standard software for architectural visualization

[William Alexander]

The consenus i seem to get is that Max or Viz used much more than maya. THe only bad part is that the department at school has pretty much standardized on Maya...used to use a combination of max, etc. I guess i can teach it to myself later, but at the same time having to learn maya in two classes is a bit annoying.

Does anyone out there use Maya for Arch Visualization?

 

 

The best advice about apps imho is learn one well, does not matter which one. Remembering that the app is not the process. In other words a spline is a spline a polygon is a polygon, subD is subD, key framing is framing............. All the top apps have different user interfaces but the modeling and animation works basically the same way. Apps are like different tool boxes but they all have the same tools. Learn the individual tools and 'new toolboxes' come rather easily.

 

It could be worse, my cousin attends Rhode Island Institute of Art & Design. She had to learn Maya in one class, that was for hard surface & charcator, Charactor rigging, lighting, animation and rendering an animition- ouch!

 

Good Luck

WDA

[Christopher Nichols]

maybe you should submit that to formz as a user comment. they would probably use it in their book promo release that they put out every year with users work and comments about the product.

 

hmmm... bad idea I think... Could be interpreted by some as saying: "If you like old fashion out of date tools, if you still long for the days when you were using your Amiga... you should try formZ, and old fashion piece of software that never goes out of style."

 

Modeling software has changed. When I look at Z-Brush (only for organic modeling), I realize how far Max and Maya are behind the times. I feel the same about formZ... sorry.

[Christopher Nichols]

Does anyone out there use Maya for Arch Visualization?

 

I use it everyday... of course I am not doing archViz anymore, but do visual effects. On the other hand, let me just state two simple things...

 

Maya can be used for archViz. We modeled a LOT of building for Day After Tomorrow with Maya. You can sorta forget about accuracy. We build the models to be accurate within a pixel rather then within 1/4 of an inch.

 

The next obvious thing is never to get hung up on software... Maya three years from now, will not be the Maya of today. The same is true of Max. The Max today has a lot of resemblance with Maya.... more so then 4 years ago.

 

When I was teaching archViz at the University, I made sure to teach them both Maya and Max at the same time. I wanted them to see patterns in 3D to understand it as a concept so that they could teach themselves any software. I think teaching specific spftware is a bad idea, since most of the time, when you are ready to use it in the real world, what you learned is out of date.

[Frosty]

When I was teaching archViz at the University, I made sure to teach them both Maya and Max at the same time. I wanted them to see patterns in 3D to understand it as a concept so that they could teach themselves any software. I think teaching specific spftware is a bad idea, since most of the time, when you are ready to use it in the real world, what you learned is out of date.

 

I did the exact same thing - with FormZ and Cinema. It always amazed me when students got angry because i wasnt teaching exactly which buttons to press in which sequence. Its all techniques and concepts. As you said, tools change and users MUST be able to teach themselves as software evolves. Understanding concepts of 3D software and basic techniques for using various tools is key to this.

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Maya can be used for archViz. We modeled a LOT of building for Day After Tomorrow with Maya. You can sorta forget about accuracy. We build the models to be accurate within a pixel rather then within 1/4 of an inch.

 

out of curiosity...

 

when working on a movie, does everyone tend to model in the same software, maya in this case, or does eveyone model in the enviroment they are comfortable with, then piece it back together, in the preffered program.

[Christopher Nichols]

 

out of curiosity...

 

when working on a movie, does everyone tend to model in the same software, maya in this case, or does eveyone model in the enviroment they are comfortable with, then piece it back together, in the preffered program.

 

Well it is like anything... but generally speaking... you want to model in the software that you are going to be rendering in. This is not to say that we don't translate models from package to package. You try modeling in Houdini and tell if you don't want to shoot yourself. You do your best to minimize the model transfer. This is especially true for characters where you need to rig them as well.

[rhapsodyosx]

First i want to thank everyone for taking the time to provide me with this information. I do appreciate it.

Secondly, Christopher mentioned (and i have had some problems with it) units..specifically accuracy in maya. Are you not able to specify inches, feet, etc? I realize you can model without that accuracy, but it just seems a bit crazy that maya wouldnt at least have that. Are there any MEL work arounds for it (again forgive my ignorance if MEL wouldnt apply here).

 

I guess i just feel a little stange learning the software and realizing most of the people dont use it for this. If it was character, etc, it'd be great.

 

I use it everyday... of course I am not doing archViz anymore, but do visual effects. On the other hand, let me just state two simple things...

 

Maya can be used for archViz. We modeled a LOT of building for Day After Tomorrow with Maya. You can sorta forget about accuracy. We build the models to be accurate within a pixel rather then within 1/4 of an inch.

 

The next obvious thing is never to get hung up on software... Maya three years from now, will not be the Maya of today. The same is true of Max. The Max today has a lot of resemblance with Maya.... more so then 4 years ago.

 

When I was teaching archViz at the University, I made sure to teach them both Maya and Max at the same time. I wanted them to see patterns in 3D to understand it as a concept so that they could teach themselves any software. I think teaching specific spftware is a bad idea, since most of the time, when you are ready to use it in the real world, what you learned is out of date.

[Christopher Nichols]

Secondly, Christopher mentioned (and i have had some problems with it) units..specifically accuracy in maya. Are you not able to specify inches, feet, etc? I realize you can model without that accuracy, but it just seems a bit crazy that maya wouldnt at least have that. Are there any MEL work arounds for it (again forgive my ignorance if MEL wouldnt apply here).

 

I guess i just feel a little stange learning the software and realizing most of the people dont use it for this. If it was character, etc, it'd be great.

 

 

Well yes... it can have units... but when you use it (and compare it to Max) you realizr that adding accuracy to every move that you is much harder. For those that model in Autocad and go to MAX, you know that in Autocad it is easy to make something accurate, but really hard to make something complex (compared to MAX)... when going from MAX to Maya, it is the same story by another degree.

[rhapsodyosx]

Maya can be used for archViz. We modeled a LOT of building for Day After Tomorrow with Maya. You can sorta forget about accuracy. We build the models to be accurate within a pixel rather then within 1/4 of an inch.

In order to be precise (i.e. pixel or 1/4 inch) do you need to mess with the grid in maya or can you specifiy that somehow in the channel box. Maya is different that anything else it seems. Difinelty different.

[rhapsodyosx]

Also are there any good tutorials on the web or a book you would suggest for doing this type of thing in maya? I have seen some good books for 3d max.