Customer Reviews

Chief Architect Architectural Home Designer 9.0 [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First, let me say buyer beware. I also had a problem purchasing through J&R Music/Computer World. They essentially did a bait and switch by advertising the Architectural Home Designer version but by shipping the base version. The software arrived in a cardboard envelope and the software box was crushed. After opening, I was suspicious because it was not marked with the version. However, all the order, invoice, and packing information indicated the Architectural verison. I highly recommend the software, but purchase it from a different seller. I have not yet contacted J&R for various reasons.

I actually dealt directly with Chief Architect after discovering the switch. I wanted to see if I could just upgrade the base version without going through the hassle another reviewer mentions. Surprise! They immediately took care of the problem and sent me the correct version at what amounted to a $150 discount. EXCELLENT customer service experience, especially considering this was not really their problem. I have not had to use their technical support, but I have high expectations based on my customer service experience and other reviews of their support from various sources.

The software: I have 3 prior versions of this software. This version is a big improvement and includes a lot of additional features, but the basics for manipulating the objects and navigating the interface are the same. A big deal since I didn't want to invest a ton of time learning something completely new. The interface is very intuitive and there are several 'how to' videos included to help you do most common and a few complicated tasks. The help function is easy to navigate and gives very clear step by step instructions for building just about any structure, handling complicated roofs, etc.

To start, I wanted to reproduce my existing house. I very quickly created my property boundaries and correctly placed my house on the defined terrain. After a few more minutes, I had a rough copy of all 3 floors. About another hour and I had all the doors, windows and fixtures in (basic, not customized or exact) and all the dimensions accurate. (Obviously, you do have spend the time to take measurements or crib from a blueprint ahead of time!) This is an excellent tool for planning remodeling and doing 'what if' scenarios. Changing walls, door placement, fixtures, etc. takes literally seconds of pointing and clicking. While you can get things to the point where you can either get very accurate materials lists or enough information to save time and $$ with a contractor, it does take a bit of time investement. There are dozens of included object libraries and you can download (free usually) additional content like name brand fixtures, paints, cabinents, etc. from the Chief Architect site. You also have a ton of choices that allow you to customize all the properties of a particular object - countertop, cabinet face, and so on for color, texture, grain, etc.. In addition, Chief Architect maintains an on-line user community area for chat and Q&A. Definite plus.

One of the main reasons I purchased this was for the changes and updates to the landscaping portion. My yard is currently a disaster and has all kinds of variations in elevation and grading. I'm working with this feature now and it does take some time to figure things out, but I can already see that I'm going to have a very accurate template for mapping out a bunch of ideas we have. Changing elevations and messing with the terrain in the software is actually pretty easy once you figure out how the tool works. The hardest part of this is getting good measurements of the variations in my yard so that I've got an accurate starting point to transfer to the software. If you are starting with a clean slate and not trying to reproduce something that exists, it is obviously much easier. If I ever get around to it, I'll update this review with what I learn.

The only knocks I've found so far are: 1. I'm not very happy with the way stairwells are represented. You usually need to play around with the 'open below' room type and 'invisible' wall option to get things represented correctly; 2. It is sometimes a bit difficult to get odd lenghts to come in exactly when drawing or connecting objects. It usually depends on the viewing/image size and your mouse sensitivity, but there were a few occasions when I spent several minutes trying to get clipped corners on a deck and odd wall sizes to come out exactly as measured.

Overall a great product for the money. Lots of features and easy to use. Highly recommended.

This program shows great promise at first until you dig into it deeper. I bought the software primarily for its landscape capabilities but also because of the home design software. It can easily create single story homes quickly and easily but multilevel homes are much more difficult. If you plan to replicate your existing plan you will be quickly be frustrated because all homes have features which are not automated in the feature set of this version. I have a 20 year old home with lots of roof hips and cathedral ceilings which proved very difficult. I eventually gave up after many, many hours (days) because I moved on to the exterior landscape which is why I bought the software.

I was really disappointed with the landscape capabilities. Again if you're trying to replicate your existing landscape forget it. It's just not that flexible. Duplicating my existing landscape took days. I had to find workarounds for everything. For example you would think making a pool would be easy for a landscape program but it's not because there are no tools for it. There is a ridiculously tedious work around detailed on the Chief Architect website but it's a total afterthought. I also have a simple wrought iron fence around the pool that was nearly impossible to replicate. The user will also be frustrated with the plant libraries. I live in California where oak and redwood trees are common. The depiction of these species is unrecognizable. The library seems east coast centric.

One of the more frustrating problems was the software's inability to rotate my plan 90 degrees. When I rotate the plan it rotates the first floor leaving the foundation and second floor in place. You can individually rotate these layers but they never register with each other. When I contacted tech support about this they offered to sell me a $400 upgrade to a pro version. I have experience with a less capable program from a competitor but I'm definitely no pro. If you plan on becoming more than an advanced beginner you will probably need the $500 version. I gave it three stars because I eventually succeeded replicating my existing landscape and creating a newer renovated one.

My initial experience with the buying experience was not good. I had purchased the product through a third party (JR Music) that advertised on Amazon. It was listed for $59.99 which was a great price. Well when the the product was shipped it was 2 lower versions of the software which is not what I ordered or advertised. Called JR Music and the stated it was wrong product advertised and the only thing they can do was refund money (2-3 week process). Called Amazon and explained to them. They verified that it was a mistake and Amazon made it right by giving me enough discounts and the correct version of software to equal the price advertised. Now a days that it rare. Thank you.

As far as the product, I am very happy with the setup and the instructional videos. This is not a software for beginners but if you understand the basic software icons and have some knowledge of the building process, it is a worthwhile product. It does take time and practice to find all the items in building what you want, but as they say "Rome was not built in a day".

Have used Broderbond 3D architect for years first edition was great for drawing plans good enough for remodeling. Bought Broderbond latest architect program couldn't use it easily. This program is great. its easy to draw home, roofs are fairly easy. the manufacturers products work great & its pretty easy to get picture of product material off website & drop it in program. Colors don't seem to come out right when viewing with cameras. Might be me. all in all I have been really satisfied. Would recomend it. 4 stars for coloring problems & dimensioning problems

I recently purchased the Architectural Home Designer 9.0 and am very pleased with the product. I use AutoCAD daily and find that this program is superb when it comes to showing clients colored elevations and perspectives. It takes no time at all to learn how to use it effectively and just as much time actually creating the images.

I am shocked that this type of program was so reasonable in cost as well! It has a few limitations but for the money does everything that I am needing it to do and more.

I believe this is an upgraded version of a software that I have been using for years, 3D Home Architect. I believe the software was sold to Chief Architect and they certainly improved it over the years. I have been looking for an upgrade but couldn't find the software until now. This software is very easy to master and certainly allows for a professional customer presentation. It is also affordable for the small contractor that mostly deals in residential remodeling. I would recommend this product to any contractor that needs to sell jobs to clients without having to go to the expense of an architect.

My wife and I wanted a consumer level software program to generate illustrations that might help us refine our notions of what we actually want before we engage an architect. We hope this will improve our ability to communicate with a professional designer and save time when our project advances to the stage where time costs money. The software produces amazingly detailed illustrations that more than satisfy this need and is actually fun to use.

The learning curve is steeper than expected. The program is graphically oriented and intuitive. At a rudimentary level, it is usable straight out of the box. Refining the drawings to achieve precise dimensions and add detail is trickier. Written instructions and on-line video tutorials provide enough instruction to accomplish most tasks but the methods described rely primarily on the program's graphic capabilities which aren't always the most expedient way to accomplish a task. By trial and error, we are learning that the program is flexible and can be adapted to the user's preferred working methods but getting there takes time. The more we use it, the more I am convinced the program is actually capable of delivering more than the advertising promises.

Absolutely wonderful software. I am new to a PC (former MAC user) and new to design software, so I had a lot to learn. I was quite intimidated when I first opened the software (intimidated enough to place a frantic call to Chief Architect). Thw woman ant the other end of the phone calmed me down, gave me a few tips, and encouraged me to join the 'live class' that was set up for the following day. FANTASTIC! I spent about 5 hours on my own just 'playing', then listened in on the class. I learned so much in that one hour. So... support is fantastic, software is amazing.. what more can you ask for? Buy it!

Great product for the price. Easy learning curve if you're reasonably software savvy. After learning some quick tips I laid out a room and furnished it within minutes. Make sure you have enough video memory (256mb) for rendering. That's the one thing I failed to confirm prior to my purchase (my bad) but I was still happy with the product knowing what it is capable of with the appropriate system requirements. Newer machines will most likely be fine with video memory capacity. Also, if you want to create custom ceilings I would recommend the Pro version but besides that this is some cool software.

If you want more from your current home designer software, this product does pick up where the Home Designer Suite leaves off. Better features, more options, and more personalizeable details. I upgraded from 7.0 Suite; with current upgrade rebates available on the manufacturers website, it was even affordable.