Chief Architect Landscaping and Deck Designer 9.0 [OLD VERSION]

by Chief Architect

Product Features

• Landscaping & Deck Designer makes it easy to quickly design the virtual look and feel of your backyard, deck, patio, pool or any outdoor project
• Design in 2D and 3D or both simultaneously
• Polygon Deck Tool lets you specify the number of sides and automatically generate a shaped deck
• Water feature tools let you easily create various shaped ponds and water features or design a lake-front home
• Assign costs for materials, descriptions, quantities, unit costs, and more

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002JABUOO
• Item model number: L90-DN-0AZ1
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 2, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,831 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #22 in Software > Home & Hobbies > Gardening & Landscape
  • #61 in Software > Home & Hobbies > Home Design

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Landscaping & Deck Designer 9.0 is the latest release from Chief Architect, the professional software design company and the software of choice by more builders, architects and designers. Landscaping & Deck Designer leverages the same professional quality from Chief Architect making it the most powerful and easy to use outdoor living design software.

Define custom Terrain, including sloped lots and input elevation points. Click to enlarge.

Design single or multi-level decks with Deck Designer tools. Click to enlarge.

Choose from popular appliances to extend your outdoor living area. Click to enlarge.

Design in 2D and 3D or both simultaneously. Click to enlarge.

Choose from a library of over 3,600 popular plants to place in your design. Click to enlarge.

Create the Perfect Outdoor Living Space Today

Landscaping

• Distribute objects in garden beds--fill in your garden automatically
• Rotate previews in the Library Browser to examine items before you place them in your plan
• Virtual Walk-Through: Draw your record line to automatically generate a virtual tour
• Define custom Terrain, including sloped lots and input elevation points
• Design in 2D and 3D or both simultaneously

Decks & Patios

• Deck Planking Control--change angles, borders, and create platforms
• Polygon Deck Tool--specify the number of sides and automatically generate a shaped deck
• Advanced Railing tools--custom railing panels, control of height & railing styles
• Design single or multi-level decks with Deck Designer tools
• Layout your deck, add stairs, place and arrange outdoor furniture to create your perfect living space

Outdoor Living

• Show plants with filled colors in your 2D landscape designs
• Point-and-click to change siding styles, decking material, patio colors, and more
• Use pre-arranged garden beds to quickly lay out your design
• Outdoor kitchens are one of the most popular trends today and creating yours can be easy
• Choose from popular appliances to extend your outdoor living area

Plants & Pathways

• Use the pathway or stepping stone tools to design curb-appealing landscaping or stone pavers
• Water feature tools--create various shaped ponds and water features or design a lake-front home
• Choose from a library of over 3,600 popular plants to place in your design
• Plant Schedule--Generate a list of all the plants used in your design
• Grow Plants Slider Tool--see what plants will look like from 0-20 years

Site Planning & Cost Estimation

• Automatic Cost Estimation and Materials list
• Assign costs for materials, descriptions, quantities, unit costs, and more
• Advanced Landscaping Terrain tools--Hill and Valley tools for terrain features
• Define Terrain Elevation Splines, Elevation Regions, and Terrain Breaks
• Use a GPS to import terrain elevation data
• Advanced 3D camera tools allow you to design your plans in any view including wall elevations

What's Included

• Program DVD
• Online Tutorial Videos
• Getting Started Guide
• Free technical support
• Free bonus library download
• 30-Day money back guarantee

Product Description

Landscaping & Deck Designer 9.0 is the latest release from Chief Architect, the professional software design company and the software of choice by more builders, architects and designers. Landscaping & Deck Designer leverages the same professional quality from Chief Architect making it the most powerful and easy to use outdoor living design software. LANDSCAPING Distribute objects in garden beds - fill in your garden automatically Define custom Terrain, including sloped lots and input elevation points Design in 2D and 3D or both simultaneously Virtual Walk-Through: Draw your record line to automatically generate a virtual tour DECKS & PATIOS Deck Planking Control - change angles, borders, and create platforms Advanced Railing tools - custom railing panels, control of height & railing styles Design single or multi-level decks with Deck Designer tools Layout your deck, add stairs, place and arrange outdoor furniture to create your perfect living space OUTDOOR LIVING Show plants with filled colors in your 2D landscape designs Point-and-click to change siding styles, decking material, patio colors, and more Use pre-arranged garden beds to quickly lay out your design Choose from popular appliances to extend your outdoor living area PLANTS & PATHWAYS Use the pathway or stepping stone tools to design curb-appealing landscaping or stone pavers Choose from a library of over 3,600 popular plants to place in your design Plant Schedule - Generate a list of all the plants used in your design Grow Plants Slider Tool - see what plants will look like from 0-20 years SITE PLANNING & COST ESTIMATION Automatic Cost Estimation and Materials list Define Terrain Elevation Splines, Elevation Regions, and Terrain Breaks Use a GPS to import terrain elevation data Advanced 3D camera tools allow you to design your plans in any view including wall elevations

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Programme for the price, July 1, 2010

By 

Robyn Thomson (East London, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chief Architect Landscaping & Deck Designer 9.0 [Download] [OLD VERSION] (Software Download)

This is a great program considering the price. It is amazing to be able to view my designs in 3D. I am from South Africa, so there are a lot of plants over here that aren't in the program. But its so easy to import plants and pictures that this isn't an issue. It did take me some effort to learn how to use the program, but the tutorials are great and the online help forum is very useful. I have found most of the answers that I've needed in these. I have found a way to overcome all the 'problems' that were mentioned in previous reviews just by going to the Chief Architect Home Designer online forum.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to Use, Install has Problems, Support Is Not Very Good, May 30, 2010

By 

Adam David "prodemic" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chief Architect Landscaping & Deck Designer 9.0 [Download] [OLD VERSION] (Software Download)

The product seems to have a number of nice features. But even with the 'how-to' videos it seems difficult to use. I work with computers for a living so I'm not computer illiterate. Then there's the issue of support. When I installed it, it wanted me to shut down my firewall so that it could have unfettered access. Come on! In this day and age of automated bots looking for open ports every few seconds, who in his right mind wants to lower his firewall protection to install an application? Why should we have to? Anyway, I didn't, and the application had a problem 'calling home' to activate itself. I immediately put in a support request. It was a Friday at 6:00pm, their support is only open weekday 'banker hours'. I hoped I'd hear back from them at least by the following Monday. I didn't.

I finally, by myself found the right combination of firewall tweaks to let it get through. Either that or something on their end cleared up; I'll never know which it was. It activated and, other than the learning curve I mentioned, seems to work OK. Oh, and I didn't hear back on my support ticket until Tuesday: four days after I put the support ticket in. Not exactly impressive showing of consideration for the customer.

The product gets three stars. The company would get one.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Software, June 2, 2010

By 

Pharaoh (Miami, FL, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chief Architect Landscaping & Deck Designer 9.0 [Download] [OLD VERSION] (Software Download)

Very nice and very powerful for the price. The only problem is the learning curve. It takes a while to learn but it works extremely well, has an enormous catalog of plants. Its great.