'Trial Systems Landscape Express' anyone know / use it?

Hi All,I have been searching for a suitable computer package / system for Garden design. I have been designing by hand for over 10 years but I am finally ready to ditch the drawing board :(I have been looking into a company called 'Trial Systems' with the 'Landscape Express' package. I have not met the rep for this system yet (due to meet Monday) so don't know the exact details of cost but I have think I need to pay £2.5k to £3.5k. Some designers on here seem to be very enthusiastic about Google sketch up in conjunction with some other photoshop type packages. I did use sketch up recently for some elevations for a hand drawn plan and found it very easy to use and there seems to be a lot of free tutorials on YouTube. I just don't know how practical it is for doing scaled plans I typically use 1:100 or 1:200 and would need to be able to print out at this scale so that my contractors could use it on site. I understand that I would not be able to use sketch up or similar to measure areas fr pricing or create planting plans etc but I could live with this for now or maybe there is a planting plan package I could use in conjunction with it?I expect using computer aided design will reduce time spent on each garden design and speed up the process of making alterations, costing materials, planting plans etc.I need to be confident that using the computer will increase efficency enough so that I dont have to up my plan fees to customers to cover the cost of this software.Any thoughts and advice would be GREATLY appreciated!Many ThanksRyan

Replies

Kieran Ray December 14, 2013 at 2:07pm

RE scale printing in sketchup it can be done to any scale you like. I often prrint at 1:50 straight onto A3 paper. I can't think how to explain it atm and I won't be at my pc for a few hours yet, but have a look on google, that should come up with the answer.
Ryan Mc Gee December 14, 2013 at 2:38pm

That's great Kieran, thanks. Do you solely use sketch up for your plans. Anyone else do this?
PRO

Noel Dempsey December 14, 2013 at 3:07pm

I purchased the Trial Systems package almost a year ago after having spent 25 years hand drawing.

It was expensive but it did include 3 days one to one tutorial and phone support anytime free of charge. I'm not a techie but I find it very easy to use and I'm only using a fraction of it's potential.
Ryan Mc Gee December 14, 2013 at 5:49pm

Hi Noel,

Thank you, that's great to know. Did you find the increase in efficiency offset the cost of the package or would you expect that I would need to increase fees?

Is 2.5k a realistic budget for this?

Thanks

Ryan
Ryan Mc Gee December 14, 2013 at 5:54pm

Noel Dempsey said:
I purchased the Trial Systems package almost a year ago after having spent 25 years hand drawing.

It was expensive but it did include 3 days one to one tutorial and phone support anytime free of charge. I'm not a techie but I find it very easy to use and I'm only using a fraction of it's potential.
Kieran Ray December 14, 2013 at 5:57pm

I either use sketchup or hand drawn.

Ryan Mc Gee said:

That's great Kieran, thanks. Do you solely use sketch up for your plans. Anyone else do this?
Ryan Mc Gee December 14, 2013 at 6:05pm

That's good to know Kieran, maybe I am crazy considering spending 2-3k on a software package if sketch up is free and you manage to work with it alone. Will you continue using it long term or would you consider investing in a CAD type package?
Kieran Ray December 14, 2013 at 6:11pm

If I was to develop the design side of the business more I may move to a true CAD software but I find it sufficient for most stuff but mainly hard landscaping and master plan/3D models.

Ryan Mc Gee said:

That's good to know Kieran, maybe I am crazy considering spending 2-3k on a software package if sketch up is free and you manage to work with it alone. Will you continue using it long term or would you consider investing in a CAD type package?
David Beasley Garden Design December 15, 2013 at 6:17pm

SketchUp, Fotosketcher, Realtime Landscape Pro and Photoshop.

Doing it 3D helps me to design and shows the contractor/client exactly what the finished project will look like.

The finished images also look great in a portfolio/on-line!
PRO

Noel Dempsey December 16, 2013 at 10:10am

Ryan,

I don't expect to recoup the outlay from increased efficiency at all.

However, if the presentation means the difference between getting a job or not it could pay for itself very quick. In addition, it might help to get a better price for the job. Being able to present in 3D, which I can't yet, would be a massive advantage.

Whether Trial Systems is worth the money I don't know as I've never used any other software but I like the pen.