Is current 3D software where it should be?

[Chris Johnson]

Is the current state of the 3D arch/vis industry where you would have expected it to be?

 

After all max/maya and softimage are over 20+ years old (I remember when they were pretty new). There are a few new-comers that are slightly younger, and perhaps a few 3D packages that are starting up currently. I myself would have expected that the 3D packages available for arch/viz would have evolved much further than they have now.

 

Having worked in the industry for a long time, I saw the severe detriments of maintaining mountain ranges of old C (and bad C++) code. The software industry has advanced quite far since the early 1990's. But a lot of software has not kept up with the times.

 

It seems renderers have continued to evolve quite well, but those are in a way independent of any UI environment and platform. Does it feel like 3D content creation applications are still rooted in the old paradigm of the Windows 32 desktop apps?

 

If so what are your expectations now for 2016?

Edited October 13, 2015 by Chris Johnson

[dorianvandegrift]

Certainly there are many really helpful plug-ins, and I think this is where the real progress has been made. The only architectural program I've used is 3DS Max. It's true I haven't explored much of it, but mostly because I haven't needed to. For me, the ability to be scaled down to just what the individual needs would be an improvement. Also, there doesn't seem to be a lot of competition with these programs like Maya and Max, not sure why.

[notamondayfan]

As mentioned the advances have been mainly with 3rd party apps and plugins. Chaos group, itoo are two how have made arch vis easier, faster and better in my opinion.

 

The other side is that hardware has massively advanced over the past 10 / 20 years, and perhaps that's been the main bottle neck. I remember years ago being told to remove a subtle reflection from tarmac because it would kill render times, and now I wouldn't dare leave something like that off.

 

In 2016 I can't see the arch vis game changing massively, but I do get excited by VR, AR, and other advances like that. The HTC Vive is due out soon, and that's going to be very exciting.

 

Also I think the likes of Unity and Unreal are worth mentioning, they're really starting to change the game too, helped by the fact they're both free, and being developed a lot towards the visualisation industries, alongside their traditional gaming niches.

 

Dean