Max vs Max Design, does anyone use Lighting Analysis?

[Creationtwentytwo]

Hey there,

 

Having just graduated from my Architecture degree, the time has come to purchase some commercial software. Fortunately Autodesk offer some fantastic pricing on upgrading from the student editions, however I'm not sure which one to go for.

 

I know the primary (only?) difference between Max and Max Design are the SDK in Max and the Lighting Analysis tools in Design.

 

My question is whether any of you guys have ever actually needed to use the Lighting Analysis? I haven't been involved in many commercial projects up until now, so I'm not sure whether it's something I would need from a visualization point of view. Obviously I can see how it could be useful during the design phase, but I'm unlikely to be directly involved with lighting design, at least as far as I can see right now.

 

I do prefer the 'empty' layout of Max (like the colour scheme, the material editor doesn't default to A+D materials etc) as oppose to Max Design but that's of little relevance I suppose because I'm sure you can change that. I also may need the SDK in future although again, it's not 100% certain.

 

So are there any other caveats or things I should think about when deciding, and which do you personally use?

 

Thanks

Edited March 19, 2012 by Creationtwentytwo

[Devin Johnston]

Our eco services team took a look at it and they've found that compared to other tools it takes a long time to set everything up. I think the problem is that your still essentially creating a rendering that has to be very accurate so you can't take any shortcuts.

[Creationtwentytwo]

Thanks Devin,

 

Ok good info, to be honest it's not looking likely that I'll be called upon to use it. Most of the projects I have worked on, the lighting design has all been handled by the lighting contractor, and even when it's handled by the Architect, I'm guessing they've either not used any kind of lighting sim or used a third-party tool.

 

Looks like I'll just stick with plain 'ol Max.

 

Thanks again