Home Designer Pro 2021


AQSCI10
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Hello, recently upgraded to the subject version from 2020 Suite and there is one aspect that's changed that I'd like to restore if possible. In the previous version there were sliders for both horizontal and vertical axes so you could move the view as required. Those seemed to have been removed in Pro and the equivalent is hitting "P". It's a small thing but forces me to use both hands to do what I used to be able to do with the mouse. Is there a setting that anyone knows of that will allow the return of the sliders or is the "P" function the only option.

 

Also, as a general question does anyone know how compatible this software version is with the architect community community out there? I hate to put a lot of effort into a design only to find out that an architect would have to spend resources redoing the entire project.

 

Thanks,

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Look under the View menu.

 

11 minutes ago, AQSCI10 said:

Also, as a general question does anyone know how compatible this software version is with the architect community community out there? I hate to put a lot of effort into a design only to find out that an architect would have to spend resources redoing the entire project.

 

Architects generally create plans from your ideas and needs. You would not take a plan you designed to an architect, rather you would choose a draftsman.

 

In any case, many will want to redraw so they take responsibility for the outcome as it will be associated with them and not you.

 

There are architects and draftsman that use Chief Architect, and you can find someone to work on your project by posting on ChiefTalk in the Seeking Services section.

 

If your plan requires engineering, it probably needs to be in dxf or dwg (AutoCad) format.

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Architects and Engineers commonly use AutoCAD, a strictly 2D software program. The company that makes AutoCAD also has a program called REVIT that is natively 3D like Chief Architect Premier. Auto Desk company also makes an application called Architectural Desktop which is natively 3D in nature. All of those applications are for the use of Professionals and come with a Professional price or monthly rental fee.

Most licensed Architects will not accept another's design, no matter the software used, they do their own designs, they are commonly quite slow creating your plans and commonly change a huge fee, sometimes a fraction of what the home's actual cost to build.

 

I have designed countless custom home plans and those houses stand in most of the 50 States, many of them by people like you who developed their own plan file and then shared it with me to fully develop  a set pf Architectural plans which can then be used to get bids from contractors and financing from Banks. The finished plans are shared with a State Licensed Structural Engineer who creates the Structural Plans and then together the Architectural and Structural plans are then submitted to a Local Permit Authority to obtain a building permit.

 

Structural Engineers commonly do NOT do Architectural plans, they specialize in Structural design, plans and detailing. Architects are not Engineers and Engineers are not Architects. I am a drafts person and if you do your own plans you are acting as a drafts person only, not as an Architect or Engineer both of which are state licensed.

 

DJP

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Thanks Solver for the slider fix, something I should have found on my own. I work in the aerospace industry and we constantly go thru software changes and I'm so used to seeing disappearing functionality I didn't even think of checking the view settings!

 

And thanks DJP for your info. That makes sense that Autocad is the commonly used software by the architect community. WAY back in the early days of desktop PCs there were two main CAD software packages available, Autocad and Cadkey (now KeyCreator). Even back then Autocad was viewed as primarily for architectural work so we went with Cadkey and I used it and its later derivatives for decades till Catia came along. It looks like at least in this Pro version you can export to .dwg or .dxf so those would be compatible with Autocad but not sure if all parameters get exported or some subset thereof.

 

My assumption was that I created a very detailed design but not being an architect I need a licensed architect to review the plans for building code compliance, design practicality, etc and they would create a set of plans that I would take to whatever county I planned on building in. I thought that the structural engineer only got involved if there was some non-standard build configuration like a second floor jacuzzi that would require structural reinforcement, etc. From what you're saying if I went to an architect with what i've developed I could have skipped this software and drawn it on a piece of cardboard as they would be starting from scratch anyway and I would be paying for all of that labor that I already put into it?

 

It sounds like I could take my plan to someone like yourself who would clean up the plan and generate drawings to be signed off by a licensed structural engineer, from there I could take them to a contractor/builder for bid?

 

Thanks for the help,

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Hey don't give up! I use Home Designer Pro 2021 professionally, I'm using it for a new house for a client! I am educated but not a registered architect, I have 35 years drawing plans in CA. The engineer always signed off on the structural liability, if there was no engineer required, the homeowner or builder could always sign. There was never a problem. I have a colleague I collaborate with occasionally when she has a design issue on a roof or something and I just export my plan from Pro (in her format) & it's in her computer drawing program to manipulate, saving her time & money!

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  • 1 year later...
On 1/15/2021 at 8:23 PM, DavidJPotter said:

 

I started with Version 4 of Chief Architect in 1994, so I think your math is a little off (there was no Chief Architect of any kind in 1986; (2021-35=1986). That in itself is nothing, just saying...

 

DJP

I believe DianeQ meant California not Chief Architect when she said CA. I could be mistaken but it is a reasonable conclusion since different states have different requirements.

 

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