The BETA for Home Builder 3 is available!
When Blender 3 was released I started working on rewriting Home Builder to utilize all of the new features in Blender including the Asset Browser.
Here is a video that explains what to expect with this release.
How to Install Home Builder 3
Home Builder is now a standard add-on to Blender, so you can install it just like any other add-on.
- Download the latest version of Blender.
- Download the Home Builder Add-on. If you are using Blender 4 download Home Builder 4.
- In Blender to to Edit > Preferences.
- In the Add-on Tab click Install in the top right corner.
- Browse to the home_builder3.zip file you downloaded and click Install Add-on.
- Check the box next to the Home Builder Add-on to enable it.
- I push updates using the add-on auto updater. The Install might be an older version, so click the check for updates button to make sure you are on the latest version.
New Features
- Home Builder Works as a Standard Add-on to Blender
- Complete Rewrite of Entire Add-on
- Better Organization of Library
- Build Library
- Current Room Interface
- Ability to Install External Libraries
Home Builder Works as a Standard Add-on to Blender – Since Blender 3 has implemented an asset browser there is no need to use the custom build of Blender called PyClone. Now you can simply install Home Builder as a standard Add-on to Blender.
Complete Rewrite of Entire Add-on – The entire add-on was rewritten for Blender 3. There are too many improvements to list them all. There are many bug fixes, better layout of the UI, and improved user experience.
Better Organization of the Library – Now that Blender has a built-in Asset Browser all of the assets are displayed in the 3D Viewport Sidebar. The library categories have been simplified to make assets easier to find.
Build Library – The Build Library allows you to snap together components. Parts and inserts automatically snap into openings giving you the ability to add shelves, doors, drawers, and other parts to create your product. All components added have their own properties that can be adjusted to achieve a variety of different results. After designing you can save your custom products to the library for use in future projects.
The best part is the custom products remain parametric allowing you to change material finishes, door styles, hardware, and many other options.
Current Room Interface – The current room interface allows you to see a list of all of the walls in your design. You can hide walls giving you an easier way to design in small spaces. You can also click the View button to quickly view an elevation view of the selected wall.
Ability to Install External Libraries – You can now create and manage your own external libraries. This allows you to create your own libraries that you can share, sell, or purchase from other users.
What Needs to be Finished Before the Official Release
There are a few tasks that need to be completed before the official release
Tutorials and Documentation – Having a complete set of documentation and a list of tutorials is essential for an official release. This not only includes documentation on how to design with Home Builder, but also how to extend and customize the library.
I have some of the documentation finished. You can view the online documentation here.
2D Layout Views – This includes being able to create 2D Plan and Elevation Drawings for your design. I have made some good progress on this, but there is still more work that needs to be done to make this a simple 1 click solution.
Migrate Extended Asset Library – Since the library structure has been update the extended asset library needs to be migrated to work with the new version. The extended asset library is a way that I fund this project. It is very important to me to reward everyone who supported this project early on, so I will be releasing a new version of the library on the Blender Market. Everyone who purchased the extended asset library on my site will automatically get access.
Implement Geometry Nodes – Geometry nodes is a new feature that was added to Blender 3, and can be very useful to Home Builder. The main way this will improve Home Builder is by optimizing the draw time of the assets.
Manufacturing Backend – This is an area I have spent a lot of time on. I know a lot of Blender users won’t find this feature very exciting, but knowing that the designs you create in Home Builder can be manufactured in the real world makes the designs you create much more valuable.
I am currently testing this with one company and we have been getting great results. They are able to send all of the machining information directly to their shop. It cuts all of the parts, creates hardware takeoff reports, and pricing information. This is specific to their machines, manufacturing process, and pricing structure.
This is a service that I will be able to provide to other manufactures in the future.
Thanks for your Patience!
I haven’t been releasing much information as I worked on the migration, but now that I have most of that work finished I will be releasing videos and software updates on a regular basis.
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