Clifton Santiago’s post perked my curiosity, all you arch viz folk out there - do you model in cad then import or model in max direct?
i’m in the import group 
- Max ?
- Cad ?
0
voters
import (try to model odd shapes in viz)
I always model in max.
Max, better workflow for me
Max always.. keeps things neat and tidy, and no Coplanar Shite..
cheers for that natty. just noticed my spelling - sheesh :?
haha … yes, i normally model my poles in max ..
Model in Max, well viz 2005.
Microstation modeller is err… a bit clunky!
acad or sketchup for me but I really must learn to model directly in max
Max! Acad and such are only good for cleaning up linework…
both!
max (well viz actually…) for most stuff but CAD for certain tricky shapes.
i can’t vote for both though so i’ve not voted as my votes would cancel each other out anyway! :lol:
Revit to DWG to MAX for me. 
What I’m curious to know is how many here started modeling in CAD and moved over to Max? That’s what I did, just wondering how many of you Max modelers remember the other side!
Shaun
heh… yeah, i started out doing 2d cad then did a night class in advanced 3d autocad then after uni i started working for an interior company as a 2d cad tech.
they had a license for viz but nobody who could use it so i learnt it when i had down time - now it’s all i do! no more boring CAD layouts for me! :lol:
well seeing as how arch vis isnt the only thing i do max is my tol. no point learning something else
Acad-->DataCad-->Archicad-->MAX!
Started of in acad v2.5 or something ridiculous for 2d stuff!
I then used imagine on the amigas for a few years.
Then used acad 12/13/14 (which I hated) on PC (which I hated 
)
Max/Viz after that. Tried microstation *laugh*
Had a go on solidworks which is a bit weird.
CAD almost exclusively.
For all of you Max modelers out there, how do you generally work? Primitives? Compound Objects? Mesh? Patch? Poly? Nurbs? Extruded Splines, etc, etc, etc???
I’ve never been able to get a workflow in Max/Viz that comes close to the speed and precision I can operate at in CAD. I work primarily with solids and a lot of subtractions, unions, etc. I can model 95% of what I need in CAD and I struggle :x with the 5%(landscapes, soft shapes, etc.) I need to work out in Viz. I’d love to work more in Viz but I just can’t get my head around it. All of the books and tutorials seem to be of no help for this level of work, they all seem way to simple and teach you every tool under the sun rather than a good workflow and WHY you would use one option over another.
David
i thought exactly the same as you until i discovered the joys of poly-modelling!
most times just start out with a basic cube or cylinder and work from that but it depends on what you’re modelling…
it took a while to get up to speed on it but now i generally find it much quicker than cad.
::edit::
have a look at these posts;
http://www.chaosgroup.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10045&highlight=poly+modelling
http://www.chaosgroup.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4068&highlight=poly+modelling
I usually start with the elevations and trace splines off them in AutoCAD, then export those to Max. I then convert them to faces, extrude, bevel, or whatever 3D operation is required until I’ve built out the elevation. I keep moving around the building like this until all the sides I need are done.
As a rule I never collapse anything. Whenever my modelers give me an editable mesh object, they better have a damn good explanation. This makes revising models a snap as I can almost always go back to the editable spline that I started with and adjust them.
Shaun