Customer Reviews

Punch! Professional Home Design Suite Platinum

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I bought both the Punch Pro Platinum and the Broderbund Home Design Suite Deluxe 4.0

Ok, if you are a computard than neither program is for you. If you want features then Punch beats Broderbund Hands Down.

IF you want ease of use, then Buy some paper a ruler and a pencil.

Now I am a software developer, but I know nothing about House design.

I spent 8 hours with Broderbund Deluxe 4.0....end result was that I kept running into one limitation after another. Very weak package.

I spent 4 hours with Punch and I had my entire house built. Another eight hours later and I had four different variations on the additions, on roof layouts even funriture.

Frankly, I want to mail the Broderbund software back to them with a pile of dog doo in the box. Punch on the other hand, while it is a little wierd to get used to at first with its click, double click, two click, right click scheme, once you get used to it is a breeze.

Caveat - I did not read the manual or go through the tutorial on either package, so ease of use has to be Punch. On top of that its got a slew of features and had no problems installing on win XP (something that the Broderbund ...could not do...it kept creating read only directories in the install procedure and then tried to write to them and couldn't....imagine that.)

I've been using Punch software for a few years now. For most simple applications, it seems to do what I need. It's when you get to the complicated stuff that it breaks down on you. A couple of specific things that would make their software much better:

1. More detail in properties menus. They tend to stick to standard stuff and you find yourself including things into our design that have absolutley nothing to do with what you really want. But its' the only design feature they have that comes close to what you want.

2. They have a ruler on the side of the screen. How about one across the top also. You always have to guess where you are horizontally.

3. I wanted to design a retaining wall for a hill behind my house. The landscape feature in Punch assumes the wall will be a skirt around the house and will not let you convert it to an outside wall without adding an extra segment to it. What's tha all about? Most retaining walls are single segment.

4. The 3D viewer should be expandable to full screen.

5. In the properties pane, particulalry for wall segments, you should be able to include length and angle. That would take the guess work out of trying to measure using the auto dimension or the ruler. I've wasted a lot of time on this one.

all for now.

From reading a number of reviews of various home design products, it looked like Punch Pro was the best of the lot. This may be so, but it is more indicative of the poor state of the home design software market.

The good:
- Nice, intuitive interface
- Relatively easy to get started
- 3D view is impressive, at first (see the bad)

The bad:
- 3D view is slow & hard to navigate. Helicopter view is somewhat better, but still not very user-friendly. Ability to navigate with cursor keys instead of mouse would help
- Buggy. I crashed several times, and lost significant work (save early, save often)
- Some features are very limited. You cannot rotate a shower 90 degrees. You cannot resize sinks and other bathroom equipment
- Overkill. Some features like plumbing and electricity might be attractive to some, but I would rather have had more focus on the basics
- CPU intensive. I have a powerful PC, but changing views & navigating can try your patience

The ugly:
- For the price [I paid] I expected a more polished, easier to use piece of software

The variation in ratings for this product is astounding. I was leery of some of the low ratings, so I bought Broderbund's 3D ARchitect and Landscape first, as well as Data Becker (trying to translate the occasional German was always amusing).

Broderbund was easy, didn't need the manual, but the ease made it nearly impossible to customize to my building needs. I was very annoyed that even though Architect and Landscape are sold in a suite, Landscape is unable to import houses from Architect, so you have to redesign your house with limited tools to see it in the Landscape program. THe Landscape program went down periodically, and occasionally I had to reload the whole program. The encyclopedia and plant search function is great.

Data Becker had the power to design the house, but only limited landscape tools in the house program. I had to read the manual to do it. If you want to landscape, you have to buy a separate landscape program, and again, redesign your house in the landscape program. The landscape program gets the same poor reviews the home design does, in part for intermittent messages in German, so I never tried it.

Because, Punch Pro Platinum does it all, which to me justifies the price. Caveats - you need to read the manual, you need to access the punch website, and you should really access the user website at www.choosealternatives.com. The program initially would not give me the Live 3D walkthru - the user website advised in its discussions that I needed to change my XP computer to 800x600 display, and slow down the graphics card - once that was done, and I'd checked out the manual, it was cake. You can design your own furniture, customize your patterns to a degree, and download other people's furniture thru the user site. You have to work for it, but Punch really gives you results. On its own, the plant search function is lousy, but if you download the plant spreadsheet on the user site, you can find the plants you want and need. I do think Broderbund's plant care and info encyclopedia is superior, so I'm glad I have that part of the Broderbund suite. The Punch capability to add your own photos as background is AMAZING! I can add MY EXACT VIEW to each window, or take what's already there and layer on top of it so you don't have to design your neighbors yards, too.

Also cool about Punch is if you buy a more limited program, you can upgrade on the company website. So if you think you only need Master Landscapeand later decide you want it all, you can upgrade that all the way up to Pro Platinum, rather than having to buy the separate whole Pro Platinum program. You can also upgrade the lower level programs to intermediate or complete, depending on your needs. But if you are willing to put in the effort, I'd buy the big one so you have it all available as your needs change.

Again, with Punch you have to do the work and be patient, but if you are serious about doing house and garden plans on a computer, its the way to go. (My lot is flat, so I can't comment on the terain).

I have purchased and used several different home/landscape design programs. I've used the Punch programs though quite a bit more than the others. The main reason is that I like the graphics. I think too that, for the most part, there is an excellent variety house and landscape options (wall types, colors, plants, etc).

Even so, when I first used this program, I quickly became totally frustrated and confused. That was partly because I generally start using programs without reading directions first. With Punch, I had to force myself to sit down with the book and go through it step by step. After that, I was able to design a house and yard from scratch, and even do the 3-D rendering. Unfortunately, there were some things about the final product that I couldn't get quite right. The roof was very tricky to figure out, and I was unable to get the walls to match up as they should. The tools for the roof and walls look simple, but getting them to render appropriately isn't easy. It would be nice if the program did this automatically.

Actually, I did have a lot of fun with the landscape function. That part was very easy to use. I made a path through an elaborate garden I'd created from a vast array of plant choices. I wanted to also construct different kinds of decks and gazebos, put in fountains and playgrounds, etc, but these options were extremely limited.

If I could suggest some other improvements, it would be to have a wide variety of home plans available in the program and/or website. I think there are maybe a dozen in the program now, and they're extremely basic. Mostly all they do is give you a starting point. I'd spend a lot more time with this program if there were some houses (such as the one in the picture) already done for you. It's much easier to make changes to an already existing plan, than to draft one from scratch. Another thing I'd strongly suggest adding is a good tutorial.

I have used home design software in the past (5-6 years ago) and had no difficulty whatsoever using the old software (don't remember the manufacturer). My wife and I are going to build a new home in the next 3-6 months and wanted to get the "latest and greatest" home design software to work on the home plans. I fully expected the newest software to be much better than what I used several years ago.

I was sadly mistaken. This program from Punch! was very difficult to use. I read the manual from cover to cover and used the on-line help and still could not solve the problems I encountered. The program actuallyput floors where I did not want them and I could not even figure out how to select this "phantom" floor that somehow was created.

I also planned to finish the basement and design it as a walk-out basement. Obviously, this requires excavating a little deeper and having some poured concrete basement walls and some wood framed basement walls. This program said it could handle that, but I could not find it in any of the manuals, on-line help, or drop down menus anyway. It was so annoying!

And by the way, I consider myself very computer literate.

I also wanted to do a large porch in the front and a nice patio in the rear. Guess what? Look up "porch" or "patio" in the manual or search in Help and you find nothing. Also, Punch! does not offer a money-back guarantee. The major competitors are Sierra Home 3D Design 5.0 ...and Broderbund's 3D Home Architect Deluxe 4.0 ... Both much cheaper and BOTH OFFER 90 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEES!!! Needless to say, I am selling the Punch! Platinum on Ebay and buying the Sierra product, which by the way was hard to find.

Don't make the same mistake that I did.

I think it's fair to say that most people who have bought this software have
been disappointed. If you are familiar with any of those 3D "doom" type video
games you might be familiar with how you can design a castle in the game, then
walk through the castle in 3D shooting people. You'd probably have about as
much luck trying to design a house using one of those video games as you will
using this product. In fact, I'm not so sure this software isn't anything more
than a 3D video game that has been modified slightly and marketed as a house
design tool. This program is clearly not worth the...price tag. It's more
like something you'd find for...in the bargain bin.

Having spent many hours using it I can tell you that the only use I've gotten
out of it is creating 3D pictures (BMP) that are similar, but not identical, to
what a design would look like. I don't care what the manufacturer claims or any
sales people tell you, this is ALL it can do.

If you're serious about designing a house, then you need to get QuickCAD. It's a
lite version of AutoCAD and sells for around $50. It isn't as easy to use. Plan
on spending several evenings just going through the tutorial. But it is powerful,
bug free, and will do everything a home builder needs. It is also the leading
drawing software used by professionals.

Problems with this software are too numerous to mention. Every time I tried
drawing a wall right where I wanted it, it would tend to move it somewhere else
so as to intersect another wall. I found drawing a 5' North/South wall
impossible because it kept changing it to a 3" East/West wall. I had to draw
the walls too short then go back and stretch them to the right length. If your
plan calls for any walls that are at a 45 degree angle then forget it, this
program simply can't handle it.

Whenever you are more than 4' or so from a wall in the 3D view the wall
pattern on the other side will show through. You'll see a bunch of vertical
stripes which is the wall coloring on the other side. This vertical striping
problem applies to everything. Windows, trim, walls, trees, etc. That's why I
suggest you make a separate drawing for the outside of the house and a separate
drawings for each room or two inside the house. When doing the outside view,
you'll need to put siding on both the inside and outside of the house. This way
when the inside wall shows through to the outside, it will match the outside.
You'll also need to put a wall a few feet behind all the windows and color it
blue to prevent the house from looking like an empty shell.

If you want to save a view as a BMP (picture) you'll want to make the
resolution as high as possible. Do this by clicking and dragging on each side
of the viewing area and drag it out so the image fills the screen. (There
isn't a maximize button). Then use the File:Export:BMP and it will create a
hi-res 3D picture in a BMP format. Ignore the resolution settings because they
don't work and don't do anything.

Other problems are the beds are not of a standard size. (Twin, Queen, King,
etc). Some look like they are for a Barbie doll and others are for King Kong.
There is no way for you to know which you are selecting. The problem is even
worse with cabinets. None seem to be of the standard size and it doesn't tell
you which are base and which are wall cabinets. When in 3D it's hard to keep
the controls from moving you through the yard at 100 mph and spinning you at
10,000 rpm. When zooming in and out in 2D the view tends to jump to a different
area of the drawing before zooming. The snap & grid are a joke, so it's not
possible to make walls the exact length or location you want. You can only get
within a few inches at best. Mouse commands are inconsistent. Sometimes you need
to press and HOLD the mouse button and drag it to make a line. Other times you
need to press & release the button to mark a point, then press & release it

again to mark the other end of the line. This lack of consistency will cause
you to erase and redue about half of everything you draw.

Some advice on 3D images: When I see a view I like, I save it to a BMP file.
Because of bugs in the software I usually have to change the drawing each time I
create a BMP to get to get the view to look right. By making BMP's from different
drawings over time I will accumulate a set of BMP's. I then edit the BMP's in
Paintbrush (Standard with Windows) to touch up and remove the many errors that
are in the images. Eventually I'll end up with a set of hi-res 3D pictures of
what my house will look like, and you know, they don't look too bad. The question
you need to ask yourself: Is it worth [the price]and a lot of trouble to create 3D
images?

I am a physicist/software developer, not an architect, and have experience with Punch Platinum (Punch), Better Homes and Garden Suite 6 (BHG), and DesignWorkshop Lite (DWL).

None of these are architectural design packages -- for that you'd pay big bucks and a lot of learning time. Rather, these are perspective drawing packages. DWL is in a slightly different category being closest to a true 3D modeling application. It is the only one that builds 3d objects from fundamentals, importing house objects from libraries. Hence, it takes more time to get going.

BHG and Punch are great for rapid prototyping, allowing you to construct a semblance of a home in just minutes. Punch has a big advantage in that it uses the popular OpenGL rendering engine. It also has a true 3d CAD capability to build unique objects that can be integrated into the design. Objects can be 'grouped' to form compound onbjects, but this capability is not available for their house objects, like walls and roofs.

BHG claims CAD tools, but they are simply 2D drawing tools -- rather useless as a design tool. I found BHG too limiting to use -- could not do multi-level flooring, etc. Punch, on the other hand seemed to do most of what I wanted.

One caveat for dealing with additions or remodeling: these packages, especially BHG, may not be able to model pre-existing structures accurately enough.

Here's my bottom line:
BHG: useful only as a concept designer for very traditional homes. It's single advantage is easy to use, but that feature is comparable to Punch which adds much more capability.

Punch: has true 3D capability as well as good object design based on OpenGL software. I regret it doesnt carry object design techniques, like grouping, over to the home oriented objects.

DWL is free and perhaps the most sophisticated at 3D design. It is a bit weaker on rapid prototyping and to do anything serious, you may need to buy the upgrade. DWL is cross-platform software, running on both Mac and Windows, and so it suffers from minor oddities in the GUI.

Punch!'s Suite is an old software package with many behaviors I found to be annoying. Punch seems more interested in adding features than in refining program behavior. And old software (such as the Suite product) is unlikely to be improved in the future.

The user interface is quirky and inconsistent and the program pauses for long periods of time without any user feedback (they seem to not use the hour-glass cursor consistently). These pauses may be longer (and more annoying) due to the particular hardware configuration I was using, since hardware changes caused performance changes of a factor of 50 (see my review of their newer AS18 product for more details on this). Pauses also occur at times when they are not required (3D information is re-computed when you enter text on the blueprint, when the text will never appear in the 3D view).

Punch! offers "free upgrades" from their web site, but if history is any indicator, there will be no more upgrades to the Suite product: Punch! is off working on their AS18 product now.

The program is feature laden, and you can actually design a house with it, but the inconsistent user interface drove me crazy. Unfortunately, this IS the the best software out there at this price (in my humble opinion).

===

An email exchange with Punch! Tech Support has reveled that everything on the following list of annoying behaviors are "design decisions", so we cannot expect any of the following program behaviors to change:

3D values are re-computed (causing long delays) in many situations in which these calculations, and delays, are not necessary;

Sometimes when you change floors, the 2D and 3D behavior of the program becomes confused, and the program is not sure on which floor it is working;

The program moves the 2D (blueprint) around when the user has not requested it, forcing the user to manually re-position the blueprint back to where they were working;

The hourglass cursor is rarely used when program delays occur, resulting in user confusion and erroneous multiple clicks;

Some functions appear as active menu items but in fact cannot be used at all;

Some functions appear as more than one menu item but provide the same function, which can be confusing;

36"x36" showers will not fit on a 38" wall;

The program always asks you whether you want to save your design, even when you have made no changes, and even when the design is empty;

The program does not remember printing preferences at all;

Some standard objects (such as queen sized beds) are not the correct size;

Some objects cannot be easily manipulated because they are hidden "behind" other objects, and there are no facilities for moving objects to the front or back;

I'll cut to the chase. Here are just a few of my complaints (I posted this on the Punch forums - which also suck by the way - but, curiously, it never appeared):

My biggest complaint is primarily focused on the inability to precisely move objects or points. I built three different triangular-shaped roof pieces. For some reason, one piece had a point that was a few feet higher in elevation than the others. The software only gives you a top-down modeling view. Think about that. How can you precisely line up two points in the Y axis (up and down) if you can only look at them from the top? Punch gives you the ability to view in 3D perspectives but anyone with any experience in 3D modeling will tell you that that doesn't work. You need all three views - top, front, and side, for accurate modeling. The result? Inaccurate models and a very frustrating piece of software.

You can't join or group objects or points (wall ends automatically join but then that creates other problems I won't even get into). The Snap-to feature, which could help a lot, doesn't work. It's there, but I dragged wall pieces, furniture, all kinds of stuff onto the grid and nothing stuck. Yes...the feature was turned on. The perspective 3D "walk through" camera is psychotic. One click and it's zooming in, the next click, same button, it's zooming out.

I checked out the Punch software forums and found lots of similar complaints and quite a few more related to problems I had yet to encounter (lots of texture complaints).

There is obviously a market for this software. It actually has a lot of promise. The problems are relatively simple to fix. In fact, I read a comment on their forums that said that people have been asking them to fix some of these problems for some time and that the developer apparently isn't interested. Why should they? Suckers like me come along at Home Depot, Best Buy, and here at Amazon every day.

I advise you to keep looking, stay far away from this developer, and spend a few extra dollars on a better program if you really need it.