What design software are remodelers using?

MOTB · Mar 25, 2016

Hi all,

I work a lot with Before, During and After images of the actual job sites, but what I am looking for is a few design software (CAD Computer Aided Design) packages to suggest to my clients that come before the job starts.

This question seems to be coming up more frequently. Not sure if there are different design products for say a Home Remodeling Contractor versus someone in Building Design, but my primary interest would be to have a short list of recommendations for remodeling types of contractors.

Any products you can all suggest? And if you can mention a general price point that would be good too since I wouldn't be able to know the difference of a $499 product versus a $1,499 product versus an even more expensive product. I just want to be able to quickly give a handful of options to those who ask me.

Thanks for any suggestions and have a nice holiday weekend.
Brian

greg24k · Mar 25, 2016

I started with software from $99 and up and there was something always missing...Now I end up using Chief Architect Premier x8, Sketchup Pro 2016, not to mention Rendering software Lumion and Thea.

With that said for any remodeling contractor who is starting out doing its own plans, elevations, etc Home Designer 2017 would probably be the best software out there, even Sketchup can work fairly well especially for people who create lots of construction details and 3D Modeling and also who is on the budget and still wants to achieve good and quick results on more or less professional level.

MOTB · Mar 25, 2016

Thanks for the details, but since you mentioned using multiple products, could you explain what you specifically use each for?

john5mt · Mar 25, 2016

I am using Home designer Pro and Sketchup

I would like to upgrade to Chief Arct but havent dropped the money on that for now.

Creter · Mar 25, 2016

It's not simply what program to buy.

Along with the purchase price of the software comes with it the cost of hardware or system upgrades if needed to perform at a high level along with the training/learning costs and here's the kicker...the TIME to learn the software along with everything else one does during their 24 hour day.

In my opinion, it is not something one should undertake on a whim as it will take time and money to recoup their initial investment.

Even threw in a trademark underline sentence...:thumbsup:

greg24k · Mar 25, 2016

MOTB said:
Thanks for the details, but since you mentioned using multiple products, could you explain what you specifically use each for?

For the most part, designs, elevation views, details, etc I use Chief Architect, I have a few customers who I do design work for, and if they call for better quality renderings, I use Thea or Lumion with Sketchup.

CA and Sketchup work hand in hand and between the two, they make very powerful tools to create pretty much anything you will ever encounter.

Sketchup is also very good to create any model, its fast and very productive... Lets say you have a decorator who would like to put a specific piece of furniture into the room... They send you a picture and you can make a replicate of that piece of furniture real quick (depends how good you're) and put that furniture inside the room, etc.

With that said there is so many programs out there, its pretty much comes down to how much you can spend and what you needed for.

Texas Wax · Mar 25, 2016

Sketchup Make (Free) Great for design and basic visualization - Not a drafting application. Beginning entry level to learn 3D basics and hand drawn (sort of) 3D Architectural style presentations.

Sketchup Pro - All around basic 3D and Simple Drafting application and hand drawn (sort of) 3D Architectural style presentations.
-Add a render engine, V-ray for Sketchup (not free) or the ones Greg suggested you have a pretty powerful visual output; Pretty Pictures.

One that is often over looked is turbocad deluxe2016 Really inexpensive price point for an entry level product. Good drafting capabilities and decent rendering built in.
The more advanced-expensive versions can be stepped into easily after learning.

And of course if you got the money Autodesk Architecture ***X, Revit or variations on the Autodesk design suites are outstanding. Super overkill for most remodelers and contractors tho.

Always something to consider is the workflow, how you will use the app. Three skill sets (focuses) make up the beginning to end pipeline (workflow) in a single application or across multiple; Design, Drafting and Visualization (pretty pictures).
+Design-Apps like sketchup, revit are very good at fast prototyping -creating iterations of basic layouts during the back and forth with a client.
+Drafting-Chief Architect, Autocad-Architecture are full on 3D-2D architectural drafting apps created for Drafting the blueprints. "Autocad" by itself is a clunky 3D modeler and a 2D line drawing app. It is a line drafting tool and does not work like the 2D-3D tools like revit or 'Architeture ***X'
+Visualization-The higher end 2D3D Drafting apps have render engines built into them specifically for the visualization part of the pipeline. They tend to be good render engines. Not the optimal, but substantially capable for the tasks required.

The Architectural 2D3D apps are really good at building buildings, they don't always excel at specialized 3D designs. Like retail displays, very intricate and specialized stair cases, stupid custom cabinetry. A specialized 3D application can be more functional. 3Dmax, Maya, Modo, Hoduni, C4D and believe it or not TurboCad. Sketchup is awesome also but has limitied rendering capabilites. Most of those apps the Additional cost and learning curve make them crippling for contractors to use.

Those dedicated 3D apps do however have the best "material" controls and associated render engines. Especially then the visualization-rendering component can become it's own thing/skill set. As would The stand alone applications like V-ray, TheoRender and the others integrated with sketchup for example. To make the really pretty rendered pictures.

:laughing: If you made it this far Brian :whistling congrats :thumbsup:
Being the consummate Coach, you are. Maybe, if all the above is not too disjointed it'll help. PM if you like.

MOTB · Mar 25, 2016

Texas Wax said:
If you made it this far Brian :whistling congrats :thumbsup:
Being the consummate Coach, you are. Maybe, if all the above is not too disjointed it'll help. PM if you like.

I did make it this far, and I will review it and get back to you shortly. Have a nice holiday weekend, and thanks again.

BACHEnterprises · Mar 27, 2016

A buddy of mine in my area uses a 3D design program called 3D Rendering One. Here is his site's gallery of animated rooms with plans and stuff included. It works well for him and maybe it's what you're looking for as well? http://www.gordonreese.com/3d.html

MOTB · Mar 30, 2016

Thanks TexasWax again for speaking today too.... It seems the Chief Architect folk have a good product. Something that was hard for me to do was connect with the company themselves so I actually connected with a consulting group who focuses on just training for the product. Not sure why it was so hard to connect with the actual company, but I am learning the details through another source. Thanks again.

Texas Wax · Mar 30, 2016

MOTB said:
Thanks TexasWax again for speaking today too.... It seems the Chief Architect folk have a good product. Something that was hard for me to do was connect with the company themselves so I actually connected with a consulting group who focuses on just training for the product. Not sure why it was so hard to connect with the actual company, but I am learning the details through another source. Thanks again.

Always a pleasure and informative to talk with you Brian. :thumbsup:

MOTB · Apr 23, 2016

Thanks again... was able to connect with Chief Architect training consultants, and just did a joint webinar with them. Product is rather cool and I can see how you can not just lump the perception of a visualization tool all into one category of product.

Couldn't connect directly with the right people at the company, so learned much more working with an independent consultant who seems to be a leading authority on the education of the product.

Found it interesting that so many how no idea about how the images that take so long to create can also help with marketing.

Now onto another alternative that I think may be a little more applicable for the folk that are here.

Anyhow, thanks for leading me in the right direction.

Brian

greg24k · Apr 24, 2016

MOTB said:
Thanks again... was able to connect with Chief Architect training consultants, and just did a joint webinar with them. Product is rather cool and I can see how you can not just lump the perception of a visualization tool all into one category of product.

Couldn't connect directly with the right people at the company, so learned much more working with an independent consultant who seems to be a leading authority on the education of the product.

Found it interesting that so many how no idea about how the images that take so long to create can also help with marketing.

Now onto another alternative that I think may be a little more applicable for the folk that are here.

Anyhow, thanks for leading me in the right direction.

Brian

Brian,

Nice presentation and lots of helpful information. Thanks for taking the time doing it :thumbsup:

MOTB · Apr 25, 2016

greg24k said:
Brian,

Nice presentation and lots of helpful information. Thanks for taking the time doing it :thumbsup:

Hi Greg,
Forgive me since I do not believe I personally know you, and don't think you are a customer of any of my educational classes, and that would be perfect if you can tell me what did you like? Sometimes it is hard for me to see if from your side, and ensuring to stay on point is tough ... any comments so I can better package with them on the follow-ups? Thanks again for responding.
Brian

MOTB · Apr 25, 2016

Hi guys,

Another person suggested I take a look at the Renoworks Visualizer. Basically you take a picture of someone's home, and then quickly replace different aspects of the existing home with new products to make the remodeling process easier for the client to picture.

I can see the difference how these different products are more applicable based on the type of business you are in.

Any comments before I reach out to them too?

Thanks,

Brian

MOTB · Jun 4, 2016

I reached out to them and found out the product is pretty cool. It allows you to upload a photo of a home interior or exterior and apply new products and color choices to create a realistic view of the home before a remodeling job begins.

Seems like a good and fast to learn tool to propose designs to home owners during the sales process.

And in my case it allows me to continue to introduce how images produced from a visualization tool can help create more lead generation opportunities to your website.

I'm giving a webinar with them next week and will continue to learn more. They are handling the product side while I am addressing the marketing opportunities side.

What I found important is for these tools to be more specific towards the types of jobs the products work best for. In this case, I got some very cool Before-Visualization-After pictures and I'm looking forward to learning more from the contractor's perspective. Will keep you posted on what I learn.

john5mt · Jun 7, 2016

Looking at their website it looks like it is more of a retailer/product manufacturer tool than a contractor tool?

MOTB · Jun 13, 2016

john5mt said:
Looking at their website it looks like it is more of a retailer/product manufacturer tool than a contractor tool?

I think you got that if you went to the renoworks.com site. They have another site specific to the product I was using as reference for the presentation and that is renoworkspro.com. Thanks for the catch! :thumbsup:

AaronM · Jun 23, 2016

We've got a full-time architect, and a designer who has completed full house plans (ground up)

For a long time, we ran Chief Architect. It's fine if you're doing basic work - ranch houses, minor additions, nothing too heavy.

Once you get into serious work with it (second stories, complicated roofs, detailed work, and lots of 2d submittal work for permitting) the program starts to break down pretty quickly. It crashes with complicated models, and our architect spent a lot of time going backwards and redoing things after Chief ate the file.

We bit the bullet at the end of last year and invested in Archicad. The learning curve has been pretty stiff, but my design team has said that Chief is like pounding rocks together and Archicad is like piloting a rocket ship. Enormous power, and much faster and more accurate and more detailed than Chief is even remotely capable of.

MOTB · Aug 10, 2016

Another contractor introduced me to a pretty cool tool that allows you to design and measure the home. It's called Hover and gives you a 3D presentation of your work and also provides material calculations.

The contractor submitted to me some nice image examples that I am going to use for an upcoming marketing webinar, but he can do a better job explaining how the product is best used. I'm going to send him a link to this post in order to ask him to post how it fits into the business.

What design software are remodelers using?

MOTB

greg24k

MOTB

john5mt

Creter

greg24k

Texas Wax

MOTB

BACHEnterprises

MOTB

Texas Wax

MOTB

greg24k

MOTB

MOTB

MOTB

john5mt

MOTB

AaronM

MOTB

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