Before doing any model on computers a rule of thumb,in my opinion, is size of RC C column will be about 3 to 5 % of height of building.

That is if building is 8 storied of near equal heights of floor 3M than building is about 24M tall. Proba bly column size will be between 750mm to 1200mm. However, spans in both direction will have to be considered[ Column spacing]. If spans in both direction is say 8M X8M than most probably 750mm X750mm may suffi ce. But if span is 14M in one direction and 4.5M in the other direction than you may be able to use 1/12 th of span and hence column size may be about 1.2M in 1 4M direction and 300mm to 400mm in that direction. Same is true for Steel columns but width of column[flange of column shall be 1/ 30th of height to keep latral buckling of flanges if you are using rolled sectio ns. http://www.sefindia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7663