Ashampoo 3D CAD Architecture 12 12.0.0

Overview

A professional knows a good CAD software when he sees one, and Ashampoo 3D CAD Architecture 4 is a tool that any social engineer would want to lay his hands on. This fully-featured designing software will help you with all your building projects, without having to pay buckets full of money to acquire it. With it you can plan single rooms or whole houses in one of the three design views (2D, 3D and Cross-section) and always be aware of calculations like area, length and volume. Read on for more of its features.

Installation

The installation procedure is not very hard, and if you have ever used any other Ashampoo product then you should know the steps it consists of. After launching the installer you can see on the first screen a button on the bottom left corner which will redirect you to the corresponding website for viewing the program’s requirements. You won’t find advanced settings in any of the steps, so just click “Next” until the main installation begins.

No additional software is included in the setup package.

Supported operating systems are Windows XP (SP3), Vista, 7 and 8 (32 and 64-bit systems supported).

Interface

As soon as you open the program, you will be prompted to use the 5-step wizard that will help you begin your project (you can dismiss it if you want). The first step of the wizard asks you to enter details regarding the project (building contractor, project location etc.), in the second step you specify measuring units, scale and floor plan shape, in the third step you specify dimensions and in the fourth you edit the number of floors and their heights. In the last step you select roof (either a predefined or a customized one).

The main window has many customizable toolbars and a sidebar on the right, which is used to select and add items from the catalog to the project. The project is displayed on the center of the screen, either in 2D or 3D view (there is a window for each one).

Pros

When working on a project you are able to use one of the 3 design views: 2D, 3D and Cross-section. The cameras and viewing angles are freely positionable. As for 3D constructions, you have 7 primitives (cube, cone, cylinder, sphere, torus, wedge and pyramid) plus extrusion, rotation, sweep and subtraction solids. You can also install walls, ceilings, windows doors and many other objects as well, which you can carry in space or position them precisely using numerical reference points. There are tools to simplify the process of creating simulations of buildings and constructions, such as the roofing wizard, window designer, stair generator and topography designer.

Cons

From a technical point of view, there are no bugs or problems, at least not any that we came across to during our tests.

Alternatives

One of most known CAD applications is AutoCAD, which, even though does an outstanding job, is also pretty expensive (pricing more than 5000$). There are various AutoCAD editions available with fewer features (e.g. AutoCAD LT) but they are quite expensive as well. If you’re looking for a free alternative, take a look at FreeCAD, which is available for Mac, Windows and Linux users.

Conclusion

This program is possibly the best program considering the quality/price ratio. However, civil engineers (and engineers in general) are in better position to appraise its value as a tool, thus it’s up to individuals themselves to decide whether it’s the right application for them. Besides, that’s the reason why Ashampoo offers a 30-day trial version and also has a 30-day money back guarantee for this and every other product in their line-up.