glennw

The problem is that Chief is bending down the lower section (before it meets the landing) of the upper stair rail to make it meet (the height) the lower stair railing. You can see this bending easily if you do an elevation of the upper stair rail, although, it is visible in the 3D views. The only way I can clean up the junction and get rid of the auto rail bending is to increase the height of the lower stair rail. In this pic, I made the lower stair rail 37 1/4" high, which is the minimum difference (upper rail is 36") that I could get the junction to auto heal. You would still need to place a newel at the junction. Keep in mind that even if both rails were the same height above the stairs, they would still join like the attached pic, and there would still have to be a newel. The top rails would not meet at the same height because of the number of risers at the inside corner.

Place a window in a wall. Configure the window with lites, etc, to match what you want. Use the delete surfaces tool to delete the wall. In a 3D view use Convert to Symbol. Rotate and place in a ceiling hole.

Joe, That all looks great and obviously you have invested a lot of time and effort on this. BUT, just do me one favour though before you finalise it all and package it up. Could you please explain the meaning of HABITAL. I am guessing you don't mean HABITUAL. I am being a smart arse - I think you mean HABITABLE. Or is HABITAL some sort of new American word that hasn't reached our shores yet?

Thanks for the kind words guys, that is everyone except Michael who just wants to punch me out!

Brian, Try this nifty command, I think it is exactly what you are looking for. In plan view, 3D...Remove 3D. It will delete any unsaved cameras and close (but not delete) any saved cameras.

If that were the case, you should get a warning.

As Michael says, post the plan. Also, VERY bad practice to have a stair starting at the door. The door would have to be higher than normal to get headroom. Also dangerous and awkward without a landing.

The terrain modifiers are just that - you really don't have a lot of control - I don't think I have ever used them. The terrain features are the ones to use if you want control.

Perry, I just reread this post of yours. Can you really make a blank segment AND add dimension text to the blank segment. Ahh, I reread your post again. I think you are saying that you can make a blank segment and then add the dimension text by using the text tool - not the Dimension Line Specification dbx?

Perry (or anyone else), When you specify a Blank Segment, does the dimension line still display, or do you loose the dimension text AND the dimension line? In the attached pic, I loose the dimension text AND the dimension line - I'm not sure that we are meant to loose the dim line? And another thing while we are at it. In the help file, the Dimension Line Specification dbx is a small box with no wasted space. Compare it to my dbx, which has a lot of wasted space. I can't resize any smaller to get rid of the wasted space. Why is it so?

You are using the wrong tool. You need to be using a Terrain Feature for which you can specify a height.

Perry, I am pretty sure that if you open a plan or layout from an older version and save it in a newer version, Chief will automatically save an archived copy in the older version format.

Michael, i's particularly good for times when you need to enter something like a surveyors information that comes to you in a different format than your defaults.... Or in a case like this!! It doesn't affect the plan at all as it only applies to the dbx's.

Yes, you can do that. Open the wall dbx. Down in the bottom left hand corner, click Number Style. In the Angle Style section, check Pitch, OK. Back in the Wall Specification dbx you can enter the wall angle as rise/run.

Keep in mind that archive files are only created each time you save a plan - archives are not created if you don't save. I use Previous save.

I won't do it for you, but I can give you a tip on how to do it. Make sure your stair is correct. Toggle on View..."Arc Centres and Ends". In the wall dbx, make sure General...Curved Wall...Lock, is checked (it already should be). Snap the wall centre onto the stair centre and then drag the wall to suit.

Matty, You can place a Sun Arrow in your template plan with the time and date. I have complained about this in the past as I would normally use winter solstice rather than the current date.

Mike, Open the Roof Plane Specification dbx...Options panel...Roof Layers...uncheck "Has Ceiling".

You have been able to do that from many versions ago.

Larry, I don't know, but have you tried unchecking "Export Filled Areas"?

It's not a setting problem. If the Terrain hole extends over the perimeter of the Terrain, it will break the perimeter and the terrain edges around the Terrain Hole will have a skirt. If the Terrain Hole is completely inside the Terrain perimeter, you won't see a skirt. I'll bet with your first image the Terrain Hole is contained by the Terrain perimeter. Likewise, I bet with your second image the Terrain Hole crosses the Terrain perimeter.

Have you checked Cross Hairs...Synchronize With Cursor?

File...Print...Drawing Sheet Setup...Drawing Margins...Right and Bottom should be zero.

Thanks for the clarification Michael.

Are you trying to block 2 text items together or make a block from 1 text item? I think you may be trying to make a block from a single text item. If so, select the text item, shift select it again, on the Edit toolbar there will be a Make Cad Block icon. Click that and now it is a block that you can add to the library.