As a long-time user of FloorPlan3D (started with V8, am up to V10) I am wondering if there is good enough reason to switch to the TFP program.
I know that my FP3D drawings are not compatible with TFP, but the few drawings I have that are still viable would not be that hard to re-do. I guess the main question is about the learning curve. I learned a LOT about FP3D in the years that I used it, workarounds and general concepts. I'd guess that it took me at least 50-100 hours of use before I could call myself proficient in it. How much of that learning will transfer over to TFP?
Another reason I am considering switching to TFP is that my FP3D program will no longer run -- it crashes on startup with an exception access violation, referring to MFC42.DLL. I've given up trying to solve this, re-installing the software doesn't help and this is the second computer that has done exactly the same thing so I'm a little bit disheartened with FP3D.
I really don't want to spend another 50-100 hours learning a new program. What should I do?
tanstaafl.
(There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)
Hi,
Welcome to the TFP forum.
I won't say yes or no - up to you to decide but... I used FP 3D from version 3 to 11 and I have not touched it once since TFP arrived - so maybe that tells you what I think!
If you were proficient in FP then you will not have much trouble picking up TFP - works much the same, is much more flexible and there are very few needs for work arounds as it does almost everything properly. It is quicker to use and quicker to render (raytrace is almost instant)and seems more stable as we get few queries about things not working or crashing compared with FP.
Hardware Acceleration still causes grief to some depending on the PC but there is an on/off switch within the program. Some have to turn it off during Advanced rendering (Radiosity). The status bar has nice things like on/off Angle Snap/ Grid / Collision etc. The keyboard arrow keys act as a Nudge tool to move things in increments as small as a mm or fraction of an inch making precise adjustments possible with incredible accuracy if necessary.
Whole groups of walls can be moved/rotated/duplicated etc and they can be changed in thickness etc after they have been inserted. They come complete with baseboard, window trim, crown molding, chair rail, wainscot, windows sills, door sills, all of which are totally flexible in size, position on the wall, texture etc. Walls can slope at the top, bottom or both or they can be stepped and extended to the roof and you can turn off all the walls surfaces and see the interior framing which again is almost totally flexible. You can even draw the whole wall plan as a line drawing with rectangles, lines and circles and then change them to various types of walls. The flexibility of the walls is probably the biggest change between the two programs.
Landscaping is much more advanced with very flexible terrain and thousands of plants/trees that change with the season and grow if desired. It will also create an AVI movie with sound effects.
There are few bugs. The only ones I can think of are in the rendering. I know they are working on improvements here as it can be difficult to get the inside/outside lighting balance right and there are some issues with rending of interior wall surfaces which require a workaround (the only workaround I can think of that is needed). Once you get it right the Advanced rendering can be impressively real, maybe even better than FP 3D.
The bad points? Apart from the couple of 'bugs' in rendering, I can't think of any.
Should you upgrade? - Your choice, but if you do, my suggestion is to get the Pro version, so that you get all the functionality including the landscaping.
Allan
Perth, Western Australia.
Thanks, Allan
You helped me out on a couple of occasions on the FP3D forum (I'm pretty sure that was you) and it's encouraging to see that you are still around with the new regime.
I watched the demo videos, and even acknowledging that Jack Zimmer (the demo host) is undoubtedly quite expert with the program, he did in a minute and fifty seconds what would have taken me at least half an hour with FP3D.
I've downloaded the free trial version of the program, and after a small problem getting it to run (it said my 15 day trial period was over five minutes after I downloaded it ??? but the tech support people fixed me up in no time) and in a few hours I'll actually try it out. That $69.95 special upgrade offer is hard to refuse, particularly after I bought and downloaded the Punch software last year at nearly three times the price and gave up on it after a few hours. I thought it was buggy and counter-intuitive in operation, but that was probably because it was "...different from what I'm used to so it can't be any good." Hopefully I'll be able to restrain my Luddite attitude with the TFP program. ;D
Thanks again for the info and the advice. This could prove to be an interesting adventure.
tanstaafl.
It probably was me on the FP forum as I learned a lot from that over the years and hopeully contributed a lot too in later years.
The trial version is the full version by the way. Once installed you can just unlock it once you get the 'key' - no need to reinstall. Just make sure it includes the update and if not download and apply it. It fixes a crash problem in rendering and a few other minor issues. The latest version is easily identified by the addition (just underneath the 'Enable Daylight' tickbox), a dropdown selector for Full Sun, Partly Cloudy and Overcast, the latter choice often needed to get a balance between interior lights and daylight. This is on the Settings /Program Settings/ Rendering tab.
It is a good idea to go through all these settings so you can see what the defaults are and what can be changed to suit the way you work.
Have fun - I'm sure you will.
Allan
Quote from: Allan Chesney on November 09, 2008, 10:26:08 AM
Have fun - I'm sure you will.
Two and a half months later, I have finally dived into TFP.
The initial learning curve was steep, only because I tried to do things just like I would have in FP3D, and enough things are different that I didn't get much done in the first few hours. But gradually, one difference at a time, I got a working knowledge. I'd say I have 20 hours in it now, and am probably 70% as good with TFP as I was with FP3D.
What I notice the most is how few limitations TFP has compared to FP3D. In FP3D, I always had to work around the limits of the program -- things like not being able to put one element above another one in the same wall, or not being able to re-size various aspects of many (most?) of the catalog items, or not being able to do anything constructive in 3D view. Of course, you pay for this versatility in TFP by having to configure just about every item before you place it, and the configuration options are overwhelming. There are 379 selections just for Tile, and God help you if you want to use the same tile in another room and forgot just where you found that Serrano Flynt tile you used in the kitchen! :D (In case you want to know, it's in Flooring --> Floor Tile --> Serrano Flynt. There are
lots of ways to go wrong looking for it.)
I've reached the point now where my discoveries in the program are providing the answers to questions, as opposed to just opening up new vistas of what I don't understand. Not bad for 20 hours over two days. ;D
If anybody is still on the fence over whether to upgrade from FP3D to TFP, IMHO it is a no-brainer. Do it, you won't regret it.
tanstaafl.
I agree withall your comments and conclusion. As you said there are almost no limitations. There are still a few issues in rendering. It can do wonderful renders (and MUCH QUICKER) but getting the lighting right takes a lot of tweaking and there are a couple of bugs. I am hoping these will be fixed when we get a new version (should be one soon as there is a new Envisioneer out any day, so TFP should follow hopefully).
If you cant find a texture again (the tile for example) all you have to do is to use the Materials Paintbrush (on the tabbed toolbars or Edit Menu). With that you can use the 'dropper' to pick up any texture or colour and the materials list will zip to the texture. You can then use the Paintbrush to apply it to the new location(s). Makes it very easy to paint the walls all the same! That is one thing you cant do in TFP - select the rooms in plan view and tell it to copy the colours to other rooms. (Maybe in the next version - I think we have requested it if I remember correctly).
As I said before - have fun!!
Allan
Quote from: Allan Chesney on January 25, 2009, 09:26:02 AM
If you cant find a texture again (the tile for example) all you have to do is to use the Materials Paintbrush (on the tabbed toolbars or Edit Menu).
Oh,
that works a treat! But... I cannot find the Materials Paintbrush on any of my toolbars, only in the Edit Menu. I have ten toolbars on my screen, five at the top and five at the bottom, all nicely color coded (orange for file management, green for outdoors, pink for construction insertions (walls, windows, etc.), blue for furnishings insertions (cabinets, appliances, furniture, etc.)) and so forth. None of those toolbars has the paintbrush & brick icon for Materials Paintbrush. Am I overlooking something?
tanstaafl.
Hi,
No, you are not missing anything - only the word "tabbed" in my last post - they are only there if you have the toolbars set to Tabbed! I think we have asked for that to be changed too. The keyboard option works though.
Allan