Matt Sugden Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) I work extensively with max and vray, however one of my engineering clients has asked me about producing work with some very specific requirements, which in my view max does not lend itself terribly well too. They are curious about 3d software packages which are very animation centric. They are not interested in image quality, basic coloured geometry is fine. But they want a lot of flexibility in terms of producing and demonstrating instaneous alternate animation key frames, probably resulting in exporting some form of executable animated model file, they want to avoid long rendering times. It also sounds like they are keen to have control of parametric modelling aspects, or at least be able to work closely and quickly with an operator, so that geometry can be altered by inputting data and coordinates rather than nessecarily drawing unique geometry. So can anyone suggest some options please? This is a bit beyond my area of knowledge, but I'm prepared to do a bit of research on their behalf. Edited July 31, 2012 by Bewdy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dande Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Are they thinking about realtime animation or standard static animation. If they are looking at realtime you could look at something like unity3D. Model in Max the bring it into Unity 3D and you can create an exe or web file. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Interesting. I'm not sure if you are able, but can you share some more details of what specifically they are trying to accomplish? I don't think there is such a application that does all of that. You generally only see true parametric modelers like you are describing in engineering apps like SolidWorks, Inventor, Catia etc. They don't do animation coming anywhere close to what you are asking for though. It sounds like you need some sort of Frankenstein hybrid of Catia and TwinMotion all rolled into one. Perhaps if you can explain in more detail what they are trying to accomplish, I can make some better recommendations. I'm not sure I understand the workflow they are proposing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthewspencer Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Can you refine this request a little bit? What are they using it for? If they're engineers, then they likely are most comfortable with CAD packages. If they want to use their common file formats, and retain parametric editing abilities, then the choices are already severely limited. However if they're not particularly bothered by image quality then what we're talking about is already possible with basic CAD software. Solidworks has basic animation capabilities, as does NX. However if you want to do renderings that look decent, you should just look into rendering plugins for whatever their preferred software is. modo/Maxwell/etc; just attach it to your favorite package, and export + render the frames. One sort of hybrid is Bunkspeed Move which can do realtime rendering, works with native CAD files, and also allows full animation abilities. EDIT: Sorry for the overlap, Jeff...looks like we were simul-posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 One sort of hybrid is Bunkspeed Move which can do realtime rendering, works with native CAD files, and also allows full animation abilities. That's definitely a good suggestion, although depending upon what they are doing, maybe even Bunkspeed Pro as it has a few more arch viz type features. http://www.bunkspeed.com/shop/compare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeldeehr Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Houdini by sideFX is a great all around animation package especially for procedural/parametric modeling purposes. (It also includes everything else you could ever want) Its a little intimidating to use at first but is extremely powerful because of its node based workflow. I doubt you will find many archvis people who use it, but its an awesome package nonetheless, and perhaps its only a matter of time before it catches on in that realm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Sugden Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Thanks for the replies so far. I'm a little limited on information at this stage, as I have only had a second hand conversation with my contact and he is not technically minded at all, and has been trying to understand what their client needs. As I understand it, their client has cobbled together an excel spreadsheet which interfaces with a 3rd party software and generates some form of 3D model, based on inputting dimensions, geometry locations and such, and they are able to construct things such as pipelines or cable runs based on some form of line command. They can then set up frames to animate this data and change the order of these things round as they like. I think the resultant geometry produced is fairly basic, but provides enough of a visual graphic to tell a story. It sounds pretty novel but highly complicated. The ultimate aim I believe is to find a package or service whereby they can make changes to a generated model very quickly, make changes to the animation duration or start points or sequences quickly, then export these sequences to review these steps with a team at a later date. They work within PDMS, but the large amount of data within that model is too much for this process. The application is that they are constructing a very large electrical generation facility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunroberts Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 If they use microsoft project files or primavera then perhaps try http://www.synchroltd.com/ . You can import objects modelled in other cad programs then link them to the programme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Sugden Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 If they use microsoft project files or primavera then perhaps try http://www.synchroltd.com/ . You can import objects modelled in other cad programs then link them to the programme. I think this might be what they are doing, it seems to fit the description pretty well. Thanks for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaunroberts Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 I think this might be what they are doing, it seems to fit the description pretty well. Thanks for that. No problem. We are trialling the software at work for construction visualizations that are linked to to a construction programme and as the programme and model components are linked - any changes to the programme file should affect the animation model and animation. Should our clients require anything more detailed or interesting then we will do the animation in 3DS max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hunt Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 http://www.m-six.com/Video/li/VEO-3MinuteTrailer.html just came cross this one, dont know any more than whats in the video though. Looks interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dande Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 There is also Autodesk Navisworks. It will link most file formats, gives you construction scheduling and clash detection. That veo looks interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now