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  • Haunt Layout Tool

    I’m a programmer/designer that has always had a love for the industry. I’ve built home haunts for years and have gone on to work for my local haunts.
    I have an idea for a haunt layout tool, but I want to see if there’s any interest in the community first.

    It’s a 3D layout tool that allows you to quickly drag and drop wall panels, doorways, windows, etc. to create your haunts’ layout. Once you’re happy with the layout you can fill it with props, lighting, sound, fog, etc.. All of this gives you a big advantage over designing the layout on paper since you can visualize what the haunt will actually look like in 3D. To expand on this you can even change your view to walk through the haunt to experience it from the perspective of a customer. When you’re all set with the layout you can export it as traditional building plans to reference during construction.

    There is a lot more to it but that is the core concept. I think it is a neat idea, but I want to get as much feedback as possible to decide if I should pursue it.
    Last edited by Skeleton; 10-24-2017, 09:28 PM.

  • #2
    Interesting

    If you want to get it use,d ten it has to be stupid easy, almost no learning curve, and have features specific to haunt design. Some ides:

    Many people build with wall panels of set size, built on a jig. Allow the user to set the standard wall panel size they wish to use (i.e. 4x8, 4x10).
    Allow user to select if they wish to use pre-set wall panel sizes, or "free form" and just build to measurements
    Allow a setting for wall thickness (some people use 2x4, some use 2x2, some rip 2x4 in half, which actually is slightly bigger than a 2x2) which takes into account stud and covering (1/4" paneling, 1/2", one-sided or two-sided)
    Provide layout guides and allow a user to select from triangle grid layout guides, standard layout guides, or a mixture of both
    Allow a user to designate spaces as public or private (good for calculation of actual square footage used)
    Allow a user to designate areas as covered or not covered (useful for outdoor haunts with no fire suppression who need to maintain a total covered area square footage of less than 1000 sqft)
    Allow addition of wiring layouts and outlet locations. Also could allow setting location of main breaker, outlets, and then an auto-wire function to layout wiring in most efficient path.
    Allow a user to export a list of building materials at the end (how many studs, plywood/paneling sheets, outlets, junction boxes, wire, etc.

    Just some ideas
    -Eric
    Chief Engineer/Co-Creative Director
    HUSH Haunted Attraction

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    • #3
      Originally posted by eanderso13 View Post
      If you want to get it use,d ten it has to be stupid easy, almost no learning curve, and have features specific to haunt design. Some ides:

      Many people build with wall panels of set size, built on a jig. Allow the user to set the standard wall panel size they wish to use (i.e. 4x8, 4x10).
      Allow user to select if they wish to use pre-set wall panel sizes, or "free form" and just build to measurements
      Allow a setting for wall thickness (some people use 2x4, some use 2x2, some rip 2x4 in half, which actually is slightly bigger than a 2x2) which takes into account stud and covering (1/4" paneling, 1/2", one-sided or two-sided)
      Provide layout guides and allow a user to select from triangle grid layout guides, standard layout guides, or a mixture of both
      Allow a user to designate spaces as public or private (good for calculation of actual square footage used)
      Allow a user to designate areas as covered or not covered (useful for outdoor haunts with no fire suppression who need to maintain a total covered area square footage of less than 1000 sqft)
      Allow addition of wiring layouts and outlet locations. Also could allow setting location of main breaker, outlets, and then an auto-wire function to layout wiring in most efficient path.
      Allow a user to export a list of building materials at the end (how many studs, plywood/paneling sheets, outlets, junction boxes, wire, etc.

      Just some ideas
      Thanks for the feedback! You touched on a lot of the ideas I left out. There would definitely be a strong focus on making it "stupid easy". Exporting a list of building materials, wiring, layouts, and designating areas are awesome ideas.
      I'm curious what price range you would expect a tool like this to be in (including all of the above and more)?

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