Chief Architect Architectural Home Designer 9.0

Helpful But Cumbersome (2010-05-21) : 4/5
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.


Waaaayyyy More Complicated (2010-04-22) : 4/5
First, there is no reason that it took 2 weeks for an off the shelf product like this to get shipped to a customer.... me.

Second, this product is WAY more complicated to use than it seems, or it is portrayed. If you don't have at least a 22" LCD monitor, forget it. The enlarge and fit-to-screen options are fine, but it is difficult to do the initial steps in a floor plan with stuff running off every side of the screen.

Second, if you are using this on a high powered laptop, it gets real annoyed when you are not connected to the net. As a matter of fact, it keeps shutting the application down. A new feature?

Third, after watching the video tutotials twice now, I will have to go back and do it again. I am not an engineer or architect, so there must be something wrong with the way I think. The tutorials seem to assume that they are "intuitive" but I got to tell you, for me they are anything but.

Finally, overall I think this is going to turn out to be an OK purchase and worth the money. Chief Architect needs to think about who is using this stuff and really work through making it more understandable AND more intuitive (really intuitive). I think I'd puchase it even if I knew all this... and now I do.
Great product for the price (2010-04-09) : 4/5
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.
Overpriced for the feature set (2010-03-03) : 3/5
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.
Buy it! Buy it! Buy it! (2010-01-14) : 5/5
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!