Software Review of:
3D Home Interiors 
Deluxe Version 2.0 

3D Home Interiors Deluxe is a home design program that permits you to experiment with different styles, colors, and fabrics, wall treatments; try out various combinations of furnishings; and see how your selections will appear under different lighting techniques. One can create rooms using built-in Room Builder options or create a custom plan. All of this can be done by the click of the mouse - no heavy lifting of furniture or the hassle of returning items to the store that do not fit into your decor as you imagined in the store. 

To satisfy your visual need to see the products, the program allows a printout of a shopping list and pictures of the furnishings you have selected so that you can take this with you to the store. Depending on selected item for each room, this list facilitates shopping by manufacturer, brand-name information, or industry-standard code as applicable. Over 100,000 brand-name furnishings, fixtures, and accessories are included. There are thousands of Fabrics, Colors, and Textures to mix and match. 

The opening screen provides an easy menu to get you where you want to go. The first option listed is Designer Rooms which is just that: a choice of 30 full color customizable rooms to satiate any interior decorating taste you might have. A bonus included in the package is a glossy 72 booklet entitled For your Home--Paint & Color by Jessica Hirschman. If the combination of the tastefully-done Designer Rooms and this booklet isn't enough to titillate your senses and tease the mind, then a shot of adrenalin may be needed to jump-start your creativity. 

Before you anticipate your PC tour of interior designing, let's check to see if you have the right equipment. This Broderbund product requires at least Windows 95, a 100MHz Pentium (133 recommended), 16MB RAM (32 recommended), 2x CD-ROM drive required (4x or faster recommended) with a 32 bit CD-ROM driver, 800x600 display with High Color (True Color recommended). A minimum install requires 22MB hard disk space and a full install requires 70MB. An additional minimum of 30MB free disk space is required. To obtain full benefits of the program you will need Internet access for "TotalHome Network" to download additional selections in building your rooms. A Windows compatible sound device is necessary to utilize the excellent tutorial on the CD. You will be able to use any Windows compatible printer to print out your designed rooms, shopping list, or any item. If you do not have a color printer, then you will be denied the pleasure of one of this program's features - printing your rooms in full color. 

Since my computer exceeds the minimal requirements, installing and using the program was a breeze. As with most Broderbund products, a concise QuickStart Guide and User's manual is included if you need assistance. Two CDs are included. Disk #1 is the install CD which necessitates mere reading and following the on-screen instructions. The program is user-friendly and tell you when the Catalog CD (CD #2), required to run and utilize the program, should be inserted. A feature that I always like is included in this program: an Uninstall option from the Program's menu. 

The first thing I did after installation was the tutorial. This audiovisual experience gives you the essential points necessary to get you interested and started. The next thing was to explore the contents of the program from the global toolbar. The above-mentioned Designer Rooms is a visual experience. Clicking on the Design Catalog option from the toolbar allowed me to view the numerous furnishings I would most likely want in the selected room. 

One of the most desirable features of this program allows you to select an item, change the color elements, and to find out the specifications on the item. For instance, if you select a certain style of sofa (available from the Sofa & Chairs category), by double-clicking on a fabric option, you can test how the sofa will look with the fabric pattern. If you do not like that, select another. For many, the choices are name-brand items. In the actual building of a room, I preferred to use the Search button to narrow down my choices and facilitate time. Rather than scrolling thru the hundreds of sofa, I could delineate what appealed to me and would best fit the room. 

To actually design a room, one uses the three parts of the program: the Floor Plan area, the Design Catalog, and the Collection area. Your design options include furnishings for bedrooms, dining rooms, home offices, kitchens, and living rooms. 

The Floor plan area is derived from two options. One is selecting the most common options from Use Room Builder and the other is defining your own dimensions in Create Custom Plan. You can define the length, width, and height of rooms in both options. Once you create and save a floor plan, you can later come back and Open Existing Plan or import a floor plan from 3D Home Architect. The User's manual walks you through the process of building a room from the Room Builder module. For instance, the next logical step is adding windows and doors. This requires a switch to the Design Catalog by clicking on the button on the menu toolbar. From the Table of Contents, double-click the Doors & Windows category, then double-click the Windows subcategory. Once you have selected the desired window, this is where you may have the option of changing color and sizing. 

Another feature on this screen is the ability to rotate the furnishing 360 degrees simply by using the slider bar on the frame. Once you are satisfied with the item, simply click on the ADD button and it moves to the Collections area. If you are uncertain about your choice, you could save several to the Collections area. 

To place the selected window in your room, you will need to switch back to the Floor Plan View (floor plan button on the toolbar). To place an item in the room, it is a simple drag (from the Collections area) and drop to the floor plan. To line up a door or window, you must switch to the Elevations View. Elevation View is a two-dimensional view of the wall, looking at it straight on. You have the options of customizing location and dimensions of placement. This process is replicated to add other furnishings to the room. 

Adding finishes to the floor and ceiling is done a little differently. This component allows you to right-click anywhere on the floor and select Floor Properties or Ceiling Properties or you double-click on the floor plan with the Pointer tool active. Another intuitive feature that allows changes to the ceiling is done from the Camera view. Creating walls allows for much versatility. However, this is probably the most difficult component of the program as it requires a few more steps. 

Some other features of the program include the ability to accessorize and even place objects on a shelf or table top. 

The Camera view is the selling point of this program as it allows you to see how the room will look in three-dimensions and to move objects around to achieve better design. As you build components into your room, you can click on the Camera view and render the room image into Medium Quality 3-D or High Quality 3-D. Positioning the camera about the room is easy to accomplish. Once the camera is positioned, the left-sided toolbar allows selection of tools to move about the room view so that you can view what everything looks like. 

Another option is a view from above. There are zoom features for close-up or distancing. All of this is in your selected living colors. With the use of the Ruler tool, you can spatially adjust the furnishings in the room. The Floor Plan view, Elevation, and the Camera view are all dynamically linked. What is the advantage of this? If you make a change in one view, the changes are automatically updated in all views. Printing is from whichever Camera view that you have selected on the screen, making it in effect a print-screen feature, but going through the Print command. 

One of the negative components I encountered related to decorating a wall. I like chair round with wainscoting below and wallpaper above. I was able to create the room as I envisioned it, but I did not pay particular attention to spatial arrangement. Later, when I tried to edit the walls and increase the amount of wallpaper space, I was unable to do so. In the Room Builder view, I was unable to make one wall with a full bookcase. However, I had no problems in the Custom plan view. I was able to place a potted plant on an end table but not on the plant stand. Another feature that is not present is Edit, Undo. For the most part, use of cut, copy, or delete takes care of design errors. I just like an Undo button. 

For the computer-challenged, Help is only a click away from the global tool bar and the User=s manual has an index. You can create simple to complex rooms. I found the program to have a quick response time in loading the photos. I did not test the program on another computer with lesser capabilities to see if the 128MB Ram and the 3-D video card in my computer contributed to the excellent results. 

Whether you are scintillating or not, you can rush out and buy 3D Home Interiors Deluxe, Version 2 at your local software stores. I saw it at CompUSA for $49.95. The box has a rebate coupon for $10 or $25 of if you bundle it with a purchase of 3D Home Architect. You can access information about the program at www.broderdund.com and follow the links. It comes with a 90-day money back guarantee.