Hi Cy, I also use 3D for architectural viz. I'm pretty much with all the above comments on Vue vs. C5Pro. I also have used Turbocad up to v.11 Pro and actually TCAD (v.7) is where I built my first 3D model! Nowdays I use ACAD almost exclusively for 2D and a little 3D work, but not necessarily because I want to just because that company has a stranglehold on the industry. I had to give up on TCAD v11 Pro because of the bugs in the layers and styles dialogue boxes for now. Maybe v12 will have sorted that out. I don't know about Chief Architect, but I have found that with almost any 3D software a spline has to be exported/imported in order to build off floor plans. Illustrator is a good app for exporting vectors ( to become splines in 3D) that are accurate enough to be used as the basis for architectural viz in 3D. The method I use for building 3D from plans is just to make a 3D mass model with only a little detail in the CAD app and then export it as .3ds. The more detailed modeling begins in the 3D app as I bet you know. This works OK for Autocad and especially well for Turbocad. Now my only problem is getting accurate placing relationships and 'snap-to's' in Carrara 5Pro without resorting to very time consuming workarounds. For now, I've had to return to Cinema 4D for really accurate scene building, but C5Pro is really a lot of fun to use, so I keep hoping they will get rid of the limitations that seem to be inherent in the rooms and construction box scheme. C5 Pro is really powerful except for that. Vue may have an edge on it in creating water and atmospheres EASILY but not much. Like the others have said, use Xfrog for trees etc. I've also tried Onyx Tree Pro and it makes excellent trees for arch viz which are highly configurable from low to extreme high poly realism. Good luck, wb