I don’t model in MAX (its done in MicroStation) so i sit with pretty sharp edges. I can fillet &/ chamfer the edge in MS, but that would still leave me with a “straight” line.
I am hoping to find the best method to go from these sharp looking CAD model to having walls like the buildings in the two attached photos.
I have done a lot of work like this and I have found that lofts/sweeps in max are the best way to achieve this. Then afterward you have to fillet the fenestration’s to provide clean openings. Haven’t seen work like this coming out of a cad package I have been told Revit has a way you can do it but I have not seen anyone produce a work flow that works.
Model your fillets/chamfers in MS. To get the bumpy edges just put a subdivide modifier on the pieces you want (pick an appropriate spacing) and add a noise modifier. It’s a little messy but should work just fine. You can add a meshsmooth/turbosmooth after the subdivide if you need the surface even smoother but check the smoothing groups.
Sorry, can’t really help with a quick technique (we model in ADT and would use some kind of 3D fillet for this type of thing), but I *love* that kind of architecture. It reminds me of my holidays in Lanzarote. I’ve designed an extension to my house which, thanks to this arsing credit crunch has been put on hold! Dammit!
Still do a fillet in Microstation but use a Normal map to get the rough look. It’s way easier on you polygon budget as well. Look for the Normal map loader Vlado wrote though, Vray and the Max built in one suck as a combo speed wise…