A new way of city creation...

There is a new kid on the block that wants to shake the process modelers followed till now to create a vast cityscape in 3D Studio Max.

Modelling vast cityscapes for far shots is easy since there is no need for a lot of detail and can easily faked by scattering low poly models or with the use of plugins like Greeble.

But for modelling a detailed cityscape someone has either to model every single building by hand or use external programs like ESRI Cityengine. And if the need to change something they have to start all over again.

Now there is a new company called Architools3D that wants to change all that. They are developing a city editor which is fully integrated with 3D studio and allows for full parametric modelling of cities.

The main features they are implementing are:

• Complete Parametric Description. Create and change the structure and the appearance of your building models quickly and easily based on parameters.
• Automatic Geometry Creation. The software creates detailed building models based on your description. You always receive visual feedback of your scene.
• Building Modeling with Styles. Parametric descriptions can be combined with styles. Thus, styles define the architectural language of buildings or building elements.
• Style Libraries. Once the styles have been created, they can be stored in libraries that represent a particular architectural style.

 For more information Check : architools3d & archixml

Also check their YouTube channel: architools3D

At the moment the official release is planned for Spring 2013 although no concrete dates have been set yet.