Rich_Winsor

No symbols Mick. At this point they are just 3D molding polylines. No finicky stretch planes. No library bloat. Just shoot a Cross Section Elevation and use the cad tools to draw the path of the downspout. Convert the polyline to a 3D molding polyline and apply the trick molding profile. Use transform/replicate to fine tune the position. If something changes like the eave height or overhang just click on the 3D polyline and drag the appropriate handle. For drastic changes just convert it back to a plain polyline and edit/redraw the path and then convert it back to the 3D molding polyline. If you have a style you use a lot you could make it a symbol but the symbol isn't as adjustable as the 3D polyline molding. I found it was just as fast to draw the path I wanted as it was to work with a symbol. If you want to get the water farther away from the structure just grab the end of the downspout and pull it out.

If I'm not careful I'm gonna get a handle on this. With Glenn's help I've now got a fairly painless way to create hollow (looking) downspouts. Is it just me? I find little touches like this add a lot of realism and believability to a scene. Oh, and don't worry Larry. I bumped up your suggestion and with the clout I carry around here there should be an immediate response.

Glenn, Off the top of your head works for me. Actually I didn't understand how to implement your 1st suggestion, but your second suggestion could be a promising work around. Here is a proof of concept 1st attempt. For some reason the seam is off by 90°. I'm not sure why that happened or just how to fix it right now but it has the right "look".

Define easily. Maybe I should have been more "pacific". I was talking in the context of downpipes. Can we make them hollow? I haven't figured out a way to. I can create the 3D molding polyline and assign a molding profile to it (see attached) but I can't make it hollow like a pipe. I can create straight pieces of pipe by solid subtraction but I can't make them bend. Is there a way to make a molding profile that will produce a hollow structure when applied to the 3D molding polyline?

Well..... Here is one approach. This takes the roof plane you started in post #3 and goes about as far as you can with a roof plane with a pitch of 2 in 12 and maintaining your fascia height.

It would be nice if Chief would augment their 3D modeling capabilities to include drawing 3D lines and being able to extrude shapes along those paths. In SolidWorks for example you simply draw a 3D line along the path you want. Then you create a sketch plane at the end of the 3D line perpendicular to the line. In this sketch plane you can create whatever cross section that you want the feature to have. Once you have your sketch you extrude it over the length of your 3D line and voila, you have your 3D feature.

Not sure about everything you are asking for but as far as the siding showing on the wrong side of the wall all you have to do is use the "Reverse Layers" tool and it will put the siding back on the outside and the sheetrock back on the inside.

Don't know what happened but the link worked this time. Thanks Joey.

Link didn't work for me?

That's the one I was talking about. I thought I had saved it but my User Catalog is such a hopeless mess I couldn't locate it. I saved it again and now I have 2 identical symbols called Gutter Downspout so I guess I found the original one. I couldn't use it at the time because I needed the rectangular cross section and I couldn't figure out how to put a 90° bend in the bottom.

Don't get me started on this issue again. I think this is one of the most neglected aspects of the software. Efficiently removing water from the roof planes and away from the structure should be of primary importance to any good design and the placement of these features also play a significant role in the aesthetics of the building façade. I have always wondered why this area is almost completely ignored. I haven't checked recently but when I was looking into this a couple of years ago I couldn't find a single example on the CA website that featured downspouts in the renderings. Now that I have gotten that off of my chest, the answer is that no, there are no automatic features and there is darned little available other than in the the library Mick listed. I think (Glenn?) may have posted an example also. You can cobble the parts together manually but the process is laborious. Here is an example I did back in my HD days using the library items Mick referenced.

Yusuf, you better return the Mona Lisa before they realize it is gone.

Why does the simple act of changing from Standard to Vector view change the color of my roof planes? Edit: Sorry, brain fart here. It's been a while since I worked on this plan. Forgot that I had fooled around with different shingle colors using the adjust materials definition tool.

Oh ye of little faith. Where there's a will there's a way.

Thanks fellas, I don't care what everybody says about you, you guys rock. It's so much easier to play the dumb a$$ and ask for help than to do the research to find the answers.

What keeps the water from falling out of the lake?

I know that Einstein proved we can bend light but I sure can't. Any ideas, suggestions, approaches to achieving these kinds of effects? BTW, I have the dove covered. that was the easy part.

This was in this month's CA newsletter.

Here's my take on this. Is not an "as built" set of drawings as defined in the AIA standard exactly the same as a set of "measured" (exitsting) drawings? Since in most cases owners don't supply us with "as built" drawings of their houses (drawings of exactly how the house was built or last remodeled) we often have to go and measure the structure and prepare such drawings as a starting place. We are making "measured" (existing) drawings in lieu of having a set of "as built" drawings to work from. But would not both sets of plans be the same?

Well then, it's only a matter of scale.

Hi Ann, take a look at this plan. It was easier to draw a new building than to rework yours. In this plan both roofs have a 1 in 12 pitch. If that doesn't work for you just select the roof planes and change the pitch in the Roof Plane Specification DBX. The reason your back wall is misbehaving is because your roof planes don't extend far enough to reach outside of the walls. Hope this will get you on the right track. garage1a-rev.plan

Can't speak to X5 options but here is what is available in X7.

Here's my quick take based on your PDF file. Is this what you are looking for?

Interesting, I guess my CPU is having a good day. I reran the ray trace using all the textures this time and it beat the previous (no Textures) version by a second.

I don't know of a single person who has updated to a SSD who would ever think of going back to "spinning disc" drives. Get the biggest SSD you can afford and you won't regret it.