What’s out there and what works the best?
A lot of the exhibit designers I know use Form Z.
Autodesk VIZ and VectorWorks for detailing
What about SolidWorks?
solidworks will work fine… i’ve seen it done and done it myself… i know in interior design and architecture they use for the most part 3DS Max for renders and autocad
3ds max is just better at setting up a scene and making the render look real vs solidworks… they both use mental ray i believe… it’s just 3ds has the ability to change a scene a lot more.
I second that, 3ds Max is great for setting a scene, lighting and rendering. I often model parts in Solidworks than import into 3dsMax. Photoworks is good too but after you get the hang of 3ds Max there just so many options and it’s also relatively easy to animate and do scene fly-bys.
Interesting what file format do you use to import to 3ds Max? I do realize SolidWorks Rendering Add-in is limited…this sounds like a good a solution though.
a 3d IGES file will work or a step file… i don’t actually remember… i used to export as iges… mostly or sending to manufacturers.
You can also import as STL files, 3ds Max handles them fairly well, just click quick weld when importing to Max. There is probably a plugin out there but IGES and STL works for me. If you google “Solidworks to 3ds Max” you can find tutorials like this:
http://www.cadmonkey.com/tut8.htm
I’ve even tested then saving STL files in 3ds Max and sending them to the 3D printer and they come out fine. However, in my limited experience models print accurately only if you model them in solidworks or a surface model first. [/url]
Cool Guys…good to know…that tutorial suggestion is pretty good too.
i work in the semi-cumtom components exhibits industry, for engineering/detailing we use vectorworks (never heard of it till i joined the compny, i hate the program) and for presenting to the clients the designers use 3ds. its mainly used for the custom designs.