Are Home designer/Chief Architect the right choice for me in the future?

[TheSwede]

I have just purchased the Home Designer Architectural version and I think it is a nice version to begin with. I also feel that 3D programs are something I will keep using in the future. Over time I will get better and learn more (I hope), so the big question is if a more professional version of the Home designer/Chief Architect program is the way to go for me in the future!?

I will just do this for fun..for my own pleasure. But I want to design/modeling european houses/buildings..real houses/buildings. I have red that Home designer/Chief architect is not the best program for that.

I do not want to learn a completely new program in the future, so instead of learning everything about the HD Architectural now..maybe it is better to choose another program for amateurs and then buy a more professional version of that program later?

[katalyst777]

Check out this earlier thread for European information on using the software.

https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/2446-uk-construction-with-chief-architect-or-home-designer-pro/

 

I got by with modeling existing real estate floor plans, rooms, and mostly the outside of homes with workarounds in Architectural for many years before I reached the point of needing to upgrade to Pro for modeling some more complex roofs.

 

If this is just a hobby for you though, you may never need to get a more advanced version.

[Smn842]

I think you need to clarify your goals.  Is it all for fun, or to gain experience with house designing or to learn a specific CAD/Design tool?

 

In my case although I use CA software for non professional purposes, I went with HDP and now Premier because:

• I wanted to better plan upgrades to my home and use 3D visualisation (ray tracing) to avoid costly mistakes.
• I needed something that was as productive as possible for my task.

I am aware that other products such as the more mainstream Revit may be better in some ways and if I was doing this for professional skills. However Chief Architect products are good for my type of project so that's what I went with even though there are some pain points for European style construction.

 

I do note that there doesn't seem to be a lot of professional tools that have amateur versions, but I think you need to narrow down you aims first.  If you're not sure then use what you've got for a while so you know what to look for in another product.

[TheSwede]

Yes, I think it is a good idea to clarify my goals first. I will just design houses/buildings for fun..for my own pleasure. You know..have an idea in my head and then try to design it in a 3D software. Maybe sometimes I want to do a 3D-model of an already existing house.

The most interesting for me is the exterior design, I think (the look of the house from outside, parking lot, the landscape around the house etc). It is also interesting to "draw" the inner walls and decide where the toilet, living room, master bedroom etc should be placed.

Right now I dont care much about how the kitchen would look like or if there is isolation in the walls and so on.

I think I'm not really aware of how flexible a programme like the Home Designer Architectural really is. It feels like it is rather "static" and not the best software to use if you will create a house with a more unusual design.

How about Sketchup? I downloaded the free version yesterday and played with it for an hour or so. It was completely different to Home Designer Architectural..not so logical I would say. Also more difficult to use as a newbie, I think. But on the other hand I feel that it has great potential..everything you want to do with the exterior design is possible to do.

So..I feel that with the Home Designer software it is possible to design everything from the look of the house, the landscape, garden, kitchen, place furnitures and so on..but how you can do it is somehow restricted.

The Sketchup software is a software that focus on the exterior design of a house (only your own magination is the limiting factor of what you can create) and not so much on the landscape, garden, interior design, materials etc. Right or wrong!?

[TheSwede]

I have decided to hold on to the Home Designer software because it´s nice and logical to use. I will keep the Architectural version for a while, but in the future I will upgrade to Pro (I already miss the Multiple-Select editing "tool" avaiable in the Pro version).