Rhino 3D >>> 3ds Max - import for rendering issues

[mattkennedy]

I'm an industrial designer working at an architecture firm so I have an odd software mashup. I need to bring my Rhino models into 3DS Max for use solely to do renderings.

 

I'm completely new to the 3DS software, can anyone give me a quick hand understanding how I can keep my geometry organized for quick material assignments?

 

I had been using the export as .3ds from rhino but it seems like .sat might be another good option.

 

I want to keep objects grouped so that I can paint all of them at once instead of having to assign materials to each individual object. I can't figure out how to organize my layers or do grouping so that I can build in rhino, import into 3ds and immediately be able to assign a material to either a layer or a group to say - paint all the walls white with a single material assignment.

 

Using 3ds max design 2012 and rhino v4

 

Thanks

[Corey Beaulieu]

http://wiki.mcneel.com/developer/scriptsamples/exportlayerobjects

 

This script would be perfect for a workflow that created a layer in Rhino for each Material Type and then export each layer into it's own .sat file. Then you can import each file into max. The layer names will be maintained (I believe because of the file names) and if I remember correctly, you can even import multiple files at once.

[matthewspencer]

Corey's link seems like a good bet. But I'm just wondering; is there some reason you have for doing rendering in 3DS Max instead of Rhino?

 

Clearly there are more/broader rendering solutions for 3DS but if it's going to require you to overcome a learning curve, maybe it would be a better use of your time to keep things in Rhino?

[mattkennedy]

Great tip - Thanks Corey!

[mattkennedy]

Matt -

 

I went 3ds max to have more effects, animation and rendering capabilities under one hood. I was also mislead to believe that it handles nurbs better. I'm happy with the rendering results, material library and interface for 3ds max design, ultimately I'm looking to be proficient in both programs. I tried Vray for rhino but didn't like the interface so much and found it was harder to get fast decent results. I used Keyshot for product design renderings which is incredibly fast and easy but the varying demands of architectural renders have me looking for a better solution. I'd love to hear any recommendations. Thanks Matt - Matt.