VHampton

Lots of good suggestions here:

Molding poly-line would be the ideal choice. Make a 2D view, and draw the sky-plane lines. Convert those lines into a 3D molding with a heavy thickness (+/- 1 - 2") ...and an extensive length of course. Material property = glass.

The refresh viewport tool (to update an elevation) can result in that "ghost" outline. Open the camera view from the viewport, and then close it. Try the refresh elevation option once more. That usually does it. Or... send the camera to layout altogether (as Michael suggested).

On the menu bar... go to Help ----> Manage License This is where you can sign out of the Desktop. What that does, is allow you to sign into the laptop. Ideally your computers will have the license memorized. This makes for a swift transition between machines. EDIT... as per Ben, the Digital locker provides ease of access to the license, as well as the computer management.

Glad to be of help. That's what we do here. In terms of the "look", would you mind a couple of observations? If a reverse gable on the dormer is the direction... perhaps consider making it steep? (the same pitch as the primary roof). Last observation... This building could be a bit more progressive looking. Modern windows (casements and picture units) would steer the look into something more timeless. There's some really great inspiration in the previously posted links, unless a cabin-like appearance is the goal. Anyway, All the best.

The gable end walls are typically stepped inward from the rake boards. It's a feature which is common with this style architecture. Usually constructed in snowy regions, A frame roofing prevents snow loads from piling on. With regard to the image file... the shed roof pitching back into the house is asking for leaves and tree debris to gather there. Just saying. It's a water catch unless you put a cricket in between (small peaked roof).

The plan is always a great help in being able to seek assistance. In getting the roof to work... Start at the bottom (the roof edge) and use the break roof tools. By clipping the roof, this clears the way for the 1st and 2nd floor walls. The ground floor ceiling had to be lowered from 9 feet to 8 feet. (The shed roof dormer needed head height for the exterior door.) Anyway, the goal here was to help show how the roof works. (Floor elevations can be adjusted as necessary.) Good luck with the project. (The attached should provide a head start with the basics). AFRAME3.1.plan

Build the A Frame roof to cover the living space to the right. It looks like the roofing covers about half of the footprint. Use the break roof tools. Start at the base of the roof. Make (2) break points and drag the roof plane up as required (to the 2nd floor ceiling height). The addition (w/ shed room dormer and roof deck) will be able to merge into the roof new opening.

There's a few root causes for shadows displaying with a slight offset. Sometimes it can be an object far away from the point of origin. In the camera view, the shadow should be moving in accordance with the adjust sunlight toggle. Question: Are you sending that view to layout? Is the issue that the shadows don't correspond to the active camera when doing a layout "refresh" ? If so, often times, sending the camera views to layout one more time will fix. A bit more information would be of help. Those look like the correct shadows except that they have an offset.

Do you have an example? Anything is possible. Not sure if you are asking if the rail can penetrate the roof plane which sounds like the question... Is it a first floor porch? Or a second floor covered balcony?

A frame house with porch examples: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/178103360233167796/ https://www.lushome.com/deck-design-ideas-adding-outdoor-living-spaces-irresistible-triangular-homes/187065

Create an exterior "room" at the lower terrace area. Example... use invisible walls to create the terrace area. Make sure that they all connect, and then use the settings for the "room" to show a slab floor with pavers. No roof and no ceiling. Set the floor height to whatever it needs to be below the main house height. Maybe it's a few feet? Not sure. The image doesn't show. Anyway... Use the "landscape walls" to draw over the invisible walls ----> to create the stone walls as per the image. Then use the stair tool to launch the stairs going up from the exterior room until it meets up with the grade. It's sounds complicated, but it's not too bad. You will get.

A question Joe... Why won't the foundation level allow floors 1, 2, & 3 to be created without any issues? Is the basement partial crawlspace and partial living? (like a split level ?) Sounds like the project might be on a hillside. A quick cross section would help answer.

You're quite welcome. 3D solids are an invaluable tool. There's no limits to house design because of what they can do.

3D solids would be the best pathway. Once the frame and louvers are made, the various solids can be made into a symbol. (click on each solid, and once all are selected)----> Make symbol. The new symbol can then be made longer or taller as necessary. The attached plan shows how the progression went from solids to a symbol. good luck! ...it's not as complicated as it seems. Untitled 1.plan

Michael's reply beat me to it by a few minutes. Make curved landings. Start with the first curved tread. It appears to be about 14" Copy & replicate (2) treads (landing). In the x direction - move forward approx. 12" (this ensures that the riser overlaps the landing. In the y direction - go up 7" or whatever riser height is required. A general observation... the exterior space appears to be too shallow. (The IRC code excerpt is below) Even when an exterior door swings inward, the outdoor walk-space has to be a minimum of three feet to avoid a trip and fall. There shall be a landing or floor on each side of each exterior door. The width of each landing shall be not less than the door served. Landings shall have a dimension of not less than 36 inches (914 mm) measured in the direction of travel. The slope at exterior landings shall not exceed 1/4 unit vertical in 12 units horizontal (2 percent).

Yep... that's what I meant with the miniature decks. The framing and sono-tubes are the added bonus rather than going after this with the stair tools alone. Nice job by the way Michael. CA has come really far over the years. "There may be more control that way even if calculating the landings (mini decks) involves some work."

Gene... The answer is that one or the other gets locked. I would start with the bottom landing. Lock it up, and see how a 7.5" rise works. Then adjust the riser height until it meets up with the top landing (deck) accordingly. On the other hand... why not build (3) landings? That's the way the model is reading in the Sketch up. 3 landings with (2) independent stair section. The landings provide the deck structure & footings which is quite handy. (Landing 1 looks like a section of stone or something. Not sure). Either way... There may be more control that way even if calculating the landings (mini decks) involves some work.

Post the plan for sure. When roof trim won't show up, it's often because it's got interference. What's happening is that the lower roof isn't allowing the upper section enough breathing room to reveal itself. Either the upper roof doesn't have a *break* and it's it's colliding with the lower... or vice versa. Essentially the rake board on that upper is being choked out by the lower roof.

Notorious for creating bloat. Ideally jpegs only. Excellent work Michael!

Any number of things can be going on. 1.) Open a sample plan. File>Download Sample Plans. Try one out and see how it goes. If X16 is working ok, then you'll know it's your plan. 2.) Check the Rendering settings. Preferences> Render> Troubleshooting. Try toggling through a couple of options. Not saying that this is the issue, but tech support is always a great help when transitioning to new releases. They usually want to see what the settings are under "Render". 3.) What's being described could be as simple as a video card setting. While the computer is going through the motions so to speak, check the Task Manager to see if a process/program has high CPU, Memory, or Disk usage. Last bit of troubleshooting... Post the plan.

Totally agreed Doug. Perhaps it's unfinished? This kind of stuff happens though. Many years ago a so called famous interior designer specifically asked for no handrails. I told her that she must have a really good lawyer. Crickets.

Dang... That's some Ninja Chief Architect stuff right there. Much respect Mr. T.

The warning pop-up appears to be hit or miss. After a few 'no thank you(s)', the command prompt for maximum saves appears to ignore opening the archive folder altogether. Regarding number of saves... the more the better. You can screen capture them and save as a time sheet of sorts. These days most computers are so chock full or memory capacity, that it doesn't bog down the system in order to store dozens of archives.