I am wondering how owners of Chief Architect or SoftPlan use their software. Do you find it useful in identifying possible engineering/design issues? Does it give you a reasonably close estimate of materials? I don’t mind spending the dough and learning to use it. But I want more than pretty pictures. It would have to pay for itself.
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Softplan here.
Materials estimates are exact if you drawn it all in. For instance if you do not draw a ceiling, the materials list will not include the rafter ties and sheetrock for it. If you do not place baseboard in the drawing, there will be none on the list.
the 3D is a fantastic sales tool.
As for engineering, that is another ballywick.
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Well, I'm not really looking for engineering software anyway. But do you find that using SoftPlan helps in considering loads, placement of columns, and the like...more so than a simple 2-D plan?I can see how it would be an excellent sales tool.
How much does the software cost?
Depending on lite version or complete package, $700 up to three grand
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I have no really tried to use it that way, but you can easily create cross sections or work with 3D wireframes. I think about load transfer instinctively I guess, and most of my work has not been all that unique in terms of loads so I just have not needed to do much along those lines.
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