Creating a 3d model of your house

[shouldbworking]

So having had an offer accepted I am now in the 'really? im going to own a house?' phase and playing around with 3d modelling tools to get an idea of what furniture I might need etc.

Is this the realm of total saddos only or is this something normal people do as well? been invaluable so far and its amazing how horribly the estate agents original floorplan misrepresents it

[Simpo Two]

Well the old way was to move in with whatever crap you had from your rented house/room and buy new bits as you could afford them.

A tape measure is all you really need.

[Slagathore]

Plain, empty floorplans are best, all you need are the dimensions, you don't need to see what furniture is in the house, as you'd be moving your own stuff in anyway.

Have you had a play will Google Sketchup? You can start off with floor plans and then pull them up in to 3d models.

I've already designed a couple of houses using that. It's fairly good fun, as you can have everything as you want it. I'm sure there would still be a few things I've overlooked, though.

[singlecoil]

Google Sketchup is just the thing for this. It's ideal for architecture, there are masses of tutorials on youtube, the free version of Sketchup has all you need, and once you grasp the basics it's quick and easy. I use it all the time for designing kitchen layouts.

[Pints]

I've not done the 3D modelling before for furniture, but certtainly toyed around with 2D.

Used 3D when designing my previous kitchen.

[croyde]

When I had a new loft extension built, I just used paper cutouts to the exact measurements of the toilet, shower etc and moved them around until I was happy with the layout.

[Tiggsy]

i use sketch up all the time when getting a room re-done (or garden!)

Great for getting an idea of what fits where.

[spikeyhead]

I used sketchup when moving into the new place. It was invaluable in deciding what furniture would squeeze in where.

[sebhaque]

I've used 2D dwgs/mockups mainly, I sent a CAD drawing of my ensuite to my builder as I've just had it redone - he commented that it was a bit overkill for a room with a shower, bog, sink and cupboard

[shouldbworking]

Cheers, I'll check out sketchup as well.

Frustratingly I'm going to end up essentially recreating the existing furniture layout, all dictated by the layout and features.

[VxDuncan]

So people don't do full 3D renderings then? Oops.

[rex]

Used sketchup for new house. Invaluable when designing where sockets and lights were going and garden landscaping/ decking. Will let you know how successful it was as the proof is in the pudding when the house arrives next week. Has been good so far with the garden.

[Evo141n]

VxDuncan said:

So people don't do full 3D renderings then? Oops.

I'm sure some folk may do as a hobby in 3d rendering, but mostly we use 3d renders to help large'ish clients on big'ish budgets visualise there projects.

[Stig]

VxDuncan said:

So people don't do full 3D renderings then? Oops.

I did for our recent extension

[otolith]

We used something called "Ideal Home 3D Landscape Design" to do garden layouts before we moved into this house - helped us visualise how things would look in practice.

[shirt]

i've never bothered doing anything other than a hand sketch during the renovation of my house. unless you're doing anything complex then that's all you really need. plenty of online tools from the kitchen/bathroom makers for those rooms.

i do have a couple of fully detailed and rendered 'coffee break' projects which i revisit from time to time. just need some cash!

[singlecoil]

It's a bit like writing a letter. All you need is a piece of paper and pen. Thing is, when you've written it you might want to change something. Drawing a pcture of a room can also be done with simple equipment but it's even more likely you will want to change something.

People say you don't need anything more than pencil and paper, but it's reasonable to assume anyone reading this thread has a computer and an internet connection, and sketchup is free, why go to the trouble of finding pencil and paper?

http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/download/index....


and this s useful is well

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sketch...

[mr_fibuli]

I've done it a few times, as I do 3D for a living.

Latest one was a full survey of the back garden including elevation. I then built my decking over it in virtual 3D timber so I could work out exactly how much I needed, how to build it, and where to put the steps. The design was all diagonals and triangles, so would have been difficult to plan it any other way.

Took me a few hours to build in 3d, and nearly a year to finish the real life version

[khushy]

"fitting" to a drawing will NEVER will be a substitute for how it "feels" in the real world!

as mentioned above - BE NORMAL FFS - a tape measure is your new friend.

Enjoy.

khushy

[BigBen]

I used sketchup to plan our new kitchen. I would not have bothered as I knew what it would look like but the mrs is rubbish at imagining stuff so it helped my case.