You can choose from a vast array of 3D objects, and use them in your home's design.ĭon't want to bother hiring an architect and would rather design your perfect home yourself? Look no further than Home Designer Pro, the best thing for DIY home enthusiasts.Ĭoming from the stable of Chief Architect, Home Designer Pro offers a truckload of tools for interior design, remodeling, outdoor living and cost estimation.
One of the most impressive features of SketchUp Pro is 3D Warehouse, a huge library of free 3D models. The created design documents can be exported as PDFs, images and CAD files.
From architects and builders to engineers and urban planners, SketchUp can be used by everyone. Then there are the dimensioning tools, which snap to the edges of models and allow you to quickly set format, scale and precision level of displayed measurements. You can also add elements such as line work, textures and shadows to 2D documents. The program makes it easy to turn models into animated walkthroughs and flyovers that explain every detail. It's also great for making presentation documents, supporting everything from drafting to vector illustrations. In addition to 3D models, you can also create plans, elevations, details, title blocks and a lot more, using the "LayOut" tool. Just choose from one of the many preloaded templates, select a view and you're ready to go. SketchUp Pro lets you effortlessly design highly accurate 3D models of homes (and other similar structures), all using simple click-and-release mouse actions.
It’s only marred a little by a couple of annoying interface decisions, but the advantages certainly outweigh the disadvantages.With its expansive feature set, advanced 3D modeling tools and online forums having everything from tutorials to discussions, SketchUp Pro is unquestionably the best home design software out there. Virtual Architect Ultimate with Landscaping and Decks Design 10 is mostly a good program, with many features designed to help you create easily and effectively. You can activate or deactivate the Tutor from the Help tab, although puzzlingly it’s not clear when you click on it if it did anything at all: having a button that changes state so you can see if the tool is on or not would be, well, you know, helpful, as opposed to letting the user guess if their click had any affect at all on the interface. There is a ‘don’t show the Tutor again’ option but what if you need it for a different tool you haven’t used yet? This feature feels either overly helpful or frustratingly in the way. However there was one thing we found particularly annoying: by default, every time you click on a tool, whether for the first time or the hundredth, a ‘Tutor’ window would open up offering you help and advice. Virtual Architect comes with a handful of good tutorials to help you get started, as well as a help tab that contains multiple online resources. Why couldn’t you use the mouse to navigate like pretty much all other similar apps do? Help Somehow it reminded us of those little red buttons some laptops used to have in the middle of the keyboard, designed to replace a mouse or trackpad…although to be fair, it wasn’t actually as bad as those abominations, but it really removed the joy out of exploring our creations. It has various uses, but the large central knob’s purpose is to help you move around a 3D landscape, and maybe it’s us, but it felt very frustrating attempting to use it. Yes you have the arrow keys which you can use for all views, but to properly wander around in three dimensions, you need to make use of the large dial lower right of the interface. The only issue we had was difficulty navigating in 3D. Navigate in 3D with the big (and frustrating) navigation button, lower right of the interface (Image credit: Nova Development)