Complete LandDesigner 3D Design Collection 7.0 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)First, I'd like to say that I think this software is a great value for the price. There are however, some requirements you should be aware of before you buy. These programs require TIME and PATIENCE. If you are doing a complete landscape, expect to invest many hours. I'm not talking months or anything, but until you get the hang of it, progress will be slow. If you are using the 3D program, you will have to take LOTS of measurements if you want realistic results. BUT, once you get a nice replica of your home and garden, it's fun to experiment with adding/removing features. More important than the time investment, be aware that due to the details in graphics, these programs may not be compatible with your computer. Please be sure your computer meets the "recommended" (different from 'minimum') system requirements. I will also include some info from the program's "README" page. ..."Matrox Millenium G400, ATI Rage chipsets & Voodoo3 3000 are known to have problems with 3d acceleration". And..."STB Velocity 128 video card does not work properly...at all" Please note that some of these problems may have been fixed with recent drivers. Also, the video acceleration feature can be disabled and this is a likely remedy for video problems. At any rate, I wanted to mention this just in case. If you have the requirements, I highly recommend you try this software. Some of my favorite features are the price trackers. These are great if you are on a budget. I am landscaping my backyard and found that some materials which are nearly equal in quality had significant price differences. I'm sure this will vary upon location, but it still gives a good ballpark figure. Also, you are not limited to outdoors. This program also enables you to redecorate indoors as well. I have completed my backyard and have started my guest bedroom! I think this is generally easy to use software that will give you lots of good ideas. Just follow the manuals and tutorials and you shouldn't have any problems. I am sure there will be negative reviews from people who will think the programs are too time consuming or not detailed enough. Please keep in mind, these are not CAD programs. They certainly could be used by professionals for basic landscape outlines. (the cost minus rebate) you will get your money's worth. And another bonus, if you try it and hate it, you can send it to the company and get your money back.

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Complete LandDesigner 3D is a suite of eight products to help you design the landscape, garden, and deck of your dreams. It includes LandDesigner 3D, 3D Deck, Photo Garden Designer, Ortho Problem Solver, Personal Garden Planner, Garden Encyclopedia, Designer Garden Library, and Landscape DesignGuide.
LandDesigner 3D offers a library of 4,600 plants and more than 2,200 objects and materials to use in your designs. Design wizards help you create virtual garden beds, sprinkler systems, and more. You can walk or fly through your designs and view them from every angle, and see how your landscape will grow and change in appearance through the seasons. 3D Deck shows you how to create a single- or multi-level deck safely. Learn from videos and get advice from professionals. And watch as your deck renders in realistic step-by-step 3-D. Photo Garden Designer allows you to import a photo of your own home and design around it, experimenting with over 1,000 plants, trees, and shrubs. Ortho Problem Solver is a resource for keeping your plants healthy and free from weeds, funguses, bugs, and pests. It has information on more than 700 common problems.
Personal Garden Planner is a scheduling tool that reminds you when it'stime to prune, plant bulbs, spread fertilizer, and more. The GardenEncyclopedia is a reference guide with full-color photos and entries onover 3,000 plants, and features a multimedia guide on selecting and caring for your plants. Designer Garden Library lets you use predesigned gardensfor inspiration, including feng shui, rose, herb, Japanese, and othergardens. Landscape Design Guide gives you expert advice and tips on all thedetails of keeping a great garden, from choosing appropriate plants to whatcontainers are best for specific plants.

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Chief Architect Home Designer Suite 9.0 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this product this week and overall, I'm very happy with it. I'm an interior designer who already has extended experience with autocad. I've also worked with 20/20 for kitchen design and I'm familiar with Google Sketch-up, but haven't worked with it. I bought it because we're planning to build a house and I thought this would be a fun way to design our new house. I also thought it would be great to use with clients to show them 3D views of the rooms I would be designing for them. If you're familiar with autocad, this program is about the same difficulty to use and the tutorials are helpful, but don't go into too much depth. So far, I've found it easy to get started, but there are a lot of small details that you need to experiment with in order to get what you want. The best thing about this program that I've found, is it's ability to draw a 3D picture directly from a floor plan. (From my experience with Sketch-up, that program requires you to build the walls, doors, etc.) This program allows you to put windows and doors in very easily -- almost like cut & paste. Because I read quite a few reviews of this product and others, I wasn't sure if it would be as good as I would like. It's not professional, of course, but it does enough for my purposes. The only thing that I would like is if it had more furniture styles to choose from, so that if I wanted to use it with clients, I could show them a closer replica of what their room would look like. I have to experiment some more, but for now it only gives me a general idea of what the room would look like. It's a good planning tool. I'm happy with my choice. I think I got a lot of progam for a relatively small cost. One thing I would like to reiterate is that if you're not familiar with any other autocad products, you may have difficulty learning to use it.

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Home Designer Suite 9.0 is the latest release from Chief Architect, the professional software design company and the software of choice by more builders, architects and designers. Home Designer Suite leverages the same professional quality from Chief Architect making it the most powerful and easy to use home design, remodeling and landscaping software.

Design or Remodel Your Home Today! Chief Architect Home Designer Suite provides a fun and an advanced yet easy to use set of tools for Home Design, Remodeling, Interior Design, Kitchens, Baths, Decks, Landscaping and Cost Estimation.
Powerful, Fun and Easy Home Design Software
Perfect for Home Design, Remodeling and Landscaping
Choose from over 1,500 Sample Plans
Choose from built-in home style templates, create your own custom home design or use the House Wizard
Powerful building tools like automatic roof generation, dormers, stairs, framing and foundations
Visualize your new Kitchen or Bath

House Wizard and Tutorial Videos Make it Easy!
The Quick Startup Options Guide will help you begin with "How-To" tutorials based on the type of your project
Use the House Wizard for quick and easy layout of your rooms
Select from the pre-designed Home Design, Interior and Landscaping Style Templates complete with colors, cabinets, decks and more
The online help system provides detail information on all types of building projects
Includes over 30 easy "step-by-step" tutorial training videos that will quickly get you started on your next home design project

Kitchens, Baths and Custom Cabinets
Design the Kitchen of your dreams--move walls, create new cabinets, add appliances--Design your perfect workspace!
Plan the new layout of your bathroom with custom cabinets, sinks, showers and garden tubs. It's easy to visualize your ideas in 3D.
Create custom cabinets in minutes by choosing your own colors, countertops, door styles and more
Design your new kitchen or bath using the Cabinet Designer Tools
Use the Cabinet Designer tools to create unlimited cabinet styles. Choose your own colors, countertops and door styles.

Interiors and Exteriors
Design and decorating style ideas with inspirational photos by rooms
Material Painter lets you apply colors and materials quickly and easily
Choose from thousands of colors and textures or create your own materials using a digital photograph
Design for your lifestyle and personality--change colors, add lighting and choose furniture to accent your new room
Choose from a variety of interior items--including chairs, tables, sofas, fabrics, accessories and more. Resize, change colors and materials to meet your exact needs.
Smart Design Objects, Drag-and-drop from thousands of design objects in the built-in Library organized by category

Decks and Landscaping
Powerful deck and patio tools allow you to design and visualize your new deck with 3D models and can help you estimate the costs
Design single or multi-level decks complete with automatic deck framing
Quickly lay out your deck with stairs and arrange furniture
Deck foundations automatically generate to match sloped lots
Plant Encyclopedia to learn more about the plants in your designs
Choose from over 1,500 plants with the Plant Chooser
Pathways--Use the Stepping Stone tool to design curb-appealing landscaping using stone, pavers or sidewalks--line with trees, shrubs, flowers and more

3D Models and Virtual Tours
Design in 2D and 3D. 3D Views are automatic with a point-and-click of the camera tool.
Glass House View provides a full translucent view of your design
Doll House View, a 3D overview without the roof, is an effective tool for space planning of furniture placement and traffic flow
Create a Virtual Tour--draw your record line to Automatically Generate; or record your camera movements
Visualize your home with day and night views
Assemble a scale model of your design with Model Maker
Generate shadows from the sun for realistic 3D views
Point-and-click to remove wall surfaces, or use 3D Cross-Section Elevation Slider to quickly create a 3D slice of your desired view

Site Planning & Estimating
Use Automatic Build Terrain and Terrain Perimeter tools to create flat, irregular shaped or sloped lots--use a GPS to import or enter elevation data
Create plot and perimeter plans; automatically generate a 3D model of your actual terrain
Make your backyard design come alive using several easy-to-use terrain and landscaping tools. Add a pool or pond and visualize in 3D.
Fences and Driveways--With the Fencing tools you can choose a variety of fencing styles and custom gates. You will also find driveway, sidewalk and curbing tools
Hill and Valley tools make it easy to add gardens, beds and slopes that automatically appear in 3D views. Choose from landscaping style templates or create your own.
Cost Estimating--Don't be surprised by the cost of your project. Automatically generate a complete spreadsheet for your project costs, broken down by category. Calculate the amount of lumber for your deck or concrete required for that new patio.

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