Archicad the best solution?

[Anonymous]

Greetings all,

My partner is currently studying interior design, and has begun tackling courses involving room and furniture design. Being a 3d modeller in the past, i know what a viscious learning curve any software in this realm carries. Primarily she needs to be able to design interiors, inculding kitchen cabinetry etc, and my wish is that she be able to output quality 3d renders of her environments with as great ease as possible. I am far from impressed with auto-cads native renderer.

Her college recommends archicad for students doing architectural design, but have little recommendation outside this software. Hence i'm here to ask, Is archicad a suitable solution for an interior designer - or has anyone a recommendation where else to look? I have been unable to locate anything of a professional level that seems focused towards interior designers.

Any suggestions, or direction would be fantastic

Charles

[Anonymous]

Hehe,

Alternatively, it actually derives from an episode of the Simpsons where Burns is desperately trying to avoid donating $1mil to charity, and at the same time homer has managed to get a pig stuck in the dam wall....

that enough info:)


Richard: Yes she is, however 3d is something i understand, so i'm better placed to assist her in choosing a software platform to learn, and also learn it first to teach to her - hence my involvement:).

I had a quick look at those renders from Chief Architect just earlier when someone suggested it. She has mentioned to me that kitchen design (cabinetry) is a large part of her role, and CA seems to have some tools to assist that, so it may be worth playing with. The interesting part is how easy the expot to a better renderer will be, whether she would have to retexture everything etc. With autocad -> 3dsmax, it attempts to transfer the textures as well.

Thanks again for everyones contribution.

[Anonymous]

Modelling:
AC is very good for modelling interiors and furniture with middle amount of detail. For very detailed modelling, seen at close distance, the best choice is an Engineering modelling application like SolidWorks or 3dsMax with PowerSolids plug-in.

Rendering:
Ac is not good for interior renderings! For nice results the best choice is ArtLantis. For very high quality renderings use VRay or Maxwell or something like these. VRay seems to be the fastest.

Dwight wrote:

Archicad users mainly export to Cinema 4D and Artlantis.

Probably true for Canada! 😉 3dsMax and Maya are the preferred applications for VRay users. By the way, 3dsMax is very user-unfriendly, so do have this in mind!

Below is an example of a simple square sink, which will get you in a lot of trouble to model in AC or 3dsMax!

[Anonymous]

Point taken,

I do understand the merits of being able to create an architecturally sound environment in a piece of software designed with that end in mind. I would find it frustrating at best to create even a room in 3ds max alone, its so much easier to get the precision with walls etc in autocad - and assumedly arcicad.

I"ll get her to sign up for the student version so we can go and look into artlantis. I'll also look into those power solids addons for 3ds max. I find the workflow style in 3dsmax incompatible with my brain - being a lightwave user by choice - however i've spent tonight working her current project into a 3dsmax scene to for her assignment due tomorrow (while she is at college gossiping with the girls!)

Thanks again for the opinions, i'm looking foward to sampling what seems to be the strong recommendation - Archicad + Atlantis

Charles

[Anonymous]

Walkingpig wrote:
...I would find it frustrating at best to create even a room in 3ds max alone, its so much easier to get the precision with walls etc in autocad - and assumedly arcicad...

Forget Autocad - it is far behind AC! It is a primitive application with limited modellig tools. The only thing it does better than AC is complex surfaces.

Also, I know dedicated Autocad users who model their entire 3D scenes in Max and use Autocad just for drawings! It is like driving a Ford Model T in the 21 century! In fact, it is the Model T of CAD applications and should take its desired position - in the museum! 😉

[Richard Morrison]

Walkingpig wrote:
Thanks again for the opinions, i'm looking foward to sampling what seems to be the strong recommendation - Archicad + Atlantis

On this forum? What a surprise!

I gotta say, though, it seems like you are searching for the software that works for YOU and your rendering needs, rather than what will be easy to use for your partner. As a working architect and interior designer, I can tell you that photorealistic renderings are nice, but having something that an interior designer will actually use, without too much pain, is even better.

When your partner graduates, competency with a high-end rendering program is probably not going to get her hired as much as well designed projects with lesser quality renderings. And if she can't replicate the renderings that you've done for her in school, an employer will be justly upset.

BTW, here are some renderings by an acquaintance, all done in Chief Architect, without any outside rendering programs: www.girerddesigns.com/
They aren't V-Ray quality, of course, but they are certainly good enough for school work, and for the vast majority of professional work.

[Anonymous]

In a sense i am searching for sometyhing that works for me, because that makes its something i can teach my partner, however i am certainly looking for something that produces the right standard, with the greatest of ease.

She is fortunate in that she has the talent for her industry, she is redefining the benchmark at her college each week with perfect marks, and is already happily in the industry. So she has the time after college to make sure any extra skills she wishes to carry on (such as these tools) can be honed.

I am sure you are right, that she doesn't NEED these skills - but neither of us are fans of doing things by halves, and even though these sorts of tools may not be largely involved in the interior design industry - i am sure that they can become nothing other than increasingly desired over time.

Those chief architect pictures you linked are certainly a step up from last i looked at the software, i will certainly organise another look into it - thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Archicad+Blender+blendigo+Indigo =



cost you nothing (except archicad of course)

[Anonymous]

Miki wrote:
Archicad+Blender+blendigo+Indigo =



cost you nothing (except archicad of course)

Hi Miki,

What was the rendering time on this image? Also, how well did Archicad transfer the files to blender? Any other interesting things you've found using that software?

[Anonymous]

Well, I overkilled it a bit (cautics etc.) and it took ~80h. Keep in mind almost no test renders were needed though. And I was learning it. It looked pretty straight forward (conversion wise). Convert geometry (3ds or obj) ->adjust materials (in blender using blendigo) -> assign lights (support of IFC light is great) -> hit render and wait (go see movie and sleep )

couple of test





check the indigo gallery, and very supportive forum.

[Dwight]

how many pixels in 80 hr??