Home Designer 2026 Ray Trace vs free AI tools

[BalutFX]

With the release of Home Designer 2026 (subscription only) and the inclusion of real time Ray Trace, I wanted to see how much of an upgrade that feature was. HD 2026 does provide a slight improvement to PBR in HDP 2025, but with tools such as ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion (which have a free tier), I don’t think the RTRT in Home Designer 2026 is worth the high upgrade price. For those of us with the legacy perpetual licenses, I’d recommend checking out the AI tools available. Here are some comparison images:

 

 

[Dominic900]

Hello BalutFX,

 

Hope you are doing well. :-) 

 

Here is a great example you can get with HD2026 without AI tools. Nothing was changed or modified with the render shown below. All was done in HD2026. Here is what I did:

 

1. Go to your camera edit tool.

2. Click on edit camera tool once.

3. Click on backdrop.

4. Select Generated Sky.

5. Click okay.

6. Render a view using Ray-trace.

 

I think that the rendering or ray-trace looks much better with generated sky enabled as you can adjust the sun to be anywhere you want and it renders it very realistically. 

 

I hope that this helps you and others who are thinking about HD2026 about how realistic you can get with it. Just thought to share my opinion on what I found.

 

Kind regards,

 

Dominic

[BalutFX]

I selected Generated Sky as you suggested, and don't really see much improvement over the previous image I got with Home Designer 2026. I'm sure there are tweaks that can be done to improve the generated image in the subscription only Home Designer 2026, but I still would not pay the high upgrade cost for the RTRT feature that was added. Especially when there are free AI tools that can be used with legacy perpetual license Home Designer versions with much better results. 

 

 

[Donco15]

@Dominic900 - Thanks for the great example using the new HD program

 

Question - what is your computer system specs?

 

I am amazed at the clarity and resolution.. I do know that sometimes your system dictates how clear the image is.

 

I see from the specs recommended, I will need a new computer to get the best results

 

Just wanted to verify your computer specs to see what you are using..

 

Love the sample you provided.

 

Thanks

Donco

[ChiefTylerL]

@Donco15 I wanted to chime in here and note that the quality of the renderings doesn't rely on your video card, but instead lies within the settings for your rendering technique, your camera settings, materials, and lighting. You will need an RTX enabled video card to use the new Physically Based Ray Trace feature, but going off of your signature I see that you have an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070, which can do real time ray tracing.

 

Instead the difference you'll see between different video cards will be how quickly the scene is rendered. 

[Robborito]

For me, placing too much emphasis on beautifully rendered picture-perfect images is a massive time waster in the business of putting construction and planning drawings together.

HDPro2024 software for me is a tool to prepare a design ready for the process of obtaining approval to build construction drawings. With some 3D views as a sideline.

Sure, lovely stuff can result to impress the client/owner/builder/contractor etc - but it all takes valuable time.

Are you, and have you, covered your time for producing the images in your fees. (I have) Often historically, hours and even days can be consumed in tweaking these 3D pretties

and setting the render by computer to run. 

I am of the opinion that PBR in HDPro24 is more than adequate to issue to clients etc. - it does the task.

Relax - it's not that important to me.

I can do a hand drawn model image in felt pen in 30 minutes that has more artistic value to my clients than a ray traced picture-perfect, light-perfect  pic.

As for AI - well is it considered as wholly yours or someone or something else done by - whom?

i can't ever see myself telling my client, Oh, it was done by AI not me? - hardly genuine input is it.

Not good for the client /designer relationship - is it?

If photo-montages are sought by planning authorities - go for it. Engage a professional rendering firm (they're everywhere online) - and get back onto the construction plans.

Happy Ai modelling.

 

[barthmv]

Also just so people know what you are buying into, The upgrade price for the 2026 version from 2025 Pro is 245 dollars for the first year.  The next year will cost 495 dollars.  Just something to think about if you are planning on upgrading to the 2026 version.  You also have to remember that the plan files are not backwards compatible.  I agree with Robborito that a "somewhat" prettier picture in 2026 with ray-tracing might not be worth the cost and the renderings from 2024 and even 2025 might be all that you need.  Just something to think about before upgrading. 

[BalutFX]

20 hours ago, barthmv said:

Also just so people know what you are buying into, The upgrade price for the 2026 version from 2025 Pro is 245 dollars for the first year.  The next year will cost 495 dollars.  Just something to think about if you are planning on upgrading to the 2026 version.  You also have to remember that the plan files are not backwards compatible.  I agree with Robborito that a "somewhat" prettier picture in 2026 with ray-tracing might not be worth the cost and the renderings from 2024 and even 2025 might be all that you need.  Just something to think about before upgrading. 

 

I agree 100%. The lack of backward compatibility essentially locks you into paying for Home Designer 2026 if you ever want to access your files again, once the subscription runs out. I also feel like referring to the discount pricing for current Home Designer users as an "upgrade" is not the right word anymore. A purchase of Home Designer 2026 and beyond is now only a RENTAL, plain and simple. I wouldn't rent Home Designer 2026 and beyond even if the discount was significantly less. Absolutely not worth it for me. 

[Rookie65]

You won't lose 2025 if you upgrade to 2026. There are several changes in 2026 that I find very irritating regarding features no longer available. I'm currently running both versions and was told by support that 2025 won't be discontinued. Once you own it, it's yours to use as long as desired. 

[BalutFX]

17 hours ago, Rookie65 said:

You won't lose 2025 if you upgrade to 2026. There are several changes in 2026 that I find very irritating regarding features no longer available. I'm currently running both versions and was told by support that 2025 won't be discontinued. Once you own it, it's yours to use as long as desired. 

Yes, 2025 and earlier versions of Home Designer are perpetual licenses and will continue to work, but likely won’t receive any further updates. What I was referring to is the lack of backwards capability in any of the Chief Architect products. If you open any of your HD 2025 (or earlier) plans in HD 2026 and save it (or create a plan in HD 2026) you will not be able to open it anymore in HD 2025. So you will only have the ability to access or modify plans saved in HD 2026 if you continue to pay the rental cost.