Architectural Designs

Best software for architectural/environmental rendering?

I'm interested in getting into 3d design, and I'm looking around for the best software to do things like buildings. To be more specific I'm using Vue for environmental renders but am interested in adding in buildings and other custom meshes. Vue isn't the best for actually creating a building natively inside the program, so I wanted to build the model in a different program, and then import it into Vue where I can then sync it up with the environment, lighting, etc. What is the best program for this type of stuff? I'm a little wary on 3dsMax due to the impossible learning curve that I always hear about, but if you can provide a software and maybe some good sites with beginners tutorials that would be very helpful.

Public Comments

1. For your field, the best of software that you need: - AutoCAD - 3ds Max - V-Ray (a rendering engine that you can use as an extension for 3ds Max) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-Ray http://www.chaosgroup.com/en/2/downloads.html - Photoshop http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshopextended/engineering/ Architects whom I know, use them for their work (architectural and rendering) You may want to google for: vray 3ds max tutorials impossible learning curve? never heard that from them.