Migrating from max, question(s)..

[t0ol]

Dear XSI gurus,

How would you approach modelling something like this object, specifically the panel profiles (attch.)? Im getting a hard time getting used to nurbs curves & their functionality after using splines. In max its pretty easy to outline the beveled sections but with curves I cant seem to get good results.. I.e. i dont understand how can i make parts of the curve linear (straight) while keeping the other parts rounded.

From what i understand its also not possible to just mirror & weld two curves at a given vertex (knot? point?).. The only trick I know of is to use symmetry mode while drawing a curve, completing one half and than snapping to the symmetriezed version to complete.

So what the workflow should look like? Plain outlining with cubic by CVs?

I would appreciate any help or advices here.

[Rork]

Hi,

Yes, Nurbs can be tricky to work with. There are some tools to help you out here.
Have a look at http://www.rray.de/xsi for some additional modeling tools regarding extrusions and such.

rob.

[t0ol]

Hi,

Yes, Nurbs can be tricky to work with. There are some tools to help you out here.
Have a look at http://www.rray.de/xsi for some additional modeling tools regarding extrusions and such.

rob.

Found some great plugins there, thanks.. Last time I looked there I was abit horrified by the lenght of the list and somehow missed the categories..

[origin]

Using curves in xsi can lead to nervous breakdown. I would rather do it in max, in xsi I would stick with subdivion surfaces...

[t0ol]

Using curves in xsi can lead to nervous breakdown. I would rather do it in max, in xsi I would stick with subdivion surfaces...

Yeah I`m close to it. Sad... xsi was so close to completely replace max for me..

[Rork]

try some of the plugins. there are some really nice one to be tried.
the keyviz one I use often.

rob

[t0ol]

try some of the plugins. there are some really nice one to be tried.
the keyviz one I use often.

rob

Yeah just spend a few hours playing with it.. not exactly the "level of flexibility comparable to 3ds max" as in the description.. its all about speed, 1-2 click solutions vs infinite pain. Not that i expected a miracle by posting a question here, just thought i`m missing something with n-curves.. turns out i`m not.

[Rork]

Well, if you have a LOT of modeling like that, I would say stick to max and export when ready.
MAX is, and always was, more geared towards archviz modeling.

It's also one of the reasons why you have so many renderers for it.

[Nox]

The next step is realizing that XSI has no rendering solution for archviz comparable to Max.

BTW, why not use Max?

[t0ol]

The next step is realizing that XSI has no rendering solution for archviz comparable to Max.

BTW, why not use Max?

Mm.. arnold?
Actually I`m more concerned with plain modelling. Max is fine, it does the job for me, but I loved XSI`s overall interface, poly tools, snaps, sticky keys and so on.. list is pretty much endless as you all know. I just enjoy working in this app, and opening max after working with xsi feels like.. i donno.. starting up an old grandpa`s car

[mattmos]

The next step is realizing that XSI has no rendering solution for archviz comparable to Max.

BTW, why not use Max?

Vray, Arnold, Maxwell not good enough? Or for sheer speed get signed up to redshift alpha, very promising so far!

[owei]

...just wanted to mention, that archviz (interiors) is not a strength of Arnold. I never used Maxwell, but I guess Vray is the choice for these kind of tasks...

cheers,
oli

[Nox]

Arnold is very slow with interiors... I mean, veeeryyyy slooooooow and with mediocre quality OOB It's just not suited for this task.
Vray, good but half-baked. No RT and slow export. Let's see if 2.0 ever comes.
Maxwell is slow, also using external app is kinda painful. Well, matter of preference ofc.
Redshift looks promising, but it's not even in beta. After release it will probably take 2–3 years to implement all features and get rid of bugs.

[owei]

@Nox: So what is the solution in Max..?

[Nox]

Vray ofc

[Rork]

@Nox:

Just wondering, do you use all these renderers, or are you just comparing on 'what other people say'....

And saying Vray is -the- solution for Max is a bit overblown imho. It's a great renderer, butr for archviz there's plenty of alternaties in Max.