jonow6

Is there a way to change the line colour/shade of wall patterns in a view, say from black to grey?.. I find that in any type of elevation or 3D view the line weight and colour can busy and distracting. Would be nice to be able to lighten up the colour/shade of the patterns for walls or roofs.

Thanks Alaskan_Son, That seemed to work. Still wondering if there is any way of snapping to different layers of a wall?... Thanks

Having an issue with a deck railing... The railing seems to only snap to the core of the wall. I would like it to snap to the outer layer of the brick. Is there a way to choose what layers of a wall can be used for snapping?.. See video. Thanks Chief_Architect_Premier_X12_2020-07-22_14-22-11.mp4

Hi Renerabbitt, Thanks for your reply. That is helpful and thanks for sharing. My first project I tried with CA was/is a raised concrete porch with a timber framed roof. May have been a bit of an ambitious first project for a newb to the program. From your comments, I feel a bit more confident that I will settle into CA over time. Thanks again

I am new with CA and trying to gain an understanding of how it works and how to use it as a design tool. I am coming from Revit (not trying to compare) which allows any object wall, floor, roof etc, whether custom or not, to snap and associate with the other objects around it which makes placement and manipulating precise and quick. In starting to use CA, I have found it to be somewhat hit or miss as to what snaps and/or associates and what doesn't. It seems to mostly come up in elevation views when manipulating the height of objects or their x/y location on a vertical plane, where they don't seems to want to snap to anything. One example is using the point to point move tool in an elevation view. It allows you to select an object, and will snap to lines, edges etc. in a plan view but does not snap to anything in elevation views. (unless perhaps I am missing something in my settings... snap settings are turned on). Another example would be when manipulation wall heights in a 3D or elevation view, the tops or bottoms of the wall won't snap or associate to any objects above, below or around them. Now obviously this may not be a thought or care for some which is completely fine. It just happens to be something I appreciate in an arch CAD program. I was originally trained in and spent quite a few years doing mechanical product design (which I continue to do) and appreciate fitment and precision when it comes to working with assemblies, and this carried into do architectural design with Revit. So I am trying to learn and get used to CA's ways of doing things. Not saying they are bad, just different than what I am used to. I suppose my question is whether this is the way CA works as a program and in turn I should learn to use it without the snaps and associations, or whether there are features and functions that I am unaware of that allow for the above mentioned snapping and association. I realize and acknowledge CA does a great job at this will joining walls, inserting doors, windows etc. My thoughts are more on snapping the tops or bottoms of walls to the elevation of others around them, or heights of posts and other inserted objects, or using the point to point move tool in elevations views etc. It mostly seems to relate to manipulating components and objects in elevations rather than in plans. Also, I am learning you can use precise inputs (dimensioning), but it does speed things up when you can snap something rather than crunching numbers. I do look forward to getting to know the program and learning its features and functions, but its always nice to get input and direction so I'm not wasting time trying to get the program to do something it doesn't do, but in fact may having other efficient ways of accomplishing the same thing. Any guidance or tips are appreciated.

Hi Steve, I did try that but this is what happened (see screenshot). My side walls are acting as beams to carry the roof. I suppose I could insert a beam as an object.

Thanks QualicoreHomes, I was able to get it to work doing what you said. I think I'm just used to Revit where walls, floors etc snap to each other and maintain a link. When I pulled the walls up to meet the slab, there was no snap but basically had to eyeball the height. This made me think it was the wrong way to do it. Kinda used to the precision and everything associating. Can go around and use dimensions from an elevation view, but doesn't seem like the most efficient process. Is there a way for the foundation walls to snap to the slab/floor?.. The posts I put in I had to manually set the height again because they wouldn't snap to the beam. have had the same experience with moving and placing some other objects. It seems a bit hit or miss with what will snap and what won't. In all of this, my object snap setting was turned on. Perhaps I'm just missing something in the functionality or it's just something I'll just have to get used to.

Still having no luck with it... I have been able to get it to change, but then the change in settings causes other problems. I have attached the file for reference. 20014-GU-116_Pine-2.plan

Hello all, I am new to CA and am having trouble getting the bottom of my 'wall/railing' to match the material of the rest of my porch. I have tried using the material eyedropper which doesn't want to work. I also went into the wall type and made sure it was just one layer. Not sure what I'm missing...