Interactive 3D Home Architect Workspace

3D Home Architect has a pre-defined layout of menus, windows and tools. This is a basic set of everything you need to get started. The various parts of the workspace are described below. Click on any part of the image to jump to the appropriate description. Look for it at the very top of your screen.

Insert Tools
The Insert Tools are all the tools that you use to create your project -- walls, doors, windows, hills, fences, plants, lights, etc.

Tabs - Clicking on a tab selects a specific group of tools. For example, the Building Tab contains tools for drawing walls, inserting windows, etc. Click on a tab to access its associated tool icon. Note: 3D Home Architect Design Suite includes all four tabs shown here, but other versions of the product have fewer tabs.

Tools - each icon represents a different tool or element type that can be inserted into your project. Some tools have additional options that flyout when you click them.

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Select/Edit Tool
This is your main tool for selecting elements in your project and moving or editing them.

Materials Paintbrush
The Materials Paintbrush allows you to quickly and easily apply textures and colors to any element in 3D.

Drawing Area
The Drawing Area is where you create your architect and landscape projects.

Catalog Panel
The sidebar along the right side of the drawing area contains the catalog of 3D objects or "elements" available to insert in your project. For example, when the wall tool is selected, the catalog shows a selection of wall types that can be inserted into your project. When the Materials Paintbrush is selected, the catalog displays the available materials, such as paint colors, brick, and carpet, that you can use to change the appearance of the elements in your project.

Type - the upper part of the catalog shows types or groups of elements to choose from. For example, under Furniture, you'll find Bedroom Furniture, Livingroom Furniture, and so on. When you choose a type or group, the elements in the group are listed below.

Elements - the lower part of the catalog shows the individual items you can insert into your project. Click on any element to make it ready to insert. A preview of the selected element is shown below.

Preview - the window at the bottom of the catalog shows a preview of the currently selected element. You can view the element from different angles by clicking in the

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Building Locations
Building Locations icon - provides access to a dialog screen where you can edit, add or create new building locations or floors for your project. Building locations allow you to work on areas of your project that have different elevations and other properties.

Building Locations pulldown menu - lets you easily select the location you want to work on.

View Controls
These tools control what you see in the drawing area.

2D Plan View
When you launch the program, the view in the drawing area is the 2D Plan view of your Ground Floor building location. This 2D Plan view displays your project in simple lines as if you were looking at it from above. This is the most common view for drawing and creating floor layouts.

2D Designer's View
2D Designer's view provides the same overhead view of your project, but with materials added. This view is especially helpful when placing plants and other landscaping elements into the drawing.

3D View
Clicking on the 3D view icon pops up a fly out menu. You have a choice of viewing your project in 3D Perspective mode, which is an eye-level view of your project, or in 3D Overview mode, which shows your project from a height of about 30 feet. You can also Place a New Camera to set your own angles. Each angle is represented in the Drawing Area by a camera symbol.

2D Plan View	2D Designer's View	3D View

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View Filter
Clicking on the View Filter icon gives you access to the View Filter which allows you to display or not display selected elements in your drawing by type and/or location and also allows you to choose, by type and/or by location, which elements in your drawing are selectable. Un-selectable elements still appear on screen, but can't be deleted, moved, or modified.

On/Off Icon
Clicking on this button gives you the ability to turn on or off the following elements in your project: Cameras, Elevation Marks, and Section Marks. For more information on these tools please refer to the program's Help Guide.

Display Icon
Clicking on this icon allows you to switch your view between several display options. These options include: Wireframe, Hidden Line, Rendered, Rendered Outline and Patterned. You can switch the display mode to increase the speed of navigation in your 3D views, or to achieve a desired appearance.

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Zoom and Navigate Tools
The Zoom and Navige tools allow you to change the size or position of your project in 2D or move around your project in 3D. Not all tools work in all types of views. Zoom tools allow you to quickly magnify, shrink, or reposition the current view. Navigate tools manipulate the camera and target in 3D perspective views, in effect allowing you to animate or "walk through and around" your drawing.

Zoom Realtime
Zooms the view in/out as you move the mouse. In 3D, this changes the camera's view angle.

Zoom Window
Enlarges a specific area that you define by dragging a window around it.

Zoom to Fit
Brings all elements in the entire drawing into view (fills the window) when you click this icon.

Pan
Allows you to move your 2D plan view as if it were a piece of paper on a desk. Click and drag your plan to the new position, then release the mouse button.

Walk Around
Moves your camera through your project as if you were walking with it. Click and drag around your project to move.

Fly Around
Revolves the camera around its target, allowing you to "fly" with the camera. Click and drag around your project to fly up, down, or all around. If the Fly Around is not rotating around the right point, move your target by dragging and dropping it to a new position.

Look Around
Rotates your camera, allowing you to look around your project without moving. Click and drag in the direction you want to look.

Slide
Moves the camera up, down, left, or right without changing the camera's angle. Click and drag in the direction you want to slide.

Reset Camera
Reverts the camera angle and position to it's initial placement with a single click.

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Status Bar
The Status Bar provides access to helpful information and drawing aids. Drawing Aids can be turned off and on by clicking on them, but you should learn more about what they do before deciding to change their initial setting.

Status Prompt - provides helpful information on the current function or tool selected. For example, if you click the Walls tool to start drawing the perimeter of a house, the status bar reads "Pick first insertion point."

GRIDSNAP - gridsnap constrains drawing and element placement to an invisible grid. Initially this grid is set to 1". For example,if you draw a wall, it will snap to 1" increments, making for cleaner dimensions.

When to turn off: If you are trying to move elements a very precise distance (less than an inch).

OBJSNAP - objectsnap makes it easy to place elements in your project based on the position of other elements. For example, if you want to draw walls on the second floor of your house, objectsnap makes will snap your cursor to the center points of the walls on the groundfloor so you can draw them in exactly the same position.

When to turn off: If you are trying to insert an element and the snap is making it difficult to place it in the precise position you want.

ANGLESNAP - anglesnap snaps the rotation of elements in your plan to a defined angle increment. Initially this increment is set to 15°. This makes it easier to get a standard angle of 45° on a wall or other element.

When to turn off: If you need to rotate an element to an orientation that does not conform to a 15° increment.

GRID - clicking GRID will display a grid over your drawing area. The grid is initially set to 1' divisions.

When to turn on: If you like having a grid to provide a guideline for working on your project.

ORTHO - clicking ORTHO constrains your mouse movements to 90° movements - in other words: up, down, left, or right, but not diagonal. ORTHO can be useful for quickly drawing structures that have only right angles, but generally makes moving any other type of element difficult.

When to turn on: If your project has only right angles and you want to draw your walls quickly.

COLLISION - collision control prevents you from inserting elements inside of other elements. For example, collision control helps you place cabinets exactly against walls without accidentally inserting them partially into the wall. Collision control doesn't prevent elements from snapping together normally, like doors in walls or sinks in cabinets.

When to turn off: If you need to insert one element inside or in contact with another element, or if you're working in a very tight space and Collision control is making it difficult to insert or move elements exactly where you want them.

See the program's User's guide or manual for more information on the various drawing aid options available.

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