SNestor

Uhh...yea, user error. I figured it out. I'm actually not 100% sure...but I think I had "painted" a brick material on to the walls. I think this screwed things up. Either way...I opened a new new plan and it works as designed.

Yea...that's what I'm trying to do but it's not working. I'll post a plan in a bit

I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong... Looking at a building exterior wall elevation...I'm trying to use a wall material region to cut through just the brick veneer layer of the exterior wall. However, the region disappears and shows up way inside the building and it does not cut just the brick. So...I guess my questions is...is a "wall material region" only to be used on the interior side of a wall? If that is the case...is there a way to "cut" the masonry veneer on the exterior side of a wall? What I am trying to do is create a brick arch above a window using a symbol created with solids...and then place a piece of wood trim (using a WMR) between the bottom side of the brick arch and the top side of the window. In the attached photo I used a Solid...however, if the solid isn't deep enough the brick veneer stick through and hides the Solid (trim). In reality I only want this Solid "trim" to be 2" thick which recesses it behind the brick...because the solid doesn't replace the veneer.

Thanks.

Johnny...I did get it to frame somewhat accurately. It probably would still need some tweaking...but, at least the studs for the step out showed up.

I used a pony wall...just took the same wall as below...added a new layer of Fir Stud at 16" oc. This new layer was not part of the main layer. I haven't tried to "frame" it...not sure how it would look. I am going to experiment with using the wall material region. I think it would be quicker and easier...and in the end really all I would need. I've attached my Gable End plan if anyone is interested. Gable Step Out Plan.plan

Guys...thanks for the slap down. I worked a little harder...and success. This forum is like a bad drug...kind of makes you just lazy. I didn't have the pony wall "main layers" aligned properly. Figured it out though...so I'm feeling good.

I tried the pony wall...and could not get it to work. Honestly - I thought someone probably had done it before and would just tell me. I know I could do it with PS but it wouldn't frame. must be more complicated than I thought. Sometimes getting answers on the forum keeps me from wasting a lot of my time.

I'm wondering how to make a stepped out gable end. Is it possible to turn an attic wall into a pony wall...so that the upper wall is say 6-8" thicker than the lower wall...creating a step out that could be decorated with corbels? If you can use a pony wall...then do you use P-Solids or material regions? See pics of examples below...

Thanks. It's not in the normal help file...to find the Ruby Tutorial you have to open the Ruby Console and type in "tutorial". Could CA have made this more difficult to locate. I don't think so. Really...I'm still learning the basics of Chief so Ruby programming is beyond my reach at the moment but I find the idea and capabilities that it brings to Chief intriguing.

Thanks. How would someone know this "requirement"?

I tried making this macro...rounded to two places...and the macro works fine...but, I get an evaluation error. Why would the macro work perfectly but generate an evaluation error?

Once again thanks all for taking the time to try and help me out. Very much appreciated. I did send in a support request. We will see what they discover. In this case...I don't think it's user error...(although that is always my first guess). I don't manually build attic walls...and all the other templates in Chief work just fine. I draw 4 walls, put the roof on...boom, gable walls. Chief works just like it's supposed to. So...maybe I screwed up a setting...but, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Thank you all for help/advice. I haven't sent in to tech support...but, it looks like Larry has. Since I'm such a newb...my default guess is always that I've screwed something up...changed a setting thinking it would improve thing but found it didn't...time passes and I don't remember what I did. Oh well...I still love this program and things like this just forces me to dig into things...which in the end makes me understand how the software works...and doesn't work.

The answer is to open each gable end wall and regenerate...really? That's really not a solution I would expect to hear from CA. The attic walls should just work. Actually...they used to work just fine in this template. That is why I assumed I have done something which created this problem. But...maybe not. Maybe it's just a CA glitch...it happens. If I open a OOB template plan...any of them...the attic walls generate like they are supposed to. So...it's my template that is the problem...not a system setting in CA.

The attic walls are there...because if you select them, open the DBX, check ok...the attic wall rebuilds and voila...there they are. I've checked every darn setting. I think the template must have gotten corrupted or something. I could have created a new template in the time I've spent trying to figure out why this is happening.

This attic wall thing is only a problem in my "template" plan. Attic walls work properly when I create a new plan with any of the OOB templates supplied by Chief. So...the cause is definitely user error. I've done something... Plan attached Attic Wall Problem Plan.plan

Yep...I have that setting checked.

Ok...well, I've messed with something and now simple attic walls won't build. I have to go into the attic and open the attic wall...then select ok...I get a message stating the attic wall will be rebuilt. So...what did I screw up to have this happening? Thanks...sorry to bother you all with such a lame thing.

Joe thanks for that tip... I guess what I'm wondering...is the way the text is working OOB...is this correct? Why define a specific text for a layer...if the software doesn't use it? Kind of confusing.

My room label uses the "room label" text style...and has a font height of 8". The interior room dimension layer is set to use the default text style which has a font height of 4". However, when I turn on the interior room dimension layer...it appears to be using the "room label" font. Why? Is there a way to control this? Thanks.

Rich - thanks for the tip. I experimented...and I think I made a few improvements. However, I think the issue is the screen material. It is diffusing the sunlight. I need to experiment with different screens...maybe something more translucent?

Below are 2 pictures of the same view. One is a standard view with shadows...and the other is the raytrace of this view. I'm wondering how to get the same lighting effect in my raytrace that appears in the standard view. The shadows are longer and brighter in the standard view. Trust me...I have no real idea what I am doing when it comes to raytracing. Right now I'm just experimenting to see how things work. So...any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Well...something happened and i posted this topic twice. Sorry about that. I figured out why things were not sticking. The default layout set in preferences was not the layout i had linked to my plan template. I corrected this and amazingly the problem was fixed. User error....typical. Thanks for all your help...much appreciated.

Thanks Scott. That info will certainly help going forward.