New program by Broderbund

[ki4hpz]

http://www.broderbund.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1637&itemType=PRODUCT&em=1

[n74tg]

A year or two ago, I had access to Broderbund's 3D Home Architect program (I think it was version 3 and 5).  If you don't mind taking the time to learn how to use a CAD type program I'm sure it is in the longrun worthwhile.  However, the learning curve is steep and very time consuming (at least it was for me).

I gave them another chance this year and bought their Instant Modeler program because I also design, build and fly radio controlled model airplanes.  It was on sale very cheap (like $10) so I thought maybe they had shallowed out the learning curve some; not so.

For my projects (airplanes and homes) I find that Microsofts's Excel spreadsheet program works wonderfully.  Just shrink the cells down til they are squares and you just made yourself a sheet of graphpaper.  Best of all, you can size the cells yourself to give the desired scale for your drawing.  Excel's drawing toolbar has all the shapes I've ever needed and there is almost no learning curve on how to use them (ie it's almost intuitive, so NO study is needed).  If you don't have Excel I'd bet any spreadsheet would work.

Understand I'm not putting down CAD programs in general; I'm just not willing to spend lot's of time to learn how to use them.

[John Raabe]

ki74tg:

Please give us your experience with this program and perhaps show what you were able to produce. Broderbund has purchased a lot of third party offerings over the years. This IMSI product seems to be the latest.

The program has a rating of 1.5 (out of 5) at Amazon. Read them HERE.

PS - Compare the IMSI program to the 3DHA v3 program (3 stars) we are doing the PlanHelp files in. This older and simpler program can be had for less than $1 (+s/h)  

[n74tg]

Here is what the kitchen looks like when drawn up with Excel spreadsheet.

[John Raabe]

Interesting N7  

I tried playing with some of the grids and drawing tools. For those comfortable with Excel this is a valid medium for quick scale drawings.

If someone has a presized 1/8" grid spreadsheet to start others off send it in an email attachment and I'll post it as a download.
john@countryplans.com

[n74tg]

John:
Here are some grid sizes I use.  Sorry, I haven't found one that prints out exactly 1/8",
but I particularly like the 3/8" and 1/2" grids.  I tried to set this up as a table, but that failed miserably; so here's what you get.

Grid dimension, Row height, Column width, comment
3.3 mm, 9.75, 1.02, almost 1/8" grid
5 mm, 14.25, 1.86, 0.2" grid (ie 5 grids per inch)
6.15 mm, 18, 2.42,  almost 1/4" grid
3/8", 25.5, 4.0
1/2", 36.75, 5.71
1", 73.5, 12.29

good luck