Kbird1

that does look good Bill , thanks for posting the plan but I think you still had the plan open when you Zipped It as the file is empty. PS I think it might be the USER pushing the limits of the software in this case M.

Don't see the issue here either , perhaps video card related ? same computer throughout? The default material for the Porch (deck) Room is Drywall which was painted with Siding so perhaps Joe is correct? I tried a number of different configs with shadows which didn't change anything , more good evidence I think , not to Paint walls but to change the material in the Wall's DBX to the desired one..... You also have an exterior wall in the garage , (the left hand foyer/entry ) wall , and some other weirdness in the garage with the roof I think... see pic and it looks like neither wall of the Foyer/entry is align with the exterior wall it butts into...see pic

Thanks again Bill , that does look good , possibly the best solution yet....... I guess you don't have an invisible layer then? would you mind attaching your plan to the thread please , so I can look at your settings and wall definitions etc , my attempt has the terrain retaining wall sitting on the ground for some reason... thanks Mick

Looks interesting Bill , could you explain the significance of the use of Retaining Walls designation for the Invisible Walls and the use of Terrain Retaining Wall designation for the Railings . Could the Railing elevation not be controlled by setting the Deck Room's Ceiling height to say 42" ? (guard rail height here) with ceiling and roof turned off of course for the deck room. M.

Like you this is something I deal with too , but easily done by turning the auto railing OFF on the Staircase and placing your own straight deck Railing with the "follow stair" option set, along with the Newel Spacing at say 48" (see pic) . I haven't been able to get Glenn's method to offset the newels to work on stairs as it does for Deck edges ( there is no need to make 3D post extensions with his method ,or Bill's by the look) and I also have an issue with the stair railing joining the Deck railing in 3D ,as it joins the invisible offset layer ,not the Post. BTW the 2x6 Top Cap is a Room Molding Polyline ,which can be any material, though I haven't messed with how to do that on the Stairs yet.

you probably didn't hit the ATTACH button after choosing the pic to upload but here is a post of mine about how to attach pics and plans https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/221-how-to-take-pics-of-your-plan-to-post-here/?hl=pics

you can also add an invisible layer to the railing wall itself which will push the railing in or out depending on which side you add it , this question came up a few months ago here https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/1199-deck-post-fascia-mount-possible/?hl=%2Bdeck+%2Brails#entry9429 and if you want to fascia mount you posts you can add a 7" layer as seen here in a thread revived a few days ago https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/1199-deck-post-fascia-mount-possible/page-2#entry9892 I have found you can make one wall type and simply reverse it's layers being a railing and it not having an interior /exterior usually.

Ok , thanks again Joe , as you can tell I am a newbie when it comes to the inner workings of CA , there's no way I ,or many others I suspect ,even at what I think is "CA Guru Level" could ever figure this stuff out ,as I am not part computer programmer, so I will have to shamelessly use your work ,which I am always happy to see you are willing to share.

not so much here , think I must have screwed something up between this thread and the macro thread but perhaps I misunderstood ? as I thought it labelled the framing members and auto noted the spacing? after placing the library item I open the RTB ,delete text and insert the Framing Member(s) macro previously imported ( from this or other thread , I think they are the same?)

THANKS ALOT P. would not of done that , and would of wondered if I was going crazy (ier)

So I need the new library item in post #24 and then have to change the new library item's macro to the one in post no#27 ? (same macro as your other thread right? and RTB ? doesn't mean Return To Base I'm guessing

thanks for the tip , see what you miss when you skip a generation or two of the Software

you may need to change the Plan defaults>Window>General> minimum window separation setting too and perhaps some setting on the framing tab as well as there would usually be 2 studs + RO space either side of a window and door too. As for drawing an Oval room , one of the Gurus may need to help with that

making the window from 3 separate windows and then mulling them into one unit afterwards should work.

I had imported the macro into a new blank plan I had just opened to Start Chief , so saw in the TMM DBX that there was an evaluation error but when I closed the TMM DBX the macro disappeared , so I drew a box , put a roof on it , with framing on ,selected a rafter , then imported the macro again , and it seems to have stayed active/available to insert etc and works correctly , thanks again. You might need to start writing a Tips Book Joe , excellent work again , I like it a lot ...looks like I need to check the Library item post again too.

please record it Scott , thanks.... I've imported it but it says there is an evaluation error ? or is that cos it isn't assigned to an object yet?

Plan would help ,as we could see if it happens on our systems too , I suspect a videocard issue...laptop with Intel HD perhaps?

it should show on whatever level you drew it , if you drew it on the 1st floor instead of the attic that is the level you will see it AFAIK

Tada ! got it in one. checked all my other display settings but didn't think about this being a text object thanks as always..... I can't figure out why CA isn't using these capabilities somehow , seems like a no-brainer to me....

Thanks Joe ,very nice but I must be doing something wrong though , I can assign the macro to an individual framing member no problem , but if I place the block and explode it , and do anything other than move it, it disappears from the screen , so I assume I am doing something in the wrong sequence or in the wrong view perhaps? ( it cant be resized before exploding either) Thanks M.

Glenn did a cut and paste of the ML Buy List onto his Plan view to get what you see in his pic as I understand his later comment.

The Roof heights are controlled by your room heights , but you are right about the roof planes still trying to join up despite a block wall in between them, I had to drag/pull the lower side down back on it's side of the block wall and pull the other side upto the block wall to make it work. maybe it'll help ? here is my play plan done in X7 Block Wall issue.plan

you should be able to pull the Block wall up in an elevation view above the Roof line , like this as for the Doors etc just place them in the centre wall as normal , use a "doorway" to make the fireplace opening perhaps and solids or soffits to fill in the back at the correct depth. no doubt plenty of other advice will come Monday morning..... M.

that works for Rafters but I have seen the issue Perry is referring to as well where Hips and ridges in some cases will show thru the finished drywall or soffit. CA also labels all subfascias as Rafters at the moment in the ML ( and this method) even though they are spec'd differently on the framing Tab etc.

Under View, make sure your Toolbars are activated ie has a check mark ( it's a toggle button) if it's on there and you still cant find it, go to Preferences>Reset Options> Reset Side Windows which should set things back to the factory defaults.