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By: Phillip Gibney
Chief Architect Software is a leading software developer that focuses solely on home design software. Chief Architect Software offers two product lines: Chief Architect for design professionals and Home Designer Software for DIY home enthusiasts. If you are an industry professional looking for a design program or using Home Designer Software, you may have questions about the differences between our two software lines and the advantages of the Chief Architect line.
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By: Phillip Gibney
Chief Architect produces 3D Home Design Software for professional designers and DIY homeowners. From automated features for quickly creating floor plans, section details, and layouts to photo-realistic 3D renders for visualizing the design, the software is a powerful tool for those with residential design needs. Because the software is so powerful and robust, a question we often hear at Chief Architect is “what type of computer do I need to run the software”? Many computers are capable of running Chief Architect; however, depending on the specs, some will run Chief much more efficiently. Investing in the right computer will also help ensure that the computer will run future versions of Chief effectively for a longer period of time, making your investment more cost effective over time.
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by Adrean Stephenson
At some point, your ideas and designs will become a reality. When things get real, you’ll be collecting part numbers and prices, then putting in orders, and finally seeing all of your visions come to fruition.
Life can be a lot easier when the goods you plan to purchase are plucked directly from your favorite brands’ digital catalogs and then placed into your Chief Architect and Home Designer projects.
One goal of our Content Development team is to make this process easy and accessible. We work with many brand partners to curate digital catalogs that are specifically compatible with the Chief Architect family of software. Our hosting tool for these brand catalogs, and an array of other downloadable content for enhancing your work, is the 3D Library.
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By: Phillip Gibney
Your clients want to see more than a floor plan and elevation, right? Renderings help; but, what about a 3D model they can experience and virtually interact with? Export and share your designs using the Chief Architect 3D Viewer. With the 3D Viewer, they can view the design and model on their phone, tablet or computer – it’s a free app we developed exactly for sharing your designs with your clients.
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By Phillip Gibney
by Kerry Hansen
Whether an architect, interior designer, draftsperson or design-builder, working from home is a key strategy for many. Carving out a personal work space for yourself can serve as an essential resource and is one of the keys to success and productivity when working from home. Here are a few tips to get going.
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Each year, I’m intrigued by all of the blogs, social media posts and emails that flood my feed featuring the hottest trends for home design. We’ve seen it all, from floral everywhere to gray everything. Are these trends something that most designers track and incorporate into their latest work? Are we driving ourselves crazy trying to stay on top of the latest trends, or is it a necessary component of keeping a competitive edge in the market?
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By Dustin Cruz
In the Home Design Game, this may be the paramount question, and one of the best ways to capture your clients’ hearts and loyalty. Show them what it will look like and they will become committed to the vision.
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by Adrean Stephenson
No matter the type of tools you use, you want them to work for you and perform in ways that make your job easier. We know this is especially true for software, a tool that has specifically evolved in our culture to enhance speed, efficiency, and accuracy.
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I use Chief Architect software exclusively in my design business. I started out with CA Home Designer Pro, used that for two years, then “graduated” to the full-blown Chief Architect software. The structure and platform of all their products is… identical so, moving up to the next, greater version is SO comfortable! I’m getting raves about the work I’m doing – thank you, Chief Architect!!! Read more “Thank you, Chief Architect!!!”
We had one client who took his home model and projected it onto his lot in the mountains using Chief Architect’s 3D Viewer mobile app. While using the Augmented Reality feature he was able to walk around his home and get… a feel for the layout. He sat and waited in his “living room” to see what the fall sunset would look like out of his living room window. At that moment he said he was sold. It was his home. This is the opportunity that I would love to allow every client to have. Read more “Chief Architect’s 3D Viewer Mobile App”
Our favorite software. I have been using chief for about 6 years now, I believe I started in x4. Chief was the clear choice for architectural design and plan sets, with its import and export into other CAD and BIM-based… products, its extensive catalogs, its massive collection of support articles, bustling internet forums and decent rendering abilities. There is no other software on the market that is as user-friendly, capable and fast. We’ve recently started using Chief Architect for market advertisements as well as importing into high-end visual video walkthrough software such as Lumion. We’re quite happy with Chief’s versatility and ever-expanding features. Read more “Our favorite software”
I am an interior design professional who has been using Chief Architect software for my business since 2010. The software is a very powerful tool I use on all my projects and allows me to create detailed plans, elevations and… very impressive 3D renderings for my clients. The software has taken time to learn, but the support from Chief is quick and helpful, and the tools including videos and online forums also very helpful. Read more “A very powerful tool”
This has quite literally changed my business, by showing clients what their space will look like before it is built is a magical tool.
Since we have been using Chief Architect, we have been able to give our customers a complete visual of what we proposed for their project, as well as, boost our credibility, our sales, and our overall profit for all projects… we have sold. Thank you Chief Architect for a great program. Read more “Thank you Chief Architect for a great program.”
Every time we are able to walk our clients through their future home or project with the Chief Architect 3D Software, it’s a success. Many of our clients are not visual. Chief helps bridge the gap between the 2D floor… plan and grasping what the finished project will look like. We hear constant feedback on how impressive the capabilities of being able to see the scale of the spaces, customize materials, try different cabinet configurations, etc. We are able to save them so much headache and heartache in the design phase vs. going through a change order process in the field. Being able to offer the 3D aspect for our projects has truly set us apart from our peers. Read more “Bridging the Gap between 2D planning and 3D Rendering”
I have worked in other BIM software before, but Chief Architect makes it easier to put my concepts into drawings, and I can spend more time creating instead of fighting with obscure tools and interfaces. The powerful but easy-to-use tools… along with the realistic rendering capabilities are extremely valuable in my work. Read more “Powerful and Easy-To-Use Tools”
I have been using Chief Architect since late 2005. As I tell everyone who is interested in doing 3D design, Chief Architect is the best way to go. It is a powerful program, easy to learn and use, is at… a great price and will pay for itself in one job. Read more “Will pay for itself in one job!”
I think Chief Architect is a large component of my success in Residential Design
Chief Architect has been a game-changer for me, it offers a very efficient workflow with an output that makes my clients feel individual. The documents look crafted and relate to the project, not generic. Chief covers the whole spectrum from… 3d visuals through to detailed sections, plans etc and even offers a 3d viewer app for construction professionals and clients alike to share 3d models. This would, could, and should be a global market leader with just a couple of tiny tiny tweaks! The house in the picture is in outer London England. The work has commenced, all detail and outline designs were produced within Chief Architect. The pen should be an intuitive tool to convey ideas and information and not entirely a skill of its own, Chief has nailed it! Please remember CA, Interiors are only 1/10th of architecture. Read more “A Game Changer”
Renting the program has made the commitment to Chief a total no brainer … I am among many designers that find the program not only profitable but fun to use.
The best home design software we’ve ever used! Finally, a program that works or “thinks” like a designer as opposed to a program for the manufacturer of boxes or materials. Great quality renderings too.
I’ve had great results using this software. I started with Home Designer Pro and then moved to Chief Architect Premier. I really like the way the software is set up, it’s much easier to use than other products. My clients… love the 3D renderings and I know it’s helped me get new projects. Great job Chief Architect team! Read more “Great job Chief Architect team!”
I have been using Chief Architect since 2015 and have used a few other software programs in the past, but the rendering quality and user-friendliness are unmatched! This software helps clients truly envision their project coming to life, and helps… close sales because there is a sense of confidence in what their final product will look like. Read more “The rendering quality and user-friendliness are unmatched!”
I instantly fell in love with the easy to learn, user-friendly interface, and the details it was capable of capturing. My clients have been very happy with their design, the process, and the finished product.
From the start, Chief has become an invaluable asset to my company and design work. I am truly grateful for this software and am so glad that I had given it a try.
We use Chief Architect every single day and it is an absolutely indispensable part of our business. The ability to show a client, with extreme accuracy, what a space will look like before the work has even begun is everything.
I’ve found that Chief Architect really helps the clients that have a hard time visualizing what their finished project will look like.
Students have asked about Chief Architect more than any of our other programs. I use it at the end of the semester because if I used it in the beginning, I would never get them to move on to other… units… It will be the one program students will use voluntarily and will assure me learning is taking place at home. Plus it will make me the most popular teacher. ha ha Read more “Kudos for making the student a priority”
It took me two years to design and exactly one year to build our dream home. With the help of Chief Architect, we were able to see our vision come to life. With a custom home, we had to provide… many visuals in the drawing package for the contractors to catch our dream. Chief Architect’s outstanding visualization and renderings made the design and build exactly what we had imagined. Now that we have been in our home for about 3 years, we realize we would not change anything! After we spent so much time during the design process our friends and contractors sometimes offered change suggestions to our design to consider. My pact with my wife “Stick to the Plan” and that’s what we did. We love our home and we want to thank Chief Architect for providing a software product that allowed us to achieve our vision. Now, I am currently using Chief Architect Premier to design a home for my daughter and her family! Read more “We built our dream home!”
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