# 3D software for residential designer



## hfulbri1

My dad is a residential designer and contractor. He has been using datacad for years now and we are trying to find the best software to get him caught up with the times. Lately he's been playing around with Chief Architect and is getting pretty good with it but i'm still not positive it's the route we should take.

I have read the chief vs. revit, revit vs. sketchup and sketchup forums on here but I am still not sure what the best fit is for us. We will be using the software to do custom designs, modifications and converting his 2d plans to 3d. I'm looking for the most time efficient program for creating construction documents, as well as producing a pretty good looking render. I don't mind using multiple softwares to achieve this i'm just not sure what the best combination is. I just want to make sure we spend our money in the right way.

You can view an example of the type of plans we will need to be converting here : http://www.maxhouseplans.com/home-plans/southern-cottage-plan/

Should we go with Chief or is there a better solution? 
If this question is better answered on another forum site please provide a link to it.

Thanks


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## MLandry

Take a look at Softplan. It may be just what you are looking for.

Mike


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## hfulbri1

Thanks for the reply. I guess I should have mentioned that we've tried SoftPlan too. I've done a good bit of research on comparison between Softplan and Chief and always end up deciding on Chief but we really haven't giving Softplan the chance it deserves. Chief would work perfect for us but once you run into something the program won't easily do the workarounds can be very time consuming. 

I guess my question is better asked as what will work better for what we need to do (custom designs, modifications and 2d to 3d) Chief/Softplan or something like Revit/Archicad? I read that Revit is time consuming up front learning and setting everything up but once you got over that hump that it saves a lot of time when doing modifications and such. 

We could stick with a CAD program and do our modeling in SketchUp but in my opinion these 3D programs save a lot of time by by auto generating a lot of stuff. Sorry if i'm not making much sense, I've just read so much that I've confused myself on what the best long term route to take is. 

Thanks again,

Max


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## MLandry

Ask this question over at Splash. That is the Softplan users group website. There are some very experienced users there that may be able to show some examples of custom designs they have done.


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## The Golden Rule

I can't tell you which one is better than the other since I have not used Chief or Softplan. What I can tell you is I converted from AutoCad to Revit a little over a year ago and use it for 3D design and the creation of construction documents for residential renovations and new homes. (I had Revit installed on my computer for 2 years before finally tackling using it and am by no means, after a year, a master of it).

If you are an AutoCad user, the features are somewhat easy to transition to. The challenge however is creating a residential library of 3D components (which as you already noted, is very time consuming). If you decide to go with Revit, I recommend becoming a member of Revitcity.com. It's a free-share site where you can download 3D modeling components that others have painstakingly created. Or, you can upload 3D components you have created to share with others. There is no fee to join, although I do make periodic donations to the site since I download from them frequently. 

The downfall however is that the database at Revitcity.com is geared more toward commercial projects, though residential items do exist.

Also as you noted, a huge asset to Revit is that when you make changes to your plans, your 3D model and subsequent plans change instantly. I don't know if Chief Architect software does that.


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## ScipioAfricanus

Lower level taken from your website plan, Chief X4, quick render, no raytrace, about 10 min.

Andy.


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## J F

http://www.chieftalk.com/ 

The above is one of the most helpful forums around. If you've already exhausted the info there...talk to Andy some more.


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## hfulbri1

Thanks all, your responses have been very helpful. From what I've learned I think Chief will be the best fit for us. 

Golden Rule- Thanks for your detailed explanation of Revit, very helpful. Chief also will automatically regenerate the 3d model and plans when you make changes but any major changes require you to redo a lot of things such as roof, and furniture layouts. Which I assume would be true in any program. The library of materials and models however is geared towards residential, which is what we need. 

Have a good weekend.

Thanks


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## MLandry

Interior of a Hunting Cabin done with Softplan 2012


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## greg24k

I am working now on 2,200 SF basement design with a movie room, gym, game room, bathroom etc.


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## hfulbri1

Looks good. Which software are you using?


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## ScipioAfricanus

Nicely done Greg.

I hear many nice things about SoftPlan, the consensus as I understand it is that SoftPlan is more powerful in creating con. docs. than Chief is and Chief is (overall) more user friendly with better rendering and raytracing capabilities.

I have Revit too, and it is much more powerful in almost all regards than is SoftPlan or Chief but not a real user friendly program. With it's new raytrace functionality it really is the 800 lb. Gorilla and the one that others are measured by. Just too bloody expensive though and a built for commercial projects.

Andy.


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## greg24k

hfulbri1 said:


> Looks good. Which software are you using?


Home designer Pro 12 it was made my Chief Architect and I use Sketchup Pro 8 for certain things.


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## rollerroman

I use sketchup pro 8 with layout to create all our documents. Positives are that you can design anything with it. People use it to design machine parts, guns, theaters etc. Downside is that there are no special tools for designing homes, so you will have to build all six sides of each wall, layout each stud etc. Chief will do a lot of this stuff for you, however like you said, when you run into a problem, it's a headache.


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## Willie T

rollerroman said:


> I use sketchup pro 8 with layout to create all our documents. Positives are that you can design anything with it. People use it to design machine parts, guns, theaters etc. Downside is that there are no special tools for designing homes, so you will have to build all six sides of each wall, layout each stud etc. Chief will do a lot of this stuff for you, however like you said, when you run into a problem, it's a headache.


Actually, you don't have to do all that.

There is a Ruby add-on called HOUSEBUILDER.rb that does all that for you. Simple to download, easy to use, and I think it's still free.

I have it on my toolbar, and use it all the time.


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## redwood

I converted to chief after 10 years of using DataCad. You will not be happy with anything other then the Premier version of chief, due to lack of layer customization in the cheaper versions of chief.

Chief is a whole different animal then DataCad, and you have to adapt, but once you do, the results will make you happy.


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## rollerroman

Willie T said:


> Actually, you don't have to do all that.
> 
> There is a Ruby add-on called HOUSEBUILDER.rb that does all that for you. Simple to download, easy to use, and I think it's still free.
> 
> I have it on my toolbar, and use it all the time.


Thanks for the heads up! I didn't even know about all of these ruby scripts!


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## DMDesigns

*See How Fast and Easy - & FREEeeee*

I use Chief Architect. It of course is expensive, but well worth the cost. I have made & posted over 600 FREEeee training videos to my site that shows how easy it is to use.

http://www.chieftutor.com/

Watch a few of those and decide for yourself - :thumbup:

Dave


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## J F

Yep, good stuff Dave. :thumbsup:


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## Clemens

Looks like CA will be your best fit. 
CA is more user friendly but the latest version I received from Softplan about 6 months ago (12) is a complete overhaul and more user friendly as well. More organized, large colored icons. 
Both are great softwares. In my opinion Softplan is more powerful especially when it comes to complex roof systems.
Of course both won't even come close to what Revit can do but it is probably overkill for what you want to do.
Clemens
www.finedecks.com


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