Which is the best Architectural Design Software: Sketchup, AutoCAD, Revit, or 3D Max?

As a University professor, I get this question asked quite often since students want to focus on (and learn in detail) the one architecture-design software that will help them succeed in the industry. Unfortunately, there is no straight answer to this question nor there is a specific best architectural design software since each program is meant to be used for slightly different things, so it is important to know exactly what each program does to make the decision to focus on one over the other (or on a few at the same time).

First of all, the main purpose of each one of these programs is different, and in a few words, here is what they are meant for:

• Sketchup: mainly used to get a quick representation of our design ideas. If conceptual design is our main focus, then this is certainly the software we should use.
• AutoCAD: used to create construction documents in a predominantly 2D environment.
• Revit: used to create 2D construction documents that are extracted from a 3D model (basically a 3D workflow). Plus, this software offers BIM functionality as well as collaboration tools, connection with other disciplines and rendering capabilities.
• 3D Max: it is a professional animation rendering software, as well as detailed organic and hard surface modeling, texturing, lighting and UV’ing program.

While some of these programs might overlap in some areas, you can clearly see (with those short descriptions) that each has a specific area of expertise, and based on what our company specializes in, we should choose the one that would bring more benefits to our projects. Let’s talk about some scenarios and discuss which of these programs would make the most sense in them.

Conceptual Design:

For this stage of a project, Sketchup would be the best option to choose. It is a very easy to use software that quickly allows us to see a good representation of the project/space. By creating simple objects/faces, we can quickly mock up the look of the building, plus, we can dress up the building with many different objects that we can find online.

Revit is another one of the software programs that will allow you to work on the conceptual design stage. While it comes with a lot of tools to create any type of building (including organic ones), it requires a lot more technical knowledge before we can feel comfortable with it. If we know the tools, the good thing about using Revit is that once we are done with the conceptual design stage, we can move on to the documentation stage seamlessly, keeping everything within the same “roof”.

The last software that will allow you to explore form is 3D Max. This software also requires a little more knowledge than Sketchup, but the tools and options to explore form go beyond what Sketchup and Revit can do. There are many modifiers and tools that will help you to create those intricate forms that are needed in complex/organic projects.

If the project needs to be carried over to the next stage (documentation), Sketchup and 3D Max’s files would need to be exported to either AutoCAD or Revit to perform that task.

Documentation:

Unfortunately, neither Sketchup nor 3D Max would be able to do this part of a project successfully. None of these two programs have tools to do that, nor they are reliable enough to carry this task out. If documentation is what you do the most, then AutoCAD or Revit are the ones to use since they are packed with tools to draw any type of project, from the simplest to the most complex. To know more about the difference between AutoCAD and Revit, read this blog entry.

Rendering:

When it comes to rendering, all four are actually rendering software programs, but the quality varies between them all (a lot in some cases), as well as the plugins we can use to do so. Vray is one of the best rendering plugins in the market and the one that most professional rendering studios use. It is used in architecture as well as in the visual effects industries (and in other industries also) and it generates highly realistic images. This plugin is available already for Sketchup, for Revit and for 3D Max, which helps to erase the line between the programs, so if you have Vray for any of these software programs, you’ll be able to render quite good-looking images in any of them.

Even though Vray is now available for three of these programs, it is important to mention, that the most professional-looking renders will certainly come from 3D Max, since this program allows you to configure everything in the project, not only in the rendering part, but also in the modeling, texturing and lighting parts. If the primary focus of your company is rendering, then you should consider the 3D Studio Max – Vray combo.

Animation (objects moving) and walkthroughs (camera moving):

For this stage, where we can create a walkthrough of the project or where we can animate objects such as doors opening or people moving around, the best animation software to use is definitely 3D Max, which offers a great amount of control over the cameras, the movement of them and the final output. Sketchup and Revit also allow you to do walkthroughs, but the amount of controls is very limited and not even close to what 3D Max has to offer. Of course, 3D Max is also equipped with character animation tools, which we probably wouldn’t use in an architectural project (although some companies do), but this helps us to understand that 3D Max is great at animations.

Everything:

Now, what if our company does everything (conceptual design, documentation, rendering and walkthroughs)? Which of these should we choose? The answer to this question can vary greatly based on your knowledge of the software, your budget and/or the people you will hire to perform these tasks. If you want to keep your expenses to a minimum, but still be able to do all these tasks professionally, then Revit would be your best option, since it allows you to work on a project from the conceptual stage to post-construction stages. If budget and hiring people is not an issue, and you want to excel in all areas of the life of a project, probably getting all programs would be the best option. This way, you can use the best tools in each software to tackle each of the tasks you need to carry out in your company.

At the end of the day, the important thing to know is that each program is designed for specific purposes, and even though they can overlap in certain areas, we still need to choose the one that makes most sense for our projects, in terms of workflow and budget, so my recommendation is that you sit down and write a list of the important things you do in your company (design, documentation, etc.) and based on the description of each software in this post (as well as the price) choose the one that you would benefit the most from.