Realtime Landscaping PLUS 2012 from IDEA Spectrum combines a massive amount of landscaping objects with easy-to-use tools and a professional design. This landscaping software has more than 10,000 realistic objects. This includes more than 4,600 plants, along with their common and botanical names, the zones in which they naturally live and their size. The software also comes with more than 3,000 accessories. Realtime Landscaping PLUS 2012 is our TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award winner because it has great graphics, simple navigation despite its incredible database of objects, smooth presentation abilities, brand name options, and ample tech support.
IDEA Spectrum has spent time making their application appear as realistic as possible. Almost 1,000 of the plants are high-resolution images. The grass has a 3D edge to make it appear to stand on a slightly higher plane than the sidewalk. You can select the time of day and how much wind you want to blow during your walkthrough to increase the landscape’s authenticity. The shadows during the day and the lighting at night add a subtle touch to the view. When you import your own photo and combine it with the plants and other design elements from the application, the combination of photo and computer generated graphics mesh together well, providing you with an image that looks realistic and professional.
When you’re in design mode, you can choose to see a bird’s-eye view of the area you’re working on or change the angle to see exactly what you’re working on. You can also choose the walkthrough view that allows you to move through the area and see the landscape at any height or angle, using your mouse and simple keyboard commands to navigate.
Another pleasing addition to PLUS 2012 is the enhanced surface graphics. Designs you create using stone, brick or wood on walkways or patios have greater detail than in the previous version. This leads to an increase in the overall realism of your landscape design. You also have an option to insert borders on paths or driveways. You add them with just the click of a button, and you can customize the width, depth and position of the borders.
Realtime Landscaping PLUS is fairly intuitive to operate. We were quickly able to start working on our own projects. Realtime Landscaping PLUS 2012 has a new user interface with a sleek design and easy-to-navigate tabs. Even with all the objects this application has, it’s easy to keep track of where everything is due to the simple organization. You can find objects by scrolling through the images and names by category, or you can type the name into the search feature and locate it quickly. You can also easily program keyboard strokes to function as shortcuts for objects, which can save you even more time.
The procedure for inserting objects is straightforward. Simply select the object you want, place it and size it. Once you have the object in the right place, you can determine the layer on which you want to place it. Another nice feature with this landscaping software is that you can press undo and redo as many times as you’d like until you get your landscape to look exactly the way you want it.
This landscaping software allows you to create full 3D landscapes or design landscapes over your own photo. Version 2012 has more than 4,600 realistic-looking plants, along with detailed information about what climate they need to survive, how tall they grow and at what rate, and their common and botanical names. You can choose the age or height of the plants you insert into your landscape and see what they’ll look like as they mature. You can rename plants and place them in your favorites file, or you can establish a shortcut key for them so you don’t have to go through the plant menu every time you want to find them.
You can determine the amount of wildlife present and the amount of wind blowing as you conduct a walkthrough of the layout. Additionally, you can see what your landscape will look like when the sun is rising and setting, as well as how the shadows will fall. You can also see the scene at night. Version 2012 has improved shadows and lighting, including a new “ray tracing,” which is supposed to make the lighting at night more realistic. We had trouble, however, differentiating between when ray tracing was selected or not. Still, the lighting at night looks pretty true to life.
Version 2012 comes with brand name products from companies such as Jerith, Belgard, Philips Hadco, Amarr, Kichler, Eldorado and Unilock. The brand names make it easy to locate specific products when you’re ready to purchase materials. As you configure your landscape, you can keep track of your materials and estimates on the costs.
If you can’t find an image you want in Realtime Landscaping PLUS, you can find free objects in Google’s 3D Warehouse, which is just a few clicks away. With these free objects, you can further customize your landscape. Or, if you’d prefer, you can import a picture using the Import Photo Wizard. Another option you can choose is to have IDEA Spectrum create a model for you at an additional cost.
Anyone familiar with photo editing and illustration applications is familiar with the concept of layers. Most landscape software allows you to divide the design into nicely layered chunks, but this can often be a pain to set up. On the other hand, Realtime Landscaping PLUS makes it a snap to add, modify, and delete layers at will.
Realtime Landscaping PLUS 2012 has new deck and panel fence options. Add post caps, glass panels, railing, balusters, fascia, skirting and posts to your decks. Choose from picket, ornamental, privacy, chain link, wooden, or post and rail fences. You can create your own deck and fences, or you can use pre-designed materials. Once you insert a pre-designed item, you can make changes to it if you’d like.
One of the new features you can play with is the option to add retaining walls to your design. There are also additional styling options in this version: You can add flat, bullnose, rough-cut or seamless coping for your walls and patio borders. Should you find yourself wanting to design your house after the Romans, there is also a feature that allows you to create custom pillars, too.
Whether you have a large yard with multiple acres to landscape, or the smallest lot your city's zoning ordinances will allow, you need the ability to add rows of various plants easily, without tediously having to add one at a time. The Plant Fill and Plant Row tools allow you to add multiple plant varieties to an area. The Plant Row tool lets you add rows of trees along a driveway or property boundary, flowers along an edging, and more.
You can generate videos of the landscapes you create. With several clicks of your mouse, you can set up Realtime cameras along the route you want displayed in your video. Once you save the video, you can burn it onto a DVD, add it to Facebook or upload it to a website.
In the walkthrough mode, you can take photos of the landscape. Realtime Landscaping PLUS 2012 allows you to save the photos as they appear, with high or low contrast, or in an artistic style. You can unleash your inner Monet with an impressionistic rendering in the form of a watercolor, painting or colored pencil sketch.
IDEA Spectrum has many standard support and documentation options. You can phone or email the manufacturer for tech support, search their context-sensitive digital manual or work through tutorials that can teach you how to most effectively utilize the tools. Should you need it, there is also a 30-day money back guarantee.
Sometimes a software company will make a great product and stop there, afraid to try new things. It's clear that this isn’t the case with IDEA Spectrum’s Realtime Landscaping PLUS 2012. IDEA Spectrum continues to push forward, improving their product’s aesthetic appeal, increasing the number of objects it offers and simplifying processes. Whether you’re a pro landscaper or a novice looking to increase your home’s value through landscaping, you’ll find Realtime Landscaping PLUS 2012’s features useful and rewarding.
