“I still use a laptop to project the 3-D walkthrough up on the wall,” Doski says. A client holding the device at eye level can not only see the new design but can also “experience” it while literally walking around in the existing space (below). It uses the device’s camera to display the existing space but superimposes the new design. The third mode is called Walk Through, but “Enhanced Reality” may be a more appropriate name. Once a completed design is loaded on a mobile device, a patented feature called “Sojourn” uses the device’s built-in gyroscope, inclinometer, and camera to create three visualization “Experience Modes.” Two are familiar: Dolly Mode allows you to “look around” in the 3-D model, and Fly Mode introduces motion, either using the app’s “thumbstick” controls or by tilting and rotating the device to change the direction.
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And you can add labels and notes to call attention to details such as bearing walls or vent stacks that may affect the design. You can change dimensions for walls and most objects either by dragging their “handles” or by direct entry through the keypad. Other libraries contain objects such as cabinets, furniture, and appliances.
![add to chief architect library add to chief architect library](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bWrIUgAkPLY/maxresdefault.jpg)
You can use digital object libraries to drag and drop architectural elements, such as doors and windows, stairs, or fireplaces, and adjust their dimensions on the fly (below). You can add and merge rooms and create bump-outs. Room Planner has many of the tools found in the Chief Architect desktop application, so you can create a fairly detailed design on the spot if need be. If I had designers in the office, they could start working on the design even before I’d left the client’s house.”
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“When I get back to the office, I download it into Chief Architect. “Once I have the information I need, I can save it and upload it to the cloud,” Doski says. When Doski first visits a client’s home, he brings up the Room Planner app on his phone, selects a room shape (freehand drawing is also an option), pairs a laser distance meter to the phone via Bluetooth, and imports dimensions as he walks around the house. I recently talked with Gary Doski, owner of 3D Home Design Services, a design/build firm in Sandy Hook, Conn., about how he uses the app in his day-to-day business. Wouldn’t it be handy if there was an app that would help you do both at once?Īt last year’s Remodeling Show, I tried out an app from Chief Architect called Room Planner that does exactly that. Increasingly, they also use 3-D digital renderings to help homeowners visualize what their remodeled home will look like.
![add to chief architect library add to chief architect library](https://view.publitas.com/3608/27935/pages/690ad814a3c74788dcc3859ff725ae940de44199-at1000.jpg)
Remodelers spend a lot of time taking measurements and making as-built drawings to use when they’re estimating projects.