how do you build 3d-geometry(archviz)

[max montana]

hy there, i have a fundamental question. what is your approach to make a 3d-model for archviz(houses)? i work with autocad and 3d studio max and still use my workflow for modelling i found when i started doing archviz about 10 years ago.
i make polylines of walls, windows, for of each facade out of the plan i get from the architect in cad, import the polys in 3d studio, extrude them, put each object of a wall in the correct position and when the wall is ready i rotate and positionate it, to fit to the existing geometry.
by writing this i realise that there should be more efficient ways to do this.so can you tell me about your workflows when you make your 3d geometry out of cad? (model in autocad, archicad...)
thx

[beestee]

I work from the floor plan, and use the elevations only as reference. I use sweeps for everything I can, then extruded splines for anything else, and a few primatives here and there if it is convenient.

For revision of these models, I will modify the sweeps and extruded splines as they are, but anything else gets an edit poly or FFD.

[digitalx3d]

I guess it mostly depends on whether or not any interior work is necessary. If I'm doing just an exterior still, I'll make the main mass of the building (usually for houses or apartment buildings) of 1 solid object (or as few as possible) and then boolean out the windows. Makes for much cleaner, efficient models. Prior to doing this, we prep/clean up the cad data in AutoCAD, save the cleaned up drawings to a new layer (ie- elev south, elev north, floorplan, etc), then import those layers into Max so they are each on their own layer and they are separate objects. Then those get positioned and frozen so they can be traced over/snapped to easily.

For office buildings, I'll often model off the elevations and completely ignore any sides of the building not scene in the view. So in the end I've got this huge building which from the top down looks like a large "L" with 8" thick walls. You have to be able to get away with opaque windows though and achieve your desired look with reflection only.

These approaches are really for speed. You have to know your clients well enough to know what you can get away with, and know that they won't come back with crap like "oh, can we see inside the windows?", cuz then you'd be hatin' life!

There's definitely not 1 workflow for all projects. But we do generally start off all projects with the same "cad prep" procedure described above.

[max montana]

thanks for your replies. never heared of sweeps before. seems to be in autocad since version 2007. mine is older. will make up my mind to upgrade.

[Neilg]

I strip off the cad, bring it into max and model from there using the cad only as a guide.

Modeling techniques are whatever fits the bill. Sometimes from boxes, sometimes planes with slices, sometimes extrusions and sweeps. I model different parts of the buildings with whatever way works best.

[duke2]

I actually use sketchup now and Max for any detail work. Fast as hell.

[glyph]

I usually cleanup all my splines in Illustrator as I'm fast in that and I get all window cutouts done
then in max I extrude complete sets of elevation splines - so they dont need booleans adding later
I keep all splines as duplicates so I can grab the window splines which I then outline for window frames or glass etc
of course I dont use Autocad so maybe if I did, it would be quicker in that?

[mikeh]

hy there, i have a fundamental question. what is your approach to make a 3d-model for archviz(houses)? i work with autocad and 3d studio max and still use my workflow for modelling i found when i started doing archviz about 10 years ago.
i make polylines of walls, windows, for of each facade out of the plan i get from the architect in cad, import the polys in 3d studio, extrude them, put each object of a wall in the correct position and when the wall is ready i rotate and positionate it, to fit to the existing geometry.
by writing this i realise that there should be more efficient ways to do this.so can you tell me about your workflows when you make your 3d geometry out of cad? (model in autocad, archicad...)
thx

that's pretty much how i do it. Works great when you have no cad version but only a hand drawn set of elevations. I just trace the hand drawn stuff in cad, bring it into max and map the handrawn colored elevations to the polys. Very quick.
mh

[duke2]

I'm no fan of illustrator but the idea of cleaning things up in some form of CAD program first sounds appealing - can anyone recommend an Autocad knockoff that doesn't cost a kidney?

[rmejia]

I'm no fan of illustrator but the idea of cleaning things up in some form of CAD program first sounds appealing - can anyone recommend an Autocad knockoff that doesn't cost a kidney?

There's AutoCAD LT which is around $600, but it's only 2d.

[duke2]

There's AutoCAD LT which is around $600, but it's only 2d.

It seems it's more like 1200!

[tricky]

We do all our solid modelling in ADT (or Autodesk Architecture as its now called!) and then file link into Max. We basically trace off (and optimize/clean) the supplied 2D plans, elevations and sections and use a series of extrusions and boolean operations. Generally, this is a very robust approach, though it does fall apart sometimes with the file link breaking, but we feel this the best approach to clean, editable modelling. It also allows the texturing, lighting and rendering to proceed earlier because of the file linking method.

Supplied 3D models are usually a nightmare as they are neither clean nor complete. We generally re-model to save rendering/editing headaches along the line.

[Kyle_Grace]

All depends on the type of building I'm working on and the stage at which i'm involved...

If I am building Houses (or Rectalinear buildings), and I have a full set of plans, I clean the plans in AutoCAD, then assemble the plans in 3D space in Max, this allows me to check the quality of the drawings early on. Then I either trace or grab splines from the drawing and assemble from a viewpoint or grid View.

I try and use sweeps and other modifiers that I then copy and instance around to give a certain amount of parametric quality to the model and speed up changes etc.

I've played with File Linking before, but in my experience it largely relies on the Architect producing good quality drawings... which rarely seems to happen.

Hope that helps.

[digitalx3d]

There's a program called DoubleCad LT which is pretty full featured, and free. There is a pro version with more features that's a few hundred bucks.

[tricky]

I've played with File Linking before, but in my experience it largely relies on the Architect producing good quality drawings... which rarely seems to happen.

Couldn't agree more! We have never received a coherent set of drawings from an architect yet! This is why we re-model ourselves to our own parameters that fit into our image production or animation pipeline. If something then breaks, its generally our fault.