Author Topic: Quick question - your thoughts on ArchiCAD integration  (Read 10818 times)

2018-05-18, 15:02:52

TomG

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Hi all!

You may remember in our last blog post we mentioned testing integration with some CAD software - here at Total Chaos we just showed the first results of testing integrating Corona into ArchiCAD (can't share the video here, but it was very rudimentary initial testing so you aren't missing out on much ;) ).

So now we would welcome your comments and thoughts:

*Is it software you'd be interested in seeing Corona integrated into?
*What features of Corona would you like to see there?
*Do you have other CAD software that you think would be a better fit or has more need of Corona?

Everything is just early testing, so don't get excited one way or the other :)
But we would like to hear your thoughts before we do anything more than these early tests.

Thanks!

   Tom


« Last Edit: 2018-07-17, 11:44:57 by maru »
Tom Grimes | chaos-corona.com
Product Manager | contact us

2018-05-18, 16:22:21
Reply #1

marqueso

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This would be great! I think it would be hard to merge all the walls together to get a clean exterior rendering. I export to sketchup to clean up all the seams then to Max to render in Corona. This would also be great because you could export nice line work to merge with renderings.

2018-05-18, 19:18:09
Reply #2

steyin

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We use AutoCAD...but I've never known or seen anyone who uses CAD (whichever software it is) to render.

Personally, I'd rather resources be focused on integrating Corona into another major software that people do render in, which from those not covered yet would be Rhino. All the youngins here in the states seem to be using that more so (especially at the college/grad school levels), and I'm 1 of 2 people on a design team of 10 or so only using MAX while everyone else uses VRay in Rhino.

Also, given the amount of job listings I've seen asking for Rhino experience over CAD and even MAX, I think your client base would widen more with that versus CAD integration.

2018-05-18, 19:39:24
Reply #3

Benny

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I think Revit's grip on the CAD market is getting stronger and stronger, and from what I can tell that goes for Europe as well.

Having said that I agree partly with the previous poster in that few render straight from CAD, at least not to the point where something like Corona would be useful, but I think you can ask your colleagues at Vray about that since they have a Revit version. Enscape's integration and realtime feedback makes value of the additional gained quality from a standalone render miniscule, and architects wants either a fast good overview or they want it perfect. You won't achieve either from the current Vray implementation.

What would be extremely useful would be a tailor-made translator from Revit/Archicad into 3ds Max and Corona (or Vray) that lets you map material replacements in a clever way. The existing Max import is a hassle at best and a lot of material work.

2018-05-18, 20:01:52
Reply #4

steyin

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I think Revit's grip on the CAD market is getting stronger and stronger, and from what I can tell that goes for Europe as well.

This too. More and more of our clients are requesting Revit for projects. Though we have dabbled with VRay for it, as well as Lumion/Enscape, our clients/developers and marketers prefer the look of VRay/Corona from MAX/Rhino.

2018-05-19, 19:19:20
Reply #5

numerobis

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So, no Sketchup integration, but ArchiCAD? I don't get it...

2018-06-17, 14:56:11
Reply #6

felcunha

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I've just seen the announcement of Corona plugin for Archicad and I can tell you, it could be very nice to Archicad users :
- We don't have fast alternatives to render in Archicad - the included render engine is very good (Cinerender derived from Cinema4D) but it's very slow and awkward to set up. Lots of users go to Sketchup or Revit + Vray because of it.
- Some users use Twinmotion (or Lumion) for rendering but with not that good results when render still images.
- Finally other users use Artlantis wich is relative fast but with lesser qualities than Corona or Vray...

2018-06-18, 09:56:54
Reply #7

louisryko

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+1 for Rhino.

ArchiCAD is second-rate to Revit, in terms of both use and power world-wide, I believe. So ArchiCAD integration is a bit of a mystery to me.

Rhino, with it's use by students and professionals world-wide, seems like a no-brainer. Grasshopper makes it incredibly powerful, the only thing that is missing (and the reason I recently moved from Rhino + vray rendering to Max+Corona) is the lack of assets for sale and of course no Corona (yet).

Again, +1 for Rhino! :)
« Last Edit: 2018-06-18, 10:00:40 by louisryko »

2018-06-20, 02:06:18
Reply #8

spr0ckets

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I hope it's not too late to put in my two cents in this question.
I basically registered and searched this topic just to give my opinion on this issue.
As you might guess I'm an ArchiCAD user and wanted to chime in support of any effort to bring in ArchiCAD integration.

 I saw the video with the short demonstration showing a bit of the demo/alpha version you guys were working on, although I must point out that that probably wasn't the best venue from which to get feedback from possible ArchiCAD users . To be frank, neither is this one since not a lot of ArchiCAD users would come this way.

ArchiCAD has had a few third-party renderers created plugins and bridges for it (e.g. Maxwell, Octane render, Twinmotion) so the API should be straight forward for most people seeking to create a bridge. I believe ArchiCAD users would readily, enthusiastically (and quickly) adopt it since the main roadblock now to more archiCAD users using or knowing about Corona is the fact that you can only access it only through 3DS Max. And the current internal renderer while serviceable is not great or nearly in the same league as Corona (or VRay for that matter) nor is it even developed or maintained by Graphisoft themselves - which often leads to issues.

In any case, I strongly believe A Corona ArchiCAD bridge would find much faster adoption among ArchiCAD users than it would with say Revit (where they have a VRay integration already)

I posted a couple of images of renders I was able to do in Corona (from ArchiCAD developed models and projects) in a thread discussing this very issue and which is what brought my attention to this possibility in the first place at this ArchiCAD user discussion thread:

https://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=61404

If you need any useful feedback I would suggest asking users at the ArchiCAD user forum (the link  above with my images), from which you could also get feedback (and possibly API assitance and help) from developers as well who occasionally stop by to address questions.

2018-06-26, 13:10:28
Reply #9

Nader

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Hi everyone,

I´m an ArchiCAD user, and recently have seen the power of Corona render.

As an architect and ArchiCAD user, I would like to put my to cents in this discussion:
1. I wish I can see the Corona for ArchiCAD, and I think that it will be adopted quiet quickly by ArchiCAD users community since that they will see it as:
1_1 A hassle free rendering engine that can give very good results in short periods of time.
1_2 Have a very similar work philosophy of that ArchiCAD.
1_3 Optimized resource usage.
1_4 CineRender (ArchiCAD's native rendering engine) although it's good, but it can't compete with Corona, either in easiness of use, delivery time, configuration, or material editing, basically you will blow them away.

But there're two issues I would like to point them out:
2_1 I would like to be able con configure my rendering materials using a nodal system.
2_2 For the future, I would like to be able to use renders made by Corona in Graphisoft's BIMx app.

2018-06-26, 13:18:23
Reply #10

Nader

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And as Rhinoceros/Grasshopper 3D users:

I would like also to see this connection, I know that you're asking for ArchiCAD, but just hear me in this;

ArchiCAD already have a live connection with Rhino and Grasshopper 3D, so if you're plugin for Grasshopper is made, nothing fancy, just we configure the material characteristics in Grasshopper and send the parameters to ARchiCAD as a new or edited materials

2018-07-06, 11:24:17
Reply #11

pjetrus

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This is fantastic idea. Some people are calling ArchiCAD a second rate software compared to Revit; as a user of both of these programs, this could not be further from true. There is a large user group of ArchiCAD which would be grateful for a plug in for Corona. ArchiCAD already support Maxon's CINEMA render engine, but it is really painful to create and manage materials inside ArchiCAD. Maybe additional material editor could be useful addition for ArchiCAD

2018-07-06, 15:37:42
Reply #12

Jpjapers

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Revit is becoming industry standard for construction and theres upcoming legislation to dictate BIM useage in most building projects over a certain size.
I know global companies looking to abandon cad workflows and entirely move to revit. Seems like Revit integration is what you should be aiming for.

2018-07-17, 11:47:36
Reply #13

maru

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(removed some posts)

Guys, no flamewars please. It is fine to express opinion about other software here. It is also fine to present arguments for Archicad.
We are testing the Archicad integration now and would like to see what is the interest in it. If you are against it - feel free to share your view. If you are for it - feel free as well. But don't offend each other.

At the same time we are not saying that there will never be Corona for Revit, Rhino, Houdini, or whatever else.
Marcin Miodek | chaos-corona.com
3D Support Team Lead - Corona | contact us

2018-07-17, 12:06:55
Reply #14

Jpjapers

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(removed some posts)

Guys, no flamewars please. It is fine to express opinion about other software here. It is also fine to present arguments for Archicad.
We are testing the Archicad integration now and would like to see what is the interest in it. If you are against it - feel free to share your view. If you are for it - feel free as well. But don't offend each other.

At the same time we are not saying that there will never be Corona for Revit, Rhino, Houdini, or whatever else.

It seems that having interoperability with revit and max in terms of a material workflow would be immensely powerful because as it stands corona wont render revit materials in max as you know.
So for the Archviz user base being able to very quickly render without having to convert would be a HUGE step on in the pipeline.