Well my math teacher is insane, and now assigned a new project that aside from creating alot more stress than nescessary, requires me to do some work, which sucks.

The project is this: We have to design our dream home; it can be in any shape we like and any furnishings, but we have to calculate ALL of the costs...IE, wood, paint, carpet etc. She says we can either draw it out, or for the same amount of credit plus more, do it on the computer.

So my question is this, for something that has to be done by the end of the month (circa 20 days) and for someone without ANY knowledge to the graphics world besides Photoshop but with "resources" to get programs, what would be a good program too learn as well as easy because of this deadline?

I was suggested AutoCAD, which i have AutoCAD 14, but is that easier to use than other programs?

Thanks for your help, if you have any questions I will be free to answer them

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c4d would be extremely easy, you can then just render it as an arial view with edges only, to almost create a "blueprint".

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ARTIFICIALWINGS

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if you get autocad, and you want to take this project the extra step... you can import auto cad files into 3dsmax for modeling. although its a pain..

i am in an architecture class, and we use autocad all the time. (autocad 2002 in that class, but i have 2005 at home).

anyway, yea designing houses are not that hard. You can put in the actual dimensions on the screen, which is nice, and then plot it (print) and lower scales.

so go try and get autocad 2000+. and start playing around, its kind of complicated but not really. if you load "icontools" in autocad you actually make it alot more like photoshop.

Sketch your house first, and then go into autocad and do the layout work on there. it has default things for toilets / sinks / showers / all that... just make sure you do everything at the right scaled.

Btw:

exterior walls = 6" thick
interior walls = 4" thick
plumbing walls = 6" thick
counter top = 2' wide
doors vary but they are usually 2'-4" to 3'
doors are 7' high. Windows align at the top at 7'
overhangs are generally under 2' extending
keep all roof angles at 45* from above view.

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Yeah, thanks alot guys. What I decided to do (for the time being) is use this landscaping program I found lying around the house to find a good sketch of a house I like, and then I'll begin to get the demensions.

Afterwhich I'll run over to Home Depot and get some estimates, and time willing, will TRY to cook something up in C4D or AutoCAD, but seeing as how I have it installed already, I'll shoot for the latter.

For extra nerd points, this Landscape program provides the ability to walkthrough the house, maybe I can create a slideshow or something :O

Again, thanks for you're help, I'll keep you guys posted on this masterpiece

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awsome

if your interested in this sort of thing... designing houses and what not... i would definately take a class on drafting / architecture.. its alot of fun!

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one time we got to pick our dream lifestyle and calculate all the costs with interest and all that crap.
it was pretty stupid, especially considering how it was from an algebra teacher that never taught me how to rearrange an equation like "3x+4=5" to get "x=____"
anyway, keep us posted man, i'd like to see how much better everyone else is at autoCAd than i am

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Hey all:
With only a week till the end of the project, I've have to stop rendering and start with the actual calculations.

Although I've been slacking off I've pulled in a major workload just now and over the past few days.

Heres what I got so far (sorry for the crappy saving...bandwith/computer issues)...just keep in mind I'm not going for some award...just want to do better than an F.

FRONT


FRONT/GARAGE


BACK/BALCONY/DECK


AERIAL VIEW


FLOOR 1 FLOORPLAN


FLOOR 2 FLOORPLAN


As I said they are poor in image quality, and I have yet to put windows/doors but overall I'm pretty pleased, at least for what grade I THINK I'll get from these pictures.

Any suggestions are welcome.

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