ᐅ Experience with 3D Visualization Software

Hello everyone,

We are currently working hard on our floor plan and find it difficult to visualize the different versions. Therefore, we would like to recreate the house using visualization software and take a 3D virtual tour through it.

Does anyone have experience with such programs? I have found:
- Plan7Architect
- cadvilla
- Sweethome 3D
- meinHausPlaner

Can you recommend one?

Many thanks and best regards
Anna Müller

At first, we couldn’t make much use of 2D floor plans, and a 3D walkthrough was very helpful.

We used Architouch3d on the iPad. There are certainly more professional options, but this worked for us, was simple and quick enough, and it’s mobile. I really liked the mobility because I could make good use of time while traveling or waiting. Entering exact measurements for details can be a bit fiddly sometimes, but you usually get there in the end.

I found Sweethome3d (iPad) unsuitable for planning an entire house during testing; it seemed more designed for furnishing individual rooms.

You often see results from aspiring home builders posted here, whether they have experience or not.

The latter tend to fall in love with their first flawed design because they are proud to have put something on paper after hours of work. Unfortunately, planning often takes a back seat when the user first has to struggle with a new software. They don’t start over, but instead cling to a room they consider successful and make only minimal changes. This is the curse of a layperson who does not know or cannot imagine other options.

There are also very well-developed plans… regardless of the software used, I have noticed one thing: if you have the skills to visualize 2D plans in 3D mentally, then creating a detailed design works well. If that does not work (not everyone has this ability, just as not everyone is creative or good at planning), you become attached to your first flawed design, even if it has become a labyrinth, and don’t even realize it.

Therefore, consider whether you want to reinvent the house. Think about whether you want to spend your time learning software just for the visualizations. Visualizations are often misused by amateurs, resulting in distorted impressions later on.

I can recommend VA Hausdesigner and Prof. Cadvilla; similar results should be achievable with similar approaches. For a completely free but easy-to-use option, offering only 3D bird’s-eye views, there is homebyme.

AnnaMue schrieb:
Can you recommend one?

I’m torn between “no” and “none at all.”
Not because I lack experience with such programs (although that’s partly true), but because I have a lot of experience here that shows they’re pointless.

The sense of dimension and proportion for people with little of that doesn’t improve one bit because of them. The result is that their next designs aren’t any better.

And all these programs lack warnings for too-low headroom or overly excessive steel in the ceiling. User R.Hotzenplotz was significantly “helped” by such visualization software to create a design, which I then had to fix regarding the most expensive structural engineering issues, but ultimately it overwhelmed the general contractor (GC) with numerous details. In the end, we still had to rescue the bathroom layout together, the dressing room ended up narrower than desired, and the daylight spots couldn’t be placed optimally.

Another problem with such software is the output, which is again in 2D on the screen. A 3D-printed model could be better. But truly good would be a data suit where you could actually feel when you squeeze your fingers opening the closet door in the too-narrow dressing room.

Software that only produces perspective images is useless. Especially since it’s too much work to enter your entire plot of land accurately. You can see plenty examples of this here in the forum: houses shown tilted from above, all placed on infinitely flat dark green Lego boards.

Added to that is the pitfall of falling in love with flawed plans as Yvonne described. And/or you see perspectives that will never exist in reality: just a few weeks ago, we had a view of a kitchen run-through, seen from a hallway, x-rayed through a wall. What nonsense!

boxandroof schrieb:
Entering exact measurements for details is sometimes a bit fiddly,

And above all pointless. Visualizing a room layout works equally well without any loss in quality with generic 20cm (8 inches) thick walls, arranged in similarly rough grid steps.

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Hello Anna,
we felt the same way. I experienced exactly what @ypg described so well. On top of that, the software couldn’t represent our site topography. So I gave up and asked the architect to produce the elevations for me.
That gave us something to work with, and we shared our ideas. Now the shell of the building is complete, and those of us involved are amazed at how well the concept is working out. Without the architect’s attentive listening, a stroke of genius, involving the carpenter from the very beginning, plenty of time, and several creative meetings, it wouldn’t have been possible. The house is very simply designed, yet it feels unique and special.
My advice: Let the architect handle it.

11ant schrieb:
I’m torn between “no” and “none at all.”
Not because I have no experience with such programs (which is actually true), but because I have a lot of experience here that they don’t help.

They don’t help in the sense that a layperson wouldn’t produce better floor plans with them—yes.

However, I found them very useful for understanding 2D floor plans and have had to use my own software for further detailed planning (2D and 3D). With technical drawings—finished floor plans are nothing else, after all—I couldn’t even approach my wife with anything less.

Of course, your arguments are valid, but that is the ideal case. Many people also build with a general contractor and/or without top architects who can deliver good results and communicate them effectively.