I am looking for a good software program for designing layouts, and need something more than the Atlas "freebie" program offers. Can anyone offer a recommendation on a good program ?
Thanks,
Iron Goat
Thanks,
Iron Goat
Layout planning software
- Thread starter Iron Goat
- Start date
F
Fred_M
Iron G.
They did a survey on the newsgroup rec.models.railroads,
most there liked 3rd Planit http://www.eldoradosoft.com/
second place was the Abracadata software http://www.theliquidateher.com/railroad-windows.html
Hope this helps.
They did a survey on the newsgroup rec.models.railroads,
most there liked 3rd Planit http://www.eldoradosoft.com/
second place was the Abracadata software http://www.theliquidateher.com/railroad-windows.html
Hope this helps.
Hi Iron Goat,
it depends somewhat how much you want to spend on software.
I recommend 3rdPlanIt. IMHO it is by far the most sophisticated track planning software around, and it is well worth the prize of around $100.
For this price you get lots of CAD tools for laying tracks (with any form of easement), helixes, turnout ladders etc etc. There are two different ways to construct the landscape, complete with ground texture. You can construct the whole benchwork - and all this you can visualize in 3d views from every angle. You can even ride the rails yourself (the 'camera' also moves along the track if you want), or you can run trains on the layout and test switching moves before laying one single piece of track.
If you want to see what you can do with 3rdPlanIt have a look at my website - e.g. starting on this page. I'll take you for a ride on my future layout...
To give you an idea I include the plan overview of my TC&W RR, although the picture is not so sharp (due to the necessary size reduction).
Ron
it depends somewhat how much you want to spend on software.
I recommend 3rdPlanIt. IMHO it is by far the most sophisticated track planning software around, and it is well worth the prize of around $100.
For this price you get lots of CAD tools for laying tracks (with any form of easement), helixes, turnout ladders etc etc. There are two different ways to construct the landscape, complete with ground texture. You can construct the whole benchwork - and all this you can visualize in 3d views from every angle. You can even ride the rails yourself (the 'camera' also moves along the track if you want), or you can run trains on the layout and test switching moves before laying one single piece of track.
If you want to see what you can do with 3rdPlanIt have a look at my website - e.g. starting on this page. I'll take you for a ride on my future layout...
To give you an idea I include the plan overview of my TC&W RR, although the picture is not so sharp (due to the necessary size reduction).
Ron
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Fred_M
Thanks guys.... I just downloaded the demo copy of 3rd PlanIt, and will play with it a day or so, and if it continues to look as good as it does now, I'll buy the "full copy".
Thanks again for the infomation, and the great layout tours via your 3rd PlanIt software.
God bless....
Iron Goat
Thanks again for the infomation, and the great layout tours via your 3rd PlanIt software.
God bless....
Iron Goat
Hi, I got Abracadata a while ago and am starting to explore it. One problem that I had was that on a layout that I had drawn based on my own, when I tried to use the use the straight track tool, I could not get it to work. I would get the cursor "+" with the little track symbol, but when I pressed the mouse button, it would not draw the track. The same thing happen when I used the curve track tool or the spline track tool. Even when I would open up a new layout to start from scratch, the same thing would happen.
The way that I managed to work around it so far was to install another installation of 3D Railroad on my hard drive. But even when I did this, the same thing happened and those drawing tools did not work on that file. So in addition to a reinstallation, I copied the elements from the previous layout and pasted it onto a new layout in the newly installed 3D Railroad and then I could access the straight track and other tools. Also, in the new installation, when I started a new layout, I could use the tools.
I think (hope) what I did was to set some switch in the program to disable those tools. If anybody who has experience with the Abracadata 3D Railroad Design software has any idea as to how this happened and how to correct it, I would really appreciate it. Until I correct it, I will be a little leery of using 3D Railroad, given that it can change like that. Thanks in advance!
The way that I managed to work around it so far was to install another installation of 3D Railroad on my hard drive. But even when I did this, the same thing happened and those drawing tools did not work on that file. So in addition to a reinstallation, I copied the elements from the previous layout and pasted it onto a new layout in the newly installed 3D Railroad and then I could access the straight track and other tools. Also, in the new installation, when I started a new layout, I could use the tools.
I think (hope) what I did was to set some switch in the program to disable those tools. If anybody who has experience with the Abracadata 3D Railroad Design software has any idea as to how this happened and how to correct it, I would really appreciate it. Until I correct it, I will be a little leery of using 3D Railroad, given that it can change like that. Thanks in advance!