2025/2026 School Year
The following software programs are required and used by students in their studies and design work. As you will see below, many are free, but Rhino requires purchase.
Primary software
These products are required for both graduate and undergraduate students.
| Software | Platform | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) |
Win/Mac | Free | SU provides Microsoft Office for free to all active students. Click here for info. |
| Digital Imaging | |||
|
Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat Pro + other products) |
Win/Mac | Free | The school now provides Adobe Creative Cloud to matriculated Architecture students. Get it here. All Adobe products are included with the subscription. |
| CAD | |||
| AutoCAD Architecture | Win/Mac | Free |
Obtain through the Autodesk Education Community.*
3. Now go to your Autodesk account. |
| 3D Modeling | |||
| Rhinoceros 8.0 | Win |
$95 if upgrading from earlier version $195 for new license |
Buy direct from McNeel. Rhino 8 also includes a Rhino 7 license if needed. Detailed purchase & install steps. |
| Rendering | |||
| V-Ray for Rhino | Win | Free | Obtain the V-Ray installation software from the G drive in G:\ARCH\Student Resources\Software. Then follow the installation instructions. |
* Once you have an syr.edu email address, register for free to obtain and download the Autodesk software. Visit the Autodesk Education Community and look for the “Sign In” link. Fill out the registration form using your syr.edu email address. When creating a password, please pick a different one than your SU NetID password. After logging in with the new account info, go to the software download section to obtain the free programs.
additional SOFTWARE
These products may be used by 2nd-5th year undergraduates and graduate students.
| CAD / BIM / Environmental | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Autodesk Revit | Win | Free | Obtain through the Autodesk Education Community.* |
| GIS | |||
| Autocad Map 3D | Win | Free | Obtain through the Autodesk Education Community.* |
| ArcGIS Pro | Win | Free | Visit this link to obtain the free license. |
| Google Earth Pro | Win | Free | Download & install. The pro version allows for higher quality printing of maps. |
| Digital Modeling | |||
| Maya | Win/Mac | Free | Obtain through the Autodesk Education Community.* |
| Cinema 4D Studio | Win/Mac | $60/yr | To obtain the software, visit the Cinema 4D Student website. |
| Real-time Rendering | |||
| Lumion 3D | Win | Free | Visit this site to obtain a free license. |
Software Copyright
Students must keep the original receipt of purchase of all software. All instructors of course work that use computing media may require students using machines and software not in School computer clusters to provide a copy of the purchase receipt(s) of the relevant application(s). The School requires this to avoid software copyright violations.
Important Note to Macintosh Users
We no longer recommend purchase of a Mac, as some essential software used in the program requires Windows (namely certain Rhino plugins, ArcGIS Pro, Autodesk Revit, ClimateStudio, etc.).
In the past, Mac users could install Windows through Boot Camp, but this option is currently unavailable on the new M2/M3 Macs. The are a couple of 3rd party apps such as Parallels and Fusion that run Windows inside macOS, but we’ve seen many cases where poor performance and graphical glitches cause problems and frustration. Fusion is now free for personal use (must create a Broadcom account to download). If you choose to try Parallels/Fusion, Windows 10 is free for students.
* Rhino for Mac does not support essential plugins used in the school and is missing commands found in the Windows version.
* The Mac version of AutoCAD isn’t as feature complete as the AutoCAD Architecture version for Windows.
