Visualization between 3DS Max and BIM Software

[hamadalhasan]

Greetings,

 

I have a growing interest of getting into the arch-viz business and I'm doing alot of research and messing around with tools. There is this question on mind that I googled around for answers but no luck, and I'm hoping to get some guidance from the experts in the forum.

 

3ds max, for example, is one of the most used software for architectural modelling and rendering. Yet I find BIM software (say Archicad) is much faster when it comes for modelling (specially exterior scenes). With that said, I still find professionals around the world still sticking around with 3ds max for modelling. I want to know, what kind of limitations does BIM software have, which makes others still do their modelling in Max? Please note that I do not have extensive experience whatsoever in both software, I'm merely trying to understand early on the difference between the two when it comes for 3D modelling. My purpose is to do visualizations only.

 

Any help will be much appreciated, thanks!

Edited August 10, 2013 by hamadalhasan

[christofferthulin]

I am not a pro archicad user but I am well experienced with export and import between ArchiCad and 3DS Max. I will give you my experience and knowledge and hopefully that can help you a little bit.

 

ArchiCad is great for modelling no doubt abut that, but I still prefer to do modelling in Max or Sketchup for two reasons. First of all, I don't know ArchiCad that well. Second, Archicad cannot compete with Max when it comes to shading and lighting setup, which is a very important part of visualisation. Therefore you always need to export it to a better software, as 3DS Max, to complete the visualisation. The export and import function between Archicad and Max is good, but still, the geometry often get messed up. I can often ignore those problems as I might get away with it but for personal interest, I would like to have full control of the geometry.

 

So a conclusion from my personal perspective is that the export-import function is not good enough. I work with architects who do the modelling in Archicad and I do the rest in 3DS Max. That often time work very well. But if I would do the modelling myself, I would do it in either 3ds Max or Sketchup.

[hamadalhasan]

Thanks for your feedback!

 

I definately agree that Archicad cannot be used for professional lighting and rendering, which is why I'm planning to use it for modelling purposes only. By modelling here, I specifically mean creation of walls, windows, doors and roofs as those are parametric in Archicad and I can get a building going real fast. If there is any interior involved, I'd definately do them in Max. Then I'd import into Max, and do the rendering there.

 

Attached below is a test example for the above workflow. So far I didn't get any issues.

 

 

What I'm wondering about is that yet professionals around the world still use Max to create things like walls, windows etc when you can get those done pretty quick in BIM software. Is it a matter of personal preference or is there something abscent my mind (say Archicad maybe cannot create complex buildings)? I want to adopt the pipeline of modelling buildings in Archicad and doing the rest in Max, and I'm trying to seek advice in this regard whether or not I'm making correct decisions.

 

Thanks again!

[christofferthulin]

From my mind I think your pipeline is great. As you say, I think it's a matter of personal preferences. Some people have a great workflow in Sketchup with groups and components which makes the modeling very fast and effective.

 

If your satisfied with Archicad I don't think your missing out on anything. Although I still think 3DS Max is better at detailed modeling. But other people here may have a different opinion.

[hamadalhasan]

From my mind I think your pipeline is great. As you say, I think it's a matter of personal preferences. Some people have a great workflow in Sketchup with groups and components which makes the modeling very fast and effective.

 

If your satisfied with Archicad I don't think your missing out on anything. Although I still think 3DS Max is better at detailed modeling. But other people here may have a different opinion.

 

Thank you for your valued feedback. Then I shall wait for more opinions before continuing forward.

[dande]

I do a lot of my modelling in Revit as I find it much faster to model with then I link the Revit model into max for lighting, adding cars trees people and rendering. If the building changes which they always do I find it much quicker to make the changes in Revit and reload the revit model into max

[notamondayfan]

Max is mainly used because it's an all-in-one package for generating visuals. It's very powerful, from modelling, to rendering, and everything in-between such as cloth sims, animation, etc. Many people will see the purchase of a program just for modelling as an extra unnecessary expense.

 

My workflow also suits a one program approach, as through-out a project I'm constantly changing, tweaking and adding detail to models, so for me an import / export workflow would be much slower.

 

Also don't forget modelling buildings is only really half of the work, especially for interiors. Modelling props, furniture and other items would be impracticable in BIM software.

 

Dean