Artlantis vs Cinema 4D

[archislave]

I would like to settle on a good software to work with Sketchup and Archicad. I have tried Artlantis and it is easy to use and works well with archicad. One thing I don't like is that you can't move or change any of the archicad elements. The renderings are of much better quality than Archicad and quick. I would dare say Artlantis is such a step above and easy to use that why anyone would torture themselves with trying to get high quality renderings from Archicad is beyond me.

I know almost nothing about Cinema 4D except that it works well with Archicad - I hear. I am not considering Maxwell until it is at least in Version 2.

Any insights are appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Artlantis is great for rendering as you have discovered and VERY easy to learn.

Cinema 4D is also an excellent renderer with the added advantage of industrial strength modeling and animation tools. The downside is a bit of a steep learning curve (though I must say it is pretty easy considering it's capabilities).

For straight up, quick, high quality rendering Artlantis is the way to go. If you really need (or just want) the ability to add complex elements and entourage which are difficult or unavailable in ArchiCAD and don't mind the additional investment in time, etc. then C4D is probably best.

I've know some firms that use both according to the specific needs of the projects.

[Anonymous]

Archislave, your observations are correct. ArtL is easy but has its constraints. Cinema and Max, and Maya, etc. are much better but they demand considerably more amount of time and money. Their learning curve is a really steep one too. I have never met anyone who said learning them had been easy.

So it is up to you - if you have both the time and the money, go for these! I myself have never found the time to learn Maya, though I had it on my computer!

[archislave]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Not only is it the steep learning curve of Cinema 4d, but the question of the benefit comes up. From what I have seen on their website, the results are not that much better Artlantis. Surely, the best renderings I have seen are done in Vray. But, they do not provide any plug-ins for the Mac currently.

I have not desire to tackle learning 3d Studio just to render in Vray. Maybe I will consider Vray when they develop a plug-in for Archicad, Cinema 4d, or even Sketchup Mac. By that time Maxwell will be in V2 so the equation will change.

I wonder if anyone could post Cinema 4d images vs Artlanits?

[Ignacio Azpiazu]

archislave wrote:
I wonder if anyone could post Cinema 4d images vs Artlanits?

Cinema 4D is for full-time illustrators --you need to invest time to become proficient, and be able to profit from that time invested. If you do that, the product is beyond anything Artlantis can do, in terms of quality, control, and rendering farm power.

Artlantis is for the fast/inexpensive/good-enough architectural rendering that does not require a professional illustrator.

Both programs are awesome.

[stefan]

Use Artlantis up to the point that it no longer suits you.

FWIW, when you first start using one of the high-end applications, your renderings will probably be worse than what you were achieving in Artlantis. It is only after some serious effort that you can get over that level of quality in the "pro" applications. So Artlantis fits it market very well: not the very best, but the right balance between quality and ease-of-use.

VRay is good, but you can get very good renderings in any application. Don't be blinded by the results of full-time visualization artists: this quality comes with experience and dedication.

P.S. I have started to use Artlantis Studio with our students for the visualization course this year.

[Anonymous]

archislave wrote:
... One thing I don't like is that you can't move or change any of the archicad elements...

I haven't used it yet, but in Artlantis Studio can you not save Archicad objects as Artlantis objects and move them around/save for future use?

[archislave]

That is all good advice and I think I will try to milk Artlantis for all it's worth before I move on! It seems like a V2 of Artlantis is way overdue. Does anyone know why such a long gestation period?

[Anonymous]

archislave wrote:
That is all good advice and I think I will try to milk Artlantis for all it's worth before I move on! It seems like a V2 of Artlantis is way overdue. Does anyone know why such a long gestation period?

V2! We're up to about version 6 by now (If you count Artlantis R as 5, and studio as 6 - they stopped numbering at 4.5)

[Anonymous]

stefan wrote:
FWIW, when you first start using one of the high-end applications, your renderings will probably be worse than what you were achieving in Artlantis. It is only after some serious effort that you can get over that level of quality in the "pro" applications. So Artlantis fits it market very well: not the very best, but the right balance between quality and ease-of-use.

Stefan is absolutely right! I haven't used C4D but I know it is similar to 3DS Max, which means you need a lot of experience to be able to produce impressive renderings.

But I have to make a point - you do not need to learn the whole 3DS Max with all of its modelling and animaton stuff to suit your purpose. I could just learn the simple navigation commands (such as zoom, pan, move, rotate) and the visualization tools (camera, lights, materials) and you are ready to render! I myself had used it this way for several years till I found time to learn some modeling techniques and I still do not know animation at all, because I have never needed it.