Rating:  -
I bought this hoping to do some remodeling renderings of my house. My house has all vaulted ceilings. There is not one roof in this program that would work on any part of my house. All of the roof lines are A-frame. There is no way to have a wall that is not a perfect rectangle. Almost all walls in my home are not. So this program was completely useless.
Look at all the example plans in the program. None of them have any out of the ordinary roofs or walls.
The update on the website has one roof that is called a 'shed'. It was a joke. No help at all. If are going to create a design that has anything that is unique or out of the ordinary, skip this program.
Rating:  -
Got Super Home Suite version 3.5.2 to replace Broderbund's 3D Home Architect 5.0, about which I cannot say enough bad things (it's wildly unstable and very difficult to use even when it doesn't crash, which it does on a regular basis).
SHS is definitely easier to use. For designing basic floor plans, it's very straightforward. Walls and windows are easy to move; roofs are easy to put on. The packaging oversells the 3D viewing capabilities - it's pretty basic. And if there's a way to create elevations of your work, I haven't seen them.
The biggest drawback is the limitations in cabinetry, fixtures, furniture and so on. For example, there are no bi-fold doors available in the pallette. There's no way to indicate foundation walls. Broderbund's package had generous 'catalogs' with a wide array of items, identified by list (nice idea if that POS actually worked). In contrast, SHS relies on a graphically narrow palette of icons on the right side of the screen. It's hard to determine exactly what each item is (nor is there any key or mouseover identification). So you've sorta got to guess what each item is.
Another problem: roofs are very limited. For example, there's no way to create a saltbox-style roof.
I got acceptable results with the app vis-a-vis floor plans, but that's about it. This app could be lots better.
Rating:  -
I recently fell in love with Punch Super Home Suite. I have tried other home design programs before, but spent most of my time frustrated by not being able to jump right in and time stakingly wading through pages of the manual. I want a way to be able to "virtually" create my dreamhouse and to be able to walk through it before we build it. Punch provided that! It was so easy to get started into the program. I was able to create the object of my dreams in about 45 minutes. After creating in the 2D, I walked around in the 3D only to be amazed by how closely it resembled what was only previously in my head. A fun part of the program is applying the brick in the 3D to see which sample I liked best. The color palatte is really nice to use allowing me to customize the colors for my walls. Outside I planted trees, shrubs, and flowers and was blown away by seeing what the yard will look like in 5,10,and 15 years.
Rating: -
I was initially excited at how easy it is to create a structure, and indeed that is this program's strength. But as I used it more, I became more disappointed. Roofs are poorly done. You'll notice that all the samples have the same roof lines. You cannot create true gables. You cannot create anything pretty much out of the ordinary in fact. Try drawing a barn for example. And walls are a problem when you want anything that is not ordinary. Try drawing a knee wall. You cannot specify individual wall height. They have a good concept and an easy api, but ease of use is no substitute for basic features. I am disappointed.
Rating: -
I was initially excited at how easy it is to create a structure, and indeed that is this program's strength. But as I used it more, I became more disappointed. Roofs are poorly done. You'll notice that all the samples have the same roof lines. You cannot create true gables. You cannot create anything pretty much out of the ordinary in fact. Try drawing a barn for example. And walls are a problem when you want anything that is not ordinary. Try drawing a knee wall. You cannot specify individual wall height. They have a good concept and an easy api, but ease of use is no substitute for basic features. I am disappointed.
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