Software people: Is there an application that....?

[hyphenate]

Is there a program that can take a jpg (or gif) of floorplans, and make it into a 3D rendering? I'm trying to visualize a place with only floorplans, and I'm not seeing the whole picture.

[csziggy]

1. There are several home design programs that let you draw the floorplan

And get 3D renderings and even give you 3D walk throughs. The big problem is that the consumer level programs I tried will NOT take an image or scan of a floor plan and convert it to a floorplan in the program - you basically have to re-draw it in the program. And there is no standard format, they are all proprietary. You can import the jpg and trace the plan in the program, but it is hard to get the dimensions correct that way - I know, because I tried it.

One of the most common ones is Punch Home Design. I hated that one. The one I preferred was Better Homes & Garden Home Design Suite. There are some really cheap old ones, one from Broderbund and some from (I think) IMSI or some other el cheapo brand. The earlier Broderbund and the Better Homes and Garden are based on a professional architectural program called Chief Architect and they are pretty good.

I've got a copy of the Punch program in my box of programs to get rid of, if you want it. PM me your address and I will get it in the mail. It even has a real nice book/manual with it, so it is a bit heavy to mail, but you WILL need the book to get into the program and get anything done. I'll even through in some of the cheaper, older programs that are in the discard box, too.