New to 3d Max

[dsw98]

Is it better to get all my landscaping put into place in Revit, then import that into Max or does Max have bushes and trees ect? Thanks

[aaronrumple]

Max is somewhat limited in what landscaping it comes with.

You'll need to decide what systems you are going to use for landscape in your renderings. It could be RPC, Onyx, or some other system. Revit uses RPC and these will translate over to Max. But then you'll want additional content for RPC for Max which means you end up with some additional licensing from Archvision. this has gotten a little confusing with their switch to subscription.

We also just use photoshop for landscape on a lot of project and add it in after the fact. It all depends on your workflow. I like doing all landscape in Max. We use some RCP. Some Photoshop, some of our own billboards.

[dsw98]

Wow, that does sound a bit complicated. I have much to learn. Thanks

[loydg]

Here's my list of vegetation software suggestions:

Max comes with some the AEC Extended foliage. Like Aaron said, it's pretty limited. You can purchase more "seeds" from EasyNat. These look okay up to a certain distance, but do have some display options that are handy.

Onyx Tree/TreeStorm has some great looking, easy to insert trees. They look pretty darn good and are fairly easy to adjust geometry and various settings. We will create proxy objects from these.

X Frog has some great looking trees that are not editable unless you buy another software called X Tune. We use these for our close-up shots.

Forest Pro is another pluging that has some very useful options. Its default use is for Planar trees that can be distributed via splines or B&W distribution maps.

Honestly, using and assortment of these layered as LOD levels whill help improve the quality and appearance of your renderings and animations. Use the high poly, great looking foliage up close and reduce to low poly to planar further away from to camera.

Hope that's useful.

[cliff collins]

Take a look at VueXstream--this is the best landscaping/environment tool I've seen yet.
It will run inside Max and works with Mental Ray. Trial version of Vue 7 Xstream is not available yet, but I'm told it's coming soon---
stay tuned.

http://www.vue7.com/

cheers.....