3D CAD for Kitchen Design

» Berkwits - Good programs/bad programs

We recently embarked on a kitchen design project that we wanted to model in 3D. There are a few programs out there ranging from $15-40 for home/kitchen/bath design. I decided to purchase the program by Sierra http//store.sierra.com(Kitchen and Bath) to start. While this program has a good library of appliances and textures (granite, wood, etc) I found it to be pretty buggy. Walls would move unexpectedly or would break into multiple blocks. I decided to search some more and found a fantastic program which is available for free as shareware. This is DesignWorks Lite, available at www.artifice.com. Highly recommended.

DWLite is a full blown 3D CAD system used by architects. (This is pretty close in capability to the 20/20 software that sells for $2500.) There is a rendering system that can do shadow casting (put in your latitude/longitude and house orientation and you will even see how the sunbeams will stream in the windows!) There are lights that can be placed in the models that can be brightened or dimmed. (You can also brighten and dim the sun.)

The shareware version only supports a limited number (100) of objects (walls, etc) but this should be sufficient for most moderate sized kitchens. (An upgrade to the product, DW Classic, with 1000 object capacity is $79. )

There are a good number of textures available for mapping to surfaces but you will need to build your own appliances. KitchenPak ($195 alone, $250 if purchased with DWClassic) is a 3rd party product(available at www.bytesyze.com/prod_flash/kpak/kpak.html)
that provides granite textures as well as 3D cad appliance models from 15 different companies (GE, Kitchenaid, Thermador, to name a few.)

I hope this helps save you some time. Happy modelling!

-- posted by Berkwits

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» BMahoney - Re: Good programs/bad programs

In response to message posted by Berkwits:
Thanks for the terrific input. I will check out this program myself.

I've had success with 3D Home Architect which I found to be reasonably priced and easy to use. But there are some excellent shareware/freeware programs of all types and your suggestion sounds like on of them. Thanks again!

Brian Mahoney

-- posted by BMahoney

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