Who Is Home Designer Designed For?

[SenaSmrt]

I’m confused about Home Designer’s intended audience. It’s marketed as a tool for home and interior designers to create realistic representations of their ideas, yet many of the controls needed to achieve that are unavailable.

 

I can model detailed wall assemblies and construction layers, but I have limited control over materials, lighting, and especially reflections. For interior design and communicating an aesthetic, those visual controls are central to the work.

 

The new rope lighting for LED strips is one example. Limited control over light direction and spill makes it difficult to represent a strip inside a channel with a diffuser without creating a blinding surface. You’re promoting this feature without giving us enough control over how the light behaves. Combined with limited surface controls, this makes realistic rendering frustrating. I can control the sun, but not how light interacts with a countertop?

 

A few of the other frustrations include:

• Moulding: Why can’t I import a basic DXF profile or create and edit a custom moulding shape, as I can in Chief Architect?

• Imported models with lighting: Why can’t imported fixtures retain their lighting data, as they can in Chief Architect? Why should I spend hours recreating lighting that was already defined?

• Materials and surfaces: Basic color and texture changes are available, but the finer controls offered in Chief Architect are missing.

 

I understand that Home Designer is a separate product from Chief Architect, but these limitations affect fundamental design tasks. Why provide extensive construction tools while restricting the tools designers need to visualize the finished space?

 

I’d appreciate clarification on the intended audience and whether there are plans to improve these capabilities. I want to love this product, but I constantly end up exporting my work or using other software to get the results I need.

[TheMadCadder]

Imagine you're in the shady part of town, on that one street everyone tells you not to go down at night unless you have a purpose there.

 

Sweet and innocent, you have no real reason to be there on that street at night, but there you are.

 

There's a man on the corner, looks shady as hell but you ask for directions.

 

Instead of guiding you out of that place you have no business being at, he asks you, real smooth-like...

 

"You need some Architect, man?"

 

You say no, you try to run away, but the bad man says, as if offended, "aww well, how about some of this Home Designer, man? It's cheap."

 

You hesitate. You've heard the rumors about Architect and what it will cost you, and the rumors about how much cheaper Home Designer is.

 

"Cheap?" you ask, curiosity getting the better of you.

 

"Oh yea!, man," the street corner man says to you, excited now, as if you're best friends. "The cheapest! I tell you what, you try this Designer and you won't even think about that Architect no more."

 

That sounds good. Warm and fuzzy, like a hug from mom.

 

"Is it subscription-based?" You ask, sensing danger.

 

The sketchy character starts shucking and jiving, like he's listening to some internal music no one else can hear.

 

"Aw man, yea, no, you see - it wasn't but then it was, and now it is what it is, you dig?"

 

Now you're wary, fight or flight is on deck now. "You mean, like Chief Architect?"

 

The nefarious gangster suddenly eyes you appraisingly, as if seeing you for the first time and not liking what he sees.

 

"Hey man, you a snitch or something?" Now he seems offended, as if you've impugned upon his character. "Perhaps Designer is too much app for you, youknowwhatImsaying? Like, some people just can't handle their renders, you know?"

 

He turns away, feigning disinterest as he watches you from the corner of his eye.

 

"No, wait," you say, leaning in and tugging at his shirt sleeve. "I can handle it, seriously, I can."

 

He turns back to you, warm and fuzzy again, like a hug from mom. "That will be $79 a month, my man"

 

He grins a toothy grin, knowing you'll be back for the good stuff soon enough...

 

This has been another in the series of Designer tales by The Mad Cadder. All rights reserved and indemnified by ancient spirits that will render legal assistance upon commencement of a proper summoning event of level 3 or higher. Infringement of these rights may result in spiritual legal action notwithstanding acts of God or other religious deities the plaintiff is capable of calling to their defense.

[y-g-m-n]

Designer is mainly for the DIY.

 

The pros should be using Chief Architect to get the things you want.

[singularity]

I completely understand SenaSmrt's frustration regarding the limited control over lighting and reflections in Home Designer. When working on interior design, being able to accurately represent how light interacts with surfaces like countertops is indeed central to communicating the aesthetic effectively.

Home Designer is primarily targeted toward the DIY market. The extensive, fine-tuned controls for materials, surfaces and imported models that professionals often require to avoid having to constantly export their work are exactly what differentiates the more robust Chief Architect platform. While Home Designer is a great starting point, moving to Chief Architect is usually the necessary step for those needing that higher level of realistic visualization.