The bright roof - everything is in its place and pleases the eye, except for one thing: the adjacent territory after construction is uncomfortable and unkempt. How to break a lawn, lay paths, plant a garden and put up a gazebo? Everything should be in harmony with each other and represent a single ensemble. Involving a designer is not always possible for financial reasons. And then the program "Landscape Design" comes to the rescue. With its help, almost any user personal computer can simulate the future personal plot.

General characteristics

To be more precise, such software is represented by several companies. All of them developed versions for professionals, but the popularity of the process of decorating the territories adjacent to the house suggested to the manufacturers the idea to produce a series of "Landscape Design for Amateurs". For an ordinary PC user, this solution is just a godsend. But of all the programs, you need to choose one, one that will help transform your own yard.

There are several general characteristics, which every amateur software. The user, as a rule, is given the technical ability to create projects from scratch or upload real photos. The latter function is very convenient, since the issue of arranging the territory arises most often after the construction of a house, and the land can be occupied by some kind of green spaces. Each landscape design program involves adding snapshot files with real images to the functionality and then adding objects: plants, shrubs, trees, ponds, paths and much more. As a result, the user sees a picture as close as possible to the future reality.

A project with a clean face is an opportunity not only to arrange lanterns and flower pots in an artistic order, but also to form a terrain. For this purpose, elevations or lowlands are initially outlined on the plan, then large objects are added. Only after that, the rest of the details are built in: fences, fences, ponds or lakes.

Almost every creation program has the functions of viewing the finished project in two-dimensional image, as well as in 3D. A three-dimensional image makes it possible to see in more detail all the shortcomings of the project, correct them and print the finished design plan from any angle.

Free landscaping software

The question of whether to buy software or download it from the Internet is faced by most users. How free is the program landscape design differs in functionality and simplicity of the interface from paid versions? It is not so easy to understand the mass of proposals, but it is quite possible.

Considering a number of freebies worth starting with Google SkethUp. A beginner in landscape design will be able to easily understand the intentions of the developers. 3D visualization, a rich template base, a toolbar for drawing missing details - these are the main features of this software. We note the only drawback: for an amateur user, the English interface can be difficult.

The next tool worthy of attention is Sierra Land Designer 3D. This program is ideal for beginners. Landscaping is an exciting task with simple solutions. A feature of Sierra Land Designer 3D is the ability to set different weather conditions.

The next free landscaping software that has received our attention is Artweaver Free. A powerful tool with a rich set of features. The mention that this software is the manufacturer of Photoshop, already arouses interest in this development. The standard features in the specified graphic editor include the following features:

• adjust brushes;
• work with text
• embed various filters;
• imitate drawing tools: pastel;
• choose selection options;
• save the result in all known graphic formats.

Worthy competition among free software products, allowing to visualize the landscape of the future site, creates X-Designer. The graphics editor has an interesting feature. In the program, you can not only imagine the site during the rain, but also see how the future gazebo will look at this place at night. That is, the user can set the time of day. Of note is the rich library of plant and building templates. And one more nice and handy moment: X-Designer has a shadow function. This tool saves a lot of money. That is, plants for can be initially selected according to their characteristics such as shade tolerance and light-loving.

Russian software products

The most famous graphic editor in this area is Our Garden Ruby. This is not a free program. Landscape design with its help is carried out by both professionals and amateurs. The latest version from the manufacturer ZAO Dikomp is Our Garden Rubin 10.0. It is worth dwelling on it in more detail. And the explanation for this is more than simple: the program has a Russian-language interface, which is a big plus for the user.

Installation and launch

The system requirements for the user's computer are quite democratic, which once again emphasizes that the 3D landscape design program allows everyone to do it - both amateurs and professionals.

The installation includes standard agreement to the terms of the license agreement and offers one of two feature sets. The first one is recommended. When choosing the second option, the user can mark in the checkboxes the functions that are necessary only for him. The complete set looks like this:

• textbook;
• examples;
• references, manuals, topics;
• additional pictures;
• 3D models of plants.

Needless to say, it is better for a novice designer to agree with the recommended installation set?

Interface

You are interested The program installed on the PC should be carefully studied. The central place is occupied by the field of the future plan. The top toolbar contains the following menu items: file, edit, place, plant, view, etc. The interface is very similar to home page regular Word. And yet this program is "Landscape Design". This is evidenced by its sidebar, which pops up and changes depending on the tasks performed. So, by selecting the “plants” menu item, the user will see on the sidebar not only templates of shrubs, flowers, trees, but also a section with an encyclopedia. It tells in detail about each type of plant, caring for it, gives advice on how, what and where to plant.

Features, competitive advantages and disadvantages of software

The advantages include the following:

1. "Our Garden Rubin" is a software designed for the mass consumer who does not have specialized knowledge and skills in landscape design.
2. Russian-language interface.
3. Encyclopedia of plants.

But, of course, there are also disadvantages. The most significant of these is the quality of rendering and textures in 3D.

Professional program "Landscape design", or Continuation of hobby

If you are fascinated by the transformation of the site and there is a desire to deepen your knowledge and skills, then all the above programs will no longer work. For professionals, there are more serious tools. And here are a few of them.

Realtime Landscaping Architect

Those wishing to master the professional skills of computer landscape design can download trial version programs on the official website for free. By installing a demo version, the user will be able to evaluate its advantages over free counterparts.

Designing in Realtime Landscaping Architect involves not only the conditional drawing of various objects on the design plan, but also the following:

• high-quality 3D image;
• budget calculation;
• viewing the finished project from a bird's eye view;
• use of a library containing about 13,000 objects;
• designing according to examples of layouts, of which there are up to five and a half thousand in the program menu.

Conclusion

At the first stage of creativity, the “Landscape Design” program with a Russian-language interface, a limited set of functions, and simple settings is most suitable for a beginner. The biggest disadvantage of such graphic editors is the low quality of 3D visualization. Only after successfully mastering amateur software is it worth thinking about professional paid programs for landscape design.

Landscaping is a unique art based on the artistic design and improvement of recreation areas, household plots using landscaping, landscape gardening architectural forms. Following the rules of landscape design, you can ennoble almost any piece of land, creating a harmony of landscape combination of nature with urbanized macroforms. The solution of this problem is helped by programs offered on the Internet, both for professional design and for the amateur hands of their owners.

An example of landscape design in the Our Garden program

Graphic editors for non-professionals are easy to learn and use, and are usually distributed free of charge. Every user can work with them. And for designers who fulfill client orders, complex software is sold on disk. It is impossible to download it from the Internet in order to use it in your work without payment.

Residential buildings, utility and other buildings are the dominant objects in the spatial construction of the landscape ensemble. Around them are all the other components. include, as a rule, advice on the location of the following elements on the projected territory:

Evaluation options for some programs can be used online, or downloaded for free to your computer. They usually offer the user theoretical lessons with pictures or videos. However, to get the full result, it is recommended to buy the full version of the software.

Programs for the development of landscape design

Consider the most popular graphic editors that are offered free of charge in Russian to everyone who wants to ennoble the landscape with their own hands.

Their development is simple, does not require special computer knowledge. They contain standard libraries that help the user quickly and easily create 2D or 3D design instances.

Many amateur programs provide the opportunity to develop design projects from scratch, as they say, from a blank page, onto which images of selected real objects are sequentially loaded.

Then they are corrected, moved, rotated, placed in such a way as to achieve unity and harmony of the landscape ensemble.
But sometimes someone who decides to download a program for decorating a land plot on his own already has a house, outbuildings and wants everything around them to look arranged in accordance with his taste and claims.

Read also

Site planning programs

Then he should use the following software feature: upload a photo of the local area, and then fill it with pictures of new decor elements that he would like to see in his project.

Google SketchUp

This program is for amateurs and professionals. They will not need to draw all the landscape objects themselves. The database is full of stylistic solutions for various types of buildings and plants, and if any design element is missing, then the user can create it manually. If it becomes necessary to remove an item, you won't have to redo the entire project, just undo the last action.

The program allows not only design modeling, but also the execution of works in the field of architecture, interior decoration, engineering design. Contains many helpful hints. Imports files with landscape objects from other software editors, put them into your project and give them a 3D look.

Contains tools to do the following:

• drawing, performing geometric design;
• adjusting objects by scaling them;
• measuring parts with great accuracy;
• adding ready-made components to the model;
• presentation of completed projects, their printout.

Artweaver Free

To develop a landscape project for a site, you can use not only special software products, but also a graphic editor such as Photoshop. It has a very rich functionality with a huge set of graphical tools. However, you can only get it for money, and it costs a lot.

Designers use Photoshop analogues, one of which is Artweaver Free. It can be freely downloaded from the Internet without paying a cent.

Using it is quite simple, but first you need to prepare background information about the size of buildings, green spaces, paths, lawns, small forms of landscape. Only after that they can be placed on the sheet of the planned territory, without fail, starting from the entrance to the courtyard and the central building.
Software development comes across usually in German or English.


But if you dig through the pages world wide web, then you can find and download the latest versions with cracks. The effort will be justified by the high-quality creative result of the development of the project of the desired design.

X Designer

The developers called this program, with which you can model the landscape in a three-volume form. Designing from a blank page, you can choose the optimal location of all buildings, lawns, gazebos, fruit and ornamental crops, paths and reservoirs. The library of the program has a wide range of plants and other design objects necessary for the project. Once placed on the site, they can be actively adjusted in four ways:

• texture
• size;
• color;
• mutual disposition.

10.11.2017

Download the program for planning the yard. Free programs for landscape design in Russian: an overview

Every economic owner wants to see his land holdings well-maintained, beautiful, pleasing to the eye. He hatches ideas to implement them in any free time. Some turn to the Internet, roam its pages for a long time in search of the most suitable variant of landscape design, etc. It is impossible to consider all the options, but here we will offer the easiest free editors for novice designers, as well as quite complex software materials for professional designers.

An example of a program interface for creating landscape design

With their development, an inexperienced landscape designer should begin to develop a design with their own hands. These editors, as a rule, are Russified and contain video materials containing lessons.

Users are encouraged to download for beginners, the development of which does not require special skills. However, it is not so easy to compare programs in terms of complexity, the set of functions presented online.

It is better to evaluate them taking into account their own financial capabilities and time spent on development. Purchasing a pirated version may turn out to be without considering the results in the 3D version, and besides, it does not always guarantee problem-free use.

If the owner of the estate has a great desire to create a wonderful garden with his own hands, then he should consider and download the Landscape Art materials for designing projects offered to inexperienced designers. Or buy a set of discs containing the programs of this series, which are freely sold on the market in Russian.

Disadvantages: files are saved and opened only in Punch formats; English language.

You can create a design project around without downloading any landscape editors. There are programs that will help you develop a house landscape project without downloading online - connecting a computer to the Internet. And for novice designers in world wide web full of training courses that are replete with photos and videos for the development of a full-fledged design option for the design of the territory.

The development of landscape design is a task that arises both for specialists who conduct real projects, and for ordinary homeowners and gardeners who dream of creating a piece of paradise on their land. To solve this problem, different programs are used, suitable for different requirements in this area.

Design programs are used for quick and intuitive design. They are easy to learn, they can be used by a person who does not have special knowledge to complete landscape design sketches.

Programs for professionals based on three-dimensional modeling and programming may differ in complexity and slower project creation, but in return they give the user complete freedom of creativity and graphic presentation of material.

Let's compare the main programs used in the landscape design environment and determine their compliance with the tasks.

With the Realtime Landscaping Architect software, you can create a detailed landscape project with very beautiful and neat design graphics. Pleasant interface and simple logic of work in combination with a large library of standard elements make the program suitable for both professionals and beginners in landscape design.

Realtime Landscaping Architect combines both the properties of a designer and drawing and modeling tools. The advantage of the program is the ability to create an individual project at home. Plot elements are assembled from library elements. An important function is the ability to model relief with a brush. High-quality real-time visualization is another plus of the program, and the function of animating a person in a scene is a real highlight in the graphic presentation of the project.

Despite its construction focus, Archicad is also used for landscape design. For these purposes, the program has a library of elements (with the possibility of its subsequent increase), the function of creating drawings and estimates, unlimited possibilities in the design of a residential building.

Relief in Archikad can be created on the basis of topographic and geodetic survey or modeled by points. Unlike other programs, it does not provide for modeling terrain with a brush, as well as the creation of parametric landscape elements, such as customizable paths. Archicad can be recommended for modeling uncomplicated and formal landscapes in addition to the main building design.

Our Ruby Garden

Our Ruby Garden is a program that can be safely advised to people who are fond of gardening. This is a simple 3D landscape design editor that does not pretend to carry out complex projects, however, unlike all other programs, it pays the most attention to the plant library. The library is implemented as an encyclopedia, which contains comprehensive information about various plants that can be added to the project.

Our Ruby Garden is not as graphic as Realtime Landscaping Architect, you can’t make detailed drawings in it, like in Archicad, but thanks to the Russian-language interface, convenient configurators and a flexible path drawing tool, a completely unprepared user can use the program.

X Designer

The X-Designer application has similar qualities with Our Garden Ruby - Russian-language interface, simplicity and formality of creating objects. X-Designer does not have the same powerful plant library as its "twin" brother, but it has several important differences.

The project scene in X-Designer can be displayed for any season, including grass/snow coverage and the presence of leaves, as well as their colors on the trees. Another nice feature is the flexibility in terrain modeling, which even Realtime Landscaping Architect can envy.

Yet, despite its advantages, X-Designer looks rather outdated, besides, its library of elements cannot be replenished. This program is suitable for simple and formal projects, as well as for training.

Being a versatile and super-functional program for, Autodesk 3ds Max can easily cope with the development of landscape design. This program is used by professionals, as it does not actually limit creative work.

Any 3D model of a plant or inanimate object can be easily downloaded or modeled independently. You need to create realistic grass or a random scatter of stones - you can use additional plugins such as MultiScatter or Forrest Pack. Realistic renderings are also created in the 3ds Max environment. The only limitation is the inability to create drawings based on the completed scene, as in Archicad.

Professional work in Autodesk 3ds Max will take time to learn and practice skills, but the result is worth it.

Punch Home Design

Punch Home Design is somewhat rough but functional program, with which you can design a house and a house adjoining plot. The main attention in the program is paid to the creation of a house, for which the user can use various configurators.

In landscape design features, Punch Home Design doesn't outperform Realtime Landscaping Architect, but lags behind in terms of graphics and usability. The program cannot build a relief, but there is a free modeling function. The Punch Home Design program can hardly be recommended for landscape design to professionals and amateurs.

Envisioneer Express

This program, like Archicad, is used for building design, but it has pretty good functionality for landscape design. The highlight of the Envisioneer Express is a huge library of objects, especially plants, that will allow you to create an individual and lively design of the adjacent area. With the help of the program, you can get estimates and drawings for the project. Envisioneer Express will also allow you to create high-quality sketch rendering of the scene.

Floor Plane 3D

FloorPlane 3D is a building sketching tool with landscaping capabilities. Functions for reproducing nature around the house are quite formal. The user can fill the scene with flowerbeds, paths and plants, but a rough and non-Russian interface will not allow you to enjoy creativity. The graphic quality of the program is inferior to both Realtime Landscaping Architect and Punch Home Design.

For a quick garden modeling, it will be easier for a beginner to use X-Designer or Our Garden Rubin.

sketch up

Sketchup, by tradition, is used for sketchy three-dimensional modeling. Unlike specialized programs for landscape design, SketchUp does not have constructor functions and a large library of elements.

With the tasks of landscape design, this program will not be able to cope to the same extent as Autodesk 3ds Max, but it will allow you to quickly create a sketch model of a house and a house adjoining area. Professionals often use SketchUp in cases where detailed elaboration of the scene is not required, and the speed of work and graphic presentation come first.

So we examined the main programs used for landscape design. As a conclusion, we will describe for what purposes this or that program is better suited.

Quick modeling of landscape objects - SketchUp, Realtime Landscaping Architect, X-Designer, Our Ruby Garden.

Development of visualizations and drawings of adjacent areas - Archicad, Envisioneer Express, FloorPlane 3D, Punch Home Design.

Designing complex landscapes, performing professional visualizations - Autodesk 3ds Max, Realtime Landscaping Architect.

Creating a model of your own garden or house adjoining - Realtime Landscaping Architect, X-Designer, Our Garden Rubin.

A sketch of landscape design can be drawn by hand at the customer's place or in the office, at home, but you can do it either with a regular pencil or add paint. If we move on to more complex stages (general plan, layout and landing drawings), then in the modern world one simply cannot do without computer technology.

Programs for designing a site will satisfy both a novice designer and a professional - everyone chooses a program for himself according to his level and capabilities.

Our Ruby Garden

If you want to work with the best programs, then refer to "Our Ruby Garden". This is a special landscape planner that will help you design a garden plot at any level of complexity.

Our Crystal Garden

This program combines a unique plant encyclopedia with the latest in landscape design. Whether you're a beginner, an amateur gardener, or have been landscape designing for years, this software will help you in any way.

According to it, you can not only learn yourself, but also teach others, so "Our Garden Crystal" can be found more than once as study guide for teachers and students of design schools, colleges, institutes.

Realtime Landscaping Architect

If you want to not just arrange elements on your site, but turn your landscape into a dream, then turn your attention to this program. It uses new 3D technologies that even a beginner can master. Dream, fantasize, and make your visions come true!

FloorPlan 3D Deluxe

The program helps to visualize the design of landscapes, houses and apartments in 3D space. She is simple and reliable. It will help you to model the landscape area.

This program is distinguished by high quality graphics, the presence of various and convenient tools, great opportunities for creating 3D projects.

PUNCH!

This program is good because it allows you to add various landscape elements, buildings to your site, even work in three-dimensional mode. However, it has significant drawbacks - in PUNCH you will not be able to add your own objects (only standard ones), and you will also not be able to export your work to any 3D format.

Sierra Land Designer 3D

This program is also very attractive to users due to its versatility. It allows you not only to design your future landscape (and not only in 2D, but also in 3D visualization), but also to change the position of the camera to see your garden from different angles. It is also possible to see how your garden will look at different times of the year and at different times of the day, which is especially important when designing lighting.

Google SketchUp

There are programs for site design that were not originally designed for this. Google SketchUp is just one of those. However, it can be safely used for this task, for example, to check the effects of the shadow from the sun at any time of the day.

We present to your attention an online program for planning a summer cottage with a size of 6 acres for Opera, Chrome, Firefox browsers. Our program is very easy to use. It is intended for independent planning of a summer cottage, a garden plot, as well as a plot for a cottage or a country house. The planning program for the suburban area is constantly supplemented with new objects. So far, it is designed for planning a rectangular plot of 6 acres measuring 20x30 m. You can familiarize yourself with the description of the operation of the online program for planning a summer cottage.

Our garden planner comes with a wide variety of buildings and plants that can be placed on the plan. We tried to make the images of objects clear and additionally labeled each object in the tooltip. Most objects are shown from above, but some objects are shown from the front for clarity. Almost every object is presented in several copies. For example, you can put two parking lots and one garden swing on a plan.

The program in the menu of buildings contains: a house, a utility block, a greenhouse, a swimming pool, a parking lot, a garden path, a well, a swing.

The menu of plants contains: green and red apple trees, pear, plum, cherry, spruce, birch, flower beds, including roses and tulips, berry and ornamental bushes, lawn, garden.

Network online service for browsers Chrome, Firefox, Opera:

The program for planning a summer cottage allows you to set the required size of the object with an accuracy of 50 cm. The smallest size of the object can be made 50x50 cm. The initial size of the objects is set to the average for the most popular plot - 6 acres. The site plan is provided with a dimensional grid every 1 m. The cells on the plan have a size of 1x1 m. The thickened lines are drawn every 5 m. The program allows you to place an object on the plan with an accuracy of up to 50 cm (ie, up to half a cell).

In the course of site planning, the program makes it possible to repeatedly resize objects online, move them, remove them from the plan and add them again.

How to make a plan for a summer cottage using an online program

It is possible to make a rough plan of the site, when only the approximate dimensions of the site, buildings and plants are known, and this may be enough to create an image of the site.

For an accurate plan, you first need to measure the site and all objects on it (position and size of objects in length, width, height). As well as the position of the site relative to the cardinal points to determine the shady and sunny places of the site in the morning, afternoon and evening. An accurate plan is necessary when planning a new house or other building, for landscaping, for proper sizing and for estimating the amount of material.

According to known sizes, we begin to plan a garden plot. With the help of the planning program, we will first install capital buildings on the plan (house, utility blocks, well), trees and bushes that will remain on the site. When choosing the position of a new house, it is necessary to take into account the supply of electricity, water, gas, as well as the direction and size of the shadow from the house. Then we place the parking lot. Now it's time to conveniently arrange the tracks. The remaining space on the site is occupied by a recreation area, lawn, garden, flower garden, vegetable garden. We arrange a gazebo, swing, barbecue, table, pool. It is important to take into account the presence of shade during the daytime in the recreation area, flower garden, in the garden. It is convenient to place the recreation area in the shade, and place the pool, flower garden and vegetable garden mainly on the part of the site illuminated by the sun, taking into account the nature of the plants.

Happy planning!

The computer has firmly entered our professional and everyday life. It is also a familiar working tool for me - having tried whole line programs of different levels, settled on two that most meet professional requirements and are convenient from a user point of view. Being a professional interior designer, she is used to using Autodesk products in her work: AutoCad for drawings and 3D Max for 3D modeling and visualization.

But, with a large plot - 103 acres, I was faced with the fact that the usual "AutoCad + Max" bundle for such areas is not a very good solution: if drawings are still convenient to do using AutoCad, then 3D Max is very cumbersome. And rendering something bigger than a room becomes basically impossible for my hardware - at least in a logical time.
At first I took the path of the already familiar and well-known - I tried to use other Autodesk products: Revit is familiar and convenient, there are opportunities to create a real landscape - with different heights and a large area, but still, the program is more suitable for architectural design: it is much more convenient to design structures there from channels and I-beams than beds. AutoCAD Civil 3D is designed for the landscape, but operates on a much larger scale - highways, bridges, and even a hectare area, Civil 3D - like a bull in a china shop.
I came to the conclusion that if there are new requirements, you need to master the new - special programs for landscape design: after all, modern landscape designers work in some programs. What a surprise and disappointment it was: it turned out to be difficult to find a program suitable for designing landscape design that satisfies my understanding of a working tool. More precisely, it is not possible - at least I did not succeed.

What software do landscape designers use?

• Punch Home Design;
• sketch-up;
• Our Garden Crystal;
• Our garden Rubin;
• Sierra Land Designer 3D.

Workspace of the program Our Garden Rubin

All of them have an intuitive interface, easy to learn for beginners in computer design. Programs allow you to build a house in virtual space, you can use the functions of paving, creating fences, including hedges, artificial reservoirs. Place small architectural forms (arbors, benches, etc.) in the designed landscape, plan plantings.

They have the ability to design in 2D and view 3D views. There is an option to view the site at different times of the day, and in different seasons - in winter, summer or autumn. As an additional tool, large libraries of plants have been formed with an indication of climatic zonality, an encyclopedia of care and the ability to make any notes on planting, watering or other agricultural practices.

It seems that the creators of the programs have thought of everything for productive work. But, in my opinion, all these programs fall short of the professional level. Rather, it is a kind of popular computer game, a real life simulator - "The Sims".
The possibilities to create a real vertical landscape are either non-existent or very limited and difficult. Yes, and a large area of ​​​​the site in the construction causes certain difficulties. Building by size and binding to objects is also very conditional.
In some programs it is possible to create your own models - buildings, small architectural forms, but in most cases - you can only insert ready-made solutions offered in the set. The possibilities of creating a specific bed or flower bed, with the exact number of real plants, are implemented poorly or not at all.
That is, it is possible to indulge in changing the paving stones on the path from the proposed options or “planting” bushes and trees, but in my opinion, it is not possible to draw up a working draft. Therefore, I can’t understand how professional landscapers use these tools: I can’t imagine that these “sketches” can be given to people who will actually break paths on a site or plant plants.
Of course, I do not plan to hire people to improve my site, but I would also like to have understandable working documentation for myself. Therefore, apparently, you will have to use what you are used to, especially since 3D images far less valuable than informative blueprints.

Realtime Landscaping Architect 2016

Realtime Landscaping Architect

On the plan, you can put down dimensions, make callouts with captions, insert screenshots from a 3D view, a list of plants. It is also possible to insert any document: an Excel table, a text in Word, a photograph of a real view of the site.
The 3D image looks like this:

The conditional landscape in the background can be replaced with a real photo of the surroundings around your site. The view of the sky also changes - you can substitute a photograph of a thunderstorm, for example. In addition to the standard perspective view, cameras with adjustable position and viewing angle are installed - this makes it possible to see the territory from unusual angles - for example, from a bird's eye view. You can set the exact time, select the season - spring, winter, summer or autumn. And add background sound - for example, recording the sound of the wind, the rustle of leaves or the singing of birds. In addition to static pictures, it is possible to shoot a video of a walk around the site.

The most valuable thing in Realtime Landscaping Architect, in my opinion, is the following.

Vertical layout

By specifying the shape and size of the area, you can increase the number of vertical and horizontal grid lines, and then, by selecting the point editing mode, create a relief. If you know the exact heights, you can set them in the box, or simply move the control points with the mouse. All objects placed on the created terrain - a stream, a house, paths, fences or hedges, automatically take into account the created terrain, "climbing" the hills or "diving" into the ravines.

Tracks and streams can be edited: change the trajectory by adding or removing anchor points, moving them. The type of paving of the path, the bottom of the stream and the amount of water in it also change - you can make it dry out and water will remain only in the depressions. For each object, the perimeter and area are automatically specified.

In addition to gentle hills, you can additionally make depressions with steep walls - for example, a ditch. The same tool is used for "dredging" under the pool or pond.

plants grow

Interested in landscaping your own garden? No problem! And it is not necessary to run to a designer, whose work is very expensive. Of course, consultation with a professional never hurts, but this is not always possible (at least for financial reasons), and in any case, you first need to figure out what you want on your own. Moreover, it is possible that you will not need a designer, for example, if the dream of your whole life is to create a cozy Japanese-style garden with your own hands.

Obviously, before going to the nursery for planting material, it is advisable to design virtual model garden, as this will help determine which plants and landscape structures and in what quantity you need. And here two questions immediately arise: where to get ideas for decoration, because few non-professionals have design taste multiplied by the experience of growing numerous garden plants, and how to create such a virtual project?

As for the first question, the answer to it can be obtained by studying various design solutions for decorating a garden, for which you will have to turn to the relevant literature or electronic encyclopedias. The latter option is preferable due to the presence in such encyclopedias of a conveniently designed search engine, which will allow you to quickly navigate.

There are two options for solving the second question. You can take paper and start creating numerous plans and drawings that will have to be redone more than once - and it’s not at all a fact that the project implemented according to one of these plans will eventually turn out to be the embodiment of your dream, because it’s difficult to imagine the creation created on the plan in volume. And you can use the appropriate software solution for the visual design of the garden - many of them are quite easy to learn and will be within the power of anyone computer user. With their help, you can quickly create a virtual garden project (taking into account the terrain): schematically depict a house on a plan and plant trees and shrubs around it, create lawns and plant flower beds, for which you just need to drag the necessary objects from the library, place them on plan and indicate the age of the plants. And also simulate other elements of garden decor: connect individual garden areas with paths, install a fence, place lanterns and lamps to illuminate the site at night, build a pond, etc.

As a rule, two ways of creating landscape projects are technically possible: from scratch or on the basis of real photographs (Fig. 1). The latter is very convenient, because for most people the issue of landscape design arises only when the house and other buildings have been built for a long time and there are already some green spaces. When using this technology, a base image of the house is first loaded, and then new plants and various landscape structures are introduced into it, which allows you to fit new landscape elements into existing ones. Thus, for example, you can effectively decorate the driveway to the house with plants, arrange containers with flowers and lanterns, etc. If the project is being developed from scratch, then it is started to be built from the creation of the terrain, that is, the formation of the hills and slopes available on the site - for this, it is necessary to outline the raised or lowered areas on the plan and apply the appropriate transformations to them. Then large objects, that is, buildings, are added to the project - the fastest way is to simply download a typical building that suits the style, however, if none of the building types suits you, you can design it yourself. After that, they proceed to the introduction of objects such as fences, gazebos, gates, etc. into the project - usually they are taken from the built-in library, however, many solutions also offer the ability to load their own elements: three-dimensional models and / or objects cut from photos. At the end, textures are assigned to all elements. At the next stage of working with the project, paths are laid, a reservoir is created, decorative structures are placed, single plants are planted, a hedge is formed, climbing plants are placed on the walls of buildings, etc. At the end, they set up the lighting, placing decorative lanterns along the paths, on the wall at the front door of the house, at the gate of the house, etc.

Rice. 1. An example of a landscape project created from a photograph

The resulting project options (there may be several) are easy to view in two-dimensional form, and then walk through them in volumetric viewing (Fig. 2), inspect from all sides and find out which one is preferable for you. If necessary, you can subsequently make changes to the project, and print the final project in the desired angles. You can also create an AVI-presentation to demonstrate the created project (this feature is more interesting for professionals), which is done by installing and configuring several image viewing cameras on the plan, determining the sequence of their switching and the display time for each of the cameras.

Rice. 2. Possible two-dimensional plan of the project and its three-dimensional representation

In addition to viewing the project at the current moment, it is usually possible to see the model of the garden after some time (Fig. 3): in a year, two, ten, etc. - this will help to understand whether the plants are located correctly, taking into account their characteristic strength of growth. The opportunity to view the garden at different times of the year is less often provided (Fig. 4), which will make it possible to assess the level of attractiveness of plantings not only in summer, but also in other periods. It is also worth noting that a number of visualization solutions provide for the display of a shadow, thanks to which it is easy to adjust the plantings taking into account their light-loving/shade-tolerance. These viewing options are very relevant for non-professionals, since they may not have such information (that is, data on the degree of growth of plants, their decorativeness in different periods and the level of light-loving / shade tolerance). All this allows you to relatively quickly get a fairly professional (in terms of taking into account the biological characteristics of plants) landscape design without contacting specialists.

Rice. 3. View of the landscape over time

Rice. 4. View of the landscape at different times of the year

Landscaping CDs

The list of similar solutions offered on the market is more than impressive, but we will focus on only a few of the most interesting ones. In our opinion, aspiring landscape designers should take a look at the Landscape Art series of encyclopedias, which cover all the basic aspects of landscape design and contain comprehensive and beautifully illustrated materials. We also found the discs “Professional Advice. Landscaping and Landscaping. Styles and Directions. The first one is interesting in terms of studying various options for decorating a summer cottage, taking into account the minimization of material costs and one's own efforts, and the second highlights the basic principles and trends in garden design and provides many original styling ideas that will interest enthusiastic gardeners.

Series "Landscape Art"

Developer: landscape art

Price: 119 rub. for one disc

Currently, six discs have been released in the series: “Landscape Art. Lawns. Landings. Flower gardens”, “Landscape art. Reservoirs in the garden”, “Landscape art. Practical Tips. Water in the garden” (Fig. 5), “Landscape art. Paving. Stairs. Retaining walls”, “Landscape art. Practical advice. Paving. Stairs. Retaining walls” (Fig. 6) and “Landscape art. Practical advice. Stone in the garden” (Fig. 7). On these discs, in an accessible and concise form, the technologies for creating lawns, planting plants and arranging flower beds are described, different types paving, construction of stairs and retaining walls and detailed color schemes of such structures are given. It highlights the technology of arranging reservoirs and their design, describes how to care for a reservoir (including fish and plants living in it) at different times of the year. It also talks about the variety of stones and their use in landscape design. All theoretical material is accompanied by numerous illustrations that can be useful when designing and creating your own garden.

Rice. 5. An example of a reservoir in the garden (“Landscape art.
Practical advice. water in the garden)

Rice. 6. Photo gallery with examples of garden paths
(Software "Landscape art. Practical advice. Paving. Stairs.
retaining walls")

Rice. 7. An example of the use of stones in group plantings
(software "Landscape art. Practical advice. Stone in the garden")

Developer: VIEM

Price: 249 rub.

This CD highlights many design projects and finds designed with the understanding that all the work can be done alone. Here, various aspects of the design of a summer cottage are considered: the construction of spectacular ridges, the creation of hedges, front gardens and borders (Fig. 8), the arrangement of garden paths, the construction of stairs, benches, fountains and bridges, the use of supports, etc. Accompanying theoretical materials are detailed graphic schemes, photo gallery and professional advice provide b O greater availability of information and will help to avoid mistakes and unnecessary costs when arranging a suburban area.

Rice. 8. Presentation of wooden front gardens and borders
(“Professional advice. Landscape design”)

Landscaping. Styles and trends

Developer: ID COMPANY

Price: 119 rub.

This encyclopedia highlights the main principles and trends in garden design and allows you to understand the design styles - the description of the styles is accompanied by colorful garden layout diagrams (Fig. 9) and useful comments. The program offers a lot of original ideas: laconicism of the Japanese style, the charm of miniatures, monochrome graphics, a rooftop garden, a twilight garden, a garden with a stream, a bathhouse, a swimming pool and much more. There are even interesting solutions that allow you to combine business with pleasure: a garden - a kitchen garden, a garden - a playground, etc. As a result, the reader can choose the style option he likes as a ready-made guide to action, or independently develop his own unique style based on existing ones.

Rice. 9. One of the options for planning a garden (software "Landscape design.
Styles and directions")

Landscape design software

There are many different software products on the market for designing and visualizing landscape projects. However, many of them are focused on landscape designers, that is, they are more difficult to master and are not cheap. And those solutions that are intended for non-professionals, for the most part, leave much to be desired. At the same time, in both groups of software, it is still possible to single out programs that are of interest to home users and provide them with all the necessary tools for landscape design. We settled on Realtime Landscaping Plus, Our Garden 9.0 Ruby, TurboFLOORPLAN Landscape and Deck and a group of solutions from Punch! Software. All of them can be successfully used to create a landscape project for your own garden.

The most attractive, in our opinion, are the Realtime Landscaping Plus and Our Garden 9.0 Rubin programs. In favor of the first speaks a large number of 3D models of plants (see table) and well-thought-out technology of use, thanks to which it is possible to prepare a project in it faster than in other solutions. Moreover, this program seemed to us the easiest to learn, which is very important for home users. But, unfortunately, it is impossible to add water objects (for example, reservoirs) to projects in it. In turn, the indisputable advantage of the Our Garden 9.0 Rubin program is the Russian-language interface and the availability of a very detailed and well-prepared encyclopedia containing background information on caring for plants, diseases and pests. But it does not display shadows in 3D, which will undoubtedly cause problems for many amateur gardeners who are unlikely to be well versed in terms of light / shade tolerance of plants. In addition, the list of plant objects available for use in the project is noticeably smaller in it than in other solutions, and the program is not cheap.

As for the other utilities discussed in the article, they are less attractive. The TurboFLOORPLAN Landscape and Deck program has wide functionality and allows you to implement any landscape structures in projects, but it is rather slow and more demanding on system resources. As for Punch! software, then greatest opportunity in terms of landscape design are presented in the Punch Master Landscape and Home Design program, but it is inferior in functionality to the listed solutions from other developers.

Realtime Landscaping Plus 4

Developer: Idea Spectrum

3 GB

Work under control: Windows XP/Vista

Distribution method: shareware (functionally limited demo - http://www.ideaspectrum.net/demos/plus/plus203.exe)

Price:$79.95

Realtime Landscaping Plus is one of the best solutions for designing and visualizing landscape projects (Figure 10), which is great for landscape designers and non-professionals alike. Its main module is a built-in scheduler, as additional photo editor Realtime Landscaping Photo and image editor Realtime Picture Editor are provided.

Rice. 10. An example of a project created in Realtime Landscaping Plus

Projects are created from scratch or based on real photographs (Fig. 11) - in both cases, this can be done not only manually, but also with the help of built-in wizards, which greatly simplifies the task. For example, when creating a project from a blank slate by the landscape master (Fig. 12), it is enough for the user to specify the size of the plot, select the style of the house and fence, and determine the location of the house relative to the fence on the plan - the result will be an editable standard garden project with a house, patio, fence and driveway to the house. As a result, manually it will only be necessary to modify the terrain and introduce plants and decorative elements. If the conceived project is not typical in terms of buildings, for example, it has fragments of curvilinear walls, then you will have to create the corresponding elements manually - this is also not difficult (since they are formed from editable basic objects: wall frames with a roof, doors and windows), but will require time. After that, if necessary, textures made from real photographs can be applied to the walls, gables and plinth of the house - this will ensure O greater credibility. Then a fence with gates is installed and individual sections are paving, retaining walls, hedges, small architectural forms, lanterns adjustable in height, size and color of light rays, as well as single stones, borders from them and plants can be added, taking into account their age. Plants can be of two types: 3D models and 2D images cut from photographs. The latter are correctly integrated into the project, automatically rotating when the scene view angle changes, and look more realistic than the models, but the latter fluctuate under the influence of the wind during 3D viewing, which, of course, is not important for the result, but it looks very impressive. All embedded objects are configurable. By default, a shortened list of parameters opens for any of them (this is convenient for amateurs), but there is also an extended list that provides more fine tuning(Fig. 13). It is possible to create custom vegetation and save it to the database for later use. Implemented tools for importing 3D models, and to simplify this process(since many non-professionals simply have no idea where such models can be obtained) downloading models from the Google 3D Warehouse database of free models is provided. But it will not be possible to add water objects (fountains, waterfalls, streams, reservoirs, pools, reservoirs, etc.) to the project - their implementation is not provided for in this solution.

Rice. 11. Creating a project based on a photo in Realtime Landscaping Plus

Rice. 12. Creating a project using the landscape wizard
in Realtime Landscaping Plus

Rice. 13. Edit advanced hammock options
in Realtime Landscaping Plus

The created plan can be viewed in perspective projection and in the form of a three-dimensional image with quite realistic lighting and shadows. When viewed, plant objects (if these are 3D models) will sway under the influence of the wind, birds or butterflies will sometimes fly in the air. You can see a three-dimensional landscape during the day and at night, as well as after a specified number of years. Screenshots are allowed when viewing - they are saved in BMP files and can then be printed. The project plan is also printed out and it is easy to create an AVI presentation from it. There is a budgeting function that can be printed and exported to a text file.

Our Garden 9.0 Ruby (Garden Composer)

Developer: OJSC DiComp

Required volume free space on hard drive: 4 GB

Work under control: Windows XP/Vista

Distribution method: comercialware (no demo)

Price: 3800 rub.

Our Garden 9.0 Ruby is a solution for designing and visualizing landscape projects (Fig. 14), which is intended for both professional landscape designers and amateurs. It includes a built-in scheduler, a photo editor (allows you to work with a digital photograph of an object) and a resource editor (provides the ability to add 3D models and textures to the database). As well as an extensive illustrated encyclopedia containing detailed information about more than 15 thousand plants, including their diseases and pests (Fig. 15), which increases the attractiveness of this solution for non-professionals.

Rice. 14. An example of a project created in the program "Our Garden 9.0 Ruby"

Rice. 15. Page of the encyclopedia built into the program "Our Garden 9.0 Ruby"

Projects can be created on the basis of real photographs or from scratch (Fig. 16) - in the latter case, it is allowed to use a drawing made by hand on paper as a substrate (it will first have to be scanned), which somewhat reduces the design time. When creating projects from scratch, the terrain is taken into account. Adding buildings to the project is carried out using the wizard - you can limit yourself to simple typical buildings or build an object of the required type from them, like from children's cubes. For b O For more credibility, it is possible to overlay textures made from real photographs on the house. Required forms fences, stairs and retaining walls are also created with the help of craftsmen (Fig. 17), the paving of individual zones is formed in the same way. Small architectural forms and plants (including sheared ones) are added from the library, it is possible to cut plants according to your own stencil with the help of a wizard. When planting plants, their age is taken into account. It is allowed to use in the project your own objects obtained by selection from photographs or scanned illustrations. It is possible to lay paths along complex curvilinear trajectories, as well as to build flowerbeds, reservoirs of complex shape, etc. Textures from the library or arbitrary texture images available in the user's collection are used for texturing objects. A toolkit is provided for lighting the garden with lamps and lanterns of different power and height.

Rice. 16. Creating a project from scratch in the program "Our Garden 9.0 Ruby"

Rice. 17. Correction of the parameters of stairs, fences and sheared forms
in the program "Our Garden 9.0 Rubin"

The created plan is viewed in the form of a three-dimensional image, but without displaying shadows (during the day and at night, in any month of the year and after a specified number of years) and can be printed and sent to a specific email address. Based on the finished project, it is easy to make and print an estimate, as well as create an AVI presentation.

TurboFLOORPLAN Landscape and Deck 12

Developer: IMSI/Design

Required amount of free hard disk space: 750 MB

Work under control: Windows 2000(SP4)/XP(SP2)/Vista

Distribution method: shareware (15 day demo - http://www.imsidesign.com/Products/FreeTrials/tabid/437/Default.aspx)

Price:$39.95

TurboFLOORPLAN Landscape and Deck is a solution for designing and visualizing landscape projects (Fig. 18), designed by developers for a wide audience. Includes a landscape project planner and an extensive illustrated encyclopedia containing brief information about more than 7.5 thousand plants and the rules for caring for them (Fig. 19), as well as background information on the main diseases and pests of horticultural crops. This solution has the basic functionality for this kind of applications and allows you to create projects taking into account the terrain and the size of buildings and landscape structures, but you cannot classify it as fast. In addition, many operations in it, in our opinion, are not implemented in the best way (you have to repeatedly click on buttons and open various windows), and there are no wizards - as a result, it will take more time to master it, and project development will be longer.

Rice. 18. An example of a project created in TurboFLOORPLAN Landscape and Deck

Rice. 19. Encyclopedia page built into the program
TurboFLOORPLAN Landscape and Deck

Projects are created from scratch (Fig. 20), it is possible to install scanned paper drawings as a substrate. Work on the project begins with the formation of the relief. After that, buildings are added by selecting one of the typical house options or by creating it manually - in this case, you will have to determine the contours of the foundation, build walls and create a roof (all this taking into account the length and height of the corresponding objects), and then build in windows and doors. Upon completion, all elements of the buildings are textured, it is possible to overlay textures made from real photographs on the house. At the next stage, they proceed to the landscape design itself - paving and laying paths, constructing retaining walls for vegetation zones, planting plants in them and placing other elements: a terrace with stairs, a fence with gates, small architectural forms, a pool, a pond or a fountain, and also various kinds of lanterns and lamps (Fig. 21). When introducing plants, their age is taken into account. Embedded objects can be of two types: 3D models and two-dimensional images cut from photographs, which can be taken not only from the built-in library, but also imported.

Rice. 20. Create a project from scratch

Rice. 21. Correction of the parameters of the retaining wall and lantern
in TurboFLOORPLAN Landscape and Deck

The created plan is viewed in a perspective projection, from any of the installed cameras, or as a three-dimensional image with realistic lighting and shadows - in the latter case, various visualization options are possible, including visualization with global illumination calculation. It is possible to view the landscape in the daytime and at night, in different months (moreover, taking into account the country), as well as after a specified number of years. There is a functionality for printing a project plan and generating an AVI presentation from it. It is possible to draw up an estimate - it is easy to print and export to a text file.

Solutions from Punch! Software

Developer: Punch! Software

Required amount of free hard disk space: from 540 to 700 MB

Work under control: Windows (all versions)

Waydissemination: Punch Master Landscape and Home Design and 3D Home Architect Landscape Design Deluxe - comercialware (no demos available); Punch! Super Home Suite - shareware (15 day demo for 100 runs - ftp:// [email protected]/SuperDemoSetup.exe)

Price: Punch Master Landscape and Home Design 10 and Punch! Super Home Suite 3.5 - $49.99; 3D Home Architect Landscape Design Deluxe 9 - $39.99

Software solutions from Punch! exist in several modifications: 3D Home Architect Landscape Design Deluxe 9, Punch Master Landscape and Home Design 10 and Punch! Super Home Suite 3.5. All of them belong to solutions designed for landscape design and have a similar interface. These programs allow you to develop the exterior of the house and (using the same 3D Landscape Design module) its landscape design (Fig. 22). As for the differences between them, Punch! Super Home Suite also allows you to model the interior of your home, while Punch Master Landscape and Home Design has advanced landscaping tools (more available types objects and there is a Plantfinder module that provides effective selection in the database of the desired vegetation - fig. 23) and supports PhotoView technology, which allows you to create projects based on real photos.

Rice. 22. An example of a project created in Punch Master Landscape and Home Design

Rice. 23. Vegetation selection options through Plantfinder

The creation of a project (Fig. 24) in all these solutions begins with the formation of a relief by drawing topographic curves or by loading a real topographic plan of the area. Then the walls are erected - either on the basis of one of the typical layout options, or manually, designing each of the walls separately (the length, thickness and height of the walls are easily adjusted, and their alignment is done automatically). After that, windows, doors and a roof are added to the house under construction, choosing the necessary elements from the standard options, and, if necessary, an open veranda or patio is attached to the house. If a real house has already been built, then you can not create it, but immediately introduce the corresponding photo into the project (only in Punch Master Landscape and Home Design). Then they start landscape design - they create paths, fences, mini-fences and supporting walls, form paved areas, etc., and then decorate all objects with textures from the library. You can also build mini-reservoirs, although there is no special tool for this purpose - the same Fill tool is used as for paving, just when texturing the reservoir, the texture of the water is set. At the last stage, flowerbeds are created and plants are planted - for any plant object, you can specify the age and clarify the degree of light and moisture love in the properties of the object.

Rice. 24. Create a project from scratch in Punch! Super Home Suite

Created projects are viewed in two- and three-dimensional representation (perspective and orthogonal projection), you can also see how the landscape will look like in a few years. For a more natural project when rendering, it is easy to adjust the lighting by determining the position of the sun and the intensity of its glow, and add shadows. The finished project is printed, its two-dimensional plan can be saved in a DXF file, and the three-dimensional representation of the project is exported to graphic file. There are also automatic calculation of costs for the acquisition of materials necessary for the implementation of the project, the formation of estimates and its printout.

On sale you can find the Russian-language edition of the 3D Home Architect Landscape Design Deluxe 9 program - “3D Modeling: Landscape Design” (publisher Russobit-M http://www.russobit-m.ru/catalogue/item/3d_home_architect_landscape_design/), offered at a price of 207 rubles.

Today on the Internet you can download a large number of ready-made landscape projects for suburban areas. But many people prefer to create a project on their own from scratch, taking into account their own taste preferences. In this case, you can use one of the landscape design programs.

To help you master landscape design software, we present to your attention a tutorial that describes how to work with such programs as Garden Planner, X-Designer and 3D Home Architect Design Suite Delux. Visibility and accessibility of information ensures rapid development functionality programs.

X-Designer - Garden plot planner 3D

This program does not require special training and makes it easy to model a site using the existing extensive library of plants and landscape objects. You can not only place any residential and utility buildings, gazebos for recreation, a wide variety of lawns, flower beds, trees and other components, but also see how the planned site will look at different times of the day in any season. It is also possible to take a picture of your own creation in order to continue working on the project.

Our Garden Ruby 10.0

Multifunctional yet very handy program allows you to design the landscape design of the site using high-quality digital photographs. The editor-planner can be used both for modeling from scratch, and for those cases when there are already some objects on the site. The library of the program includes many different building objects and garden elements, so it is possible to create interesting landscape projects.

Garden Planner 3

Very simple program to model a garden plot. All that is required is to arrange the proposed elements and objects in accordance with your own wishes, using user-friendly interface drag and drop. To enhance visibility, the developers have provided the ability to change the scale and color of foliage.

3D Home Architect Design Suite Deluxe

This program turns the process of site modeling into an exciting experience. It is a powerful multifunctional scheduler, but at the same time it has a clear interface. A huge selection of design elements allows you to develop a high-precision site project. Despite the fact that the project itself is created in 2D format, the simulation result can be viewed using the built-in functionality in a three-dimensional version.

Professional software for landscape design

Professionals with a high level of training can use the following programs when creating landscape projects:

AutoCAD

One of the most famous professional software tools for design design. With the help of this program, specialists can create projects taking into account all the subtleties of the site relief. When modeling, coordinates, surface breaks are taken into account, all designed objects are visualized. In addition, powerful software allows you to create various project documentation.

3D Max

A very complex full-featured and high-performance program that provides great opportunities for modeling in 3D format. In most cases, this planner is used when working with architects and engineers, after completing specialized courses.

Punch! Professional Home Design

This specialized 3D planning software has the simplest and most efficient interface. In this regard, she is popular among ordinary people when modeling a site, or even an apartment. The program library contains a huge number of standard objects and elements that can be modified. The value of this program for professionals lies in the possibility of producing high-quality project documentation, as well as the fact that it is possible to replenish the library with your own components.