http://www.sweethome3d.com/index.jsp
Like Kingsoft Ofc. saw news of this update posted over at Neowin. Sweet Home 3D was mentioned a bit the other day when GOTD featured Ashampoo Home Designer Pro, with several people saying they used it.
New version Sweet Home 3D
(6 posts) (4 voices)-
Quantum Dragon
MemberThanks for the news on this update!
Posted 11 years ago # -
Whiterabbit-uk
Games GuruThanhs Mikiem :) Pity I didn't have either of these softwares a couple of months ago. We've just forked out £1200 for building plans (hmmm, actually I think I did have an earlier copy of the Ashampoo program, but totally forgot until writing his, lol) for the changes to the bungalow. (He dropped the price by £200 after my wife made him feel guilty.
We'd got a builder ready and waiting, and the architect had promised to ge the plans to us over a month ago; we got them yesterday;, but have lost the builder. He could't wait any longer and has taken on a large job several days ago, that leaves him busy for over 2 months. :(
Posted 11 years ago # -
mikiem2
ModeratorGrew up in the trades, inheriting my grandfather's talent or knack for that sort of thing, but never did more than dabble a bit in subcontracting because I'm deathly afraid of heights -- stepstools bother me! -- so I became the 1st/only auto junkie in the family. The biggest thing about building plans is that they conform to whatever regs or building standards where you live [I'm assuming that like in the US those plans have to be filed with & approved by the local gov], & that's something presumably the architect, unlike this software does know about, so you shouldn't feel too badly, WR.
My brother in law makes his living as what used to be called being a draftsman, only using extremely expensive CAD software instead of doing it by hand the way I learned in school [in the dark ages of course -- BTW, contrary to seemingly popular belief we did actually have electricity & indoor plumbing way back then. I still laugh at the fact I took a college course in using a sliderule.]. At any rate, the point is that that sort of thing Is Expensive, paying for the services of someone who got a degree just to operate the software to generate the plans, plus the architect's expertise & training in what the plans should incorporate.
Now the actual building is often another matter -- in reality whomever's in charge of the work needs to know what it's supposed to look like when they're finished, but for that a sketch on a napkin might work as well as a set of blueprints. A good builder or contractor knows more about what works & doesn't than most anyone else -- unfortunately everyone on down the line also knows what they can get away with since hardly anyone checks the quality or adherence to specs underneath the parts you can see. The stuff you can't easily see may or may not wind up being the same as what's in those blueprints, either because someone cut corners or there was a better way of doing things.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Whiterabbit-uk
Games GuruYou are right. The building plans differ from the initial survey drawings and proposed extension and changes because they have lots of notes added, Steel support bars are marked in, and stress walls are marked etc. The architect does know his stuff, so I do think it will be money well spent; but my wife has always been very thrifty with money.
She was the only student at university I ever knew who still had money in her bank account at the end of the academic year and on our first vacation together, we saved to purchase two bicycles from a police auction, made carriers out of cheap ruck sacks then cycled from Bordeaux in France to just North of O Porto in Portugal. the journey took nearly two months, there and back. We started with £700. That bought the bikes, rail fares to Bordeaux plus a couple of short train journeys to visit sites in Spain, all of our food and drink and we still came back with £200; (that was in 1991). I was at uni for 10 years, initially as an undergraduate, then post graduate plus I worked part time in the labs helping students with practical work - I needed to pay for my consumables as the research I was doing needed lots of reagents etc. I knew a lot of students over those years and can say my wife was the only student I ever met that knew how to enjoy herself without spending all of her money. :)
The building work is inspected at various points in construction, for example, once the foundations have been laid, an inspector has to come and see the work before any building work can be carried out. I'm not sure how many times they come out, but it does help to stop poor workmanship.
Posted 11 years ago #
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