Alexi Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 Hi guys! Just registered here- I'm hoping to get some advice with regards to rendering interiors! I work for an interiors company at present and we are looking to expand into doing 3D work for clients. We are working with AutoCAD at present (LT & Standard) with iMacs and the renders we are hoping to create would be photorealistic to show clients a taster or 'vision' of finished interior spaces. What would you guys recommend in this situation? My boss is willing to be flexible with purchasing extra software! I have been looking into Cinema4D and Maxwell Render programs (not sure of many others which would be able to provide the high standard of visuals we are after). Would these be feasible? Or would standard AutoCAD be able to provide what we are after? We have Sketchup also, but we do 95% of our work on Autocad for 2D views which we are now expanding from. I haven't done much 3D work before so some advice on this would be brilliant in regards to programs to use & what we can achieve with the software we have at present etc. I appreciate any replies or opinions on this! Apologies if the question itself is a bit newbie and has been asked before! Thank you, Alex Quote
mikekmx Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 autocad can do amazing stuff, but i'm sure there must be more suitable progs for 'interiors'. what i mean is, i guess you're not doing 'engineering drawings'... autocad is an architectural/engineering prog that has evolved to enable fancy views, but precision is the main thing, along with communication of design intent. that precision takes (unecessary) time in your case (?).... i don't explain myself very well but i hope you get the jist of what i'm trying to say Quote
Cad64 Posted December 2, 2013 Posted December 2, 2013 If you're using Mac's then Cinema 4D would be a good choice. Also, take a look at Lightwave and Modo. Quote
Alexi Posted December 2, 2013 Author Posted December 2, 2013 Thanks for the suggestions Cad64! Will take a look at them. We are supplied with AutoCAD drawings 95% of the time from architects which we then work into (sometimes drawing up building plans from scratch in 2D if large interior spaces are to be altered), which is why we use AutoCAD. I would have prefered Vectorworks but the company was already on AC when I joined! Precision is just as important with the interior as the exterior! I've also been looking at Maya- very popular and as an Autodesk application can be used in conjunction with Autocad. Although for just creating 3D interiors from 2D plans/sections and rendering I'm unsure we need such a program. Any more advice would be great! Quote
Cad64 Posted December 3, 2013 Posted December 3, 2013 If you're looking at sticking with Autodesk products, I would recommend going with 3D Studio Max instead of Maya. Studio Max is geared more towards archtectural modeling and rendering whereas Maya is geared more towards gaming, animation and the movie industry. Cinema 4D, Lightwave and Modo can all import .dxf format, so you can import your CAD drawings as reference for building your models. 3D Studio Max can import .dwg format, so you don't have to save out an extra .dxf file for importing. 3D Studio Max is the most expensive program. You can get Cinema 4D, Lightwave or Modo for much cheaper. I used 3D Studio Max for 8 years with my last employer doing architectural renderings. When I decided to go freelance, I couldn't afford Studio Max, so I spent a couple months working with the demo versions of Cinema 4D, Lightwave and Modo. I ended up buying Modo. Quote
Alexi Posted December 3, 2013 Author Posted December 3, 2013 Thank you for the excellent reply My employers and myself have been Mac converts for years and years so unless Autodesk decide to bring 3DSM to Mac it'll have to be one of the others. We also have AutoCad installed on most of our workstations so don't think they'll be wanting to change software anytime soon! Shall look into C4D, Modo and Lightwave more to see which one best suits our requirements. Have also heard good things about Maxwell Render, so will add to the list. It may all depend on how much they are willing to spend, but I'll research and outline the options! Really appreciate the advice! Alex Quote
Cad64 Posted December 3, 2013 Posted December 3, 2013 You could run 3ds Max on your Mac with Boot Camp: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=13578525&linkID=9241177 Quote
Alexi Posted December 3, 2013 Author Posted December 3, 2013 Completely forgot about Bootcamp! Another option to look at! I imagine all of the programs listed would meet my minimum requirements for 3d modelling/rendering, but pricing/ease of use will be a major factor in choosing. Think I'll download some trial versions and see which one works out best too. Quote
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