Good evening everyone,
My problem in brief:
I am looking for “THE” 3D home design software that allows creating as photo-realistic house plans as possible. The program should also enable realistic furnishing of interior spaces and the design of the outdoor area. If possible, I want to be able to virtually fly around and through the design with virtual cameras, similar to a drone.
Ultimately, I want designs comparable to those published by various home builders in their catalogs. Unfortunately, it’s probably not allowed to mention names here.
The reason why (for those interested):
I would like to build a house, or rather my wife and daughter have been pushing me for a long time.
However, I have zero visual imagination when looking at drawings. The architects I met during initial contacts with building companies either did not understand or did not have the (financial) motivation to create a custom design with me. It was basically just house designs A through X from a drawer. They might generously move a wall or a window... “Try design No. 3, it’s very fashionable and popular…” That was all I was offered. A proper architect, if I could even find one, would cost me a large five-digit sum, because I’d have to engage them full-time for months.
To overcome these hurdles, I want to take on this task myself, working on the design evening by evening, virtually walking through and exploring the design, identifying needed changes, and adjusting until everything fits perfectly. Many years ago, I had the chance to create designs with the program Arcon, which worked reasonably well. But this program did not offer the current possibilities for photo-realistic rendering of designs.
What I don’t need...:
are pessimistic comments about how I wouldn’t be able to do it anyway. I’m not aiming to win an architecture award, and my lack of experience, feasibility, structural engineering, etc. is a different matter. I also don’t need any CAD or structural analysis modules, etc.
Let’s say others build model railways as a hobby, and my wife and I would like to design our tailor-made dream house.
Many thanks in advance for all serious advice!
Best regards,
MiHoe
My problem in brief:
I am looking for “THE” 3D home design software that allows creating as photo-realistic house plans as possible. The program should also enable realistic furnishing of interior spaces and the design of the outdoor area. If possible, I want to be able to virtually fly around and through the design with virtual cameras, similar to a drone.
Ultimately, I want designs comparable to those published by various home builders in their catalogs. Unfortunately, it’s probably not allowed to mention names here.
The reason why (for those interested):
I would like to build a house, or rather my wife and daughter have been pushing me for a long time.
However, I have zero visual imagination when looking at drawings. The architects I met during initial contacts with building companies either did not understand or did not have the (financial) motivation to create a custom design with me. It was basically just house designs A through X from a drawer. They might generously move a wall or a window... “Try design No. 3, it’s very fashionable and popular…” That was all I was offered. A proper architect, if I could even find one, would cost me a large five-digit sum, because I’d have to engage them full-time for months.
To overcome these hurdles, I want to take on this task myself, working on the design evening by evening, virtually walking through and exploring the design, identifying needed changes, and adjusting until everything fits perfectly. Many years ago, I had the chance to create designs with the program Arcon, which worked reasonably well. But this program did not offer the current possibilities for photo-realistic rendering of designs.
What I don’t need...:
are pessimistic comments about how I wouldn’t be able to do it anyway. I’m not aiming to win an architecture award, and my lack of experience, feasibility, structural engineering, etc. is a different matter. I also don’t need any CAD or structural analysis modules, etc.
Let’s say others build model railways as a hobby, and my wife and I would like to design our tailor-made dream house.
Many thanks in advance for all serious advice!
Best regards,
MiHoe
jansens schrieb:
It is a misconception that you only need professional software which then guides you through the appropriate menus to produce 'professional' results. That is exactly why all these 'hobby tools' exist. You have to accept compromises in the quality of the outcome, but thanks to their focus on amateurs, you can achieve some quite presentable results within just a few hours. I see it the other way around: because amateur tools are designed for non-professionals, they are much more usable for the amateur than professional tools, which—if you don’t fully utilize them—don’t justify the learning effort at all, even if you got them for free and, in that sense, should be happy about the “bargain.”https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
jansens schrieb:
??? I completely agree. Yes, that’s how I interpreted it as well – except for the conclusion.
jansens schrieb:
That’s precisely why there are all these ‘hobby tools.’ You have to accept compromises in the quality of the results, where I would actually say the compromises are more common with professional tools. Professional tools can do a lot, but they are not designed to meet the needs of non-professionals; in fact, hobby tools often perform better in that regard. That’s why I wouldn’t call it a compromise. You are basically “losing” only what you wouldn’t need anyway and gaining features that professional tools don’t prioritize. From my perspective, professional tools are not just pareto-inefficient for non-professionals here; they are outright less suitable.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Mihoe schrieb:
Based on the Kampa image, I would like to share my preferences. On the front of the extension, some kind of cladding panels (ceramic, perhaps?) are installed. However, you could just as well use horizontally laid wooden panels, which give a completely different look. Or you could choose natural stone, like gray slate... Nowadays, so many options are possible. But if the building company doesn’t point these out to me, I’ll end up regretting not knowing such options exist. And even if they do... how does it look in reality? That’s why I’m looking for a program where I can change everything with just one click and also get inspired by various surface options within the selection menus.Sometimes manufacturers offer application tools where you can try out different facades with just a few clicks. Brillux has something like that for wall colors.
ypg schrieb:
You’re just advertising the product there Please don’t say nonsense, that’s not what I meant!!!
Photoshop is such a common name for me as well. There are again countless products, modules, filters, etc. What exactly would you need to create 3D images? First, a standard house design as a jpg image or an Acron file, meaning an acp format, to then virtualize it? How exactly would that work, please explain in more detail?
Surely, my wish to fly around the house model with a virtual camera under different lighting and weather conditions wouldn’t be possible that way – right?
I agree with you that professional tools belong in professional hands and vice versa.
However, I have a thing for unusual extravagances. By all means, I’d even like my beloved vacuum cleaner (no, I won’t name the brand!) to be able to shave... even if I would only use that once or rarely. But I admit that’s just my personal quirk... I just want the feature on board in case I ever need it. For example, our washing machine spins at 1800 rpm, and my wife was strictly against it. Well, I’ve used that speed multiple times and am glad to have it.
Back to the topic: I didn’t intend to make any suggestive statements here and had held back on my research. But now I want to mention some specific products.
Some time ago, I already researched Vi2000 or Villa2000 (or maybe Vi Plan???) and thought that the impressive renderings were likely created with professional software like that. I always assumed that home builders use such software. The program is said to be incredibly powerful and, depending on the version, it can even produce virtual 3D images (with VR headset) or simulate virtual sounds of the furnished house using different building materials (wood, tiles, concrete…). Apart from the presumably exorbitant price and possibly cryptic usability... does anyone happen to be familiar with this?
Another very powerful program is apparently “3ds Max 2018,” although the price of €2000 per year (!) is extremely exclusive and clearly doesn’t fit a typical budget.