Which program for making mechanical models?

PHaynes888

Hi all

I'm quite experienced with 3D Max and normally use that for all my modelling, however I now want to try modelling something mechanical like a robot, and I'm not sure whether Max is still my best option. With robots there's a lot of screws, gaps between metal plates and general close-up detail. What would you guys suggest would the best program to get this done? Should I block it out in Max and then take it into something like ZBrush?

Any advice would be appreciated! Cheers

Brian "Panda" Choi

Max is still most likely your best option, and ZBrush for when you need to sculpt something.

PHaynes888

Ok cheers, so in terms of the amount of detail on the model..how far would you normally go? I've not made anything with that much surface detail in it before, so am wondering whether I should be adding all those little screws and metal plating gaps, or whether the normal process is to add the larger details (anything that extrudes from the main model) and add the rest in at the texturing stage?

ZacD

Whatever is quicker is normally the best solution for production work, but it doesn't take much work to copy and paste 100 nuts and bolts in a 3d application, and typically that gives you better control and bakes.

cptSwing

Also keep your target resolution in mind.. if you're baking to a 1k texture, chances are those 5 mm bolts won't show up anyway

PHaynes888

True, I'm not working to any limits though so should be ok I think I'll stick to Max then and see how far I get