Rating: 
Summary: Needs a few more years of development
Review: + Lots of gee-whizzy 3-D and lighting effects and huge library of objects.
- Allows you to embed a cabinet or other furniture into a wall, half in one room, half in another. Doesn't understand the concept of "solid".
- Treats some objects (doors) as measured on center, while others are measured to their edge (windows, particularly the height of the window above the floor)
- To move an entire room, you have to move each and every little object that makes up that room. Painfully difficult to select all of the objects that make up a room.
- No convenient wizards to walk you through entering existing data about your house to speed the process of replicating it, nor any convenient wizards to then ask what it is that you want to change and help guide you.
- Help system is oversimplified and limited to just basic concepts behind the software, not the details on how to use it.
Conclusion: It may be very powerful in the hands of the people who wrote it, but it lands frustratingly in the middle-ground between what a DIYer should buy and what a professional architect would use (likely AutoCAD).
Rating: 
Summary: Package cad architectonic simple suit and.
Review: Cure of all is made of the plan.
1- Planimetry
2- land and system vegetation
3- systems electrical worker, water etc
4- generation of prospects and sections
5- 3d and rendering
6- materials and I compute metric
7- wide bookcases
8- module of design blocks to
9- module of programming add-on
10- layout and pagination of simple and effective press all
Easy, amusing,
with a relationship quality excellent price!!
Rating:
Summary: This is barely a bad toy, not to mention an unusable tool.
Review: Don't waste your money on this software, unless you intend to "play" architect simply to exercise folly. But if you're serious about designing a house - TO LIVE IN - and want to draft plans to submit to a contractor, or simply to a REAL architect for final drafting, then you need to look elsewhere. While this software is reasonably user-friendly, it is terribly impractical. For example, it lacks the capability for a user to specify default preferences, requiring the user to recursively assign object characteristics to each individual object. As the plans become more complex by adding walls, doors, windows, etc. (the things one wants in a house design), the software becomes increasingly slow: a screen refresh, for example, can take 15-20 seconds (granted this performance is platform dependent). This software frequently crashes, though to its credit, it does auto-save right up to the moment of the crash. The 3D viewing is terribly substandard as well - no need to comment further. A preview of the recently released upgrade to this software shows that the software designers added or modified a number of the bells and whistles, but have ignored the problems that inhibit real functionality and practicality.
Rating:
Summary: This is barely a bad toy, not to mention an unusable tool.
Review: Don't waste your money on this software, unless you intend to "play" architect simply to exercise folly. But if you're serious about designing a house - TO LIVE IN - and want to draft plans to submit to a contractor, or simply to a REAL architect for final drafting, then you need to look elsewhere. While this software is reasonably user-friendly, it is terribly impractical. For example, it lacks the capability for a user to specify default preferences, requiring the user to recursively assign object characteristics to each individual object. As the plans become more complex by adding walls, doors, windows, etc. (the things one wants in a house design), the software becomes increasingly slow: a screen refresh, for example, can take 15-20 seconds (granted this performance is platform dependent). This software frequently crashes, though to its credit, it does auto-save right up to the moment of the crash. The 3D viewing is terribly substandard as well - no need to comment further. A preview of the recently released upgrade to this software shows that the software designers added or modified a number of the bells and whistles, but have ignored the problems that inhibit real functionality and practicality.
Rating: 
Summary: Can Not Insert Fractions of Inches In Your Dimensions
Review: Fractions of an inch are not available in any of Punch software packages.
So if you are remodeling or designing a kitchen where 1/2 of an inch is critical, keep that in mind.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful stuff!
Review: I am designing a new home and I must say this software is the best I've used! It has never crashed on me, and I love the user interface. It has layers which appear as tabs, for viewing and working on different aspects of the plan, such as the main floor plan, the electrical plan, plumbing plan, landscaping, decking, roofing, foundation, and hvac. You can choose to view and print these layers in combination, or separately, which lets you construct a full set of plans.The 3D is very realistic, and it includes a huge library of textures (building materials such as brick, tile, wallpaper,etc.) and objects such as lighting, furniture, etc. The program can do shadows and a special final-rendering which looks like a photograph - really! It has a cabinet wizard, a custom furniture designer, a texture editor, and tons of other cool features. One of the really nice features is the 3D walk-through and fly-around - it's like a video game in that it allows you to literally walk-through your home design and look out the windows, ascend the elevation to go up stairs, it's actually fun to use! I recommend this product.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Program
Review: I bought this program after getting frustrated with Broderbund and their 3D Home Architect program. I read the other reviews here on Amazon and decided to get it. It was almost twice the money but it is absolutely worth it! The program was easy to install and run and it's loaded with features that make it easy to see exactly what your building and it comes with extra programs (like landscaping, deck building etc.) that we will continue to use even after our home is built. Had a few questions once I got into designing our home and was able to call and talk to a LIVE person (Imagine that!) who helped me through what I was trying to accomplish. We have not completely finished our plans yet, but this program has ben a real asset to our project.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome product !
Review: I bought this software a few days ago. When I received it I opened the box, and installed it without a problem. After about 2 hours (and no experience at all with this kind of products) I had the home plan of my "dream home" already drawn from a floor plan that I had on paper, and I was walking into a 3D model of it. Fantastic and easy to use !
Rating: 
Summary: Better than I expected!
Review: I did a lot of web based research on this product and others before buying Punch! A/S18. There were a number of negative reviews from people who seemed to want a something that would give instant results or complained about system crashes. I installed the product, and then installed the latest update patch from the Punch! website before actually using the product. I have about 20 hours use on this product installed on a Dell PC (Dimension 8250 2.4Ghz, 512k memory, and ATI Radeon 9700 XT series video card.) It runs very fast and I have had no crashes. This software requires a learning curve to become comfortable and proficient. Do not expect instant gratification. If you want that, buy the $30 - $50 packages that allow no freedom of design. Rather than telling you what it does (you can read that on their website) I think I should tell you what to expect. First, I was frustrated when I tried to jump right in. Then I kicked back, opened the printed manual and read through it with the software open to follow along. The included video examples are great. I made good use of them. There are some stumbling blocks, but there are work arounds for all obstacles I ran into. Example: I wanted to have the support posts show in the basement in 3d fly through mode. There is nowhere to choose them from a menu. But, if you go to the Punch! 3D Workshop (a really cool program) in THREE clicks I had drawn a column, then saved it to my floorplan. There are textures for all the concrete, brick, stucco, wood, paint colors, etc needed to textureize or color your floors, walls and ceilings. More complex items like staircases are chosen from a menu and sizeable. The staircase tool will put stairs wherever you drag your mouse, so you can make some wild staircases. Walls are just point and click. Dimensions can be added where they do not appear automatically if you need them. When adding things like doors, you can choose the style, size, and hinge side and swing. Just drag and drop to the floorplan. Same goes with windows, archways, etc. There are many premade objects like cabinets, dishwashers, range, TV's, furniture, furnace, A/C, etc to drag and drop onto the plan. Any object you can add to your plan is customizable in the 3D workshop. There is also a user website (www.punch-alternatives.com) that has many 3D objects you can add, from autos, to customized cabinets, etc all made and contributed by Punch! purchasers. Overall, I rate the product very high, especially for the money. Its abilities put it head and sholders above the $60 products. You need a little patience to get started, and then you will just fly through the construction process. You are only limited by the amount of detail you are willing to add. One last thing, when I called Tech Support to find out how to cap a half height wall, they actually answered the phone. No menu, no waiting. And they talked me right through the problems I had. Now I keep the included PDF manual open when I'm working to do searches on topics I need to learn. It makes things so much easier. So take your time and enjoy! Chef Peta
Rating:
Summary: Better than I expected!
Review: I did a lot of web based research on this product and others before buying Punch! A/S18. There were a number of negative reviews from people who seemed to want a something that would give instant results or complained about system crashes. I installed the product, and then installed the latest update patch from the Punch! website before actually using the product. I have about 20 hours use on this product installed on a Dell PC (Dimension 8250 2.4Ghz, 512k memory, and ATI Radeon 9700 XT series video card.) It runs very fast and I have had no crashes. This software requires a learning curve to become comfortable and proficient. Do not expect instant gratification. If you want that, buy the $30 - $50 packages that allow no freedom of design. Rather than telling you what it does (you can read that on their website) I think I should tell you what to expect. First, I was frustrated when I tried to jump right in. Then I kicked back, opened the printed manual and read through it with the software open to follow along. The included video examples are great. I made good use of them. There are some stumbling blocks, but there are work arounds for all obstacles I ran into. Example: I wanted to have the support posts show in the basement in 3d fly through mode. There is nowhere to choose them from a menu. But, if you go to the Punch! 3D Workshop (a really cool program) in THREE clicks I had drawn a column, then saved it to my floorplan. There are textures for all the concrete, brick, stucco, wood, paint colors, etc needed to textureize or color your floors, walls and ceilings. More complex items like staircases are chosen from a menu and sizeable. The staircase tool will put stairs wherever you drag your mouse, so you can make some wild staircases. Walls are just point and click. Dimensions can be added where they do not appear automatically if you need them. When adding things like doors, you can choose the style, size, and hinge side and swing. Just drag and drop to the floorplan. Same goes with windows, archways, etc. There are many premade objects like cabinets, dishwashers, range, TV's, furniture, furnace, A/C, etc to drag and drop onto the plan. Any object you can add to your plan is customizable in the 3D workshop. There is also a user website (www.punch-alternatives.com) that has many 3D objects you can add, from autos, to customized cabinets, etc all made and contributed by Punch! purchasers. Overall, I rate the product very high, especially for the money. Its abilities put it head and sholders above the $60 products. You need a little patience to get started, and then you will just fly through the construction process. You are only limited by the amount of detail you are willing to add. One last thing, when I called Tech Support to find out how to cap a half height wall, they actually answered the phone. No menu, no waiting. And they talked me right through the problems I had. Now I keep the included PDF manual open when I'm working to do searches on topics I need to learn. It makes things so much easier. So take your time and enjoy! Chef Peta
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