dbanbery Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 ok, so as i posted in the newcomers section, i learnt max on max 5-7 ish a number of years ago, and now i would like to get into modelling prospective designs for my architecture degree + future work. what i have been doing up until now is modelling in sketchup and then rendering in vray. what i wanted to ask though, is how exactly do you go about modelling buildings in the best way using max? the previous stuff i have done in the past has been simple object modelling, but most of the time i have modelled in autocad or archicade and imported into max. i have read that the newest version of max is going to incorperate a tool to import skp files, but up until now has this been a difficult thing to do? never tried it before and ideally would liek to continue modelling in sketchup for most of the big stuff, then possibly adding detail in max. what avenue do i go down in the way of learning the best way? i dont think i have been doing it properly..!!! if there is a tutorial for this then point me in its direction! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1d2d3d4d Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 there is no right or wrong way... make a box... is it a wall? is it a slab? is it a roof? a column, a beam? poly modeling will take you far.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgb Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 hello there, 3ds max has become easier to use specially the 2010 version, and if you are on subscription then you can download the connection extension that allows you to import sketch-up files into max in the cleanest way possible, plus it allows you to import from most CAD packages and retain object edit-ability. i usually start modeling in 3ds max by importing a DWG file from Auto-cad and trim my lines and clean them then extrude walls and define landscape areas and slowly start adding detail using Edit poly modifier ,then assign material IDs put in a daylight system tweak my cameras and choose the right textures or use the many presets from Arch&design material and then tweak them to my needs. if you are good in modeling in Auto-cad architecture then the file link manager will be a grate tool for you so you can model in Auto-cad architecture then link the DWG to max via file link manager and if you need to add more windows walls etc.. you do it in Architecture and save the file then in max refresh the DWG and boom its all there. max is an amazing package and i highly recommend it for architectural design as the number one package out there. hope that helps. cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbanbery Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 hello there, 3ds max has become easier to use specially the 2010 version, and if you are on subscription then you can download the connection extension that allows you to import sketch-up files into max in the cleanest way possible, plus it allows you to import from most CAD packages and retain object edit-ability. i usually start modeling in 3ds max by importing a DWG file from Auto-cad and trim my lines and clean them then extrude walls and define landscape areas and slowly start adding detail using Edit poly modifier ,then assign material IDs put in a daylight system tweak my cameras and choose the right textures or use the many presets from Arch&design material and then tweak them to my needs. if you are good in modeling in Auto-cad architecture then the file link manager will be a grate tool for you so you can model in Auto-cad architecture then link the DWG to max via file link manager and if you need to add more windows walls etc.. you do it in Architecture and save the file then in max refresh the DWG and boom its all there. max is an amazing package and i highly recommend it for architectural design as the number one package out there. hope that helps. cheers. Right, well it has been a long time since i have used max, so maybe i need to re-learn a lot of stuff on a newer version before i attempt something too dramatic. i havent done a lot of modelling in autocad, and i use LT at work so no 3D there. the file link manager sounds like xrefs in acad. importing a file from acad to max is a similar way how i work in sketchup. i import it then draw the basic footprint, extrude that to the necessary height, then start putting windows onto it using components. i dont merely extrude walls etc because its given me problems with straight faces etc. is it possible to work like that in max? from my memory, i would have thought so, but its a long time since. i should get a version sorted and start re-learning it! i suppose learning using QOOLE on quake all those years ago makes me look at things a bit differently. i think i might need to go a bit more in depth with max to get myself working with it better in that case. i have a lot of stupid questions so i'm going to have a play for a while methinks. it seems i just need to learn the program again. :S lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAcky Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Yes I use a simmilar workflow. I clean up my drawings in CAD then import them into max. Line tools and sweeps are my most used tools when it comes to modelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbanbery Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 Yes I use a simmilar workflow. I clean up my drawings in CAD then import them into max. Line tools and sweeps are my most used tools when it comes to modelling. good to hear that i'm not going to have to change my working methods, just the controls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1d2d3d4d Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 the ideal set up for me has been, modeling and organizing the layers in autoCAD file link or import into 3ds max in CAD I might have the major stuff modeled like columns or walls or slabs or mullions or glass keeping layers consistent in CAD and Max is very helpful usually details and other more complicated things I might add in Max And I usually have sketch-up open as well in order to model and export little things or things that would be tedious in max or cad but with push/pull are simple... That's when you're really just counting mouse-clicks... although, I do use an older version of ADT autocad. The modeling is a lot more rigid and you have to use the extrude command, etc...i think that since autocad saw a need to compete with sketchup's ease of use in 3d space it became a lot more choppy to manipulate and view... The main thing is to look at the sub objects of the shape, The vertice, the edge, the face, etc and see how you can manipulate those... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbanbery Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 sounds good. how do you export from sketchup into max? is there a way without having to get hold of 2010? i have a few simple models that would be a good basis for something more detailed. . . . . . . .. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1d2d3d4d Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 for me the easiest way has been to export a dwg from sketchup and then import that.. into max..you can export faces only ..if you export with lines you will have tons of splines to deal with, but if you want make those splines renderable it can create some nice edges, details or effects in max... they key to a clean import is to make things groups/components and to organize your layers.. what i tried to do was model in sketchup, export dwg, file link that dwg to max... the idea was if you are modeling in Sketchup you can just export dwg and then that would update the link to the max file... unfortunetly that was problematic and it loses material assignments... granted i use sketchup 4 (before it was bought by google) and max 7... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thablanch Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Sketchup exports good .3ds, wich is weird. No triangulations and keeps the materials at the good place. I was quite surprised, as it is a format I would usually avoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbanbery Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 will check it out, i do vaguely remember doing some sort of exporting back in 2005 when i was doing my tech degree. Word to canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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