3d program. help!!

[stellashani]

Hello guys,

I'm an architecture student now in second year going to third. I'm trying to decide which the best 3d program is for me...my knowledge in 3d modelling is very poor at the moment and I would prefer learning one program the best way I can, than learning a bit from many programs. My projects so far have strange forms, so, with my knowledge I was unable to show 100% of what my projects were about. Can you please suggest me which program would be proper for me and a good beginners tutorial?

 

Till now i've been suggested Rhino, Maya and Revit

 

Thanks in advance

[notamondayfan]

What's your budget, or what software does your university have?

[Brodie Geers]

Maya is more for character animators, it's sister 3ds Max is also from Autodesk and more geared towards architecture (although it can do about anything which makes for a steep learning curve - never the less it's the industry standard and most people is archviz seem to use it). Rhino is good, I have a friend who swears by it, but it's not terribly common so I don't know how many tutorials you'll find. I've tried out Revit but it's more geared towards BIM that what we do.

 

I'm not sure if this fits your criteria but I always recommend SketchUp. It's extremely intuitive but, particularly with it's many plugins and tutorials, is very deep. Architecturally you can model pretty much anything, you don't really run into limitations until you want to import high poly trees and cars (which you may not have to worry about).

 

That said, if you're doing the typical architectural studio stuff (the sort of amorphous shaped buildings that could wake a contractor in his sleep with a cold sweat) then perhaps 3ds Max is better as it tends to be a bit more parametric in nature, allowing changes and tweeks and such to amorphous shapes easier than SU.

 

-Brodie