TheNiche Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Here's the scenario: I have some ideas that I'm trying to effectively communicate to investors and contractors. 2D top-down drawings have proven insufficient because there are complicating factors relating to code-compliant rise and run of stairs, headroom, the positioning of landings, doorways, corridors, trusses, etc. This isn't new construction, so I've mostly got to work around what's already there. Does anybody know of decent software that I can use to make 3D renderings of my designs so that I can avoid having to hire out an architect?Back when I was in high school, I used the map editor for the Half Life game (run on the Quake engine) to recreate my own house digitally and to make a veritable war zone out of it. I don't have the software anymore, unfortunately, but I know from playing around with it so many years ago that I could make due with it, if that's all I had. So if that or some kind of freeware is available, that would work too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Sketchup's cheap, fast and dirty, but I hate the damn thing for it's quirks and tendency to lag after a few dozen walls go up. There's always GMAX, which is free, and is essentially an old version of 3DS.You could always get The Sims Two, and mess around with that somehow, but that may not go over well when it comes to a serious presentation. I'm not sure about this, but if I am not mistaken, alums of UH can acquire 3DS and the like for cheap from the software store. Furthermore, if you still have your old UH Email/ID, you can register at the Autodesk student website, and use educational versions of certain software for free. But yeah, that's all I know about when it comes to cheap/free 3d software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Cool. This should be pretty simple, and I've got a good computer, so I'm going to try Sketchup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoef Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Here's the scenario: I have some ideas that I'm trying to effectively communicate to investors and contractors. 2D top-down drawings have proven insufficient because there are complicating factors relating to code-compliant rise and run of stairs, headroom, the positioning of landings, doorways, corridors, trusses, etc. This isn't new construction, so I've mostly got to work around what's already there. Does anybody know of decent software that I can use to make 3D renderings of my designs so that I can avoid having to hire out an architect?Back when I was in high school, I used the map editor for the Half Life game (run on the Quake engine) to recreate my own house digitally and to make a veritable war zone out of it. I don't have the software anymore, unfortunately, but I know from playing around with it so many years ago that I could make due with it, if that's all I had. So if that or some kind of freeware is available, that would work too.If you want to go more complex try Blenderhttp://www.blender.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highway6 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Sketchup is free, fast, easy to use and is all around the shitnit for conveying information fast and effectively.It won't lag if you have a computer with a decent amount of ram and if you know how to create efficiently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highway6 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 If you want to go more complex try Blenderhttp://www.blender.org/Wow.. that looks like a heck of a program for being free.. I'll have to check it out.However, it doesnt look like it has nearly as quick the learning curve as sketchup.i think for niche wants to convey, the easiest solution would be to import his existing cad files in to sketchup and he should be able to have a model within a few hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas911 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 +1 for sketchup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 SketchUp did the job, and it was a whole lot easier to work with than Valve's Hammer software of my youth. Thanks for the recommendation, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highway6 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 SketchUp did the job, and it was a whole lot easier to work with than Valve's Hammer software of my youth.Thanks for the recommendation, guys. gonna leave us hanging or are ya gonna give us a snapshot of your handiwork ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 gonna leave us hanging or are ya gonna give us a snapshot of your handiwork ?Yes, I'm going to leave you hanging. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoef Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Wow.. that looks like a heck of a program for being free.. I'll have to check it out.However, it doesnt look like it has nearly as quick the learning curve as sketchup.i think for niche wants to convey, the easiest solution would be to import his existing cad files in to sketchup and he should be able to have a model within a few hours.Agree it is pretty complex but if you know your way around Maya it should be easy to pickup.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highway6 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Agree it is pretty complex but if you know your way around Maya it should be easy to pickup....Which I'm not.. never have used Maya.The last true modeling/rendering program i used on a regular basis was Viz/Max.. but that was 4 years ago. Pretty much shelved it for the speed and ease of SketchupI'm getting ready to pick up Rhino though due to client requirements at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absinthe_1900 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Vectorworks for CAD, and Renderworks are my choice, and I use Artlantis for rendering as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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