viz4: Time to upgrade? please judge

[AlnIS300]

Hello All,

 

this is my first post, so i'm a newbie to the forum. i've been using Viz 4 with Brazil 1.0 plug-in for quite some time now, and my boss has been asking me if we need an upgrade. i need you guys to help me decide if upgrading to viz 2006 or Max 8 necessary for our office. please see attached images.

 

We are architects, definitely not firms that only do 3d work for other offices. If the upgrade is going to cost us an arm and leg, then we rather not since we are pretty satisfied with the quality of the 3d work we've been producing. i use Autocad to do all my modeling, then File Link it to Viz 4. as you can see in these images, we don't design with complicated geometry, usually orthogonal ones. i know that the new version of 3dstudio viz/max gives you more features for modelling purpose, but that's not what we really need. Also, i don't know how 3ds Mental Ray engine compares to the Brazil engine that i already have. i tried using Max 6 MR, but i can't judge if MR is better than Brazil. so can you guys give me you take on this? comments on the renderings are welcome too!

[Richard McCarthy]

The saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is what I can suggest to you right now, from the renderings I see, I see no reason for you to upgrade. You know how to work Brazil to the best of your advantage, and the rendering seems top quality, so I don't see why you should upgrade to Newst VIZ or MAX really...Use the $2000 you save and buy yourself a year worth of beer

[vizwhiz]

Alan

 

your work is excellent, These are excellent Images

 

i would suggest considering upgrading for The not-so-obvious reason

That autodesk requires a full "new" purchase when your software version

is more Than 3 versions old

 

i have NEVER had a VIZ4 filelink That did not NOT screw-up at some point

my experience was or is That it would always happen (sooner Than later)

 

The next version of Autocad (sometime soon maybe march or april)

just might have mental ray in it, dont know, just read This somewhere

 

what version of autocad are you using?

 

it may be worth it in The long run To upgrade both and Then wait

 

your work is really good

 

Thanks

 

randy

 

i am (still) learning mental ray it Takes some Time

say you are only a stoned Throw away from Autodesk

[AlnIS300]

thank you for the suggestions, i think i should wait until its necessary for the upgrade.

 

i'm using Autocad 2000.....yes, our softwares are years behind, so we'll let our architecture speaks for itself. ahhahahah. thanks!

[ecastillor]

I agree with all in that you shouldnt upgrade just yet...remember, its not the tool but the people!

[Wayne Harney]

I am still on viz4 and have no plans to upgrade (at least not until autodesk makes viz4 un-upgradable). I think there is some issues with viz2006 and file linking. Or maybe it was with vray. If you do decide to upgrade I would definitly wait until viz2007 comes out which will probably be this spring.

[AJLynn]

You're doing great stuff with what you already have, and the newer features aren't necessrily going to be very helpful. You're probably the best judge of your needs and from what you're saying it sounds like you don't think you need an upgrade.

 

That said, Autodesk is doing some interesting things these days, with the next Autocad version (can't reference details but it's good) and the Alias acquisition (and it's hard to say what Max/Viz will get from those developments, but likelier than not it's going to get interesting) so you might be best off holding off on those, or looking at upgrades now because of what Randy said about the 3 year rule (confirm the details with your sales rep).

 

Oh, and mental ray is really good, but hard to learn - since you have Brazil and seem to be good at it, there's no good reason to stop using it, but I think you can get a free update to a newer release than 1.0.