TurboFloorplan 3D Home Landscape Pro for Windows

User Reviews

• The best value for the money for amateurs.

  Moodie-1September 26, 2015

  Pros

  I've used several cheap 3D home design programs (Chief Architect, Punch Pro Home Design, Trimble SketchUp 8, Edificius and this one) and out of these five this one is easily the best balance between price, features and usability. It's at the same time more powerful and easier to learn than the first three. But it's not quite perfect. In my attempt to find a more powerful program I stumbled across Edificius, an Italian 3D program that costs nothing and is much more capable but is a real bitch to learn and use than FP3D. But for some reason Edificius won't let me import external objects (it gives me an error) so I've fallen back to FP3D Pro (which I recently bought for just $20 for v16, the previous version).

  Cons

  Not too many in v16 (but then again, I've yet to explore most of FP3D's many features): 1. The roof generator is a bit glitchy. It works fine for simple roofs but won't work for odd ones. Solution: Use the "Roof by picking points" option. If that fails then draw a surface to the desired shape and then go into Properties and change it to a roof. 2. The view navigation features (walk around, fly around, look around and slide) are VERY sensitive. Move the mouse too much and presto, you're off into neverneverland. 3. You're limited to only 5 or 6 floors in your project, but to be fair, this is a limitation of almost all home design programs (the only exception seems to be Edificius, which seems to allow up to 1000 floors!). Besides, if you're only designing a house 6 floors will probably be enough.

  Summary

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• You need an Architect! :)

  hunterx_10June 7, 2012

  Pros

  So many people write negative reports on items that they are not trained to use. 3d graphic architectural programs use a lot of resources on computers and take more than the basic fundamental principals of understanding to use correctly. Dont blame your ineptitude to use a programe on the programe itself. Many "Bugs" are actually computer malfunction or inability to handle said programs. For those that come back with the fact they are architects,then they know how long it took them studying architectural programs and their different constraints at uni, and should not be posting about their shortfalls to use another. I use Archicad myself, and yet have played with this program for a bit and find it to be all it says and more.

  Cons

  Its not archicad or autocad....but thats not a con if you look at the prices of those programs.

  Summary

  If you have the knowledge to use it, the computer to run it,IE. 4gig + upper ram, and can put up with cheaper graphics as you only get what you pay for, then this is an excelent product.

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• Great idea but....

  cottredaMay 2, 2012

  Pros

  The wizard to create new plans works. It is fairly easy to get started. Basic features work well.

  Cons

  Bugs, bugs and convolution. Once you get past the very basics it falls down. Tools hang, the software crashes. I was working on a design with a walkout basement. When I started adding walls the fun began. Once a wall or door was added you could not select it or edit it again. Adding stairs was more fun. Trying to figure out how to make the cutout so you could actually see the stairs reaching into the next floor was a pain. Yes, I found the instructions, but unless I had the camera set up just right in the 3D view I could not select the cutout to make it work. this is just a few of the annoying "features".

  Summary

  Spend your money somewhere else. If you just want a floor plan software this works, but there are better things for that that are cheaper.

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• doesn't activate when downloaded

  bryanirvingOctober 4, 2011

  Pros

  saw a demo by afriend who construceted a room with windows and doors in about a minute. Really simple.

  Cons

  when I downloaded the free version from here and entered the serial number nothing happened. It didn't take me forward to the activation code. Wassup?

  Summary

  Does CNET try these downloads themselves from their site before making them available to readers. It has wasted a lot of time doing this one only to find it won't activate.

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• Works but has quirks & pitfalls; support lacking now.

  dedeucerFebruary 1, 2010

  Pros

  Low cost to buy; Seems quite versatile with many "standard" objects coded in on menus. I was able to diagram my existing floor plan very well, after a false start; but when I got into modeling my existing roof shape, I ran into problems.

  Cons

  Not really intuitive to learn; with practice, you improve. User Guide (or help) is a searchable PDF document only; it's sketchy on explanations. As file grows, FP 3D can get pokey or stall. On complex roof shapes and a few other things--watch out.

  Summary

  FP 3D seemed quite versatile with several "standard" object sizes or types (doors, windows, cabinets, furniture) coded in on menus. I bought FloorPlan 3D v.11 retail, over 2 years ago, to plan a remodel. When I had problems modeling my present roof shape, I put the project aside for a year plus, then went to resume it. New Problem: Now I find that the company was taken over by TurboCad and the FloorPlan 3D seems to be replaced by "TurboFloorplan" (also on download.com but much pricier). My review is for FP 3D v. 11, the only "CAD" I've ever tried. The worst part is no longer having their user forum around to help with questions & problems. That forum used to be a lifesaver, with expert users who could steer us neophytes. If you search the net, you may find some FP 3D fans still around online. If it matters to you (probably), look for that first since the new company no longer supports this product at all. In that sense, my rating has dropped to a 2.

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