I was drawing on graph paper and thought, why aren't I doing this on
the laptop?

Recommendations? Perhaps a little CAD program is all I need. My
friend who is making building plans is using Photoshop because he
couldn't find what he liked and wanted layers. Sounds like too much trouble!

Jeff

Jeff Thies wrote:

I was drawing on graph paper and thought, why aren't I doing this on
the laptop?

Recommendations? Perhaps a little CAD program is all I need. My
friend who is making building plans is using Photoshop because he
couldn't find what he liked and wanted layers. Sounds like too much trouble!

Jeff

Floorplan3D from IMSIsoft, ~$50 or so, easy to use and produces nice
photorealistic 3D renders. TurboCAD (also IMSI) if you want to do more
advanced plans.

"Pete C." wrote:

Recommendations? Perhaps a little CAD program is all I need. My
friend who is making building plans is using Photoshop because he
couldn't find what he liked and wanted layers. Sounds like too much trouble!

Jeff

Floorplan3D from IMSIsoft, ~$50 or so, easy to use and produces nice
photorealistic 3D renders. TurboCAD (also IMSI) if you want to do more
advanced plans.

Chief Architect is very interesting and has a huge number of object libraries
available, but I found it really tough to learn. That may have something to do
with the 3D design model the software uses which is dramatically different than
2D CAD programs.

You can buy a cheaper version under the Better Homes & Gardens Home Designer
label.

On Aug 13, 5:53*pm, Jeff Thies wrote:
* *I was drawing on graph paper and thought, why aren't I doing this on
the laptop?

* *Recommendations? Perhaps a little CAD program is all I need. My
friend who is making building plans is using Photoshop because he
couldn't find what he liked and wanted layers. Sounds like too much trouble!

SketchUp - it's free, from Google, easy to learn, surprisingly
powerful. Free plugins make it sit up and bark.

R

On 8/13/2010 7:13 PM, RicodJour wrote:
On Aug 13, 5:53 pm, Jeff wrote:
I was drawing on graph paper and thought, why aren't I doing this on
the laptop?

Recommendations? Perhaps a little CAD program is all I need. My
friend who is making building plans is using Photoshop because he
couldn't find what he liked and wanted layers. Sounds like too much trouble!

SketchUp - it's free, from Google, easy to learn, surprisingly
powerful. Free plugins make it sit up and bark.

Thanks to all.

I'm starting with SketchUp and working my way through the other
suggestions. As a programmer, I like that (with SketchUp) I can write a
little code and season it to taste. Not that I would, but I could! Free
ain't bad either.

Jeff

R

On Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:58:17 -0400, Jeff Thies wrote:

On 8/13/2010 7:13 PM, RicodJour wrote:
On Aug 13, 5:53 pm, Jeff wrote:
I was drawing on graph paper and thought, why aren't I doing this on
the laptop?

Recommendations? Perhaps a little CAD program is all I need. My
friend who is making building plans is using Photoshop because he
couldn't find what he liked and wanted layers. Sounds like too much trouble!

SketchUp - it's free, from Google, easy to learn, surprisingly
powerful. Free plugins make it sit up and bark.

Thanks to all.

I'm starting with SketchUp and working my way through the other
suggestions. As a programmer, I like that (with SketchUp) I can write a
little code and season it to taste. Not that I would, but I could! Free
ain't bad either.

I had a lot of trouble learning enough Sketchup to use, until I realized that
it wasn't a CAD program. It's a 3-D modeling program. It's a whole different
paradigm and takes requires one to think quite differently about the problem.

In article ,
" wrote:

On Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:58:17 -0400, Jeff Thies wrote:

On 8/13/2010 7:13 PM, RicodJour wrote:
On Aug 13, 5:53 pm, Jeff wrote:
I was drawing on graph paper and thought, why aren't I doing this on
the laptop?

Recommendations? Perhaps a little CAD program is all I need. My
friend who is making building plans is using Photoshop because he
couldn't find what he liked and wanted layers. Sounds like too much
trouble!

SketchUp - it's free, from Google, easy to learn, surprisingly
powerful. Free plugins make it sit up and bark.

Thanks to all.

I'm starting with SketchUp and working my way through the other
suggestions. As a programmer, I like that (with SketchUp) I can write a
little code and season it to taste. Not that I would, but I could! Free
ain't bad either.

I had a lot of trouble learning enough Sketchup to use, until I realized that
it wasn't a CAD program. It's a 3-D modeling program. It's a whole
different
paradigm and takes requires one to think quite differently about the problem.

I spent quite a bit of time on Sketchup as well, and found it too
primitive to be of much use. Then I introduced a friend to it, and
within a month he was creating architectural plans for his house
remodel, and machines with several dozens of parts, in incredible detail
and accuracy, using all sorts of SketchUp features that I had no idea
existed. He soaked it up like a damn sponge. By that time I had
abandoned it in favor of SolidWorks.

" wrote:

I had a lot of trouble learning enough Sketchup to use, until I realized that
it wasn't a CAD program. It's a 3-D modeling program. It's a whole different
paradigm and takes requires one to think quite differently about the problem.

That sounds like the same problem I had with Chief Architect.

On Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:53:14 -0400, Jeff Thies wrote:

I was drawing on graph paper and thought, why aren't I doing this on the
laptop?

Recommendations?

Linux / Windows / OSX / something else? That seems to make a huge
difference when it comes to availability.

I searched around a while back and couldn't really find anything - found
lots of 3D modelers (totally different way of working, as someone
mentioned), lots of over-the-top CAD packages that take months/years to
master (no good if all you want is something quick and easy), or various
things that are quite easy to use, but lack symbol libraries (I really
don't want to sit there drawing windows, doors etc. if I can help it).

My
friend who is making building plans is using Photoshop because he
couldn't find what he liked and wanted layers. Sounds like too much
trouble!

Yeah, I did the same, using inkscape - but see my final point in above
para. :-)

(I'm originally a programmer, so even considered just writing my own to
do what *I* needed, but that has the same problem with a huge investment
before seeing results that using something like Inkscape/Photoshop does)

cheers

Jules