Three-dimensional designs and virtual-reality walk-throughs are the luxuries of today that will be the standards of tomorrow. It’s as if they are CD players and the remodeling industry is a car in the late ’90s. But for the remodelers who have already taken the technological step, Cadsoft’s new 3-D design software, Envisioneer version 13, should be of interest.
Already widely used, v13 is only the latest in the Envisioneer series, but it’s a notable update to the product. Some of the changes are tweaks to functionality. For example, users can now center import terrain as it’s being inserted, rather than having to place it at a specific insert point and then adjust. Other updates are wholly new features, such as Room Highlight, which automatically defines the boundaries of a specific room the user is working in, making it easier to place elements.
But the crème de la crème of v13 are its new design components, particularly the added truss profiles (though the ability to automatically place ladder framing at the end of a gable roof is pretty cool). The Truss Run utility, as Envisioneer calls it, lets users place truss profiles under an existing roof. It’s neat because the software automatically recognizes the hips, valleys, and gable ends of a roof and then dictates the most appropriate profile, while adjusting the bottom chord of the truss when necessary to fit with the ceiling surface below.