javatom

You could create a new wall type that has a different looking fill pattern as determined in the wall definition.

Create 2 plan files. One as is the other one with the grading changes. Both versions can be fed into one layout.

There is a quick fix. If there are a lot of dark materials and you do not want to add lights you can go to the 3d defaults and increase the ambient setting. It will look a little brighter on your monitor but a LOT brighter on a print. I think the color will stay accurate. It sounds like a luminance problem.

There is a dome in the library under "shapes".

Classic example of the software allowing something bad to occur. What would hold the weight of the bricks? Full size bricks need a brick ledge to bear upon. If you are using faux brick, you should change the thickness of the brick layer for accuracy.

x8 has a new feature of sending views to layout as "live-always update". This feature will slow everything down. Start with that.

absolute height is the only one that does not ever move. Individual parts of an overall blocked item probably have to be designated before you block them. It might be an interesting experiment if you mixed different height determiners in a group blocking. Which type rules?

The drop of the soffit is tied to the size of the sub-fascia, not just the pitch. Glenns method is a practical solution.

If the city is concerned with EXTERIOR wall surface, how is a dropped soffit cheating?

many ways to do this. One option - pull the roof planes back to flush with the wall then frame the roof. Turn off auto framing and pull the roof planes back out.

You may have inadvertently placed two windows in the same place. Save the plan under a different name and start deleting windows until you find the culprit.

Scott, I may have figured out how you can do your retaining wall with a glass rail on top. The picture is a narrow ramp with the base set at 60" thick. Open the dbx and turn off handrails. Then place a panel rail above the ramp and set it to "follow stairs". I'm showing one that is level (no slope) and another one that slopes and is curved. Set all the materials of the ramp to your desired retaining wall. It is concrete in my example. One last thing - there is a bug. If you change the slope of the ramp, the slope of the panel does not automatically update. You have to click on the panel, open DBX then close it again and it will update. I also show a couple of other things we talked about. The closet that does not go to ceiling was done by making the telling it to have no ceiling, make attic walls of closet invisible, place p-solid cap. The solid rails at the opening to the floor below was done with rail walls set to solid. If I remember right, you had done it with a normal wall and changed it to a rail wall. It's just a couple of steps faster.

Yes, you can stack windows on top of each other. They can also be designated level 1 or 2. It may bee easier to place it in elevation mode so you can see which window you have grabbed.

Because if there is currently no second floor, things could move when he adds the floor.

You can place a ceiling plane manually. Then drag the wall tops down to that point.

That's a nice looking pediment.

I guess there's the solution if he is comfortable with that look.

Not sure but maybe close the program and search for block130. Delete it without the program running.

I think he is asking about the corners and how to make the crown meet. A transition piece eliminates the corners coming together (not the same thing).

It won't do it because it can not be done in the real world. Crown molding has to exist in one plane only. For instance, it can not be done in a room with vaulted ceilings.

Jonathan is correct. BTW 6" high water table is really high. Are you basing that on an actual product.

+1 Best tip I've read here in a long time.

This is not a work around. It is how it is done, both in design software and the real world.

Create another level and build the cupola on that level. Define the room type as "open below".

One very fast way is to define every room as a porch. It will automatically give it a slab floor.