hello,
I laughed when I read the part of 'breathing' down the clients neck. I do not use a computer, but usually when going over a plan, it seems I always end up on top of the people trying to explain it to them.
I'm thinking of working on something for designs this year, but not sure how I want to approach it yet. I'm pretty effiecient at autocad, so I like using that for my layouts. However, the photo imaging does help signifigantly to convey ideas. I've been doing quite a bit of 3-d work in CAD now though, and will say that I am getting some decent stuff. I basically scan pictures into the cad program, then use that as a template for my renderings. It works quite well, though it has a 'modernistic' look to it. Some people dig it, others kind of question it. I think, over the winter, I will get a better system set up. I like the real photo stuff, but by doing the pictorial renderings on CAD, it produces something a little different which I like, because it seems as if just about every other guy is using the photo programs these days.
I like the idea of using encylopedia programs for showing clients plants, but my problem has always been that here you are showing 'absolute perfect' specimen pictures to clients, and in liklihood, the chance of actually installing anything that perfect is very low.
I spent a lot of time last year going around to nurseries and taking pictures of live plant material, showing all aspects of size (would line up diff't container/root ball/cal. sizes side by side), took pictures at diff't points in time to capture flowers, and also even pictures of them in the winter as they look. I have about 4 photo albums filled, and they work well to show the customer what they 'REALLY' can expect to see when the installation is done, instead of some picture of a plant that was grown in a green house, lives in a arboritum, and gets 24 hr care.
steveair