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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1384448
Laying a Foundation For a non-professional, the idea of diving into an architectural modeling program can be a real leap of faith. BeLight apparently understands that and Live Home 3D is supported by a wealth of training including well-made videos, extensive user guides, a comprehensive Help system and context-aware assistance. (It’s worth checking these out first if you need some convincing that the program has a manageable learning curve.) On top of all that, you don’t have to start completely from scratch. There are quite a few template projects that can be edited to the dimensions you need and, taking a cue from a very old Adobe Illustrator trick, a floor plan can be imported as a layer and traced with program. It can also take advantage of the iPhone and iPad’s latest LIDAR measuring technology. Even though the interface is designed well enough to figure out on your own, spending time with the training materials before starting out is well worth the effort. Live Home 3D and, before that, Live Interior 3D have been around for a long time and the developers have learned a lot from their users. Drawing and editing floorplans is easier than ever, but there are some less-than-obvious tricks that are a great help. The videos not only provide the basics for beginners, they also walk you through how-to’s for the programs more advanced features, like adding gables and modelling terrain in the Pro version. The Live-Help Instructor is indeed very helpful. It’s a window that can pop open with text instructions and a short, looping animation illustrating how a selected tool or function works. It’s not all-inclusive at this point, but incredibly useful when learning the basics or diving into the advanced features and can be toggled on and off.