Lighthouse

I didn't see much online about how to create frosted glass doors so I played around for a bit and came up with something decent which I thought I would share. CA has lots of textured glass and patterned glass, but doesn't seem to have simple frosted glass. Here's how I did it (apologies if this is obvious) -found a google image of frosted glass that I liked -created a new library material called frosted glass -adjusted the color and translucence -checked "stretch to fit" -changed my cabinet door to flush, and chose my new frosted glass as the material

Well, that was a strange way to spend 6 hours. Now I just have to talk someone into wanting a Thai temple

Wow, thanks so much for posting- I'm going to play with the plan now. This is an image of what I just figured out, which I suppose is obvious, that you can rotate a curved roof to get some interesting shapes

It's a little hard to tell from the images, but I don't think it is quite right. Here's a video that shows how to do it in sketchup. I don't really want it made in SU, but it shows very clearly exactly what the shape is and how it is constructed geometrically. You can start at 1:20, where he actually does the work

here are some images that might make it clearer: http://bit.ly/2hxtJlH

I'm also working on this swayback ridge, which someone modeled here a while ago

wow, yusuf, that is very cool. It's not actually what I want, but it is harder than what I want, so you could probably easily do what I'm describing. As Richard said, in a hyperbolic paraboloid, all the lines are actually straight. It forms a saddle, which is actually a practical roof shape because it's pitched. Please see image

thanks, I used to make those as model tensile structures. Yes, I think that is the best way using straight members. I was thinking of a curved steel ridge beam with standard wood framing coming off it and screwing down plywood (maybe double layer). I guess there will be some plywood waste as it will go off layout as it curves. Maybe with a double layer I could just let the edges flop.

For a real project. Yes, tough to build but cool-looking IMHO

Alan, thanks for the suggestion. You can't turn a roof plane into a solid (it already is a solid, apparently). If I were to import it as a solid, what would be the benefit- that the underside would be visible? I think what would be ideal would be the ability to make any PS a "roof", wherein the walls would automatically snap to the underside.

I'm still trying to figure out how to do this with some clever hack. I want to make a parabolic roof, and it appears the only way to create a parabola is with the terrain tools. I created a parabolic terrain and changed the materials to look like a roof, and stuck it above the building. Then I pulled the walls up manually to meet the roof. So that all works, more or less. The problem is I can't find any way to create the parabolic ceiling on the inside, which is really the point of this roof. It appears that terrains don't have a bottom surface so they just appear white (invisible) in camera views. Anyone have any creative work-arounds for this? parabola house.plan

It appears that the issue is not related to the roof, just the ceiling plane. If I take a blank plan, drawing a ceiling plane, and place a hole it it, the ceiling plane hole has a shaft around it equal to the thickness of the ceiling structure (which makes sense). However, if you attempt to change the thickness of the ceiling structure (in order to reduce the shaft), it's starts to get weird. It seems like once I reset the ceiling structure to anything below 9" the problems begin. Maybe it is just a software glitch.

I took your plan and attempting to modify it to my specs and ran into similar problems. I'm actually trying to create a 4' deep roof that tapers from 9" to 5" over 4'. I want openings in the roof (but not actual skylights, they would be flush with the roof frame). When I changed your skylight to just an opening, the skylight shaft stuck out above the roof surface. I have tried numerous experiments with varying the thickness of the roof structure and ceiling structure, but they either result in the skylight shaft penetrating the upper roof surface, or the icicles coming off the corners of the ceiling surface below. I'm getting obsessed! I've attached your plan with the skylight changed to an opening, but you can just do the same on your plan to see the result. test 1.plan

On second look, I think you have the same problem in the sample you attached. If you look carefully at the corners of the ceiling plane at the skylight cutout, you will see the "icicles" I referred to

William, you're a genius! I was making it more complicated by trying to manually create the ceiling hole separately from the skylight. I didn't realize that a manually created ceiling would understand that it had a roof above with a skylight in it and create the hole automatically. Thanks much!

I'm trying to design a roof that is flat on top and sloped on bottom, so that it tapers towards the fascia. Then I want to put skylights in it. Since there is no way to create a tapered roof that I'm aware of, I did it with a PS drawn in elevation to create the taper. However, when I put the holes for the skylights in plan (holes in the PS), it doesn't work because the PS was drawn in elevation (to get the taper), and not drawn in plan. So then I tried creating a flat roof on top with an angled ceiling plane below, with skylights on top and holes in the ceiling plane that align with the skylights. This worked, but the ceiling holes have weird icicles hanging down at the corners which I can't get rid of. To simplify it, I created a new test plan that just has an angled ceiling plane with a hole in it. I get the same icicles in the corners. Does anyone know what causes this? Here's a pic, test plan is attached. thanks hole in ceiling.plan

Thanks much for the tip, I will give it a try tomorrow!

I ordered the HP T520 from Amazon today for $1200. It was a tough decision, as craig's list had a lot of used high-end plotters for half the price. I decided to go new because I have reached my threshold for time-wasting printer problems. We shall see..... Thanks to all who made recommendations.

My standard drawing sheet (layout) is 24x36, and I make drawing scale and text size appropriate to that size sheet. However, zoning and conservation review boards typically require 11x17 drawings, so they can fold them and mail them out to members. If I simply reduce my "D" drawings to that size, the text becomes unreadable (too small). I end up having to manually resize the text, which wastes a lot of time. I sort of understand that annotation sets would address this, but wouldn't I still be creating two completely independent sets of drawings (large and small)? Has anyone else had this issue and figured out a clever solution? thanks!

Jim, one other question, as that looks like a good printer for me- can it print 24 x36? it seems from the literature that the max size is 22x34. I do some big houses that need the larger size in order fit on a sheet at 1/4" scale.

Hi Lew, Yes, I always create a pdf first with PDFill. What is frustrating is that it will work one day and not the next, and nothing has changed (not even restarting the computer). It's not a mechanical issue, just some driver problem. It either shows the printer offline, or prints half a sheet, and then prints the other half of the drawing on another sheet.

Hey Jim, thanks for the reply. Do you think this printer would fit on my old designjet 500 stand? Seems redundant to buy a printer with a stand when I have a good one already. My stand measures 31 1/4" outside to outside, and seems to clip into the bottom of the printer. But maybe the 120 has no provision to sit on a stand? Also, how is the color quality for a rendering? (if you use it that way). thanks

I'm about ready to give up on my designjet 500. Even though the machine operates perfectly, I cannot figure out a way to consistently get it to work with my computer. It's mystifying how a driver can work one day and not the next, when nothing has changed, but I have wasted too many hours downloading and deleting new drivers to want to continue on this route. Planned obsolescence! Tragic to take a perfectly good machine to the dump. Anyway, I'm looking for printer recommendations. I print 24x36" prints, and like to use color to highlight various things. Not high volume, but I like to do test prints before sending files to the copy shop, and my copy shop charges an absurd amount for large format color prints. If I'm going to upgrade, I would ideally get something that could printer color well enough that I could do a page of renderings that wouldn't look like crap. Now the hard part- I would prefer not to spend more than $1500, but am happy to get a used machine, provided it's not so old that I have the same kind of driver problems that I have now. I would like at least windows 7 compatibility, without having to use some aftermarket driver. While I have owned HP for many years, I'm very open to trying a new brand. Thanks much for any suggestions!

Thanks so much!!! I checked that box when I was experimenting and forgot to uncheck it.