DavidJPotter

The wall elevation camera excludes the roofs by default and by design. To include the entire building and its elements one would use an elevation-cross section full camera which is designed to include all objects from the created viewpoint of the camera tool, provided that all intended object layers are checked "on" for that view. DJP

Which Home Designer software do you have? There are existing tutorials in the Knowledge Base of help articles on how to do this kind of stair. DJP

Yusuf, as usual you have done a great job of finding how to get the software to do what needs doing. The ability to see or confront beyond the usual abilities of software is a brilliant, creative, helpful and useful thing to do. It shows an unusually high level of creative intelligence that you have and share with us. Thank you. DJP

Very Well done! DJP

It depends upon the project for me. If the project can be properly portrayed on letter sized paper then I format for color for obvious reasons, letter sized printers almost everyone has. When doing larger projects that require Arch C or larger then I stick to b & w since my clients will be paying for the print services (the only size documents I print myself on paper is letter sized, larger ones I print to PDF). DJP

Very kind of you to share your creative intelligence with us, thank you! DJP

Here is your edited file (attached) and a link to a You Tube video of me editing it: http://youtu.be/sIQls4E5Hek DJP SPEC 1 (curved great).plan

No, currently the only way trusses come into existence is manually. Do your roof editing manually, it is easier to do once you get the hang of it. I always auto build roofs and then manually edit that result. DJP

Steve, I do not see how that could be done but, like you, I think it would be a good idea. DJP

First off, once the plans and layouts are complete, be sure and turn off any "Automatic Settings" (Auto Rebuild roofs, foundation, decks etc). The first person to disarm is yourself from shooting yourself in the foot. DJP

The current CAD layer is part of "Annotation Sets" so if you change a view, that probably also changes the "Anno Set" as well. Pay attention not only to your layer sets but also Annotation sets and set them all up in your profile plan so you will start clean next time. DJP

What version of Windows Operating System are you using please? I have Chief Architect Premier 7, 9 and 10 running on my XP x32 hard drive with no trouble, more modern versions I have installed on my Windows 7 hard drive. What precise steps are you taking that do not work? DJP

Yes, just change it manually. DJP

Manually you can edit dimension strings all you need to whether automatic or manual, adding and subtracting dimension points. This You Tube video might also help clarify what you can do:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6mra1PpSL8 DJP

You have to have a feel for who you are dealing with. Someone sane like D. Scott Hall would and should be appreciative but there are those who are not as secure in themselves (being nuts) and they might perceive your offering of help as an attack on their reputation or other nonsense. Anyone who does this kind of work can occasionally goof and sometimes those goofs cost unplanned for money, just use your own good sense. DJP

As Jared suggested these fully 3D numbers and letters work fine for limited constructs that require a 3D look but for simple street signage I would just create custom texture files in Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop to then be imported as custom materials and then assigned, "stretch to fit" to a properly sized 3D object (slab or soffit) to then emulate a stop sign, street signs, public notices etc. It really depends upon the exact construct as to what would then be used. DJP

What, exactly do you mean please? Convert a paper or digital drawing to a fully 3D plan file? In order to do that I need to know which Home Designer title and version you have and what I would use to do the conversion. DJP

Part of my business is helping persons like you. Please feel free to contact me for one on one help. DJP

I looked at both of your files, and had difficulty figuring out how the house in the photo you posted is orientated to either of the plan files you shared. Like I said before, the place to start is learning how to set up (program) the Wall Dialog box - Roof Tab settings for a Gambrel Roof. Get that done and then add the dormers, either using the "Dormer Tool" or setting up for the dormers manually. It is relatively easy once you know how, it is the learning how that is often difficult but NOT impossible. DJP

Welcome to the forum and Chief Architect! Rome was not built in a day or even several weeks, and your project is a complicated one indeed, especially for a new user. There is a detailed tutorial for each roof type found under "Roof Styles" as a tab of the "Build Roof" dialog (a great place to start). Part of my business is helping Chief Architect and Home Designer software users, if you would like some one on one help, I can deliver that service to you. DJP

The main thing is to not rely completely on the auto 3D framing. Such things work fine for plan views but for cross sections, the back clip camera and View to CAD give you complete control as to what shows and what does not. Between plan and cross section and elevation views and layering-annotation sets you can organize your displays of data to clearly deliver the communication of the structural layout. You just control and annotate. DJP

Here is my You Tube take on what is "wrong" which in this case, I think you are using the wrong camera tool for the job: https://youtu.be/J3r2n1PuHcE DJP

To get a useful, accurate Materials List, the model has to be PERFECT, on all floors, including the attic, the foundation needs to be drawn with the exact size grade beams etc. You check and check and then recheck and recheck . No 3D short cuts may be used (you must model the entire house exactly as it is to be built in the field, overlook NOTHING. For a materials list, I often take twice or three times as long making sure I get a relationally correct in all respects plan file to get a useful materials list. DJP

Your situation sounds a little worse than usual, what I mean is I expect this sort of thing when opening legacy plans (losing textures and symbols that may have changed several versions ago). What I do is to replace the material associations, one at a time and any missing or changed electric or other symbols, the same thing-replace them one at a time from the present time library Browser. It just comes with the truff (using older plans in later versions). DJP

I have not tried to do this but if I got your results, I would then just configure mine manually. Perhaps, I am not currently the sharpest tool in the shed though. DJP