Punch Home Design Studio Pro
Punch! Software
Price: $249.99 (upgrade pricing available)
Pros: Easy to learn interface; thorough feature set; prints real 3D models.
Cons: Sensitive 3D navigation controls; wide price and feature disparity between basic and pro versions.
by Tim Billings, Capt, USAF
Everyone has some idea of what they want their dream house to be. Of course, being a young captain, I'm several years away from that time. But what about the house that we're building right now? The Home Design Studio by Punch! Software lets you do both! All you need is a good idea or simple blue prints from your builder with measurements and you can "draw" just about each and every aspect of your home – right down to the kitchen sink or cabinet.
When you start, the program gives you a blank canvas. Now what? You don't just start drawing house plans. The professional version has stock templates of each room that you can choose and then deviate from.
Overall, the program is extremely easy to use. Even the most advanced parts are very intuitive. There are some little quirky things that can get irritating when you've got a room just the way you want it. The one I found most irritating was that every time you place a door or window on a wall, it uses the same properties as the previous door or window. If you're making multiple copies of the same thing, this comes in very handy, but honestly, in homes today, how many windows and doors are exactly the same dimensions? Fortunately, if you do need assistance, the help menu is extremely helpful and easy to use.
When you're done with the frame of the house, the design studio portion of this program then allows you to start adding things such as electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roofing, etc., as well as design/decorating features. This is where you can get as detailed as you like. Do you want your heat register placed over the windows? Where and how many plugs do you want in each room? What about cable and phone outlets? Paint schemes? Drapes and carpets? This feature can be extremely helpful if you have a specific vision of how you want your house to function. The 3-D objects that you can place inside your house actually aren't that bad graphically. They are a bit crude, but they give you a good idea of the layout of a room. When you're finished with the inside, you can move outside. Home Design gives you the ability to actually build the topography around your house exactly like it is in real life. Next you can add any plant to see how it looks. It's pretty fun to see how a palm tree looks in the mideast.
When you are completely done with your house, inside and out, you can then take a 3D virtual tour of you house. With four render modes, helicopter views that allow you to fly around and in your house, and walk-through mode, you get a really good look at your house. The 3D fly/walk around controls are a bit sensitive though – one second you can be looking at your living room, the next you're on some far off corner of your lot looking at grass. Once you get a feel for it, this tool is very helpful.
The final feature of program is what really interests me. The program takes your house and breaks it down in such a way that you can print out every wall and, with some foam board, make a scale model of your home. This could come in very handy when doing major renovations or additions to your existing house. This could also be useful for business owners who want to show off their buildings.
Overall, this is a very well written program It is easy enough for the general homeowner to use, but powerful enough for a professional architectural firm. The price is a bit steep for me, especially when I saw the basic program from the same company sell at WalMart for $9.99 - that is, if all you want is a basic idea and model of what you want your house to look like.
System Requirements:
* Mac OS X 10.4 or later
* 256MB RAM
* 32MB video card
* 4.9GB HDD
* DVD drive