I have so many ideas and no way to put them on paper. Does anyone know what a good software package is for designing homes. I have never used a program like this before and I just want to spend the money on the right program. Any suggestions would be welcome.

If you are looking to keep it free and have some experience with learning software, I would recommend SketchUp, but if you want to learn something a bit more than that go with Envisioneer Express (still free).

If you like them and like what you see, then you should spend the money.

I say go with the free stuff until you know that you want to keep doing it. Buying a piece of software for one project doesn't seem too logical, especially some of the more expensive ones.

My sister used something from Better Homes and Gardens and she loved it. She gave it to the builder and he did her whole house from those drawings.... I think. I think you should work in a program that produces drawings easily that can also be used by the builder.

This isn't the easiest question to answer. Different programs work in slightly different ways and some are more technical and some are more user friendly. If you have the time, I would suggest that you download trial versions and see which one works best for you. From what you have said, I would say to stay away from SketchUp unless you are somewhat familiar with 3D modeling. Start with the home design software. Envisioneer, Chief Architect, Punch Pro, etc....

Good luck

I agree that your best bet will be to try to download some trial softwares. It will help you to avoid buying something that doesn't work the way you do.

I think you can use anything you are comfortable with. Don't spend too much money and whatever you do, have a professional, either a contractor or architect look at you plans and ideas before you start spending money. It shouldn't come as any surprise that many DIYers make simple mistakes because they don't have the proper background to do it on their own.

I would concur in principle with the comments above. I started out using cheaper software i.e. Punch! when I was still building. It worked for simple things, but was not good for producing construction documents or complex custom projects.

My brother gave me a postcard to try out a trial of Envisioneer which a the time was version 1. I switched within the week.

I also use Sketchup practically everyday. Here are the reasons below for each:

Since I primarily work in custom home design and light commercial visualizations, Envisioneer is my tool of choice. I have tried Archicad, Chief Architect, Softplan, & Revit. All of them are excellent in their own right. I would say that Archicad and Revit are perfect if you are working with a design team and you need to share the 3D model, or if you are doing large commercial projects. They are optimized for this type of design work. However the price tag reflects this as well, as does the learning curve.

Chief Architect and Softplan are more targeted to the home construction industry.

Softplan is great if you want a great set of blueprints, and a few renderings. It doesn't integrate well with other programs that I use all of the time like Sketchup, Google Earth, and Adobe Acrobat 3D.

Chief Architect is a great package, but has a bit of a difficult learning curve if you are going to maximize it's capabilities. You can do just about anything you want with it...once you are a master! If you browse the chief forums you will find lots of frustrated people trying to figure out even basic things. I don't like to have to work that hard.

So I settled on Envisioneer for the following reasons:
1. Simple to learn and use.
2. Very powerful tools, especially roofs. It is the best on the market hands down!
3. Extremely flexible. I can import 3DS, dxf, dwg, & Sketchup models and use them in my model. They can then be saved to my catalog to be used over and over. I can export to 3DS, dxf, dwg to share in all autocad types of programs, as well as import into Sketchup. (more about that in a moment.)
4. Very powerful yet simple terrain tools. You can create just about any type of terrain you need to. For some this feature is very simple, others seem to struggle with how to use them effectively. I have posted several how to's on the Cadsoft forum on this topic.
5. Very simple method to create high quality renderings, both stills and animations.
6. There is no physical hardware lock etc. to use the software. You can install it on your desktop and laptop, provided you are the only user.

For some examples of what you can do exporting your design and using it in Sketchup, visit my blog here: http://varchitec.blogspot.com/
I hope this helps in your search.
Regards,
Ed Staelens
President
Virtual Architec LLC

Great review of the products. I haven't used Envisioneer yet, but it sounds like a powerful tool. In my office its all about BIM technology right now, so I just wanted to comment about Archicad and Revit. You dismissed them pretty quickly, which is fine. We use Revit and it helps integrate so many aspects of the project. Its not just about our commercial work, our residential work benefits too, and yes, the benefits of the software are magnified by larger projects and larger teams.

I think that the choice of product is completely dependent on the user. If you need a more powerful engine, then something like Revit might be the way to go.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I was trying to highlight the fact that there are other programs very well suited for BIM other then Archicad or Revit. In my experience, many of the smaller firms have stayed away from BIM because they equate it with only programs like Revit and Archicad, then fear or a tight budget takes over.

Those two programs have gotten the most press so I didn't figure they needed more expounding, however most do not realize they can get the power of BIM in a program like Envisioneer with less of a learning curve and much less money. I hope this clears up what I meant to say :)

I never knew that Envisioneer had BIM capabilities. We don't use software too much in my role in the building process, but you are right, most of the architects we work with talk about Revit as the end all be all of BIM. Good to know. Thanks.

I wasn't trying to say that you couldn't get BIM benefits from other software. I understand that Envisioneer does have parametric models, but the engine that runs those models is less powerful than the one in say Revit or Archicad. I agree that for residential projects and even small scale commercial that a product like Envisioneer might be a price effective choice for some offices.

For larger offices Revit and Archicad are the ways to go. Even if you don't do larger commercial, the ability to have larger teams and produce larger volumes of information is beneficial.

I am not sure what you mean about "tight budget takes over"?? Are you talking about the purchase of licenses for Revit or are you saying that Revit costs more to operate. We have found that the use of Revit over older 2D CAD software has actually saved us enough that it will pay itself back over time. Sure we could have saved money and gone with a smaller software package like Envisioneer, but we would be changing our native file format, adjusting to a software package (which of course we did anyway) and dealing with the fact that none of our consultants use anything but Autodesk products (mostly Revit)

To reiterate:

I would say that Archicad and Revit are perfect if you are working with a design team and you need to share the 3D model, or if you are doing large commercial projects. They are optimized for this type of design work.

I made the comment about fear and tight budgets in regard to the small firms, many of which don't use any software at the moment. So to go from no software to Revit is a huge leap that many are just too afraid to tackle, nor are they willing to budget the money just to purchase the software or pay the update subscriptions. There is no doubt that Revit or Archicad pay for themselves on the large projects or large firms.
All of my comments have been aimed toward those who are just starting into the world of BIM and the common fears that are shared by so many, which I think is evidenced by the question that started this thread.

ceiling problems with express

I don't think this is the right site for tech support for Envisioneer Express. You could check out the forums HERE

vlstaele, what formats does Envisioneer export to. I often do high end renderings in other software packages as almost every CAD based software package has below-average render engines.