Punch Architectural Series 5000 V12 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The main difference between AS 5000 and its predecessor AS 4000 is the incorporation of 3D Custom Workshop Pro, which is a restricted/modified version of Punch's basic ViaCAD 2D/3D application. Overall, this is a positive change as Custom Workshop Pro allows importing designs from other software into Punch's 3D Object Library, including those that are widely available as Google Sketchup files. However, the implementation of Custom Workshop Pro is flawed. The program is unstable and crashes even with some of Punch's own objects and does not render imported object textures properly.
Otherwise, AS 5000 offers little additional features and remains problematic and seriously flawed, especially when designing any even slightly non-traditional constructions. Despite the wide array of poorly documented features and peculiar behaviors, you will be forced into making design compromises, even if you critically comb through all available instruction materials such as printed manuals, the program's electronic help and tutorial videos, and internet resources including the heavily advertised Punch University online video courses. I cannot recommend this software to any user. Entry level users are better served using any of the widely available cheap, low-end products to decide if house design/CAD is for them or not. Once you have made the decision to proceed with your own design and creation (and I would bet any money that this would only be the case for a small minority), Punch AS 5000 will quickly show its limitations to you, especially when any non-conventional designs are concerned. If you are planning a conventional design, then why purchase a high-end architectural CAD product in the first place?
Having used the features of Punch AS 5000 extensively for real projects, and now comparing it to the trial version of Chief Architect X1, I came to the conclusion that the higher priced Chief Architect X1 is well worth every penny that you would spend on it (not to mention the available support options), provided you are REALLY SERIOUS AND COMMITTED about using it. I am in no way affiliated with Chief Architect and I really wish their product was more affordable, and did not have a USB locking device, etc. However, even if your time would be worth minimum wage, Chief Architect would be worth its high price economically. Remember that no software will allow you to develop new ideas, or implement them with a few mouse clicks. In my case, I was able implement my plan using Chief Architect literally in a matter of hours, which was a task that had proven itself impossible while using Punch AS 5000 for several weeks.
Designing a house plan is a long and arduous process, requiring far more time, patience, and perseverance than you would expect, as well as innumerable visits to libraries and other sources for reference. As always, the Devil is in the details, and this is precisely where AS 5000 falls short. The user will be forced to compromise for example on floor plan/wall layout in order to create a desired roof. These compromises not only cost you time and force you to troubleshoot after minor adjustments, but they also make the difference between a spectacular versus mediocre-at-best end-result.
Unless you are a qualified professional, you will also need to have your plans reviewed, approved and signed off by a qualified professional. In this context, I have not come across any professionals who either use or recommend using Punch's line of house design products for obvious reasons. They all use products of AutoCAD's and Chief Architect's caliber and reputation. And speaking of low-end products, why use Punch's if they all culminate in AS 5000, when Chief Architect also provides low-end, affordable consumer products that would offer a more convenient transition to Chief Architect?
The bottom line is that Punch has put out the same interface and underlying design year-after-year. The limitations of the program's current implementation undermine the user's creativity and impair the overall work flow. The incorporation of additional features and wizards do not save the flawed overall program design, even if any of the included wizards/components/features would shine individually. Punch should finally start listening to its more knowledgeable consumers and should also try to offer its services to professionals whose feedback could in turn improve its overall product line. I would have considered a higher rating as appropriate if the program was being sold as something for entertainment rather than for such a serious undertaking as designing a house. Support options are inadequate. For example, you cannot expect any support if you happen to use even a high-end laptop PC. The questions on their user forums are of the variety of "how do I register my program" or "how do I return my software" and there is an inadequate number of entries that offer any complicated help or advice.


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Punch! Architectural Series 5000 provides you with out matched performance and realism for all your Home, Landscape, and Design needs.Commanding power, versatility and our trademark LogiCursor technology, a patent pending technology, that predicts your next move and thinks as you draw, makes this new software solution, a must have, for anyone thinking about building a home, remodeling a home, refreshing a bathroom, redesigning a kitchen, and even your landscaping! These features along with exceptional Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools and several various 3D capabilities make this a comprehensive all inclusive software package that can save you time and money that might otherwise be paid to architects and design professionals.Take the guess work out of leaving your design ideas to others, show your style and save time and money! You can even print blue prints or make a model with our patented Real Model 3D Modeling tool! Think you can't start fast enough? Our Quick-start tools get your started fast, with integrated videos and players let you watch or repeat Tool Tips whenever you like!

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Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite 7.0 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I recently had the onerous job of drawing several plans for an addition to my home. I had the option of hiring an architect ($$$), or doing the drawings myself--and I selected this software to do the later.
First of all, I was successful drawing 5 or 6 floor plans for my existing home and the addition. However there were some "hiccups" and problems along the way. Here is what I found:
- I gave up trying to create a roof that would look anything like what I needed to draw. This was true for my existing home as well as the roof for the addition. This was by far the biggest problem with this software--I watched various on-line "videos," looked for help in forums, etc. but I was unable to render it correctly. Big problem because I was unable to get a good 3D or elevation drawing and actually was forced to draw these views by hand (well, a ruler and pencil). The auto-generated roof function is totally useless unless you have a very simple roof structure.
- My home has walls of various thicknesses--while the software provides preselected wall types, it doesn't allow you to customize the thickness (which was a problem). So I had to use a "canned" masonry type wall (12" thick I recall) to represent a wall I have that's not masonry and about 18" thick (don't ask!). If you have a newer home with "standard" walls, then you probably won't have this problem. In my case, I don't think I have any "standard" walls (home is relatively old).
- Button layout is confusing--they would be better off following typical "Windows" layout. Easy to forget what the icons represent.
- I tried to use this software to lay out a garden--however I literally couldn't find any of the plants I'm growing in their library. I understand there's an optional product can purchase (which I didn't), but they really should provide a better "basic" choice of plants.
- Very difficult to add dimension lines--it's difficult to explain unless you try to use it. For example, you "drag" across an area you want to add a dimension line...it invariably sets one of the points to the middle of a wall--which isn't what you want if you want the interior dimension of a room. They don't provide a simple way to click on two "spots" and produce a dimension line. If a dimension line sits inside of a wall, it's very difficult to select it...on several occasions I was forced to delete the wall because I couldn't select and move the dimension line out of the way. There's an alt-click (I recall) method to select overlapping objects, but it sometimes just doesn't work.
- Sometimes, no matter what I did, I could not get a precisely sized object (like a wall's length). They have a "nudge" tool for precise sizing that doesn't work on all objects. Software has a propensity to "snap" to grids or other objects which can be really annoying. You can disable it, but it's hidden in some menu somewhere.
And so on-- there were many other minor irritations that I worked through. The bottom line (sic) is that I was able to get most of the layouts done (except anything that would show a roof)--but I had to "fight" the software in order to do it.

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Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite 7.0 is software developed by Chief Architect for home enthusiast remodeling and home design projects. This software helps you design the home of your dreams with 3D models, virtual tours, even more library items, easy to use building templates, a new Plant Encyclopedia and landscaping features with over 1,000 plant terrain and outdoor items.Combining the leading-edge home design software with the consumer design editorial expertise of Better Homes and Gardens, we have produced the best software tool for home and remodeling design.

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AutoCAD Freestyle Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Final Update - On February 1, 2011, I went to the Autodesk website to check for additional updates and found that FreeStyle had been withdrawn from sale. Customer support stopped April 1, 2011.
Update 10/7/2010 - The first product update was released a couple of weeks ago. The major change fixes the first item below...you can now create custom symbols and store them in the library. I'm still in the process of evaluating the release and will update this note after I've used it a bit more.
Original Review:
The designers of a package like AutoCAD FreeStyle face a classic challenge: It needs to be easy to use for a novice, with enough features to be useful, yet not so powerful that it will cannibalize sales of the high-end (and much more expensive) AutoCAD systems.After spending a couple of days using AutoCAD FreeStyle, I think the designers set the bar way too low. The interface is simple and easy to learn, but far too many features are missing for FreeStyle to be a competitive program.That's not to say that FreeStyle can't be used to produce usable drawings; it just could be much better if it included basic features that are in other systems. Let me go through some of the areas that stood out...
Symbol Library - A library is a collection of symbols that are created once and then used on multiple drawings. FreeStyle comes with a collection of prebuilt symbols that are sufficient to get started, however it's not a complete enough library for a lot of projects - when I attempted to draw my sprinkler system, I discovered that there are no sprinkler components listed. In most CAD systems, this problem is addressed by allowing the user to build custom symbols. Once they're added to the library, they can be repeatedly used in future drawings. This release of FreeStyle doesn't have that capability. The symbols that come with the program are all that you've got, and that simply isn't enough. Incidentally, what's in the library is even a little strange... the Electrical Symbols tab includes five Gas and Water symbols along with the basic electrical symbols and the Building Components section only contains six fireplace facades...I'm sure that in real life there are more building components than just those.
Paper Size and Scale - When you start a new drawing, the program asks you to select the size of the paper and the object that you' re going to draw. e.g. you pick 8.5 x 11" paper and select that the page represents a 30' x 40' space. The scale shows that ¼" equals 1'. This makes perfect sense to anybody not used to using a CAD program, but is backwards from the norm...normally a designer would select a paper size and a scale.
Splines - Splines are a way of smoothly connecting a series of points. By adjusting the "handles", you can easily draw complex curves. FreeStyle doesn't have a way of drawing with splines. The menu allows you to draw with arc segments, straight lines and freehand "doodles". You can adjust the points of inflection on the doodle and eventually get to the desired curve, but it's not as easy as it seems. True spline capability would be easier.
Radius line joins - When drawing a floor plan, most lines meet with a sharp corner, but that's not always the case. Sometimes a drawing needs to have a rounded curve joining the two lines. Most 2-D drafting systems can do that automatically, but FreeStyle lacks that capability. You can manually accomplish the same thing by drawing a small arc, but why? You're only talking about a millisecond of computer time to have the program do it for you.
Double lines for walls - Often walls in architectural drawings are shown by two parallel lines, representing the inside and outside surfaces. Freestyle doesn't have that ability built-in. To do it correctly, it's a little more complicated that just having a double line as a selectable line type....you need to specify wall thickness, join corners correctly and scale appropriately as the drawing size changes. Again, all this can be done manually, but the basic idea is to have the program save time by doing the work for you. Incidentally, the work around is to simply draw a thick solid line for walls...look at all the sample drawings for examples.
Draw a wall of a house. Now drag a window or door from the symbol library and place it onto the wall. You'd think that the wall would break and allow the object to be inserted. It doesn't. OK, now manually break the wall into two separate line segments and drag the line ends apart to create the necessary break. That would work, if there was a way to break a line into two pieces, but there isn't. So you nuke the whole side of the house and redraw two separate line segments on either side of the door. That works...until you realize that the door is 6" to the left of where it should be.
The algorithm that calculates color fills is flaky. When you drag the fill icon over a fillable area, the area is highlighted with a light version of the fill color. It's a nice idea, so you can see exactly where the color's going. Unfortunately, a single open pixel prevents an area from filling. The highlighting, though, isn't nearly so discerning. It's not unusual to have an area highlight, but fail to fill when clicking on the mouse button. I also managed to fill in an object and then select the color and move it while leaving the outline behind...it was a little strange.
There's no instruction manual. You can get help for any of the commands by selecting that command and clicking the question mark icon. Clicking on the icon showing three stacked baby letter blocks takes you to the Freestyle website where there is more detailed information. It's annoying, though, not to have something you can skim through. I was trying to figure out how to color in a tree and it wasn't until I saw a picture in the on-line help that I realized that the color was coming from a filled in circle located behind the tree.
I could add more, but you get the idea. If the product manager at AutoDesk chooses, all of these can (and should) be fixed in a future release. Until then, though, I'm only giving FreeStyle two stars. The simple user interface is right on the mark for a non-technical consumer level product. The omitted features, though, cost it dearly in the ability to produce usable and functional drawings.

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AutoCAD Freestyle is the simple design tool for smart ideas. It's easy-to-use, low-cost 2D drawing software ideal for creating professional-looking drawings, layouts, and plans that you can share. No training required. It has a simple user interface, just the tools you need, and pre-drawn symbols to start drawing right away. Then you can share your drawings with nearly anyone, because AutoCAD Freestyle produces files in the same format used by AutoCAD, genuine DWG, in addition to high-quality PDF, DWF, JPEG, PNG, or BMP files for digital communication, archiving, and reuse.


The Simple Design Tool for Smart Ideas
Clearly Communicate Ideas Use AutoCAD Freestyle to deliver highly polished drawings to clients, architects, contractors, and other project partners--it's better than a hand sketch any day. Share your drawings with nearly anyone, because AutoCAD Freestyle produces files in the same format used by AutoCAD: genuine DWG. You can also more efficiently create high-quality PDF, DWF, JPEG, PNG, or BMP files for digital communication, archiving, and reuse.

Get Started Quickly It's exceptionally easy for people unfamiliar with CAD software to use AutoCAD Freestyle. Download it and start drawing right away--without any training. AutoCAD Freestyle has a simple user interface and just the tools you need to draw floor plans and layouts quickly and easily, all in one place. Check out the AutoCAD Freestyle community site to get productive faster, with support from video tutorials and user-submitted tips.

Leave No Room for Error AutoCAD Freestyle lets you draw quickly without sacrificing quality. Create accurate, detailed plans and layouts to scale with a simplified toolset for creating standard shapes (lines, arc, circle rectangle), annotating your drawings (dimension, text, fills), sketching, doodling, and inserting images and symbols. The grid on your drawing surface helps you understand spatial dimensions, such as proportion and distance, to solve problems more easily. It's just like drawing on graph paper.

Don't Start from Scratch When you use AutoCAD Freestyle, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. To save time, select from a library of pre-drawn, commonly used symbols--such as doors and windows--or insert and trace over a photograph. If you don't want to start from scratch, start with one of the sample drawings provided or download one from the AutoCAD Freestyle community site.

Built for You AutoCAD Freestyle is ideal for drawing garden and landscape designs, room addition and remodeling plans, electrical schematics, custom parts, and more. Unlike other general drawing and office productivity software, AutoCAD Freestyle is purpose-built for creating plans and layouts. If you need simplified 2D drawing software you can use without training, AutoCAD Freestyle is for you.

Key Features
Simple User Interface An intuitive user interface and straightforward icons make AutoCAD Freestyle easy to use.

No Training Required Integrated and online learning tools teach you how to use AutoCAD Freestyle while you're drawing. The AutoCAD Freestyle community siteoffers additional resources to help you get productive faster, including video tutorials and user-submitted tips.

Real-World Dimensions Create accurate, detailed drawings, plans, and layouts to scale.

Share Your Work Print your design or share it digitally as a PDF, DWF, JPEG, PNG, or BMP file.

Only the Tools You Need Start drawing right away with simple 2D drawing tools.

No Need to Start from Scratch Insert a photograph and trace over it to communicate your design ideas.

Hundreds of Predrawn Symbols Start designing right away with commonly used symbols, such as kitchen appliances, trees, and shrubs.

Create Files That CAD Professionals Use Whether you want to view files created in AutoCAD software or share your ideas with CAD professionals, it's simple because AutoCAD Freestyle is AutoCAD compatible. It produces files in the same format used by AutoCAD--DWG--which is also one of the most widely used design formats.

Windows 7 Support Use a touch-enabled device with support for Microsoft Windows 7 multi-touch functionality, including flicks.

What's New
Numeric Entry Adjust the size of an object--line, rectangle, circle, or arc--by simply entering a measurement. It's much easier than dragging the object to an exact size.

Flip Objects It's simpler to create symmetry. Make mirrored shapes by copying and then flipping objects vertically or horizontally.

Erase Using Windows Selection Erase just a selected section of an object.

DWG Support Open DWG files from AutoCAD software and other DWG-compatible applications.

Scale Multiple Objects No more dragging individual objects of a complex drawing to adjust their size. Simply select all of the objects and drag to the desired size, or right-click on it and enter a percentage.

Predrawn Content New symbols for trees, shrubs, stoves, and more help you draw faster than ever.

Rotation Grip Gives you more control while rotating an object, and provides easier-to-read feedback.

DWG Roundtrip Mode Buttons It's now easier to work with DWG files created in software other than AutoCAD Freestyle. New buttons allow you to toggle between the viewport mode and paper overlay mode so that you are always drawing to scale--even if your source DWG file is highly complex.

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AutoCAD LT 2011 - 5 User Pack Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have been using AutoCAD for over 22 years and by far this is the worst release that Autodesk has ever produced. First of all it runs slow. I am running it on a Core i7, 8 GB Memory, 1 GB Graphics, Windows 7. I also have AutoCAD 2010 running at lighting speed on the same computer. 2011 is infested with bugs and Autodesk so called enhancements in 2011 are just blowing smoke and mirrors. They have all but destroyed the Hatch command with graphic crap that takes three to four more steps to hatch an object in your drawing, if you can get the hatch pattern to even work. There are many, many more commands that they have also slowed down just for the WOW factor and has nothing to do with productivity or speed. And why did they changed some of the icon to "mickey mouse" looking icons. Skip this release and wait till next March when 2012 comes out. If you are on Autodesk Subscription (highly recommended) then keep 2010 and do not install 2011.

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AutoCAD LT 2D drafting and detailing software is the professional choice because we focus on boosting your productivity. A comprehensive set of tools enables you to accurately and efficiently create, document, and share your drawings. Creating in the genuine DWGTM file format provides stability and compatibility when you communicate with clients and colleagues. And, with varied menu and user interface options, you can optimize the software for the way you work. Packed with powerful features, AutoCAD LT is built for professional drafting.

Five-Seat Stand-Alone License The MSSA license allows you to install, register, and activate stand-alone licensed Autodesk products on several workstations using a single serial number. You can use the Autodesk Deployment Wizard to create preconfigured install images. Only one serial number is required to install and activate multiple workstations.
Install and activate each seat of the MSSA license on one additional workstation for each user, such as on a home or a remote workstation. You can do this only if the two workstations are used at different times, by the same user, and are owned or under the control of the license holder.

Take Control
AutoCAD LT 2D drafting and detailing software is the professional choice for productivity, reliability, and compatibility. Extend your competitive advantage by using industry-standard AutoCAD LT software for 2D drafting and detailing. Create drawings in the genuine DWG file format for enhanced stability and compatibility when communicating with clients and colleagues. And get even better performance by optimizing your software for the way you work. Packed with powerful features, AutoCAD LT is built for professional drafting.
Document Use a complete set of 2D drafting and detailing tools to produce precise technical drawings--accurately and efficiently.
Document in 2D Create simple or complex drawings from standard shapes such as lines, arcs, and circles. Modify existing geometry with commands such as stretch, copy, rotate, and scale. Add annotations--including text, dimensions, and tables--to help convey your ideas.
Be More Productive AutoCAD LT is designed with one goal in mind: increasing your productivity. Each release of AutoCAD LT includes feature enhancements and additions that introduce new ways to promote drafting efficiency.

Collaborate Work easily and effectively with clients and colleagues.
Get Industry-leading Reliability and Stability Create drawings in the genuine DWG file format and have confidence in data integrity when sharing your work. Maximize productivity by reducing time lost tackling corrupted or incompatible data.
Enjoy AutoCAD Compatibility AutoCAD LT is fully integrated with other Autodesk software products, making it easy for you to share data with others or expand your capabilities.
Incorporate External Files Reuse data and create richer documents by referencing external information from colleagues or clients--such as DWG files, JPG and TIF images, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and DWF and PDF underlays--in your drawings.
Share Files Electronically Electronically publish and distribute drawing sets in a single DWF or PDF file for fast, secure collaboration.

Optimize Improve efficiency by making AutoCAD LT work the way you do with a variety of user interface options.
Standardize Drawings Save time and standardize drawings by using blocks, adding dynamic properties to accommodate multiple sizes or views in a single block. Get quick access to frequently used content, such as blocks, hatches, and commands with tool palettes.
Tailor Your Environment Quickly find your way around the screen with tools to locate commands, view all open drawings, and navigate between different areas in an open drawing. Optimize your work environment by tailoring the location and appearance of commands to meet your needs and company standards.


Top Reasons to Buy AutoCAD LT 2011 Software
Improved Drafting Tools Continual enhancements to 2D tools in AutoCAD LT software help make drafting easier and more productive. In AutoCAD LT 2011, new grips for polyline and hatch editing enable you to more easily add or remove vertices or convert line segments to arcs, and vice versa. A new Hatch contextual user interface enables you to change a hatch's scale, angle, or origin on the fly. Text in linetypes always stays readable, regardless of the line's direction. When rotating a viewport, you can use one command to choose whether the view shown will maintain its original orientation or rotate along with the viewport.
Better Communication of Design Intent Publish high-quality PDFs directly from AutoCAD LT to easily share information. Objects and layers in AutoCAD LT 2011 can be made transparent, so you can see through them. Transparency affects both plotting and on-screen appearance, giving you more options for identifying phases of work, highlighting areas of a drawing, and more. The new Hide and Isolate Objects tools enable you to display only the objects you need, regardless of their layer.
Windows 7 Certification AutoCAD LT 2011 is the first AutoCAD LT version to be Microsoft Windows 7 certified. Upgrade your hardware and operating system with the knowledge that both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of AutoCAD LT 2011 software are compatible with--and are supported on--all available Microsoft operating systems, including Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
Additional AutoCAD Functionality Several tools previously available only in AutoCAD software are accessible in AutoCAD LT software. In AutoCAD LT 2011, the new Quick Dimension tool enables you to more easily create a series of dimensions for selected objects. Create irregular boundaries or trace over objects with the Sketch command. Add colors and patterns to your drawings with gradient fills. Use the Align command to move, rotate, and scale objects to line up with other objects. Non-rectangular viewports are also supported, enabling you to create a viewport in any shape you need.
File Format Compatibility AutoCAD LT software enables you to open DWG files received from colleagues and clients, regardless of the version of AutoCAD software used to create them. Save your own work to a variety of file formats, as far back as R14-compatible DWG files and R12-compatible DXF files.
Powerful External Reference Tools The External References palette supports the use of PDF, DWF, DGN, and image files (JPG, TIF, etc.) as underlays in DWG files, in addition to the traditional DWG references. Use object snaps with vector-based PDF or DWG files to locate new objects relative to geometry in the underlay. Open externally referenced files of any format with a simple mouse click, or edit DWG references in-place to make changes while continuing to view the host drawing's geometry. Use the Clip External Reference command to show only the relevant portions of a referenced file.
Dynamic Blocks The flexibility of Dynamic Blocks provides a powerful alternative to bloated block libraries containing multiple variations of similar block definitions. Dynamic Blocks enable you to modify a block's geometry without editing the block definition or erasing it and inserting a different block. With the Synchronize Attributes command, you can easily add or remove attributes from existing block definitions.
Flexible Annotation Tools Significant improvements in recent releases of AutoCAD LT to text, dimensions, multileader, and tables enable you to create and edit annotations faster and with more flexibility. Tables can be easily split into columns to fit into the available space. Misspelled words are automatically indicated with a dashed red underline. Add jog lines to dimensions, control the linetype of extension lines, and break extension lines around objects. Use multileaders to align notes, group similar keynotes, and associate multiple leader lines with one symbol or note. The Annotation Scaling feature automatically calculates text and dimension sizes, as well as block and hatch pattern scales, based on the drawing scale.
Better Layer Management Modifications you make in the Layer Properties Manager are instantly applied to the drawing, enabling you to immediately see the effects of your changes. The same layer can have different properties, such as color or linetype, in different viewports, so you can easily highlight specific information in each viewport. Layer management tools also let you select objects in the drawing in order to freeze, turn off, isolate, or lock their layer.
Streamlined User Interface and Online Help The AutoCAD LT user interface helps increase drafting productivity by presenting commands in a concise visual format that responds to both active commands and object selection. Quick View Layouts and Quick View Drawings provide fast and visual methods for activating a layout in an open drawing. The Quick Access toolbar provides constant one-click access to frequently used tools and commands. The new Online Help system in AutoCAD LT 2011 includes access to regularly updated content. You can link from a help topic directly to related information in the online AutoCAD Knowledge Base, discussion groups, and the AutoCAD Exchange community site to save time searching and navigating.

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SmartDraw VP Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Don't touch this product. Not because of the product, but because of the new licensing arrangements.
They have changed their arrangements out of the blue to stop you downloading your paid for product and want you to pay $60+ for the privilege. I have been a very loyal customer for a number of years and have probably spent $1000 on this product in the last 4 years but their new licences are a gouge of their existing customers. I for one will not be buying their product again.
If they do it once they will do it again.

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Punch Pro Home Design Suite Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)1. The software is not intuitive. There is no starting point for beginners, no wizard, no introductory lesson, nothing. The outdated help file starts with "It's simple to get started planning the home of your dreams." Yes, BUT HOW???? WHERE DO I START?
2. There are no keyboard shortcuts for the tools. No space-drag for Pan, no Z-drag for zoom. No hotkeys that I can find whatsoever. You must move the mouse over to the tiny tool button and click.
3. The program is stuck in the 90's. The help file is antique and mostly useless. Sure there is a lot of text to read, but it all states the obvious. The object filenames are eight characters and nearly impossible to decipher. What is a Hitanktl? That's a High Tank Toilet... I think. It gets worse!
4. There is no logical way to preview an object before adding it to the schematic. The objects tab presents approximately 50 kitchen cabinets that all look the same as a micro sized thumbnail. Since it sizes the object to fit the thumbnail, two identical looking objects are actually different sizes.
5. The helicopter and walk-through tools in Professional Home Design are extremely sensitive. The slightest movement of the mouse send the view wildly spinning. Micron miniscule movements of the mouse lead to extremely aggravating and disorientating walk-troughs. There is no limiting the camera to not go through walls. The Wide view is not wide enough. The controls are absurdy inintuitive. Click once to move up, click again to move down. WHAT? AHHHHHHHHHH!
6. Interestingly, the helicopter in the 3D custom workshop works completely differently. Why do they behave differently in the two applications?
7. The helicopter orbits around a fixed center-point. This makes it difficult (actually, impossible) to orbit around anything but the center of the schematic.
8. Did I mention there are no keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys?
9. The slow speed of the screen updates in 3D Custom Workshop make me suspect that there is no OpenGL being used. This would make sense since it seems the application hasn't been updated in a decade or two. This is mind-boggling if true. How can it take so long to render ONE frame on my NVIDEO Quadro FX 5500?
10. The help file suggests you set your screen resolution to 800x600. Are you kidding me? When was this written? 1984?
11. You can't export the blueprints. My only option was to print (with no preview or ability to print only a specific area) or export to a DXF file, which Illustrator CS3 refuses to open. I solved this problem by PRINTING to a PDF file, which Illustrator does open.
12. The web site offers no COMPARISON TABLE. I had no idea what the difference between each of the 12 products was. There is a pro series, architectural series and a home series. What does the Pro Series offer that the home series does not? What is the difference between the Super Home Suite, 5 in 1 Home Design, Professional Home Design, Home Design Studio and Home Design Platinum? What the HELL? The only guidance is the price tag.
13. Where is the trail software? Why can't I try is out first? Disable the export and print ability and offer trial software.
14. What good is a walk-through or helicopter camera if you can't do preset animation for it? There should be the ability to set keyframes and animate the camera. Export to AVI or QuickTime at high-quality 3D. This feature alone would seriously rock.
Other than that... great software! :)


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Floorplan 3D Home & Landscape Pro V14 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I hate long reviews but this program is getting a very bad rap :(
I will try to help.
In classic IMSI style, they offer a killer application vs. price range.
Only problem with IMSI is that they assume you have CAD experience.
Scary? NO. More features are a good thing to have...vs. other similar programs in the same price range.
I literally have my 6 year old designing accurate floor plans with this software...I kid you not!
My ratings:
Features, rendering, parts library, IMPORT GOOGLE SKETCHUP, fun factor = 5 STARS
IMSI ability to design a decent "wizard" = FAIL...Ha!
HOWEVER ITS A VERY EASY FIX.
I have a CAD background so I will try to help within this review.
I HIGHLY recommend requesting the 15 day demo from IMSI web site.
If you like the software, come back to Amazon to buy it as you found it here.
_________
Here goes:
1. In the Wizard, Choose the amount of floors you desire...up to three.
2. Choose foundation type. (slab, footing or full basement). Basement counts as a 4th floor. Yay!
3. Only choose the default rectangle shaped house. You can delete and/or move/add walls later.
4. Accept all other defaults and get out of "hokey" wizard.
You can also choose to cancel out of the wizard to draw your own walls if you wish.
Now, fix the settings, really fast, that IMSI failed to turn on by default...lol.
Its easy.
In the lower right of screen you can click on the bizarre words to turn features on and off.
1. Make sure GRDSNAP,OBJSNAP, ANGLESNAP are ON (Grid Snap Default = 4' x 4')
2. Turn on GRID for goodness sakes. (Default is 4' x 4')
3. Turn OFF ORTHO and COLLISION to make it easier to place stairs and objects and draw walls as you wish.
If you desire different snap settings:
Top of screen, go to "Settings/Program Settings/ Drawing Aids and enter new values for Grid Snap.
My most useful settings are 1' x 1' and 6" x 6" for tweaking walls an objects.
Bottom left of screen:
be sure to choose which floor you are working on to place walls and objects.
Also...Read help file on ROOM DIVISION command to cut holes in floors for stairs. It works flawlessly.Thats it...you are on your way.
Have FUN and explore other settings as you find them.

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Chief Architect Home Designer Pro 10 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've only owned Home Designer Pro v10 about a month so my review might be a little premature but so far, I'm extremely impressed and feel it's one of the best software products and drawing programs that I've ever owned. The learning support available on the HomeDesignerSoftware.com web site is exceptional and a good part of what makes me so enthusiastic. I've always been a drawing enthusiast(Corel Draw, Illustrator, Visio, you name it) and was going to do my house plans in 2D when I remembered those 3D programs I'd seen on tables in Costco and Sams Club. Checking out Amazon, where I buy most of my stuff now, I saw there was Home Designer, HGTV, and Punch!, amongst others. Some reviewers of HGTV and Punch! complained about awkwardness of use or difficulty in learning whereas users/reviewers of Home Designer more typically remarked how relatively easy the software was to learn and use. So I decided to give Home Designer a try, fell in love with it, and haven't looked back-never even tried the others.
One of the best kept secrets of Home Designer is that there is a 30-day free trial of the Pro version available from the Home Designer web site. It's hard to find because the home page offers a slide show and the free trial offer only comes up on the second or third slide. Look under the Pro product, too. My recommendation is to download the free trial, start trying it out using their excellent video tutorials at HomeDesignerSoftware.com, and look at the features matrix to see what you get in the basic Essentials version versus the Suite verus Architectural or the full-blown Pro version. I initially was just going to go for the Suite version, which at $83 right now is a sweet spot in price versus features (pardon the pun). I planned to upgrade slowly to the Architectural and then Pro versions if I liked what I saw. But since I REALLY liked what I saw and my house has complicated roof and ceiling planes that are easiest to model with the Pro version, I jumped in the deep end right away and am glad I did.
Home Designer is not basically a CAD program. You can draw lines in 2D plans and in elevation (vertical views). But Home Designer and other programs like it, such as HGTV and Punch!, are basically object-oriented drawing programs that allow you to model by placing pre-fab objects such as exterior walls, interior walls, windows, doors, roofs, furniture, cabinets, appliances, etc. You typically place these objects in 2D, then get to immediately review and adjust the results in a life-like 3D view in which you can place a camera(s) wherever you want inside or outside your house. Although usually best done for modeling within a room or a given area, you can also place and adjust objects directly in 3D. You can even create an animated movie to walk yourself through the structure, pause, look around, etc. Each of the objects has length, depth, height, color, texture, etc., that you can extensively adjust within the characteristics commonly found in construction or decoration for that type of object, e.g. layers within a wall. There is an extensive library of objects and materials for construction, interior design, landscaping, etc. You also import objects from other programs like Autodesk's 3DS or Google Sketchup. Since Sketchup is free, it is my choice for creating any 3D object from scratch that you don't happen to find a template for in Home Designer. You can't really create a 3D object for which there is no template in Home Designer itself. For example, we have a brick mailbox shaped like a pillar (rectangular prism). I drew it in Sketchup, imported it, slapped a brick texture on it all around, and my wife remarked "There's our mailbox!" Right now, the latest version of Home Designer (10) does not know about the latest version of Sketchup (8) but a Sketchup 8 drawing can easily be saved in a previous version format for importing into Home Designer. I found a triangular prism imported from Sketchup very useful for filling in an odd-shaped space in the vaulted ceiling of our masterbedroom that I couldn't quite complete with the tools in Home Designer by itself.
Home Designer's video tutorials took me a long way towards quickly learning to model. But what if I just want a quick reference or need to look up something in more detail than the tutorial has time for? another unfortunately too well-kept secret is that there is both a very well-written PDF USER GUIDE (239 pages) with written versions of tutorials and an in-depth PDF USER MANUAL (910 pages) that provides very organized clear explanations of the way things work (when you download the TRIAL, in the HELP menu there will be the option to view/save each manual). Plus the 29page Getting Started Guide that helps get you up and running. So there's a lot of excellent video and written help to rely on. Also, user forum, support database with solution finder, etc., on web site but haven't used those myself.
So, hope all these words convey my enthusiasm. Home Designer is a great product. It's a lot cheaper and easier to learn than something like AutoCad or 3DS. It allows the average home enthusiast to easily and quickly create and view amazingly realistic 3D representations of his/her home. Since Home Designer has a lot of power but it's not unlimited, you may find some things for which you have to settle for a close approximation or import something from another program like Sketchup where you can painstakingly create a 3D object from scratch. You're still going to have to work to truly master the program. But if you love your house and yard and want to model it, play around with it, see how it could be remodeled, don't just sit there. Give the free trial of Home Designer Pro a spin, try the video tutorials. And if you have as much fun as I did, you may soon want to own a version of the software that's appropriate to your needs. For me, there were too many times I said, "I can't believe I just did that. This view is amazing."
My final bit of advice. If you're recreating your house plans from scratch as I am, get yourself a laser-measuring tool. I got myself a Bosch DLR130K Digital Distance Measurer Kit and wonder how I ever lived without it. Using it is almost as much fun as drawing with Home Designer.
P.S. One of the best reasons for trying the trial version is to make sure you won't be caught short on needed features in the version you decide to get. Here is a link to a detailed matrix of the capabilities of each version. [...](EDIT:since Amazon deletes links, see Comparison Matrix, lower left HomeDesigner site-scroll thru list). Some of the details may not mean much to you until you try the trial version with the tutorials. But for example, I got the Pro version because I have a complicated roof and I wanted complete manual control over roof design.

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Chief Architect Home Designer Pro 10: professional software for home design, remodeling, interior design, kitchen and bath design, landscaping, deck design, and cost estimation for the serious do-it-yourself user. Home Designer Pro offers advanced design, building, and CAD tools with the ability to create blueprints, framing plans, roof plans, and more. Use the same tools as the professionals and design your dream home today!
Professional tools for designing your dream home. View larger.

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