Alaskan_Son

You don't need to use that Hole In Polyline Solid setting. Just use boolean operations (polyline subtraction).

There's actually a built in automatic functionality for that...

No. You can use any number of things to fill in that area. In addition to: Walls Walls (No Room Definition) Optionally manually adjusted wall polylines ...you can also use: A second (Copy/Paste Hold Position) ceiling plane that is the full height if the drop and set to be solid drywall in lieu of the framing layer One or more polyline solids One or more molding polylines (along with a 3D molding symbol can even provide unique framing components) A material region (which has some quirks though) An overlayed soffit Etc.

This is exactly what I was guessing but wasn't sure.

I'm curious about what we're looking at here. The one on top looks clean, but also cheap and unrealistic. The one on the bottom looks awful in my opinion (the backsplash, upper cabinets, and photo hanging on the wall immediately jump out). The one in the middle is hands down the most realistic but it looks grainy and incomplete. Which rendering is from which software and using which rendering style?

On that elevation region, do you possibly have Interior Is Flat unchecked?

No. You can pretty easily accomplish this with a macro/keystroke recorder though. Object Layer Properties>Tab(x4)>Space>Enter

This one isn't anything special. Chief simply DOES curved doors.

Who says Chief doesn't do curved doors?

Actually, to be more precise, it just needs to be converted to an actual polyline. A circle is not a polyline. It can either be converted to a multi-segment polyline or to a couple arcs. Converting to a polyline solid does the trick, not because its a polyline solid but because its a polyline. During the convert process, it's just broken into 2 arcs automatically. Semantics? Maybe,,but I think it's good to understand whats actually happening. You can get to the same end any number of ways. No matter what you do though, a true CAD Circle object cannot be used with boolean operations.

I can't speak for the rest of the guys but I'm only gonna offer my thoughts and advice on this if you post the plan...even a stripped down version at least. Every little detail matters and in your scenario, there's a lot more than just a ceiling to contend. with. You can build the ceiling with a Ceiling Plane but that won't solve your wall problem...in fact it can even make it worse.

That's a good solution. It should be noted that a person should still know how to appropriately control the floor elevations. No one wants an 8" thick apron to trip over.

Agreed. A Terrain Modifier won't do that though. What's needed is some accurate Terrain Elevation Data, and as such, you would need to do work with more than just the few feet in front of the garage.

I might be able to do that. Terrain seems to work fine to me though.

You did realize that the garage is a totally separate structure in the example right?

To be clear here, there is a huge difference between taking the time to properly model the whole terrain (an accurate model) and cheating for quick visuals (terrain modifier or dropping the garage floor height). Its either quick and easy or accurate and I don't see that accurate was ever being discussed for this one. If accurate is the goal then we would need to be discussing a lot more than adding a terrain modifier. We would need to be discussing elevation regions, elevation lines, elevation points, etc.

You think a lump in front of the garage would be more correct good sir? I don't see for a second how either of those solutions provide for an "accurate" section.

I think you're missing out on the opportunity to actually learn something here. Chances you're having problems because it's an "older", "glitchy" plan are between slim and none. I think you're just doing something wrong. Post the plan (even a stripped down version and you'll likely learn something new so that next time you run into this you'll be able to do it right. In fact, the same thing that's stopping you from effectively moving the garage floor is likely to cause you problems in other areas anyway.

I think this advice doesn't apply when the rest of the terrain is modeled completely flat. A terrain modifier is going to produce nothing but an awkward and inaccurate lump in front of the garage. If a person wants to model accurately (which I agree is typically the best practice), then they need to model the whole terrain accurately. If they just want quick visuals though it makes a lot more sense to just drop the garage down.

You have all kinds of problems in that scenario. The dropped ceiling is the easiest one to deal with.

Something to think about... While there are definitely appropriate scenarios for using the ceiling finish layer to provide a dropped ceiling, I honestly don't think that's typically the best way to handle this particular scenario and it can cause a lot of heartache in the long run. Using that method requires artificially breaking your room up into multiple rooms using walls. Those otherwise unnecessary walls and room definitions can start to wreak havoc on cabinets, moldings, wall finishes, floor finishes, room schedules, room names in other schedules, room dimensions, etc. etc. If the dropped ceiling section doesn't align with a normally defined room area then I believe a soffit, ceiling plane, p-solid, etc. is a much more accurate and suitable method. Just my 2 cents.

Using the ceiling finish as Mick pointed out is probably the most accurate and suitable way to do what you're trying to do although you can also use a manually positioned ceiling plane, a polyline solid, or even a soffit amongst other things.

For that particular plan since it seems like you're not using an accurate terrain anyway, probably much easier and would look nicer to simple lower the floor for that garage room.

If I'm understanding your screenshot and questions correctly, I would typically either use a Polyline Solid or the Soffit tool for the lowered ceiling although there are other ways as well using room definitions or ceiling planes.

Sorry, Nothing I can think of.