robdyck

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i agree, It is messy. As mentioned earlier, dimensions should be to cabinet boxes only. That should also be mentioned in general notes. I would never dimension to a countertop, unless it was a critical area, and that would be shown in a separate detail, larger scale and noted.

It's not complicated. Send the ortho overview to layout, send a floorplan to layout. Using draw order tools ensure the floorplan is on top of the overview. Set layers as desired. No mess, no fuss, repeatable, automatically updates.

Here's on with more squiggle, blurrier paint, and the top cut off at 78" .

Yes. This one took me 20 seconds. It's an orthographic floor overview, watercolor, line drawing on. Simple method would be to send it to layout behind a layerset showing only the room labels.

You can also copy the window in place, and adjust all of it's settings separately. Windows and doors can occupy the same space at the same time. Separate layer control, schedule control etc. Also handy for creating accurate casing details around entry doors mulled with transom windows. Another example would be getting glass railing to display accurately across separate view styles. In a vector view elevation, I don't like glass railing blocking the view of the wall behind, so I always create the glass on a separate layer which is turned off for vector views, but on for most other renderings.

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/

Use a polyline solid to model your post, at least if you want it's behavior to remain stable and predictable. It's simple and it keeps you in control! Draw the p-solid in elevation / section view.

The frame of the window absolutely works different than the jamb of a door! Really annoying for making entry door with transom units. Sounds like you're working through the trial and error approach that it takes to learn this behavior.

Just a little tease, huh? Show us more! Looks like a great project!

Depending on the type of final docs you need to present, a lot of thought needs to be given to how you'll model / draft it. I'm working on a project with a fair amount of timber frame posts, beams and trusses and I can tell you that IMO P-solids are the most stable and flexible for designing the timber components, however if you need them in a schedule, you're out of luck. You'd then have to use a note schedule for that. If you're client wants exposed timber framing, it'd be best to decide ahead of time if you want it exposed to the exterior, interior, or both. I definitely recommend keeping the posts / beams separate from your exterior walls though. Do you have a bit more info on the finished style you're considering?

Bob, if you could post your plan and layout and we'll try to help you sort it out.

Hey Charles, It is a nice looking plan, but it's not mine, It's Levis' (see the OP). And that door you're referring to is a door opening under the stairs, correct?

Also, if you have any "live" section or elevation views, that'll slow things down to a crawl. Interestingly enough, on color sections or 3D views, a live view doesn't generate as crisp a line as 'plot lines' but it does at least color inside the lines, whereas 'plot lines with color fill' can have unpredictable coloring results.

Without a posted plan, my only suggestion is to close everything, restart your computer, then try again. I've experienced similar crashes and a restart certainly has helped in my experience. Also, if it doesn't reduce your quality too much, reduce the DPI to 300. That'll make a huge difference. Also, I'd never use the watermark function. I feel it slows things down. I just place my own as a CAD block or picture or text, on its own layer.

I knew you had a reason and that makes complete sense. Hope it didn't come off as critical. I gotta say, one of the reasons I (jokingly) picked up on that is because I've seen far too many floor drains that end up being way too high, often so the cement finisher can use the power trowel right up to it, instead of having to hand trowel around the drain.

@LevisL I've also gotta say great work on that plan! Very nice job. I did notice one thing: the cement finisher has a built-in excuse for ponding on the concrete floor! (just joking of course). You probably know this but the approx. symbol is (alt247) ≈ FWIW

Every now and then you get lucky!

Open the roof plane that has the missing ceiling, STRUCTURE tab, uncheck "Use Room Ceiling Finish"

I had the same thing happen recently. The wall surface below my railing partially disappeared, quite randomly. Unfortunately I can't post this plan as it exceeds 200MB (and I don't have permission). I'll take a look at yours if you post it. I've had a couple of bugs that I've reported and Chief wasn't able to come up with a solution. This may be another bug.

Thanks Joe, that's quite logical and would be quite simple to apply to an existing template for a builder's plans where the different layouts may not vary significantly. It's not much different than what I currently have setup with fixtures or cabinets for example, I've just never done that with the room boxes. I'll give it a go and see what I think on the next one! That being said, do you or others see value in the idea of a 'room painter' or eyedropper type of tool? On a custom home design, if the client asks for major layout changes, wouldn't it then be nice to simply drag in or paint the new room types?

That doesn't work as a method to define rooms if you already have your layout complete. For simple plans, I rarely turn to the Space Planning function. And resizing the room boxes would negate the efficiency I'm suggesting. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that currently, a CAD block of frequently used room labels would be the simplest method to identify spaces for a set of plans as described in the OP. I may have to add the 'room painter' idea with predefined label characteristics to "Suggestions".

I'm aware. In an earlier post I mentioned that I'd only do this as a time saver for 'builder basic' homes where no one sees the model. Those types of projects I also price at a lower rate for volume builders who aren't interested in any of Chief's bells and whistles. That lower billing rate prompts one to start looking deep for time saving methods. Obviously decks and attached garages would still get their double click, however the rooms within the home don't really affect anything, do they?

That's what I was thinking about doing. Do you use rich text or standard text? And here's a thought: if I need to have room labels in the library, why not have a library of the actual room names, and just skip the room definition? For many house plans, where a client won't be viewing a 3D model, there's not really any reason to define the rooms, is there? Just thinking of saving time on repetitive tasks for builder basic homes.

All good ideas! Not quite what I'm looking for. On a slightly different note, here's a similar repetitive task: Resizing the room labels for small rooms. I suppose one could save a blocked room label of different sizes and then drop them in, but that's hardly automation. Powder Rooms, Pantries ,Walk-in Closets etc. I reduce their size on every single plan I do. Am I missing something really simple here?