glennw

Larry, How about this for a different angle to the problem. Forget about polysolids and build them all automatically! I just had a play and it seems to work. Wouldn't it be nice to have a bottom and top plate if you want (for fixing the verticals to), the tops of individual pieces splayed to match the roof pitch, shaped to roof or shape it how you want, etc, etc. Basically it uses a wall with one layer - the framing layer and no finish layers. I guess you can work the details out from there. There are heaps of options to get things the shapes and sizes that you want. Set up the framing defaults to suit what you want. Build the framing for that wall and then define it as Retain Wall Framing. You can then change the framing defaults to build other framing as needed. You can even place openings in the woodwork by using a temporary window, build framing, and then delete the window. You can edit the framing in plan, 3D or the Wall Detail. This is one I drew up in a couple of minutes just to see how it would go.

Larry, I am pretty sure that you can do this with a 3D moulding. I remember a while back I needed to do something like that and used a 3D moulding built up with solid shapes spaced with shapes with No Material for the spaces. If that works, you would still have the problem that they won't trim to the roof.

Larry, If you zoom in close, you can grab them by the centre top grip and drag up and snap them to the temp line. But, it means one at a time!

Scott, Yes, I believe that you are correct. I was working in a coloured cross section and didn't send to layout. It is all coming back to me now!

Scott, I am not seeing that with the doors. What sort of door and what sort of material? I can't remember what I had for breakfast, so I have no hope of remembering that!

Scott, I just posted at the same time. Not sure what you mean by adding a pattern to the glass material. I was indicating that all you need to do is add a color on the General panel...Colors...Material. And then give it a Material Type of Area - no pattern required. Although that is what you probably meant.

Joey, Doesn't changing the glass material to say a dark grey or black color do that? And yes, the problem is the shadow in vector view - it's on the top of my favourite request list.

Richard, Thanks for that tip. I was loosing interest in videos because I was always getting messages that I had reached my limit through Screencast. I will definitely try that option next time.

The key setting to get this working is Staircase dbx...Style panel...Options...Allow Wrap. I believe it is toggled on OOB. Or you can also do it by using invisible walls and the Winders option, but the above method is easier. Curt, not counting sheep. I went for an early surf - counting waves.

I think it can be done with internal stairs, something like this - no landings, just stairs. I haven't got time to run you through it now - I'm off to bed.

Joe, That information is readily available for every roof plane. Have a look at the Polyline panel of the roof dbx. There are also Object Specific macros available for each property, that you can use in the roof label. Joe has made a good job of gathering up the information and presenting it in a table. • Perimeter - This is the length of the roof plane’s perimeter, including fascia and shadow boards, with its pitch taken into account. It does not equal the perimeter as measured in floor plan view unless the pitch is 0. • Framing Area - This is the area of the roof plane’s framing, not including the fascia or shadow boards, with the pitch taken into account. It is slightly smaller than the Roof Surface Area as roofing typically overhangs the framing by a small amount. • Projected Area - This is the area of the roof plane polyline, including fascia and shadow boards, as seen in floor plan view. It does not equal the Roof Surface Area unless the pitch is 0. • Roof Surface Area - This is the area of the roof plane’s top surface, which covers the fascia and shadow boards, with the pitch taken into account. • Overhang Area - This is the area of the roof plane’s overhang, including fascia and shadow boards, with its pitch taken into account. • Projected Overhang Area - This is the area of the roof plane’s overhang, including fascia and shadow boards, as seen in floor plan view.

Ah, then it sounds like you could use the Merge function in the Plan Materials dbx. This will apply the new material and delete all the replaced materials from the plan materials in one go - no going near the library.

MickeyToo, Yes, not only does it change the materials for the existing roofs, say, but also the default material for future roofs.

Or...if you don't want to use the Material Painter and the associated problems it may cause, Chief has a tool to do this. Go 3D...Materials...Plan Materials. Select the material you want to replace and click the ....(drum roll.....) Replace button. Select a material from the library and it will replace the old material with the new material on every object in the plan that uses the old material.

I'll have one guess without a plan. Is your Open Below room for the stair connected to the main structure with a room divider wall (or any wall)? In your General Wall defaults is Connect Island Rooms unchecked?

Basil, To draw a continuous line, wall, whatever, start the tool, right click and drag for the first section, release for end of first section, right click for end of second section....and so on. Or...Edit...Edit Behaviors... Alternate. You can now use the left mouse button to click and drag continuous lines. Or...hold the Alt key while clicking with the left mouse button. As for the driveway. I don't think that you can create a circular driveway by drawing it back onto itself. ie, you can't connect the end back onto the driveway you are drawing. You have to draw the outline polyline of the overall shape with cad, convert it to a road or sidewalk and then create a hole in the middle by using the Create Hole tool which you will find on the Edit toolbar when you select the road. I think you need to be drawing on top of an already created terrain or you can't draw terrain features. Just to show you that it can be done:

I believe David is correct. When you change back to plan view your Annotation Set is probably changing as well. Have a look at the drop down Active Annotation Set Control box. You will probably notice the Annotation Set change as you switch views.

I believe it is because you are getting the new cabinet from the library and the default settings do not apply in that case. Defaults only apply to cabinets placed directly with the cabinet tools.

When I open the .pdf and click around in the document, I get blue shaded boxes, all the same size. If I then right click in a blue box, I get an option to Copy Image, which I can do and then paste the highlighted part of the pdf into Paint or similar. Seems a bit strange.

Ste, I checked X6 and it is the same as X7. So I checked the X6 help file and under the What's new In X6 section, I found this: That is what I was thinking of.

Scott, Yeah, there is probably no need to report the stairwell in the ceiling height, After all, there is no ceiling there.

Steve, No, sorry, I didn't print. I was relying on the print preview. No color here when I print to .pdf. I am pretty sure that you could do this in the past. I was sure there was an option somewhere that said Always Print Images in Color, or some such thing. Maybe it am thinking of the Display in Color When Possible setting.

Scott, Yes, I just tested it and it's returning the stair opening height as well. Are you having any problems with formatting as the macro is returning 245 mm when it should be 2450 mm. Looks like a bug - the usual metric thing.

Ray, For wall height, you can use the global Room Ceiling Height which gives you the Rough Ceiling height which is the wall height - measure from top of Floor Structure to underside of Rough Ceiling. Both Room Ceiling Height and Room Ceiling Finished Height return N/A when there is no Ceiling Over This Room. Scott, Could the macro be reporting the height to the floor above in the stairwell which I assume is Open Below? Is your floor 13" thick? I can't see a dining room in your pic.

I think I can get what you want with the following settings in Layout. This is with a .jpg imported into the Layout. Preferences...Display...Display in Color when Possible - checked and Grayscale checked. View...Color toggled off. I don't think makes any difference to the printing, just the on screen print preview) Print Layout dbx...Options...Print in Color unchecked. I assume you want to print like the second image.