B4UBLD

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  1. B4UBLD
    Hello, Has anyone else experienced nighttime raytrace issues with X9? I'm finding that they are not coming out dark enough. Looks more like dusk/dawn or a really cloudy day. Landscape lights certainly don't "pop." Even with every landscape light OFF and Ambient Nighttime turned down to 10% or so, the scene is still too bright to look like it is nighttime. The front of the house is over-illumniated. Submitted question to Chief Technical Support and received suggestion to turn down Ambient Nighttime and perhaps a different background, but these tips did not resolve. Thanks in advance for any advice.
  2. B4UBLD
    Hi All, Sorry to resurrect this old thread, as I know it has been beaten to death. However, I just need a suggestion on how to UNDO the mistake of using the room paint tool (ever time I use this in what I think is a "safe" scenario, I regret the mess it makes; not again). Yes, is is once again a bathroom with glass shower walls that have been "assimilated" into the material used for the rest of the walls in the room. I have 1) deleted the shower walls and redrawn them (re-assimilated); 2) used the wall materials region (still don't get just glass, but have some 'residual' layers that remain; and 3) tried removing the room definition from the shower walls (nothing happens). Can anyone save me and my hair here? Thanks in advance!
  3. B4UBLD
    Thank you both for reminding me of how to do this, too. Just what I needed, when I needed it. As you obviously know, creating an architectural block in 2D, then importing that into the User Library works many times, but not always (e.g., when you have lots of little accessories associated, etc.). Anyway, just thought I'd say thanks!
  4. B4UBLD
    Yes, it has room definition. Unfortunately, I cannot post the plan on this forum, as the file is too large (even zipped).
  5. B4UBLD
    David, thank you as well. Yes, I realize that stud height is established by ceiling height. I've checked my ceiling height and it is the same (107 5/8") as the two of the three rooms/spaces that surround it (master bedroom (above) and hallway (to right)). Room specs for these rooms/spaces, as well as for the rest of the second floor for that matter, are shown on the attached screen capture. Room specs for the stairwell (shown at the bottom of the image) on the other hand, are quite different. I would think this a likely candidate for the source of my problem, but not sure how to fix it without creating other problems. Thank You.
  6. B4UBLD
    Graeme, Thank you for the response. I appreciate it. No, I do not find that the room is under its own roof group. You may have something re the stud height however. I'm attaching a dollhouse view. If you really need to see the plan, I can provide it if you give me a channel or I can use Dropbox. Thanks again.
  7. B4UBLD
    Hi, In the attached plan with an auto-generated roof, I have the odd problem of one room's (the dressing room's) roof planes (cutting into the neighboring rooms' (stairwell's, master bedroom's and hallway's) roof planes. I've checked all ceiling heights, but can't nail down the problem. And messing with the ceiling heights seems to create more problems. I should add that the intent is to have all finished ceiling heights on the 2nd floor to be the same at 107 5/8". Images of the problem (interior and exterior views) attached. Plan is too large (even zipped) to include, but I can provide via Dropbox if need-be. Thanks very much in advance for any help.
  8. B4UBLD
    Hi, Back again with spherical backdrop questions. I have imported in a panorama backdrop (configured as spherical under the backdrop dialog) and have a question for anyone who may regularly do this. How does one obtain the desired orientation of the backdrop (e.g., if you want a specific view out of a given window)?What I have tried with some success for my particular case is to change the horizontal angle from 360 deg to 630 deg (vertical at 65 deg). I say "some success" because it looks great in regular camera view (and in final view with shadows), but becomes completely distorted in a raytrace. It appears that it may be reverting to the original orientation and perhaps is not even displaying in a spherical format. If screen captures would help, please let me know... Thanks.
  9. B4UBLD
    Hi, Has anyone had the experience of rotating an entire plan while using a (imported) spherical backdrop? If so, did you find that the spherical backdrop became distorted? In my case, the backdrop became horizontally "condensed" (narrower, taller trees, etc.). This was after rotating the plan clockwise. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but my coffee does not seem to be kicking in on this one. Thanks in advance.
  10. B4UBLD
    I concur Glenn. Thanks for the feedback; sometimes the CA nomenclature is misleading... I used a solid railing instead and achieved what I was after.
  11. B4UBLD
    OK, I'll try to be very clear and very precise with my nomenclature; agree it is key to proper communication re CA. Here are the steps I used to change a TERRAIN WALL into a PSOLID. 1) Created and approximately 15' length of TERRAIN WALL using the "Spline Terrain Wall" tool. It is 6" wide and 60" high by default. 2) Converted the TERRAIN WALL to a PLAIN POLYLINE. 3) Converted the PLAIN POLYLINE to a POLYLINE SOLID (aka "PSOLID") with an "Elevation at Top" of 60" and a "Thickness" of 60". I'd like to attach an image, but don't know how. But again, can't get the holes into the wall. Now, as for your creating a TERRAIN RETAINING WALL (vs. a TERRAIN WALL) and putting a window/door into it--can you please elaborate? Perhaps it is the use of the TERRAIN RETAINING WALL (vs. a TERRAIN WALL) that is allowing this, but I sure can't put a window/door into a TERRAIN WALL. Thanks for spending your time with me on this...
  12. B4UBLD
    If I knew what I was doing, I would not be asking how to do it. :-) Actually, I have turned a TERRAIN WALL into a PSOLID. Works fine. Trouble is that I can not get a darn hole into it. I have now also used Michael's idea of drawing the PSOLID in plan view. Can't get holes in that either. I will now try putting DOORS or PASS THRUS into said wall, but as far as I know I don't think you can do this with terrain walls. But thanks for the suggestion; I'll give it a try. Perhaps I can use another kind of wall.
  13. B4UBLD
    Thank you, Michael. I believe you are saying that turning a legitimate terrain wall to a polyline then to a polyline solid won't work. I will therefore start with the a poly solid "wall" instead. However not sure what you are saying about using the elevation tools to "control the terrain in the area of question." What I'll do is create the poly solid "wall," then use CAD tools to create the holes where I want them. Back soon with results. Thanks very much for your help.
  14. B4UBLD
    Hi, Here in the southwest, the need to cut niches and holes in various curved walls and shapes (e.g., Kiva fireplaces) comes up fairly often. Recently, I was very proud to have cut niches into a conically shaped Kiva fireplace (yayy for small victories!). Today, however, when I attempted to cut some holes into a curved terrain wall, I failed. Maybe I'm just tired. I converted the terrain wall to a polyline solid. Next I went into elevation view to create the shape of the hole I wanted with a CAD square. Then I converted the square shape to a polyline solid, then to a hole in polyline solid. Kept getting a warning "No polyline of the same type found to contain the hole. For example, no counter top or slab to contain the counter top or slab hole." Guess I don't know my *&^ from a hole in the wall. :-) Thanks in advance for any help.
  15. B4UBLD
    Drawzilla, thanks very much for your response. Stream feature was, indeed, helpful once I set it deep enough. Chris, I admire your patience and tenaciousness in working with the "Terrain Elevation Data Contour" lines around point-by-point to get the terrain you want. This has inspired me to continue along my very gradual(hopefully upward!) learning slope (no pun intended ). Rich, very punny. Anyone have any pointers on getting natural looking berms? How about setting individual river rocks into the stream beds --- uggghh! Thanks again, all. Julie
  16. B4UBLD
    Hi All, Just trying to add some terrain features to a landscape I'm working on. I need to create several "dry stream beds" (lowered, stream-like "valley" region filled with river rock), as well as a raised area/berm for a water feature and associated plants to sit atop of. I'm afraid that I've always seemed to have trouble using the Terrain Modifier tools. Don't know why, but I can't get the hill to look right and the valley to show up at all. Embarrassed to ask, but can't find any help by searching on Forum, nor on Chief Architect site. Thanks in advance. Julie