3dsmax alternative.

[Vizioen]

Ok, so with all the ruckus around autodesk and 3dsmax lately, I'm looking for a valid alternative that has similar navigation/workflow to either 3dsmax, Rhinoceros or SketchUp (I know these like the back of my hand).

I'm an archviz artist so FX and such aren't important though I'm quite interested. I need a scatterer similar to ForestPack, something similar to RailClone. Would be nice to have Vray, my prefered renderer. Navigating the viewport should be similar to 3dsmax or not drastically different.

I know of Modo, Cinema4D, Houdini, Blender, Maya etc.. but I have no idea what's possible with either. I know almost anything is possible in Houdini but I read for archviz it's not really an ideal solution. I'm done with this 3dsmax bullcrap, each release I get more frustrated, this software just doesn't evolve.

[chriserskine]

I've started having a go at Houdini apprentice.

looking into doing same thing as growfx, which it seems like it can handle it. I haven't looked into forest or railclone sort of functions yet. but i don't think they would be an issue.

If you like using grasshopper in rhino, I'd say it worth a look. it works a lot better.

I've found it quite fun.

but saying all that I think you would probably need to build up some tools in it before you could replace 3dsmax.

also may still need to do modelling in something else.

[andybot_cg]

Blender FTW! I've been using it for Arch viz for years, and have been working on moving my workflow fully over from SketchUp. I still do almost all my modeling in SU and import my assets into Belnder for shading, lighting, and vegetation. Here's a tutorial on vegetation using particles: http://www.evermotion.org/tutorials/...ip-of-the-week

More about Blender workflow here: https://forums.chaosgroup.com/showth...nder-some-tips

Andy

[zeronove]

For my needs (small scale archviz) I'm seriously evaluating blender as a viable alternative.
It seems crystal clear that for adsk the freelance market it's not an option anymore ...so it's only a matter of time and we will be elegantly pushed away ...ops they already started
Needless to say it became a very expensive bloatware with an obscure roadmap and insulting user policy; this applies to all adsk sw so, I'm to sorry to say, but after 20 years I see no hope for redemption with that company.

[Vizioen]

I remember trying blender a few months back because there was a thread about it here. But the viewport handling and workflow seemed very unlogical and counterintuitive. I'm not sure. I might have to give it a few days of trial and error. Best thing it's free

[vlado]

Best thing it's free

SketchUp is free as well... of course, they are very different applications, but you can do stuff in both.

Best regards,
Vlado

[andybot_cg]

I remember trying blender a few months back because there was a thread about it here. But the viewport handling and workflow seemed very unlogical and counterintuitive. I'm not sure. I might have to give it a few days of trial and error. Best thing it's free

It's worth going step by step through some beginning tutorials because I totally agree it seems very "unlogical and counterintuitive" at first. That's exactly how I felt when I first got into Blender. Here is the manual to get an understanding of the interface: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/

and here are some intro videos:
https://cgcookie.com/course/blender-basics/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLV7h-WLIx0

[rikou]

+1 for Blender !
We are a lot (and I 'm) in the boat and I'm totally agree with zeronove about adsk !

Blender have a great potential, development is smart (!) and it's cover a lot of stuff...of course, Vray4Blender is a must !
I will try and push my experience further with Blender

[Vizioen]

SketchUp is free as well... of course, they are very different applications, but you can do stuff in both.

Best regards,
Vlado

Having used SketchUp for 8 years, it doesn't hold any secrets for me anymore. But SketchUp isn't exactly free. Not that it matters, but it has it's limitations even though I used like +50 ruby scripts/plugins.

I'm going to slowly start off with blender and see if I can make a transition. The one thing that is bothering me is all my 3dsmax assets. And for instance the connecter app, which is quite nice. Is there an asset manager for Blender?

[bardo]

About the asset manager for Blender...you could take a look of this...

https://blenderartists.org/forum/sho...set-Management

is it something about you're looking for?

[Vizioen]

Thank you. That seems to be something I would look for indeed.

[Alex_M]

Don't forget to check out Blender 2.8 when it comes out. There will be a lot of improvements and changes such as completely new viewport, a proper layer manager and much more. You can read up on the internet about it. I'm eager to test it when it comes out to see if it's a viable alternative to Max for my needs.

[Vizioen]

New wireframe thingy looks amazing

[bardo]

For everyone who's evaluating Blender for archviz...I suggest to tale a look to this Addon

https://blenderartists.org/forum/sho...ddon-Archipack

It seems really powerful

[JezUK]

I'm open to suggestions regarding an alternative to 3DS Max - simply so that at some stage I'm Autodesk 'free'

But.... a) I'm having a blast with 2017 (I think I missed the SP3 announcement and so far, things have been fine),

b) Autodesk are being *incredibly* helpful with regards to any technical issues I've been having (like, really, really, awesome service),

c) I'm open to Cinema 4D, or Blender..... (with V-Ray of course ) - but, as far as I know (and I'm a complete novice in both), neither has a Modifier Stack ?

Is there *any* non-autodesk software out there which *does* have modifier stacks / or of course a suitable alternative (other than manually saving every iteration of a scene, 'just in case'......)