Hi there John.
To be honest, I am only using 3d studio max (out of all those you mentioned) and I not an expert in it, a basic user. To be honest again, I have not heard about other applications you mention. Although Arcon looks pretty good, there are far more advanced applications than that one.
From the architectural point of view, the best 2d application is Autocad. 3d at Autocad is kinda difficult, especially when it comes to some free forms and shapes. Now, I am not saying that it is not possible, of course it is, most of the things that people do today, they do in Autocad. But Rhinoceros has more friendly interface and system when it comes to 3d free forms.
Archicad is the best BIM application. This means that some elements have been completely automatized and by drawing the wall in the floor plan, you are in the same time getting it into the 3d. Not to mention other it's possibilities. But again, when it comes to some free shape modeling, it is not so good.
Sketchup is very friendly, and comes in free version also. You can even design a Sidney opera in it, if you want, but still it is more "play" tool, not very professional (at least the free version, I did not tried the payed one).
3d max is probably the best 3d modeling application on the market. I have not had chance to learn using it a bit better, but it gives unimaginable opportunities for 3d modeling.
Rendering - some time ago, each application had its render engine(s). Now you can find the same rendering engines at different applications.
From my experience, german V-ray gives far best results.
Now, all this story depends, weather you live in first or second or third world countries. For example, at my internship in Netherlands, it was unimaginable that you can use a c- r -a - c -k --ed application at work. In Serbia, there are laws related to private ownership of the licenses on applications. But simply, nobody gives a damn, as there is no control. So you can freely use what ever software you want. There we come to the point of cost of these applications. If you work somewhere on the west, where licenses and copyright laws are respected, then you choice will in most cases be:
1) Autocad for 2d, and 3d
2) Autocad for 2d, and Rhinoceros for 3d
3) Autocad for 2d, and Sketchup for 3d.
4) Autocad and Revit for 2d, and 3d
5) Archicad for 2d and 3d.
So as you can see, usage of Autocad is essential, and the rest goes by choice.
If you do not, then you can choose what ever you like :) as long as your employer is satisfied with the results. And if I understood you correctly you are from Croatia. This means you can continue using the Arcon, as long as it gives pretty much good results, and you have a "license" for it :D
Pozdrav
you are road engineer? Why do you need to do the renderings?
Here are an examples of the V-ray render for 3D Cinema and 3d studio max
Code:
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