[Erik Tornquist]

So recently renewed my subscription but still on V11. I’ve been vocal about it in the past, regarding my disdain for V.11 as compared to V.9 (didn’t use V.10) and so I’m quite skeptical of V.12. I’d like to know if these kinks had been worked out.

First: I hate that when an item is within the “wall space”, there was no freely moving it around. It would only go along the wall. Any other movement it involved right clicking and selecting whichever way I moved it. It is especially frustrating with windows/doors which would would not actually go IN the wall as they’re supposed to. I’d have to select In/Out and input how far in/out I want them to go. Frustrating on all accounts and could never imagine the Dev’s thought that was a good idea to change. Again, v.9 did not have this issue. I reinstalled v.11 a few times thinking it was a bug…. it wasn’t. IS THIS FIXED IN V.12?

Second: Cloud items. 80% of the time, I HATE having to be connected to the internet in order to get some sort of accessory. I miss the catalog. I understand why in some cases it’s helpful but especially if I take the laptop someplace there’s no internet service, there’s no winning there. But lets be honest, having to connect to the internet to use the software at all is lousy for most users (I’d imagine). ALSO, in regards to cloud items, most items with glass, mainly lights, it was impossible to see them with a white background. Was this adjusted?

Third: Between v.9 & v.11, there was no rendering performance improvements. My highend desktop system took just as long to render as my old bosses lower performing desktop. When I moved the program over from my desktop to my slower laptop (for travel purposes), rendering was exactly the same. Has this been changed with v.12? This is also extremely important for when using VR.

Forth: Neither v9 or v.11 had a “preview window” when selecting some icons under the Items menu (ie plumbing/appliances/etc…). Only way to show a preview of the item is actually having to go in the catalog window, and moving around from there. I don’t have to tell you why that’s more than annoying. Has this been changed with v.12?

There are other issues I have with v.11 but I’ve come to at least know them and don’t want to download v.12 unless improvements have been made (“the devil you know….” type of thing).

The biggest issue for me is that issue with moving items around the wall placement space. If that was fixed, well then gosh darn it I’m gonna go ahead and download v.12 now… but if not, then what’s the point?

[Erik Tornquist]

Oh, and please tell me we can finally turn items in a multi axis direction within either design space or elevation. Does anyone really understand how helpful it would be to turn some form of cabinetry/panels/etc… on it’s side? Extremely! The fact that v.11 doesn’t have this blew my mind. it was something we did often for that customized installation. And for design purposes alone, instead of having to adjust items dimensions (which wouldn’t work sometimes depending on the item) and would screw with the order form.
Please tell me this is fixed in v.12.

[Ken Watkins]

Actually, your issue with moving items out of the placement zone has never really been an issue. You simply go into the Preferences (it’s the toolbox icon) and under “Work Area” check the box beside “disable placement zone drag setting”.   This has been in the program since at least version 8.   Hope this helps.  Also, I have a “minimum” requirements computer – like dual core i5 with onboard graphics card on one of my machines. no problem since I mostly do hidden line renderings,  but even with that, I found things run smoother and faster with the v12.  Glad I upgraded.

[Erik Tornquist]

Unfortunately, that has never solved the problem for me. I’ve checked & unchecked the box, restarting the program as well doing so… and still does not solve the issue. I may just give v.12 a go on my desktop and if that doesn’t fix it then just stick with v11 for the time being on the laptop.

You know what? I’ve decided… I’m going to give v12 a try! 🙂

Thanks for your help.

[Kristopher Papaleo]

Hello Erik,

I’m happy to hear you’ve renewed your 2020 Design subscription. From your post, it looks like your not completely convinced to make the move to version 12. We’ve made version 12 available to customers in the last several months and have been receiving high praise from customers on many aspects, specifically performance.

One thing we’ve done differently with version 12 is that you can install it onto your computer while still having version 11 installed and available to you. This means you have the flexibility to evaluate for yourself the performance of version 12 while continuing to design with version 11 if you wish too.

We see you have questions concerning our cloud-based content and performance, my recommendation would be to schedule a one on one call with a support specialist in order for us to work with you and answer any of your questions.

We realize that having our content on the cloud can be an adjustment if you are a seasoned designer with our software, however, the benefits of cloud-based content are massive. For one, it allows designers to continuously work with the most up to date content without having to be concerned with installing updates to manufacturer catalogs.

We currently have over 3000 items accessed from the cloud every day & the number is continuously growing.
Speak with a support specialist on some tips and best practices to use cloud content when your internet access is limited.

Kris

[Erik Tornquist]

Thanks Kris, I appreciate the reply. Wasn’t aware about being able to have both versions, that’s awesome!
It’s certainly understandable why the cloud based system for items is beneficial for many reasons, and it has been useful for me at times… I just wish the catalog was not removed completely in order to be used when out of internet range. Is there an accessory catalog similar to the generic that’s available elsewhere? Branded maybe?

Again, Thanks for the reply.

[Santiago Morales]

Hello Erik,

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I think Ken has answered your first point. Please have that a try and let me know if it is satisfactory to you.

Point 2: We understand that needing to be connected to the internet might be troublesome in some cases. The main reason was to provide you with the latest and greatest items in real-time without the need to download and install an entire catalog. The good news is that the addition of items does not require a large download and can be done through a wi-fi hot-spot through your phone.

Point 3: Although we continuously improve the rendering capability there hasn’t been notable gain in performance (timings). The good news is that we are working on it. We are actually in the process of integrating a new rendering engine that will increase the rendering speed dramatically. We should have it integrated this year. Please stay tuned : )

Point 4: We understand the preview item is helpful for the shortcut buttons. We will look into it. Incidentally, we have included a preview in the Cloud Browser. We also have a Tile view, which allows to preview numerous thumbnails of items.

We really recommend transitioning to V12. We heard really positive feedback. You can install it and try it out (without uninstalling your current version).

Thank you,

Santiago
Product Manager of 2020 Design

[Erik Tornquist]

Thanks For the reply, Santiago. I appreciate the advice.

I hadn’t thought about the use of my phones hotspot. Although most of the time I am connected, when I go away, sometimes it’s in an area difficult of internet access BUT you reminded me of using a hotspot, which would atleast be something. Thanks again!

[Sandra Tierney]

What happened  to the catalog browser to preview items from the default catalogs? It is no longer found under the View tab. Your help menu shows it is but it cannot be found, We need it to choose all those items from the ROOM-PLU and ROOM_APP catalogs. If it is gone from ver 12 that is a MAJOR Step backwards.

[Santiago Morales]

Hello Sandra,

Thank you for your feedback.

During our Beta testing of V12, we noticed that this browser to cause confusion with the other item browser (Local and Cloud).
We understand now that some of our user do appreciate it. We will bring it back in the next update. It will still be hidden, but users will be able to “un-hide” through the File-Preference menu.

Thank you,

Santiago
2020 Design Product Manager