Home Design Concept to Reality Workflow

Hi -

I am a non-professional that has been visualising my ideal house for the past twenty years and actioning the design this year. I'm looking for the best tools and process in bring this to reality and am looking for some guidance.

1: I am fairly technical but have very limited CAD or architectural experience. I would prefer to use Home designer from a budget perspective and don't need to learn anything too detailed just for one house

2: I am based in Zambia so don't have access to good local talent to help me. I want to get something done over the next year as a concept then hand it to a professional to come up with the plans.

3: I am quite familiar with ray based render tools and would really like export my model in 3d (something I understand I can't do with home designer?) and come up with photo realistic renderings of my model - outside of the chief architect range of products. ie 3ds etc

So my question is:

Based upon the above statements => What tool and process would be ideal for me to create my concept to a reasonably detailed level, then hand such file(s) across to a professional to create the plans that could just be then just given to a builder?

firstly apologies if this is the wrong thread - I've been looking for the answers to the following for a couple of weeks, secondly if my question shows my relative knowledge and experience in the subject.

Shaun

Try:
Home designer Pro $500 , Chief Architect 10 (professional series) 4 versions behind but still great ,there is one for $500. Try personalarch.com

William/Shaun:

while PRO is decently capable especially for a one-time use it can't export to third-party software to create ray-traces.

it does have decent 3D render features (based on Chief X4) its not capable of doing raytraces

while Chief 10 was also decent it doesn't run well (maybe not at all) on Win7
so Shaun needs to consider which PC platform he has and/or wants to use

I would recommend finding a valid license on EBAY for X2 as it is much more current

I would suggest avoiding X3 due to the complicated mess they made of the library system (fixed in X4)

the seller should be willing to assist in verifying with CA that the license can be transferred and upgraded
be aware that the transfer fee can be substantial if the license is for a second seat etc

being current is a consideration for asking questions on this forum
if the version is too old then there will be fewer users able to assist

another consideration is to get Chief X4 lite for $1900
which I think has ray-tracing capabilty
there is a comparison chart on CA's website

I have recommended a one-time user to consider buying Chief Premier
even tho it costs $2600 as it could save the home-owner that much or many times more over designer/architect fees

if the user is willing to climb the learning curve
which is there for HD PRO as well

at the end of the project it can be sold for approx 75-80% of the cost
on EBAY or this forum etc

there is a decent re-sell market for used versions of Chief
if they aren't too old


Lew

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sicamore

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So my question is:

Based upon the above statements => What tool and process would be ideal for me to create my concept to a reasonably detailed level, then hand such file(s) across to a professional to create the plans that could just be then just given to a builder?

...................

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If you were to hire me to finish up the plans, I would start over and reproduce your plans using my organizational methods. I would guess most anybody you would hire would take this approach. I think it would somebody longer to figure out your methods than to use their own.

So choose software that you would feel most comfortable with in getting your design ideas across to whoever you choose to finish the plans.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dshall

If you were to hire me to finish up the plans, I would start over and reproduce your plans using my organizational methods. I would guess most anybody you would hire would take this approach. I think it would somebody longer to figure out your methods than to use their own.

So choose software that you would feel most comfortable with in getting your design ideas across to whoever you choose to finish the plans.

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x2........

Scott, agree with you, I have never been able to use anyone else's plan and finish it, the plan usually also has some kind of problem with it. Everyone has their own way of doing it.

one of the services my partner and I offer is to "fix" the plans if needed

we charge by the hour :)

Lew

I think you might benefit from my learning experience looking for a similar product. Like you, I am working on a major remodel of my own house and/or possibly designing a new house. I work in construction and have been using CAD for almost 30 years. I was an AutoCAD dealer in the 1980s.

What are the building standards and what type of construction will you be using for your home? This may be very different than the standards in North America and it may be important that the software is adaptable to this construction. Are there building codes involved?

What computer and operating system are you using?

I think what you want is something that will let you play with your ideas and then see how it would look. I assume you also want to be able to make changes easily and try that out.

I can tell you that Home Designer lets you do that pretty well. IF you need more, they give you full credit on that toward Chief Architect. That is my original plan. Home Designer Pro seems exactly like Chief X4 with less functions available. I can open my HDP drawings directly in Chief. The professionals that said they would take your ideas and start over make sense, particularly if you have extensive requirements for codes, permits, etc. East Africa must have changed a lot recently if that is true.

I have tried Softplan 2012, playing with the demo for 50 hours or so. I can see where a residential builder might prefer that to Chief but the ability to move things around and play with different ideas seems more difficult than Chief.

Unless you have played with ideas on paper a bunch, you are likely in the early idea stage and even a lower end product from Chief like Home Designer Architectural (around $200) might get you started. Chances are you are going to start over several times anyway.

Do you need to print drawings? I am used to printing good sized drawings and only being able to print 18x24" with HDP is a problem for me.

Do you need to print drawings? I am used to printing good sized drawings and only being able to print 18x24" with HDP is a problem for me.

Greg:

just create the drawings at 1/8" scale for 18 x 24
then enlarge 200% at the print shop for 1/4" scale on 36 x 48

or create 1/8" for 12 x 18 (prints nicely on a 13 x 19 printer)
then enlarge 200% at the print shop for 1/4" scale on 24 x 36

Lew

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GregB

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I have tried Softplan 2012, playing with the demo for 50 hours or so. I can see where a residential builder might prefer that to Chief but the ability to move things around and play with different ideas seems more difficult than Chief.

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Interesting, this statement says volumes, thanks Greg. You are not specific in you reasons for stating this.... but if you have time to eleborate it would be nice to know..... thanks again for your input......

Did you look at SketchUp Pro for $495. The free one has limited import/export capabilities:

• Exporting and Importing
• Export 3D models: KMZ, DAE
• Export 2D rasters: JPEG, TIFF, PNG
• Import: DAE, KMZ, 3DS, DEM, DDF and image formats

http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/p.../whygopro.html

(Edited)

Lew,

I can print to a larger scale but I'm not gaining any detail. HDP won't let me select paper larger than 18x24" so I tried using Postscript scaling in the print driver to double the size. It is larger but small details are still hard to read. I tried output to Adobe Acrobat and scaling up with the same result. Perhaps, I'm missing something.

I'm looking for more detail and not just bigger since I'm working on a big drawing. 1/8" scale means I need D size. The Ricoh will print E size drawing in about 30 seconds so in that I am spoiled. Might as well use the equipment since I'm not making any money in this economy.

Scott,
I want to take a day or two, look at the drawing in SoftPlan, and get you a complete answer.

The free one has no export capability

SU free has some export capability but for .SKP files only
maybe .DXF or .DWG ???

chiefers use the free version to fix symbols etc

Lew

Lew, this capability is in CA. to export for RayTrace, SKP files may be open in 3DS (I didn't verify that).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GregB

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Scott,
I want to take a day or two, look at the drawing in SoftPlan, and get you a complete answer.

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Looking forward to it, thank you.

Ash:

Chiefers are downloading .SKP files from the Google warehouse and then "fixing" them and then exporting from SU-free so that the file can be imported into Chief

this is also necessary for older versions of chief as they can't import .SKP 8 files and it is necessary to convert them to .SKP ver 7 or .SKP ver 6 depending on which version of chief will be using them

Lew

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GregB

What computer and operating system are you using?

I think what you want is something that will let you play with your ideas and then see how it would look. I assume you also want to be able to make changes easily and try that out.

The professionals that said they would take your ideas and start over make sense, particularly if you have extensive requirements for codes, permits, etc. East Africa must have changed a lot recently if that is true..

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Spot on GregB - yes, I fully expect my plans will just be guidelines and are really for me to flesh out what I want from the requirements list I have built. I fully expect then a professional will rebuild it from the ground up to follow correct architectural practices and building codes. The house will either be in SE Asia or the Carib. This part of the world has next to no building codes, which is actually in my opinion for home building a great thing! :eek:

Thanks to all for the great replies. I think I will go with Home Designer Architectural (win7) for the moment and upgrade if need be if I need more.

Is there any reason why I couldn't give the file to someone that has HD Pro who can then send it to Chief X4 to export as a 3ds / 3d dxf file for me to render in a professional render package? That would be really my only requirement for Chief.

On the thought of Sketchup - yes, I reasonably conversant in this package (I have pro 7) but it is seems a lot less architecturally focused and flexible than Chiefs packages.

I especially like this software for the fact that the community was so quickly supportive of my questions. That speaks volumes!

Shaun

Shaun:

no need to use HD PRO first

Chief premier can open AHD plans directly

the chiefer can even set the edit flag so that if they make changes to the plan you will be able to open/edit the plan they send back
(with some minor limits)

Lew

Thanks Lew - I was looking at the comparison Matrix that said Architecural had only basic editing capabilities within X4. Probably getting myself confused ;-)

could be .....

my understanding is that most of the HD products can read and edit a Chief plan (with the edit flag set) up to the limits of their features

IOW - if the chiefer adds a feature that isn't supported by the HD product, it can be viewed but not edited

but I believe that going to PRO first probably won't offer any additional benefit


probably best to discuss with CA's customer service

Lew

Thanks Lee, I have bought HDa. Looking forward to exploring and designing. You've been very helpful.

Shaun

Finally getting back to dshall about my experience with learning Chief and SoftPlan.

Chief seems easier to get started. When you are first learning, the basic fuctions seem more straightforward in Chief. If, or should I say when, you don't know how to do a function it is easier to find and more closely follows the functions that an experienced windows user would expect.

Chief seems to be more like Corel Draw or Designer and many other windows programs. It seems like $100 consumer house designer software that was developed into a professional tool. I mean that mostly in a positive way. You can quickly create a quick drawing of your house idea and then refine it later.

Softplan seems to be more like AutoCAD that was stripped of flexibility with many functions automated around homebuilding. I can also imagine that it would be easier to come back to Chief after not using it for a few months. I'm an experience AutoCAD user that struggled to get comfortable with the program again after not using it for a few years.

I want to be real specific that I have no opinion of the ability of either to be an excellent tool in the hands of a thoroughly trained user. I ran the demo and played with the training of each for about 30 hours. I'm still very uncomfortable with SoftPlan but made the decision to stick with Chief. I spent the next 10-15 hours producing a pretty good plan of my house, ready for minor cleanup and work toward remodeling.

To be specific, I was running a licensed copy of Home Designer Pro 2012 and the Demo of Chief X4. I may upgrade to Chief, but that is a bunch of money for what may end up being one house, even if I add an extra garage/shop and patio structures on a large lot. Chief seems to have more flexibility in importing Sketchup items and I'm probably going to need more realistic renderings particularly of the entire lot including landscaping.

Greg - thanks very much. I have bought a version of Architectural and going through the programs now. I can say that I am very very impressed with the software and it's capabilities. You hit the nail on the head by saying it is easy to use but has detailed capabilities if needed. Just the tool that I was looking for and the ability to upgrade is great if I want to expand the skills or features.

cheers - Shaun