But in the meantime I think I will use a combination of Sketchup and Solidthinking - I want to see if I can work across them and export back to max without renderings problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erevan Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 Mmm. I've been using SU, for two years now.. It's got problems when dealing with very complex objects. But the principal failure is exporting to 3dmax. Faces with different textures on each side multiply worktime by two. You have to be very, very aware. Solution: VRay for SketchUp + someone introducing NURBS to sketchup.. For Non-faceted surfaces SketchUp doesn't have any efficient tool apart from smooth edge. Still waiting something as powerful as some modelling tools that are into max... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmbdesign Posted December 22, 2005 Author Share Posted December 22, 2005 o.k. - thanks alot for that info. - this is a great forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard McCarthy Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 You can always try SILO. It's the cheapest (For only around $100 USD), and probably one of the best modelling tool around. It has sort of similar to Sketchup method of modelling, and similar to MAX sort of modelling. You can customise the UI at your own discreetion as well. Check it out here : http://www.nevercenter.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Gaushell Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 Lightwave with fprime - real time rendering feedback. fprime saves more time than any other tool on the market. http://www.worley.com and lwcad - snapping, automated architectural functions etc (giving away with upgrade to lightwave right now) http://www.wtools3d.com/ Lightwave is a very fast modeler - and has a very nice rendering look with a lot of pixel depth, etc. We've been using it for arch viz since 1992. And a large chunk of our projects are both illustrations and animations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zamalkawy Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Max modelling is good when you are fast in edit spline modefier which i see is very good in architecture modelling .Forget all about boolean operations. adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas+son Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 the thing that is BAD in SketchUP is its Auto features, some times I am trying to snap from a small intersection and the Auto snap will bounce back and forth between "mid" and "end and "Per" (angled face) so I will zoom in and the whole intersection will disappear because I am in perspective mode, I could have 6 face drawn by that time. Is it a GREAT program? I honestly don't know, so far it is only good program thomas+son Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAYMOND Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 has anyone mentioned piranesi.... see lots of that...... that is if you want the soft touch.... the high end software...... means high end time and practice... no mater what the favortites are.... me max... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momentum Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 i to use autocad to make my building models and max for everything else and for boulean problems jst look to the latest version Of Max, all been fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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