Design Software

[94gt331]

Originally Posted by White Gardens

I'm probably going to be flamed, but here we go.

At least in our area, the auto-cad or blueprint style of design is going by the way-side, at least in the residential market.

It's pricey, and most customers don't want to pay for it. On top of it, it doesn't visually give the perspective to a customer of what the potential final product will be.

Now, I strictly do image designs, but can do an auto-cad/blueprint style design. The problem is that no one has asked for one.

I do want to add that I'm not trying to discount designers using cad designs as there is still a market for it. And there will always be those situations where a cad design must be drawn up in certain situations such as architectural design purposes and also where cities and municipalities need to have a cad design on file.

What the image rendering has done for my biz is sell the jobs to the customer. On top of it, I can make changes extremely quickly (especially now I have the ability to do them on an ipad), saving the customer money and to finalize the landscape plan faster, thus boosting production to some degree.

My customers have also either been charged for a cad/blueprint design and still wasn't happy with the results. There is also the ones that have met with multiple landscapers that weren't able to convey exactly what they had to offer, so they passed on their services. I was able to step in, do a quick rendering, and sell the job quickly.

It does also take a few years of practice to make sure you know all your plants well and what they will look like in the end. Along with taking detailed measurements of the property, taking the correct photos with the proper angles and views, and knowing your spacial relationships, you can get about 90% exact or better in your image designs.

So, with all that said, I've recently upgraded my software to Landscape Pro version 18 and can't be happier. It's taken the "cheesiness" out of my image designs with the newer features, along with taking a fraction of the time to do them.

Pro also comes with auto-cad side to the program and also a 3D feature, which I'm hoping to utilize. Along with all that, it has a companion for the ipad and is extremely useful.

Pricey..... extremely, but I couldn't be happier with that purchase.

And again, I fully respect all designers whether or not they do cad or image designs. Especially the ones on this site.


....

Thanks, I will look into this program

[cnymowing]

I'll voice a second vote for Drafix Pro Landscape, as it is what I use, I always draw up a plan in the plan view (CAD) for my personal estimating convienence... if the customer wants to keep that design they can buy it. I also do the Photo editing design, which gives the customer an excellent idea of how the finished product will look.

As far as the images looking cheesy... give joe schmo a set of water colors, and have him paint a picture, chances are that it won't look as good as a professional artist painting the same picture with water colors...I have spent a lot of time practacing with the image software and IMHO it has paid off.

You also really have to know your plants, because there is no set scale when you are dropping the trees or shrubs into the photo... you don't want to mis-represent what you are giving the customer. I can make it look like a sugar maple would fit into a tiny garden just as easy as I can make it look like there are 8' tall daylilys.

I think that pro landscape is great just because 90% of customers can't visualize an installed landscape off of a plan view drawing like most landscapers can.

[allinearth]

[/QUOTE] I think that pro landscape is great just because 90% of customers can't visualize an installed landscape off of a plan view drawing like most landscapers can.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. Most customers don't know what a finished product will look like from a 2d rendering. While I respect everyones opinions I feel that for my company this is a go to sales tool for most customers. Especially the ones that have never had landscaping installed by professionals. True it is probably better suited to under 10-15k jobs but in my market that is where the majority of residentials will be. If you do the measuring and site work correctly and know your plants then it isn't hard to do a realistic 3d rendering. I have done some that came out almost exact.

[allinearth]

[QUOTE/]
I think that pro landscape is great just because 90% of customers can't visualize an installed landscape off of a plan view drawing like most landscapers can.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. Most customers don't know what a finished product will look like from a 2d rendering. While I respect everyones opinions I feel that for my company this is a go to sales tool for most customers. Especially the ones that have never had landscaping installed by professionals. True it is probably better suited to under 10-15k jobs but in my market that is where the majority of residentials will be. If you do the measuring and site work correctly and know your plants then it isn't hard to do a realistic 3d rendering. I have done some that came out almost exact.

[jrmyj]

I use realtime landscape and it was the most reasonable price wise. This was my first deisgn program and it sells jobs for me. Customers see what their house can look like and makes it really easy to sell. It was one of the best investments Ive made for my business.