Format:CD-ROM Platforms:Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP Genre:Childrens Construction Software Games ESRB:Everyone Media:CD-ROM Operating System:Windows Vista Shipping Weight (lbs):1.3 Dimensions (in):7.6 x 5.3 x 2.3
Building Green- Green features inculde eco-friendly tips & ideas that save energy and money
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Intelligent Room Detection- Complete automation that changes when you change the size or shape of your design, including the roof!
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Google 3D support- access millions of options for your design.
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Integrated Internet- Fina a local contractor, plotting service, or other support to complete your project.
Editorial Reviews:
Product Description This entry level home design package allows you to begin designing your dream home immediately. Drag and drop rooms into place, size to the appropriate dimensions, and easily build a roof.
Great ProgramOctober 27, 2008 D. Lahrman(Indiana) 14 out of 20 found this review helpful
Although I'm unable to compare this with other titles in the same category, I think Punch! Home & Landscape Design Suite is a great program. If you're interested in home improvement or construction, this is a great tool! Getting started is quick and easy but all the possibilities will keep you involved with this program for a long time. I created a model of our current house and the 3D walk-through is an uncanny experience. The ability to visualize improvement ideas is of great assistance. Much better than heading out to the store and looking at samples and trying to picture it in your head.
Difficult to use, but worth learning anyway--saved me $80,000December 17, 2009 S. Harris(Vicksburg, MS) 8 out of 12 found this review helpful
I have been using Punch! products for 9 years now. I see a lot of these reviews complaining about how difficult the software is to use. Have you ever tried to use AutoCAD? When a program is very capable, there are a ton of features and a ridiculously steep learning curve. Much like MS Excel, there are simple, intuitive, out-of-the-box features that you can open up and use right away like the 60-second home builder and auto roof. But, just like in Excel, if you want a function that doesn't exist you have to write custom VBA code to create it. In Punch!, if you want it to not draw a roof, click just outside of any wall and select options on the right side. Uncheck the "Auto-generate roof" feature and there you go! The walls that are created in the 60-second home builder tool are problematic and I just skip over it now. But when I'm trying to design a new house from scratch or plan a renovation, fooling around with the space planner is useful and time-saving.
I have created my own work arounds for many of the tool's faults. For example, since you can't split a wall at different heights, I'll join two walls together at differing heights. But if you click and drag, one wall will take on the height characteristic of the other wall. If instead, you select the end of the wall and nudge it using the arrow keys until it butts up against the first wall, that will do the trick. Same thing for ceiling heights in rooms with varying wall height. Click the room itself, and uncheck display ceiling. Then use the draw floor feature to draw a floor at the elevation of the ceiling. There are a hundred little tricks that aren't documented anywhere that I can find, but you tend to learn them over time.
One of the features that is unparalleled in this market is the 3D custom workshop. Unlike all the other functionality, there is no manual, no video, nothing on how to use this tool. It took me a couple months straight of banging my head on the computer screen trying to figure out how to make it work. But now I am creating my own furniture! No other program lets you do that. Creating your own furniture is useful for 3D rendering too because the furniture out-of-the-box is very complex (often a single chair is 1.2MB when your entire house is only 700KB). By building my own furniture, I can create chairs that are more like 20KB thereby DRASTICALLY (by orders of magnitude) reducing my rendering time.
But why should you suffer through months of agony to master this software? Simple. If you are not an experienced builder or architect, you will learn a lot about construction, design, and planning. I bought a 130yr old house and started with my renovation plan. I took the drawings to contractors and got quotes. The price was out of my budget, so I literally "went back to the drawing board." After dozens of iterations of virtually building spaces and working through ideas, I was able to come up with an alternative renovation plan that cost $80,000 less than my original plan, but still met all of our requirements. You simply can't do that with a napkin.
Punch Home And Landscape Design Suite RocksOctober 29, 2009 jojo(Texas) 2 out of 5 found this review helpful
For the other reviews that had issues with the auto generated roof. How about turning it off, this way you can draw it on manually.
RE: Install Issues
UAC in Vista keeps other software titles from installing also.
This isn't a Punch thing but a Windows (Bill Gates) thing.
I think the software is great for the price. I does floor plans and elevations to scale.
It also does the framing. It allows you to change stud walls to steel stud, Concrete or concrete block.
It will also do the electrical, plumbing, landscaping, decks. It also gives a material list/ count.
I use autocad but the Punch software is much faster and cheaper. It allows for the 3d walk thru, adding materials and is a full landscaping software. SOunds like the bad reviewer's need to read the manual or spend more than 15 minites with the software.
Punch also offers a 90 Day money back refund. How can you go wrong.
Worth the CostNovember 26, 2009 Donna D. Lussier(Massachusetts) 4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Hi All, I've been a Punch! user for over a decade, that in itself should say how much I like this program. Punch! has completely rehauled their program with their NextGen versions to be faster, lighter and easier to use although I always found it easy to use from the very beginning. I've read the reveiws and feel that most of the issues users are experiencing are due to not understanding how the program works. Like driving a car, once you know it, it becomes automatic. Users can't expect to hop into a program and wha-la know how to use it without any guidance; although, that's kind of what I did way back when and still do it today with every upgrade. It's a basic program not a full blown architectural program which by the way can cost you $$thousands in comparison to the low cost of punch which offers you much more for your buck!
I've "tried" other programs in the past and none of them come close to the 3D virtual reality world it produces in it's LiveView window. Immediate results are produced in a realistic scene. You draw a wall, BANG! it's there in 3D. You can throw textures into the window onto the walls, the ground, the sky, just about everything you see in the window and unlike other home design programs with their cartoonish appearance, Punch by far looks more realistic than anything I've ever seen. Add to that a lengthy library of Sherwin Williams color pallettes to dress up your design and guess what, the name of the paint and color number are provided for you should you want to run down to the hardware store and buy it.
There are also many automatic features, such as automatic roofing, snapping, dimensioning, and more. Each that can be turned on or off. Best of all is their Quick Start feature whereby you are presented with a screen of starter rooms that can later be modified to your liking.
Each user of course is looking to buy something with an idea in mind. In all fairness, a user should not post a reveiw unless they have taken the effort to do their homework and understand the program .... Read The Manual guys!!
*A member of the Punch! Online Community posted this review. The Punch! Online Community allows people to collaborate on features, techniques, and uses. It also assist each other to maximize the software capabilities. This member was not compensated in any form for this review, if you would like more information on the Punch! Online Community please visit the Punch! Software website.
How to Install, Overall a good upgradeAugust 22, 2010 Special Kids(UT United States) I had a little trouble getting this to install, so I included instructions below and also in the discussion section for this item. Because of this, I give it a 4-star rating. However, I am so far pleased with the product overall. I previously had a 2001 version of Punch Home Platinum, and when I got my Vista laptop I needed a new Home Design Software. Because of the large number of house plan projects I had from my old Punch! software I wanted something compatible. But I was concerned when I saw the large number of negative reviews of the new products. I decided to take a chance and I am so far glad I did. I am able to open all my old plans, and I enjoy the updated furnishings available in the new program. It does take a little getting-used-to to use the new controls, but I feel confident that I will be able to accomplish results better than what I could before.
This program DOES have a steep learning curve, especially if you are unfamiliar with Punch's previous products. There are a lot of controls to allow you to specify all kinds of object and wall characteristics. This lets you customize things, but it also requires you to tell the computer what to do-- if you expect the program to read your mind you will be disappointed! I have found the manual to be reasonably well-written and have no complaints so far, except that I wish I could do four-story house plans.
Here is how I managed to isntall this. I have Vista, and my disk kept spinnning but not installing. Once I researched the problem online, the actual installation procedure (below) took about 10 minutes. You might want to write down or print these steps for convenience.
1. Remove the disk from the drive.
2. Turn off the User Account Control (UAC). To turn UAC off:
.....a. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
.....b. Click User Accounts.
.....c. Click Turn User Account Control On or Off.
.....d. If it asks for your permission, click Continue.
.....e. Remove the check in the checkbox that says "Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer". Click OK.
.....f. Click Restart Now, or click Restart Later and close the User Accounts tasks window.
3. Restart your computer and go into Safe Mode.
.....a. Click Start, click the arrow, and then click Restart.
.....b. Before the Windows logo comes up, press and hold the F8 key. Select Safe Mode.
.....c. If that doesn't work, you can do an `emergency' reboot as follows (not recommended):
........i. Close all programs, so you can see your desktop icons.
........ii. Unplug your computer from the power source (and remove the battery for a laptop).
........iii. Plug it back in (and replace the battery). Turn it on.
........iv. When it powers up again, the startup screen should say the computer did not shut down normally and it will give you the option to start in Safe Mode.
4. Put the disk back in the drive. Install the software, following the on-screen instructions. If the disk spins but does not start installing, do the following:
.....a. Click Start, then click Computer.
.....b. RIGHT-click on the disk drive containing the disk.
.....c. Select "Install or Run Program". It should then start loading almost immediately. Follow the on-screen instructions.
5. Once the software is installed, shut down, and restart in normal mode.
6. Turn the UAC back on by following the steps in Step 2 but re-check the UAC box. Restart the computer to implement the change.
7. Click on the Punch! icon on the desktop (a silver, blue and green circle with a black P). Fill in your information to register your software. You will need an internet connection to register and receive a registration code. It is sent immediately as well as by email. Without this code the Save and Print functions will be disabled.
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