Replying to Old builder - New Company -SoftPlan??

Grew up with a hammer in my hand. Carried lumber. Saw dust running through my veins.  (still)  When I first seen SP I was flabergasted. So cool. I had to have it. Then it was like the dog chaseing the car. UPS truck came the next day with my 2500 hundred dollar package. OMG.  Played around till I could draw a sructure (square box), and make it elevate.  I was so stoked I did laps around the outside of my house in the winter. Then I took some SP classes. There was no online tutorials to watch. (v10) If you can build a house, you can draw a house in SP.  Nothings easy, but SP has made it possible if you put your time in.

Same Idea ... as you can see from my renderings, I "borrowed" a couple of Roger Dean's pictures for the walls. Hope he doesn't mind!

BTW Martin, Those renderings are pretty incredible.  Did the picture of the Beatles come as part of the SP library? ;-)

No it did not. I have been accumulating images to use for artwork on the walls.

I have been in the lumber business for 23 years with the same company and was promoted to draftsman in June of last year.  I spent 2 solid weeks studying the 1,000 page instruction manual and doing the tutorials that are included with the program.  With zero previous CAD experience I put my first plan out in less than a month.  I don't want to say the program is easy by any means, but Softplan is very simple to start drawing with after doing the homework.  Complex items are in the program and the folks here on the forums are genius' at figuring ways to make something complex seem simple.  The 3D is amazing and helps customers see what they are getting before ground is broke.  As the above said, it's as detailed as you want it to be.

Gordon as Yvon mentioned approaching the design from "building a house" works well. With 47+ years hands on residential construction I find it 

easiest for me to actually strip the building to the bones using Softplans framing ability to create a visual view of the building and catch any possible

problem areas etc. The attached views show example of house covered and framed. Revised with JPEGS , Steve

Thanks for that insight Yvon about "building" a house as opposed to just drawing it.  That perspective somehow makes it more of a constructive/creative endeavor and not just a technical one.

 

Don.  I looked the HP T120 per your post and they are currently available for under $1000.  Do these print just large format are can you print standard size paper as well?

They can print up to 24X36 off the roll feed and do have a sheet feeder for other page sizes. I just went with another printer to do 11x17 and smaller so I'm not switching things around all the time.

I also have the T120 and have been pretty happy with it.  Especially for the price.

You can print basically any size your want from Letter Size ( 8/12 x 11 ) to Arch. D size ( 24 x 36 ).   

Gordon as Yvon mentioned approaching the design from "building a house" works well. With 47+ years hands on residential construction I find it 

easiest for me to actually strip the building to the bones using Softplans framing ability to create a visual view of the building and catch any possible

problem areas etc. The attached views show example of house covered and framed. Steve

Thanks for that insight Yvon about "building" a house as opposed to just drawing it.  That perspective somehow makes it more of a constructive/creative endeavor and not just a technical one.

Don.  I looked the HP T120 per your post and they are currently available for under $1000.  Do these print just large format are can you print standard size paper as well?

I have an HP T120 and do mostly 18X24, it'll do 24" wide and whatever length. I usually go through 25 to 30 150' rolls of paper a year and it's been a great machine for $1200.00, that was 4 years ago.

I also have an HP OfficeJet 7610 that I use for 11x17 and that also works great.

Don

Version 2 to current.