Why you can trust TechRadar
We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Nova Development produces an impressive array of design and productivity software, including a range of 3D home design tools, the top of the line version being “Virtual Architect Professional Home Design 12”.
Having reviewed all the best interior design software, I wanted to see how the latest version compares to the rest. So let’s take a look at it.
Virtual Architect Professional Home Design 12: Pricing & plans
- Purchase the software online, as you’d expect these days, with a price that’s to be expected for the number of available features, but we were very disappointed to learn that no trial version was available
This software is PC-only, compatible with Windows 8, 10 and 11. It requires a 64-bit OS, a minimum of 2GHz processor, 4GB of RAM and 30GB of storage, and it can be yours for $125.
Sadly, Nova Development does not offer a trial version, so there’s no way for you to check out its wares before purchasing the software. However, they do offer a 60-day money back guarantee, so if you buy it and if it turns out not to be your cup of tea, return it, no questions asked.
The easiest way to get this title is by clicking here – although we found the installation to be quite lengthy, even on full fibre, but we got there in the end.
Virtual Architect Professional Home Design 12: Interface
- The interface feels somewhat antiquated, but its organization is pretty much perfect, allowing you to select the tool you need with ease
The interface feels dated, but the way the information is organised is very clean and easy to understand. The icons at the bottom of the window are used to control your environment.
This is where you get to choose which view to work in (2D or 3D), add cameras to your 3D environment, choose which level of your building to work in, along with general controls when moving objects on your canvas, such as restricting movements to right angles, and making sure objects don’t collide with each other.
You’ll find a series of tabs at the top, which is where all your design tools are stored, organised by clear categories. Further up is the traditional menu bar which contains links to those aforementioned tools, giving you multiple ways to access the same functions, which is something we greatly appreciate: the software allows you to work how you prefer, rather than forcing you to adapt to a developer’s idea of working.
To the right, is the Inspector panel, which changes its content based on the currently selected tool. It’s very clear and simple, although we found the information there to be quite small compared to the other sections.
We also found having to navigate through tiny folders inside a tiny inspector got a little frustrating at times. Thankfully there’s a search field at the top, if you know what you’re looking for.
Virtual Architect Professional Home Design 12: Building
- Considering the complexity of designing a building, using this software is remarkably simple as the developers have clearly gone out of their way to make the creation process as easy as they could manage it
Designing walls and rooms is very easy: select the wall tool, click on your canvas, click somewhere else, and one wall has been added between those two clicks. There’s even a function (selected by default) to ensure those walls stay straight, and go off from others at a 90 degree angle.
You can add walls by using your mouse or trackpad, or by typing the value you’re after. By default the measurements will be shown in antiquated feet and inches, but you can alter that to the much more precise metric system from the ‘Settings’ section.
There’s a lot of little touches we greatly appreciated, like the software being intelligent enough to know when the latest wall you’re adding will enclose a room, or when you reposition an existing wall, any other wall connected to it will also be resized as you do so, saving you tons of time when redesigning and fine tuning your project.
Adding doors and windows is just a matter of choosing the one you’re after from the Inspector panel, and dragging it until you’re happy with its position. These objects know they’re supposed to be embedded into a wall and will snap to one in your project as you decide where to put it, even if your cursor veers off a little.
Adding a ceiling can be done in a single click if you just want to cover the entire level in one go, but you’ve also got the option of being much more precise, choosing different types of ceilings for each room, say, or even creating partial ceilings. The flexibility and ease of use is impressive. Same goes for when it’s time to add a roof.
You’ll likely primarily be working in the 2D environment, but you can also switch to 3D, and not just to appreciate your design in three dimensions: unlike some competing products, you also have design control in that environment as well, and we had a lot of fun with that.
Virtual Architect Professional Home Design 12: Wizards
- If you need another helping hand, conjure up a wizard to speed up some common design necessities, such as a kitchen, bathroom or deck
Despite all the features created to facilitate the building of complex projects, sometimes you may need things to be speeded up somewhat. That’s where wizards come in. This software has a handful of them, to create the bare bones structure of a house, a kitchen, bathroom, a house’s foundations, or even a deck or shed.
The wizard won’t do it all for you, of course, but through a series of simple choices, you can apply a template to your project, and then customize it further after it’s been inserted.
For instance, the Kitchen Wizard will ask you for the basic shape you’re after (L-Shape, Galley, or U-Shape), its orientation, the generic placement of most units, and the style you’re after. After that, you add it to your plan, resize it to suit, and its job is done. You’re then free to take individual items, such as the sink or fridge, and move it around until you’re happy with its position.
It’s a great way to get the basics done in a few seconds, giving you more time to fine tune and personalize your creation.
Virtual Architect Professional Home Design 12: Indoor and Outdoor Decoration
- The software has a large catalog of objects you can use to furnish your design, and comes with powerful tools to shape the landscape
Adding furniture, both indoor or outdoor, is as easy as selecting a door or window: choose the right category, then scroll down the list in the Inspector until you find the item you’re after.
We were unable to find a way to customize the available objects though (just like we couldn’t resize a chosen door or window), but there are so many options available you’re bound to find the one that matches your needs.
And speaking of outdoor, this software goes beyond your house, and grants you the ability to design the outside, complete with altering the terrain, creating hills, retaining walls, the works, and of course, has a slew of plants and vegetation you can use to bring your design to life.
As you’d expect for a program with such versatility, its minimum specs should be seen as that: minimum, and likely not even worth trying to match. As long as your computer swims in RAM and has a powerful processor, it should easily handle the software.
Should I buy Virtual Architect Professional Home Design 12?
Image 1 of 2
Buy it if…
You’re on a PC, and you’re looking for a powerful, versatile, yet easy to use software package to design a project in 2D and 3D.
Don’t buy it if…
You don’t need something with so many options, your PC isn’t powerful enough, and the lack of trial software really puts you off.
For more home design tools, we’ve reviewed the best landscape design software and the best architecture software.
Leave a Comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *