model in cad then use max for materials, lighting and rendering?

[jex24]

ok... i'm a novice and i'm curious to know how you pro archvisualizers do your projects...

 

do you do 3d modeling in Autocad then import your model to 3ds max and apply materials, lighting and render? When you're used to modeling in autocad, It seems 3ds max is kind of hard when it comes to precision modeling... If you have any video resources or tutorial links you would like to share on precision modeling a... let's say a house, i hope you could share so i could study how the workflow goes.

Edited March 14, 2009 by jex24

[kippu]

i follow that method , lots of others model in max , others model in sketchup , others in modo , revit ...you get the idea ...just pick anyone , in the end u end up with a model

[RevitGary]

I use to do that. Then I forced myself to learn max. It is much easier to model in max. Now I use revit for mdeling and render in max. Its not as easy becuase revit is new to me But it is very accurate and getting easier every day.

 

Force yourself to learn a new modeling program you will be better off for it. I use to model in autocad all the time. now I never do.

[ihabkal]

it comes down to personal preference, and if your brain is wired the same way as the maker of the software then you will find it easy and like it. Just don't limit yourself, download demos and try Maya, Max, Lightwave, Houdini, Softimage or whatever and then decide.

[TomA]

yeah you can model in autocad and use max to light, texture + render, but if i was going to do that i'd reference the dwg model in rather than import it.

a benefit of this would be that you could use the same model to render as you use for the actual design development and documentation of the project, if that's what you want (even better with Revit).

i did that a bit when i started out but then moved on to modeling in max.

i assume most visualisers who render with max, or more likely a max plug in like vray or brazil, would model in max too.