Complete LandDesigner 3D Design Collection 7.0

by Vivendi Universal

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005A8XT
• Item model number: 71196
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 12, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,557 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #30 in Software > Home & Hobbies > Gardening & Landscape
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Be your own landscape architect--for less than the price of an hour's consultation--with Sierra's Complete LandDesigner 3D Design Collection 7.0. Eight programs make up the total design package: the core is the simple but powerful LandDesigner 3D, an intuitive walk-through guide to garden and lawn design. Its wizards help to quickly enter your site's data (like area, elevation, and shade), then add plants or objects from its 6,500-item database. Cycle them through the seasons and the years in three dimensions from any angle with the time-lapse function--always an entertaining show. Make changes instantly, update the shopping list automatically, and check out the beautiful samples if you need a bit of help from the experts. The Photo Garden Designer imports photos of house and yard to get an even better, if sometimes startling, image of the new look.

Once the new design is set up, the shopping-list feature is tremendously useful, and the Personal Garden Planner will keep track of maintenance tasks. The online Garden Encyclopedia and Ortho Home Gardener's Problem Solver answer questions quickly and make selection even easier, brilliantly using audio and video to instruct and inspire. Every program in the package is simple and fun to use (though it's expected that you know your way around a garden before you start), and the graphics in the design software are stunningly sharp (though users of slower computers will find the animations a bit sluggish). Caveat emptor: you might find it tempting to stay indoors with Complete LandDesigner 3D Design Collection 7.0. --Rob Lightner

Amazon.com Product Description

Complete LandDesigner 3D is a suite of eight products to help you design the landscape, garden, and deck of your dreams. It includes LandDesigner 3D, 3D Deck, Photo Garden Designer, Ortho Problem Solver, Personal Garden Planner, Garden Encyclopedia, Designer Garden Library, and Landscape DesignGuide.

LandDesigner 3D offers a library of 4,600 plants and more than 2,200 objects and materials to use in your designs. Design wizards help you create virtual garden beds, sprinkler systems, and more. You can walk or fly through your designs and view them from every angle, and see how your landscape will grow and change in appearance through the seasons. 3D Deck shows you how to create a single- or multi-level deck safely. Learn from videos and get advice from professionals. And watch as your deck renders in realistic step-by-step 3-D. Photo Garden Designer allows you to import a photo of your own home and design around it, experimenting with over 1,000 plants, trees, and shrubs. Ortho Problem Solver is a resource for keeping your plants healthy and free from weeds, funguses, bugs, and pests. It has information on more than 700 common problems.

Personal Garden Planner is a scheduling tool that reminds you when it'stime to prune, plant bulbs, spread fertilizer, and more. The GardenEncyclopedia is a reference guide with full-color photos and entries onover 3,000 plants, and features a multimedia guide on selecting and caring for your plants. Designer Garden Library lets you use predesigned gardensfor inspiration, including feng shui, rose, herb, Japanese, and othergardens. Landscape Design Guide gives you expert advice and tips on all thedetails of keeping a great garden, from choosing appropriate plants to whatcontainers are best for specific plants.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

158 of 158 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Time consuming,still a GREAT program! Check requirements 1st, April 3, 2001

By 

ricecake "mominich" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete LandDesigner 3D Design Collection 7.0 (CD-ROM)

First, I'd like to say that I think this software is a great value for the price. There are however, some requirements you should be aware of before you buy. These programs require TIME and PATIENCE. If you are doing a complete landscape, expect to invest many hours. I'm not talking months or anything, but until you get the hang of it, progress will be slow. If you are using the 3D program, you will have to take LOTS of measurements if you want realistic results. BUT, once you get a nice replica of your home and garden, it's fun to experiment with adding/removing features. More important than the time investment, be aware that due to the details in graphics, these programs may not be compatible with your computer. Please be sure your computer meets the "recommended" (different from 'minimum') system requirements. I will also include some info from the program's "README" page. ..."Matrox Millenium G400, ATI Rage chipsets & Voodoo3 3000 are known to have problems with 3d acceleration". And..."STB Velocity 128 video card does not work properly...at all" Please note that some of these problems may have been fixed with recent drivers. Also, the video acceleration feature can be disabled and this is a likely remedy for video problems. At any rate, I wanted to mention this just in case. If you have the requirements, I highly recommend you try this software. Some of my favorite features are the price trackers. These are great if you are on a budget. I am landscaping my backyard and found that some materials which are nearly equal in quality had significant price differences. I'm sure this will vary upon location, but it still gives a good ballpark figure. Also, you are not limited to outdoors. This program also enables you to redecorate indoors as well. I have completed my backyard and have started my guest bedroom! I think this is generally easy to use software that will give you lots of good ideas. Just follow the manuals and tutorials and you shouldn't have any problems. I am sure there will be negative reviews from people who will think the programs are too time consuming or not detailed enough. Please keep in mind, these are not CAD programs. They certainly could be used by professionals for basic landscape outlines. (the cost minus rebate) you will get your money's worth. And another bonus, if you try it and hate it, you can send it to the company and get your money back.

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You must have time and patience, May 18, 2001

By 

Sam (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete LandDesigner 3D Design Collection 7.0 (CD-ROM)

I bought this thinking that it was a snap to use easy WISYWIG and all around perfect tool for the average home user. Was I mistaken!! I agree with the previous post that you must have time and patience. If you're using this to get general ideas on your landscape and decks and you have the time to figure how use the software then this program is for you. I spent 4 hours just trying to figure out how the program worked and I still could not figure it our completely. Very frustrating.. One disappointing feature was that I require exact measurements with certain selection. (Property Boundary, House dimensions, and similar) Believe me when I say I needed to be accurate to the inch. However, it was only after I called Customer Support did I find out that this program does not allow calculations to exact measurements. The price with rebate and Customer support was fine, but not enough to tip the scales for a favorable rating.

Maybe Version 8 will be more user friendly.

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It has its good points, January 9, 2002

By 

Renee "Renee" (West Chester, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete LandDesigner 3D Design Collection 7.0 (CD-ROM)

First, some caveats:

* Sierra has discontinued development of this product. They have no plans to produce any future versions.

* Make sure your PC will support the software. And if yours satisfies only the minimum requirements, you'll have trouble building up a design with a lot of objects in it. It can be better to start with the house, slope, and property line, then copy your "basic" design and create the back, front, and side gardens (etc) separately.

* There is no way to export any portion of a design and then import it into another one, although it is possible to create certain types of objects and reuse them.

That said, I find the program useful for visualizing things like "where should we put some trees" and "can we create an attractive vegetable garden on the slope in the back yard? I found it frustrating while I was learning, but now I enjoy using it.

In addition to LandDesigner 3D, I enjoy using
* The Garden Encyclopedia -- I can search for plants that are low-maintenance, hardy in my zone, and grow to a certain size.
* The Ortho Problem Solver -- for identifying insects and diseases. I prefer other references (Rodale) for the solutions.

The following are somewhat interesting:
* Designer Garden Library -- would have been better if it were possible to export elements for input into my own designs.
* Landscaper Design Guide -- You really need to get some good books on these topics, though.
* Photo Garden Designer -- If you've already "built" your house in LandDesigner 3D, why bother with this?

I don't think much of:
* 3D Deck -- Frustrating and limiting.
* Personal Garden Planner -- What, I need ANOTHER calendar/organizer? Much easier to build a schedule in Excel or Outlook.