| Sweet Home 3D |
|
| Written by Darryn Lowe | |||||
| Sunday, 30 March 2008 | |||||
|
The biggest problem I have had has always been finding cheap/free programs that could do what I wanted. Most of the time I was directed to apps like Inkscape and such...but using these sorts of apps are a pain. Then I managed to stumble on Sweet Home 3D and my search ended. Here is an application that is not only everything that I wanted in this sort of app but is also Open Source thus free.
Installation & Documentation
 Ease of use Value for money
Price approx Open Source (free) Software/Hardware Requirements Java Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and above 400 MHz or above processor 256 MB memory Available from sweethome3d.sourceforge.net Written in Java it is actually a reasonable performer with no slowdown that I have seen. Also as it is written in Java it implements a system feel so it feels like a Mac app although more akin to an old Aqua app than the new style. The interface is clean and the 3D view of your designs prove invaluable.
One very nice thing is the range of objects that come with it allowing you to add furniture, windows, doors, sinks, etc and what isn't in the application can be downloaded from various sources. It supports the OBJ, LWS or 3DS formats (imported via a wizard) giving you a number of sources to use for other objects.
One missing feature is the ability to paint the wall thus giving you a better idea how your house would look. I don't know if this will be implemented in a later version but it would be nice because at the moment you get only a white wall which is bland to say the least. A seriously awesome feature is the Virtual Visit where you setup a little man icon and you can rotate the man to basically see how your house would look if you were inside it, standing there. The other view is an aerial Isometric view that lets you see what it would look like in 3D.
There doesn't seem to be a roof view giving you a better idea of what the finished view will be but on having said that this isn't really the aim of the program. The aim of the program is, to quote: Sweet Home 3D is a free interior design application that helps you placing (sic) your furniture on a house 2D plan, with a 3D preview. ...so it's more for interior decorators than for architects. One place this can be great fun to use is The Sims where you can design your house and then use those designs in the game. If you're character likes it, then I guess you know you did good. If your character wants to set fire to themselves instead, then... well you should have given your character more mechanical skills so he could have put out the fire, or at least more cooking skills so he wouldn't have set fire to the kitchen in the first place. This of course does not mean you can export to Sims format although how cool would that be? Needless to say this app has fulfilled my needs and has allowed me to see if my ideas have a show of working. Maybe, if I could pull together some dosh for some land I could use this to at least give an idea of what my house would be like. AutoCAD it is not but it is fantastic for what it does set out to do... allow you to see where things will fit in the grand scheme of things.
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Comments (1)
sboothe
said:
|
|||||
I have for quite sometime been trying to find a simple CAD program
so as to be able to design houses. I used to be pretty good at technical
drawing at High School and I've got plenty of ideas for designs that I want to
see if they'd work.
Drawing walls is very simple
by clicking the Draw Walls button which allows you to
click/drag/click walls. The grid allows you to accurately place the length of
wall you want and the length is noted in a tooltip style box by the cursor.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
 |
Hi Darryn: Great review! I hadn't heard of Sweet Home 3D, but I really like the looks of it--especially being that it is OpenSource(!!!). However, I'm wondering if you had a chance to compare it to Google SketchUp? I've found SketchUp to be so easy and fun to use that I've actually given it away to an eight year old son of a family friend for his birthday and he is still showing up models that he currently working on a whole year and a half later(!).  Anyway, since you didn't mention this app by name, I thought there may be a chance you missed it, and if so, I thought you might enjoy giving it a look too. All the best, Steven P.S. I am a new Mac admin at our college in addition to discovering a keen interest in all things New Zealand so when I found your blog I was quick to subscribe. Nice work! |
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Show/Hide comment form
The views and opinions expressed in articles, blog entries, posts and reviews are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of NZMac.com and its readers. Authors are responsible for the integrity of their article's content and must guarantee that its publication does not infringe upon the proprietary rights of others.
