Doug_N

what Steve said!

DB's suggestion is a good one, but you could also do it as a solid and apply materials to it. Create several layers of the solid (one for each material required) and then apply the materials. You can then change that to an architectural block and orient it as required in your model. The advantage to DB's solution is that all of the layers are handled by the DBX along with materials. Converting it to a symbol keeps the different materials, so those can be edited as required after the fact.

How would one go about doing construction documents for such a complex dormer? I have done conceptual drawing for the client, but my brain has frozen on how to actually build this. The house has standard framed construction with stone veneer. I am thinking that the dormers be done in stucco. Any thoughts?

Hi Scott, you don't often post, but when you do it is worth reading (or watching).

Rene and Alan are probably away ahead of me, but that kind of looks like glare, and that the external lighting (daylight) is set way too high. Try reducing the sun intensity for a start as Alan is indicating in his render settings.

This was a mock up that I did for a really giant deck project. The house was for rendering purposes only, and it was modelled from the customer's photos as seen here. You are welcome to the model, and whatever you can get from it. Test Log Cabin.plan

This is going to take a little work but the beginnings of the design can be done be setting two of the default project settings, one for roof overhang, and the second is to make the roof ignore the upper storey. Where the dormer windows are make holes in the roof plane. This will require a fair bit of tinkering with the model, built I have done a few that are similar. Post your work to date and I am sure that there are some of us that will take a crack at getting a roof and dormer working so that you can see how to arrange your workflow.

Eric, You make a very good point. Why even have a Facebook page for users, when the very best forum for users is right here! I followed the FB page for a while but found it frustrating and mostly trivial. I have work to do, and so no reason to follow two groups for the same purpose.

This is where CA could really do some amazing work if they allowed users to control a flat area that would include a slope, such as a roof or ceiling plane. This would be a wonderful improvement to CA's terrain features in my opinion.

Is there a way to adjust the line thickness in a rich text table?

Here is a film I created by adjusting the materials in a 3d solid to make it transparent, then applying a graphic. You could likely use that solid as the window glass so that it would automatically be applied to the window, but then the dots would stretch according to the window size which is not way you are looking for I would guess. Window Film.plan

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/1056/import-a-surveyor-dwg-file-for-a-site-plan-or-terrain-perimeter.html?playlist=101

There are some very useful videos in the training section of CA website https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/250/adding-terrain-elevation-data.html?playlist=101

I just read that portion of the ABC and I was amazed at the differences. Seeing as they both are based on the NBC I would have thought they would be more aligned.

The fusible link is on the outside of the exterior wall. If the link melts, the shutter closes. There are two cases for the shutter working as designed. 1) There is a fire in the neighboring house. The radiation from that fire is sufficient to trip the shutter, and it closes. The heat that is required for that would prevent a person from exiting from that window anyhow. so the occupant is protected and should find another exit from the building. 2) There is a fire inside the building, and the radiation from the fire is such that the heat over the exterior of the window is great enough to melt the link and the shutter closes. There is already enough heat in the room adjacent to the shutter that the occupant of the room if still in there is already dead. The shutter closes, and protects the adjacent building and the wall above the window for the duration of the fire rating time. Your assertion about the building code is right, The code speaks of protecting buildings next to the subject building. Ontario Building Code - Volume 1, O. Reg. 332/12, Article 9.10.13.1. of Division B 9.10.13.1. Closures (1) Except as provided in Article 9.10.13.2. , openings in required fire separations shall be protected with a closure conforming to Table 9.10.13.1. and shall be installed in conformance with NFPA 80, “Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives”, unless otherwise specified in this Part. Table 9.10.13.1. Fire-Protection Ratings for Closures Forming Part of Sentence 9.10.13.1.(1) Item Column 1 Required Fire-Resistance Rating of Fire Separation Column 2 Required Fire-Protection Rating of Closure 1. 30 or 45 min 20 min (1) 2. 1 h 45 min (1) 3. 1.5 h 1 h 4. 2 h 1.5 h 5. 3 h 2 h 6. 4 h 3 h For Part 3 Buildings: The limiting distance calculations are used to protect adjacent buildings. The Ontario Building Code - Volume 1, O. Reg. 332/12, Section 3.1.10.6. states that the requirements of Article 3.2.3.14. shall apply to the external walls of two buildings that meet at a firewall at an angle less than 135°. The limiting distance is the distance from the building face to the property line or to an adjacent building face. The area of unprotected openings in an exposing building face for the applicable limiting distance shall be not more than the value determined in accordance with Table 3.2.3.1.B., Table 3.2.3.1.C., Table 3.2.3.1.D. or Table 3.2.3.1.E. for an exposing building face conforming to Article 3.2.3.2. of a building or fire compartment that is not sprinklered. For Part 9 Buildings: Ontario Building Code - Volume 1, O. Reg. 332/12, Article 9.10.15.4. of Division B 9.10.15.4. Glazed Openings in Exposing Building FaceA-9.10.15.4.(2) Staggered or Skewed Exposing Building Faces of Houses. (1) Except as provided in Sentences (3) to (5), the maximum area of glazed openings in an exposing building face shall, (a) conform to Table 9.10.15.4. , (b) conform to Subsection 3.2.3 . as if the glazed openings were unprotected openings , or (c) where the limiting distance is not less than 1.2 m , be equal to or less than the limiting distance squared. Table 9.10.15.4. Maximum Area of Glazed Openings in Exterior Walls of Houses Forming Part of Sentences 9.10.15.4.(1) and (2) Item Column 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Maximum Total Area of Exposing Building Face , m² Maximum Aggregate Area of Glazed Openings, % of Exposing Building Face Area Limiting Distance , m Less than 1.2 1.2 1.5 2 2.5 3 4 6 8 10 12 16 20 25 1. 10 0 8 12 21 33 55 96 100 — — — — — — 2. 15 0 8 10 17 25 37 67 100 — — — — — — 3. 20 0 8 10 15 21 30 53 100 — — — — — — 4. 25 0 8 9 13 19 26 45 100 — — — — — — 5. 30 0 7 9 12 17 23 39 88 100 — — — — — 6. 40 0 7 8 11 15 20 32 69 100 — — — — — 7. 50 0 7 8 10 14 18 28 57 100 — — — — — 8. 100 0 7 8 9 11 13 18 34 56 84 100 — — — 9. Over 100 0 7 7 8 9 10 12 19 28 40 55 92 100 — (2) Where the limits on the area of glazed openings are determined for individual portions of the exterior wall, as described in Subclause 9.10.15.2.(1)(b)(iii) , the maximum aggregate area of glazed openings for any portion shall not exceed the values in the row of Table 9.10.15.4. for the total area of the entire exposing building face based on the limiting distance of the individual portion. (3) The limits on the area of glazed openings shall not apply to the exposing building face of a house facing a detached garage or accessory building , where, (a) the detached garage or accessory building serves the house or an individual dwelling unit in the house , (b) the detached garage or accessory building is located on the same property as the house , and (c) the house is the only major occupancy on the property. (4) Except as provided in Sentence (5), openings in a wall having a limiting distance of less than 1.2 m shall be protected by closures , of other than wired glass or glass block, whose fire-protection rating is in conformance with the fire-resistance rating required for the wall. (5) An opening in an exposing building face not more than 130 cm 2 shall not be considered an unprotected opening .

Thanks for the symbol. It is pretty good; I can add the tracks to this as well to get the type appearance of a fire shutter.

Just wondering if anyone has modelled an external fire shutter. When a wall is closer to the lot line than 4' a fire shutter is required. I made a very crude one, but it would be great if someone had modelled one that is better than my really bad model. For example it would be illustrative to be able to have the shutter in an open position (like my model) or in a closed or partially closed positing. There is a rollup door in the catalogue but that model is either open, or closed all the way, and it is an internal shutter. Not what I am looking for at all.

Here is a garage with the room specified as a garage and a generated slab foundation, Here is the same garage with stem walls and frost footings. And here is the same building with an unspecified room definition, and a floor finish specified as concrete. Is that what you are seeing?

Maybe I don't understand the requirement here.

A curved passthrough with casing, sill and frame removed.

Animated trees, water and grass can be done with CA models in Twin Motion.

Joe, Have you considered doing a class on the use of Ruby in CA? I bet lots of us would sign up for it.

Joe makes a good observation in his comment about variable types. You can't divide an integer or floating value by a length or by an area. But you can divide a length or area by any of the following: an area, a length, an integer or a floating point variable.

The code for rounding numbers in a simple way is %variable. round(2)% where the variable is rounded to 2 decimal places. This works for all variables types it seems.

Ah, I see the problem, you are dividing one area by another. Mind you, this is for X-15, the best release of CA ever!!!