johnny

Not sure what you are doing, since I just tested it and there wasn't a line I couldn't select and change. Here is a screen shot of some random lines being deleted from an elevation.

I did this recently with CA....and its the effect you want. You have to know how commercial windows are made, and use CA to emulate the look.

Do the "rent" to own CA has offered and you can break it up into payments.

One more real quick question - wasn't there an option for turning off the floor plan visual for window/door trim? I know in X3 or 4 there wasn't any trim visible for the floor plan, and I personally like this clean view. I realize I can turn off the layers, but I really thought there was an option in defaults or somewhere..? Thanks again for all the help.

My personal preference is to poche the structure sections @ 1/4 or less scale, but then reference larger 1/2+ scale detail sections. This is a very fast method actually, and I think looks better - - but its a personal preference only. Wow, I just realized you can't send any vector based color drawings to layout except through an image. That seems odd to me - and with large format color printers being more common I think CA should provide this ability very soon. Many architects/designers are using color (vector) throughout their plans.

I guess if I was you I would have gone the symbol way - and then place your "stretch planes" in the correct spot. Here are the reasons. 1. You can have the actual shape with concrete and "air" space. 2. Set the distance from floor, so it inserts the correct place. 3. Set stretch zones You could even place the rebar, but here is a symbol I did for you real quick. I'm doing things like this to practice with CA. insuldeck.plan

That worked!!!.....BUT, when I send to layout the fill is gone. Is there a way to get that over to layout?

So I dont start another thread - can someone tell me if its possible to change the default color of brown-ish color used in sections?

Thank you - I think I understand what you are saying in that you can have your own rich text with macros that pickup this data in the format you want.

When I set a new text size for room dimensions - part of the room label - it sets both the room label and the dimension the same size. Is there a way to make the room label a different size text without affecting the dimensions?

If you followed that instruction, then you should be able to simply change the layer (which-ever layer its on) line color and that will change to the "ghost" lines you want. It has nothing to do with X5 vs X7 for this operation.

If this is what you are talking about one of the more advanced users will need to help you. I can tell you that under the "floor structure" Dbx you can add layers and thicknesses, including associated materials which will give you everything but the actual insuldeck sections. Perhaps your idea is good of using a profile of this shape and making "molding poly-lines" for the runs. (added) or you could create a symbol of this and place stretch-planes in so as you increase or decrease the size it will scale correctly. Doing this might be the best bet.

Yeah, good stuff Larry. Can you ruby script that selection process you did Larry? It would be nice to have some custom selections as a button of per-determined criteria.

Thank you sir.....so you know I was being silly in that message which is why I used the tongue sticking out emoticon. +1 to you too!

I realize there may have been another answer about letting him keep his drywall exterior, but the simple fact is he does need exterior walls - - I wasn't thinking of a way to let him keep his drywall exterior surface and have the joist level fill in with wall material.....i guess unless he was building this garage structure inside another larger building....hummmm....

Actually - you've framed the house using walls with Sheetrock each side. You need to change those walls to exterior walls, and I personally wouldn't try to make the driveway apron a "room".

That is the future Joist area...and you have your siding layer off.

OK, so how about this. If you are trying to do this (below) you will need something like Maya, Modo, or Vectorworks: If you are trying to do this (below) then CA is best bet - in fact, even if you are creating your own furniture, then you can later bring to CA for staging. FYI this is an older video, CA is much better today even.

I can tell you for interior design there is nothing i've seen that can match CA's ease of use - and yes, you can add anything you want. CA even supports most types of file imports, so you can bring a 3d object into the app and very easily setup your custom directories for your own library. You can be very precise...so dont worry about that. CA isn't good for "designing" furniture though. If you import a furniture piece that has the fabric as a separate layer you can change those sections, but there won't be a way to map new fabric onto furniture. Even with this you may need each section of the furniture fabric to be different so you can correctly map the direction. Then again, if you are going to be designing and editing fabrics you will need a full blown 3D molding application. However, you should still use CA for your arrangements and final staging and then use Sketchup or some other app for your furniture design etc. If you are going to be doing much outside the home, I would just get the Premier version. You can save a little money on the interior version, but I think you'd be best off with not having any restrictions.

Can you please explain "locked".....I feel knowing that may help me a lot. thanks

I've run into a layerset I can't delete - does anyone know why that is?

I can give you this file if you want...but am just getting into CDs.

Sherry - I would try what Joe is saying about the CAD Details....they are actually perfect for my use. In fact, i was going to combine Perry's suggestion with Joe's.

Scratch part of that upper comment - I guess I can save a template file with these CAD Details and they end up with the new plan file.

Thanks Guys! - actually this CAD Detail option is a really good feature for me to use my "arch notes" in since I often change them per-project slightly. Wendy's method of having a central file that doesn't change won't work for my needs, but I can see where that would work for many. So if I understand Joe there isn't a direct way to copy the group of CAD Details from one plan file to the other, but I can combine into Layout file.