ImNewHere

Hi everyone, I know this topic can be a real hassle, so I will try not to annoy whoever responds. I have spent all day watching every video on dormers I could find, and reading knowledge base articles; I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I'm trying to manually build a dormer bathroom in the area on the right where I cut out the roof plane. In perspective views, the walls pop up appropriately thru the cutout, but then I can't get the rest of it done as the instructors show in the CA videos. I try to build a new roof plane at the ext wall baseline; then open it, lock baseline, and set it to a shed roof with a 3:12 pitch. But every time I initially draw the dormer roof plane, it appears at the same level as the main roof, not the top of the dormer wall. It seems to be identifying the wall top plate as the pony wall, not the full-height wall. FYI, it's not really a pony wall; I just set the main roof to a -7' offset, so my interior partition walls are not stunted. I've tried making a dedicated dormer front wall by putting breaks in the main wall, and also by drawing a new wall on the plan, right over the main wall in the dormer area. Neither attempt changed the outcome. I'm also not clear on whether having the back wall with the door is a good idea, or if I should delete that and then put it back after the dormer is built. In all the tutorials I've seen, people build dormers with side walls only. I don't want the back wall to interfere with the main roof joinery. I have attempted several methods to get it to do what I want, but it seems we're not speaking the same language. I've also read numerous dormer posts on this forum, but I only partially understand the explanations. And I gave up trying the auto-dormer pretty quickly, because every minor adjustment I make causes it to fail with a variety of error messages that are incomprehensible to me. Attached is the file, with a perspective showing the dormer walls and an odd curiosity: The wall intersection nearest the door hinges is hollow for some reason, but looks normal on the plan view. There are also a couple photos: One is the entrance to the dormer bathroom I'm trying to model here, to the left of the pocket-door closet. Unfortunately, I don't have any ext photos of the dormer. The other photo is a pair of floor-level skylights with railings to stand in. That will be the next thing I have to make after the dormer. If anyone has any clever ideas on how to finesse that structure. Thanks in advance! Hope this description was sufficient, and y'all are not as confused as I am. I never realized how complex roofing is until I started trying to model attic conversions... attic_2026_02_22.plan

Hi all, I'm trying to figure out something I'm sure many people do regularly, but I can't find any references. I'm trying to model an attic from a backdrop photo, to match the roof pitch and skylight placement. I would like to be able to control the opacity of my model, so I can see the backdrop behind it. And it would be nice if the measuring tools worked on the backdrop as well; I know that wouldn't help me calculate depth accurately, but I could infer from measurements if I'm matching the true skylight size and location in my model. As you can see from the pic, without being able to take measurements, and with no opacity control on the timber framing, it's going to be difficult to get those skylights to line up to the actual room. What would be really wild, although I don't see Chief adding this anytime soon, is to have measuring tools that will infer depth accurately from the backdrop, if I adjust my model to align with the same perspective as the photo. Of course that means matching the focal length accurately as well, which might be tricky. Or might not, I haven't thought about it before... Anyone out there have experience with this?

OK, here ya go--I managed to get it down to 25mb somehow! [I guess them extra walls I deleted were pretty hefty] https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vxc5c57kqiqg4t6a6svy0/rotunda.plan?rlkey=0twejjdqsaxsoqp00s75zrcpb&st=w2cn2ei8&dl=0

Thanks for the Aerosmith ref! I'll put that on right now, might improve my headspace... I can send you my file if you want; is dropbox good, or is there a way to squinch it down and attach it here? I've only been using Chief for ten days, but I'm trying to push myself into unfamiliar territory so I learn faster.

My plan file is 31mb, which makes it too large to send here; but I can send you a dropbox link if you want to see what I made.

Floyd, not Aerosmith! I'll show you what I'm working on, it's a real newbie challenge! A split-level rotunda with a cupola roof [if that's the right way to describe this thing]. So far, I have it mostly looking good, with that center part modeled as a silo that starts on the ground floor. Haven't made the upper roof cupola yet; I was going to use the invisible part of the center column as pony walls, then designate the skylight rim as the wall above the pony wall. But this strikes me as what the Attic is for, if only I knew how to use it...

Thanks for that menu tip, Michael! I'm just trying to model a building from a floor plan; I don't need structurally accurate drawings. The auto-walls seem to appear in a haphazard fashion that is not helpful, so better to disable them. Any idea where I might learn more about how to work with the Attic? I would like to make use of this area, but can't find good reference material.

Hi everyone, I'm having trouble understanding what the Attic is for, why it just appears automatically, why it generates phantom walls I can't get rid of, etc. I can't seem to find any references or videos which explain what this level is for, or how to control wall generation. This is getting to be quite frustrating. I can't disable it, I don't know why it's there, and there's not much documentation I could find on it.

Ah, thanks Nick, I'll look him up...

Thanks everyone!

Hi all, does anyone happen to know how to model a round [12-sided] roof with a raised center cutout, as shown in this here photo? I don't know where to begin with this... Thank you!

Thanks, Gene! I guess I got confused because in my cabinet, the doors are separate, not jointed as a normal lazy susan swing door. Now it all makes sense...

Thanks for responding, Gene; I think I just have to make separate units to solve the problem.

Aha! Thank you, DB. I didn't see that enforced conformity in the CA docs. It seems illogical, because having opposing-opening doors on a corner seems optimal.

Hi guys, thank you both for responding so quickly! I can't send anyone the file, because I'm still in trial mode; perhaps this is a limitation of the trial version, but the website didn't mention that. I have two L-shaped corner cabinets, and when I try to customize the door configuration for either cabinet, I can only do so on one side of the L, and then the other side will mirror it. It does not allow me to select the other leg of the L at all. I can't figure out what I might have done wrong.