Lighthouse

thanks, balloon framing works! re zipwall, this is a special R6 zipwall. It consists of 1" rigid insulation and 1/2" osb. My standard wall assembly is 2x4 with fiberglass batts and the R6 zipwall. I think having the continuous insulation over the studs makes more sense than high R in the wall cavity, but then no insulation at all the framing members (studs, headers, etc).

thanks for the replies, I uploaded the plan

Hi, any simple answer to why my siding stops short of the roof? Is it a setting the the structure tab of the roof dbx? The siding is stopping at the ceiling height. I have 12" rafters, and a 6" fascia. I want the siding to go up to the bottom of the soffit. thanks! new flat roof.plan

Has anyone found a laptop powerful enough to run X9 at a decent speed? If so, could you provide the specs? Last time I looked into this the only thing that came close was an Alienware gaming laptop for about $2600.

I got an email this morning from Topaz Engineering saying they are having a clearance sale on wide format printers, in case anyone is interested. I don't know if their prices are any good, but thought I would pass it along. https://www.topazeng.com/

I find myself doing a lot of topo measuring recently, both to site the building on the lot and to do some landscape design. I typically use my old pls laser, which has the drawback of being very hard to see in daylight, and no ability to measure angles or heights. I'm considering buying a Leica Disto, and wonder if anyone has used this or other methods or tools. Ideally I'm looking for an efficient way to measure terrain and object (house, tree) height and distance. I would like to set up in a couple locations, and then pick spots with the tool which would create a file showing the distance and height relative to my setup. Thanks

Thanks Curt, that video is really helpful

That worked!! Yay, thanks Dermot

Joe, would it be possible to do a 2 minute phone call? My problem is that when I edit one annotation set, it changes the default for the other annotation set. My number is 781 259 1221 if you have a minute

this is where I'm changing the annoset dimension defaults. I still can't get it to work where I have two different annosets with different dimension defaults!!!!!!

oh, I just found it, let me try changing it in the annoset edit box

maybe I'm changing the dimension default in the wrong place, Where do you modify the dimension default in an annoset?

I'm trying now still now working. I created an annoset called 1/16", and set the dim default to 1/16. I sent that view to layout with a box that was measured in 1/16" increments. I created another annoset called 1", and changed the dim default, etc and sent that to layout. It still changes the other view, does not show the 1/16" fraction on the first detail

So I guess this means I have to learn how to use annosets, which I've been avoiding. Are you saying that within the same plan, I can create distinct annosets that have different dimension defaults, and these different defaults will appear intact on the layout? Because I just created two different plans, and sent details to the layout from the different plans (with different defaults), and even that didn't work!

Thanks Joe! That's what I was afraid of :-(. I don't know why dimension defaults can't be layer-set specific- seems useful to me. Creating another plan just for different dimension defaults, and keeping it in sync, seems nightmarish.

I'm trying to send two different CAD details to the same layout page. I want detail 1 to have 1/16" dimension default. I want detail 2 to have 1" dimension default. I cannot accomplish this, as whatever dimension default I choose in any window changes the default for all windows. I thought the answer way layer sets. I created one layer set with 1/16" dimensions and sent to layout. I created another layerset with 1" dimensions and sent that to layout. It changed the 1/16" set to 1", even though the two CAD details were on different layer sets. What am I doing wrong? The foundation sub will think I'm insane if the foundation plan has 1/16" dimensions. I should mention that I'm changing the dimension defaults by clicking on the dimension icon in the toolbar and editing "primary format". Maybe there is another way to change dimension defaults that is view specific?

ah, that makes sense- thanks

right, but then it doesn't update with changes.

I'm trying to send perspective overviews of framing to the layout. I want to send various views, where some show the floor joists but not the rafters, and vice-versa. My problem is that when I send a view showing the joists but not rafters, and then I create a new camera that shows the rafters but not joists, it changes the view I send to layout. So I can't seem to create multiple views that have different layers turned on or off. I'm surprised that when I create a new camera view, the layers settings of that view affect a previous camera view. How do I de-couple these, so that I can show a variety of view with different layer settings? thx!

Joe, if they are individual CAD details, how are they linked to the sections? Are these "generic" details that you keep in a file for all projects, or are they specific to a project? I have found that it doesn't make sense to draw a detail independent of the section where it lives, because I want to make sure that the sections are identical to the details. If I develop a detail independent of the section, and then I change the section, I may forget to update the detail. How do you handle that? Also, I found that if the details live in the sections they are easier to find, as in CAD details I have to find them by name. If I have 40 or 50 details, it's hard to give them distinct names (I guess you could put a callout in the section and just give it the callout name).

Summary of question- What is the best way to send many CAD details to layout so that the layout page does not slow down and become difficult to navigate? I'm curious how other people hand this. I import sections into CAD details and then add details in CAD. I have a single CAD detail called "sections" that has all the building sections, so I can line them up, cut and paste similar components, etc. So this ends up being a pretty dense CAD detail because it has a lot of sections in it. I then send blow-ups of the sections to a detail page(s) on the layout. I do this by zooming into a part of the CAD detail and send current screen to layout at 1 1/2" scale. I then crop it on layout to the exact size using the layout border box. In this way I have a "live" view of the CAD detail, so if I make any changes in the CAD detail they will automatically update to the layout. The problem is my layout page is now very slow to navigate. I think this is because it has many views of the same, very large CAD detail on it. I've essentially created many little windows of the same large drawing on the layout. I know I could create each of the details in its own CAD detail, instead of one large one, but I like having them all on the same CAD detail page for reference. Is there a better way to do this? thanks!

I've created a deck that is -3" in the structure tab, but the decking appears at floor level, not three inches below. Is there any way to control the height of the decking other than the structure tab?

Brilliant! Most concise answer to any question I've ever asked, and a huge time saver. Thanks!

Is there a way to have the layout update automatically (or manually) to the newest version of a plan? I create plans with a lot of cad details that I send to layout. As I iterate on the plan, I save it as a new version. However, I end up with a layout that has details from the older version of the plan, which gets confusing. For example, I have Plan 1 with details 1a and 1b. Then I save Plan 1 as Plan 2 (a new iteration). Plan 2 is now my current plan, and the details have been saved with it, so now I have Plan 2 with details 2a and 2b. I would like to have my old Plan 1 on the layout update to Plan 2, along with the associated details. I currently have to resend the details every time I change the plan, which is a lot of work with 30-40 details. Am I missing something obvious? Thanks