um all of them -most schools are the same now,.... get used to the concept of "workflows" learn everything.

I learned that everyone will know all the same programs at the end of the day, for the most part. But it is important to develop a skill that separates you from the masses.

I use Apple i-tunes. I prefer that program because it makes my mp3 files audible.


Seriously though, there's lots of them...

For me (currently in the workplace, but school was/is similar) the Adobe Creative Suite is absolutely integral. being quick and proficient with Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop will help you imensely in school. Moreso than any other programs IMO.

Of course, a familiarity with rhino or maya will also be of much use.

In the 'real world' knowledge of autocad and/or revit seems to be the industry standard, at least in the USA, so learning any of those two probably wouldn't hurt either.

Thank you IamGray

I'm on board with IamGray.

Adobe Creative Suite is crucial. I use Illustrator and Photoshop mostly. InDesign is good for presentations and portfolios.

Rhino is my modelling program of choice. Grasshopper is a free parametric plug-in for Rhino that is very useful. For rendering, I am currently using Vray for Rhino.

Some other programs such as ArcGIS (for mapping) and Ecotect (energy analysis) can be valuable too.

As for school, I am studying at the University of TX at Austin.

What about 3dMax for rendering?

I have some experience with Vray and 3ds Max both and from my experience, Vray is a more intuitive, user-friendly program. Although, I have heard that 3ds Max has a more extensive material library which is convenient.

As for modelling, I learned Sketchup first and always got tremendously frustrated with it. I use Rhino now which i am much happier with.

washingtonian, you are talking about v-ray for rhino or sketchup? You're aware that v-ray also works with Max (and I would argue generally looks a little bit better). I believe it was initially designed with 3ds Max in mind and yeah, the material library is amazing when you combine Max with v-ray.

I went to school (undergrad) at UW and we focused mostly on hand-drawn stuff + sketchup, autoCAD, & the Adobe Design Suite. My friend there now, in grad school, is using a similar workflow with some Solid Works, Rhino, & Grasshopper thrown in.

My old roommate, who was studying at sci-arc for a semester but goes to Delft, said that they have a similar workflow and found the adjustment to architectural thinking in Maya, Rhino, + some programming to be very different.

Most of the "forward-looking" American schools seem to be leaning towards this workflow (one of the school blogs called it "Mayo")

I agree w/ IamGray that the majority of the stuff I see now in the workforce (in LA) is still done in autoCAD + some stuff with Revit. Early on conceptual modeling seems to be done in Rhino or Sketchup.

On a lot of job boards for work not done in the US, I'm seeing a lot of requests for people knowledgeable in vectorworks or archiCAD, programs that don't seem that prevalent in the US working world anymore (am I wrong about this)? Microstation still rears it's head up when there's government work involved.

I've recently spent time learning 3ds Max. It's strange to work in at first but once you get a handle on the modifier stack, it's actually a very powerful program.

The good news is that you don't really have to model anything in 3ds Max. I think a lot of people just build their model in Rhino or Maya and then import into it, assign materials and render.

Learning one program makes learning the next easier. If you know Maya, then navigating & modeling in 3ds Max isn't too big of a change. If you know autoCAD (and its shortcuts) + sketchup, then navigating and building things in Rhino becomes pretty straightforward.

To add to this thread, because I think it's on the same topic. What programming languages (if any) are people learning in school? I've been working w/ Processing but I'm finding it's integration into modeling programs somewhat cumbersome. Beyond Grasshopper, is anyone using c# w/ Rhino, pymel w/ Maya, ruby w/ sketchup, etc?

How many people in the working world are integrating programming into their workflow? Maybe this needs its own thread?

intotheloop- i'm an undergrad at UW right now! I was talking about V-ray for Rhino. I've never even used 3ds Max to model, only to render. Most of my classmates are heavily into sketchup though a fair amount use Rhino. A few are getting ahead by learning Revit, which is a probably a good move.

Anyone use Maxwell to render? I've talked to a couple people who say its the class of the rendering programs right now. No idea if that's true or not.

Washingtonian, that's good you're using Rhino. It's much more powerful and versatile than sketchup and will give you a leg up on everyone else (in the NW) when you graduate. If you want to leave the Seattle area you'll be expected to at least know Rhino at most places.
I would recommend becoming familiar with as many programs as you can while you're in school and taking advantage of staff there that know what they're doing. It's a lot harder to learn this stuff once you're out of school and on your own.
I think a nice workflow to have going on is to model in Rhino and then export to 3ds max w/ v-ray to render. Maxwell looks a little bit better, but my roommate here thinks it's more cumbersome to use. Can't say I've used it personally. I think the standard is generally v-ray.
If you get the chance, spend a few weeks during your summer to learn the basics of Revit. There's a good chance it will help you find work when you graduate.

I used the Maxwell plug-in for rhino when i was in school a few years back and found it much easier to use than tradiitonal renderers, mostly because the controls and parameters are closer to actual environmental and photography controls rather than abstract optics and physics. The renderings also jsut looked gorgeous as compared to VRay. But that's just my 2 cents.

I agree that maxwell looks much better than v-ray but was hesitating because I heard it was harder to use. I'll have to check it out now.