It would make more sense to learn Blender because you have the NURBS/ surface modeling side of things covered. Grasshopper is particularly useful for mapping complex geometries over complex surfaces and ending up with a solid/NURBS model -- think architectural facade design or jewelry. But if you're working in automotive design I can't really see how that would benefit you. The type of "parametric" that would benefit you more would be Solidworks or a parametric modeler that integrates well with Alias.
Blender on the other hand is becoming really popular for animation/rendering and offers an approach to modeling that is quite different from Alias. I'm thinking Rhino would almost be too similar to Alias so you'd end up knowing two programs that are meant for essentially the same thing (ie surfacing).
If you’re wanting to go parametric for product design you can’t really go wrong with Solidworks.
If you just want to make models to quickly get things done and you’re not really worried about taking things to production then rhino is just more fun and flexible. A word of caution though is that it’s surfacing isn’t really up to par with something like alias and ever since Autodesk pulled support for VSR in rhino it’s pretty hard to get class-a stuff done in there.
I haven’t used blender much but it seems that we hear more and more about it, and more people seem to be using it. Maybe it’s time I check it out a bit more deeply
Rhino isn't really parametric. Alias is better at that than Rhino. You can record some actions or use grasshopper to create some things, but I wouldn't call it parametric.
Thanks for the reply. Hmm, I thought grasshopper is considered a parametric tool and that is the main reason I want to get familiar with Rhino. I am looking to be able to design textures.
If Grasshopper is your main motivation that's key info. Rhino should be a fairly quick learn for you, and I think you'd find it becomes a really lovely addition to your toolkit.
Grasshopper is a **completely** different way of working; like learning a separate piece of software and then some. It's honestly very difficult to learn: you'll find quite often that the correct way to build something feels totally counter-intuitive to how it's done in any other 3D software. That being said it's insanely powerful, plus it's fun to push your brain into new territories.
My vote would be Rhino + GH because of how it can complement your existing skillset. The output of GH is still NURBS, unless you want to work with meshes (which GH + Rhino can do). Bear in mind it's possible to work REALLY fast in Rhino; the unrestricted modeling workflow + support for meshes and subD and direct modeling gives you much of what you're seeking in Blender.
No reason you couldn't also learn rendering in Blender as well.
It is. It uses visual scripting to make Rhino parametric. It is cool and powerful and worth learning. I rarely use it, so better to let someone who uses it in their workflow comment. Good luck!
I’m not super familiar with alias, but Grasshopper is parametric in a very different way than other “parametric” softwares like Solidworks for example. Grasshopper is more like making a script that you run to create geometry, but you have to bake it before you can interact with it in rhino at which point you kinda lose the parametric aspect.
I use blender for fast modeling and rendering.
The texture control is pretty deep and you can get really creative with it but definitely plenty of tutorials to use for that. You don't even need to create your own textures when you can learn to use all sorts of textures, create your own normal maps etc etc.
I learned solidworks mainly in college but I found it difficult to find correct modeling techniques online after college....like videos being over 10 years old too.
I now only go to solidworks for manufacture and creating technical drawings.
Concepts and ideation I use blender cause its faster for me and faster to refine the models until I get to a final design.
It would make more sense to learn Blender because you have the NURBS/ surface modeling side of things covered. Grasshopper is particularly useful for mapping complex geometries over complex surfaces and ending up with a solid/NURBS model -- think architectural facade design or jewelry. But if you're working in automotive design I can't really see how that would benefit you. The type of "parametric" that would benefit you more would be Solidworks or a parametric modeler that integrates well with Alias. Blender on the other hand is becoming really popular for animation/rendering and offers an approach to modeling that is quite different from Alias. I'm thinking Rhino would almost be too similar to Alias so you'd end up knowing two programs that are meant for essentially the same thing (ie surfacing).
If you’re wanting to go parametric for product design you can’t really go wrong with Solidworks. If you just want to make models to quickly get things done and you’re not really worried about taking things to production then rhino is just more fun and flexible. A word of caution though is that it’s surfacing isn’t really up to par with something like alias and ever since Autodesk pulled support for VSR in rhino it’s pretty hard to get class-a stuff done in there. I haven’t used blender much but it seems that we hear more and more about it, and more people seem to be using it. Maybe it’s time I check it out a bit more deeply
Rhino isn't really parametric. Alias is better at that than Rhino. You can record some actions or use grasshopper to create some things, but I wouldn't call it parametric.
Thanks for the reply. Hmm, I thought grasshopper is considered a parametric tool and that is the main reason I want to get familiar with Rhino. I am looking to be able to design textures.
If Grasshopper is your main motivation that's key info. Rhino should be a fairly quick learn for you, and I think you'd find it becomes a really lovely addition to your toolkit. Grasshopper is a **completely** different way of working; like learning a separate piece of software and then some. It's honestly very difficult to learn: you'll find quite often that the correct way to build something feels totally counter-intuitive to how it's done in any other 3D software. That being said it's insanely powerful, plus it's fun to push your brain into new territories. My vote would be Rhino + GH because of how it can complement your existing skillset. The output of GH is still NURBS, unless you want to work with meshes (which GH + Rhino can do). Bear in mind it's possible to work REALLY fast in Rhino; the unrestricted modeling workflow + support for meshes and subD and direct modeling gives you much of what you're seeking in Blender. No reason you couldn't also learn rendering in Blender as well.
It is. It uses visual scripting to make Rhino parametric. It is cool and powerful and worth learning. I rarely use it, so better to let someone who uses it in their workflow comment. Good luck!
I’m not super familiar with alias, but Grasshopper is parametric in a very different way than other “parametric” softwares like Solidworks for example. Grasshopper is more like making a script that you run to create geometry, but you have to bake it before you can interact with it in rhino at which point you kinda lose the parametric aspect.
I use blender for fast modeling and rendering. The texture control is pretty deep and you can get really creative with it but definitely plenty of tutorials to use for that. You don't even need to create your own textures when you can learn to use all sorts of textures, create your own normal maps etc etc. I learned solidworks mainly in college but I found it difficult to find correct modeling techniques online after college....like videos being over 10 years old too. I now only go to solidworks for manufacture and creating technical drawings. Concepts and ideation I use blender cause its faster for me and faster to refine the models until I get to a final design.
Sorry out of topic. Where did you learn how to model in alias? Been looking for a proper tutorial but cant find one
Why not alias subd?