Chrisb222

Thanks to all for the woodgrain tips. Off topic, but I use the shelf tool all the time for closet shelving. Material white, and the layer uses a dashed line. Quick way to indicate shelving in plans, and looks decent enough in 3d views too. Height is automatic.

I do. Then if I need a new SPV that's similar to another one, I open it and "Save Active View As" to create the new one. You don't export SPVs but you can import them from another file by simply going to File > Import > Import Saved Plan Views.

Thank you.

Thanks. In terms of duplicating the B&W example shown, is there a way to force the camera view to standard isometric angles? Also can the extensions of an angled dimension line be made vertical?

Yes, you can select the roof plane, and click the "Display on Floor Above" button in the Edit toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

Do you have 3D views open in another tab or window?

How did you send to layout? It looks like you chose "Current Screen" > "Live View" or "Current Screen As Image" If so, send "Current Screen" > "Plot Lines" and see if it's better

Just so you understand why that's happening, the gap is caused by the difference between your roof structure thickness and the gable fascia thickness. The software builds the ceiling to the bottom of the roof framing, even if you haven't built the roof framing. Your roof deck is thicker, or taller than the fascia, so the porch ceiling is pushed below the fascia. You control the member sizes in the Build Roof > Structure tab or in Roof defaults. Adjusting those settings is how you would get the model to conform to how it would be built, if you prefer an accurate model. You can see in the screenshot that out of the box, CA builds a roof deck that is thicker than the gable fascia, pushing the ceiling down. Or Ryan's method is an easy way to quickly straighten out the 3D view. Also, you can accomplish that design without a ridge pole, just has to be engineered to work.

You're welcome! Glad it helped.

I just hit tab.... unless I'm missing something here??

Looks like a sink. Did you drag a sink out of a cabinet? If so you can't select the sink directly, have to select the cabinet first. Wherever it is...

You're welcome. The adjustments I'm referring to run the gamut. Material properties, material definitions, ray trace settings, lighting, placement of objects... basically anything I see that needs adjusted. If by image properties you mean those within the ray trace settings, I find them very difficult to use mainly because they're very touchy, but with a limited useful range. That's why I usually need to process in a true image editor.

Another point: I try to keep auto on as long as possible when in the initial concept phase. Homeowner wants to add 2' to the garage in both directions? Bam, roof follows right along.

This. I start off auto then manually do whatever it takes. I see no point in eschewing auto roofs. Why not let the program build what it can? I'm not advocating jumping through hoops trying to force a certain automatic plane, but let it do what it can. At least it saved you drawing x number of planes. My template has auto build roof checked as default. In most cases it gets it 50-70% correct, right off the bat. That works for me, I can always edit/redraw whatever needs fixed. My 2¢: use both.

I run a tiny (like 200 pixel) test RT just to check lighting, shadows, and overall balance. Then adjust, repeat. If something's wrong, I can usually tell in one or two passes, which takes just seconds at this size. Most shots will show whether they're good to go after about 6 passes, which takes only about a minute. With this method I can get a really good idea if the shot is gonna work without spending a ton of time doing full-res trial and error. Once all is set I run 15-20 passes at full res, depending, with clean up, sharpen, and final balance done in Photoshop or Gimp. This gives me satisfactory results in the least amount of time, in my experience, and really does not take that long at all.

Am I correct that 20 and 10 are hard-coded in the Send to Layout DBX? I liked previous versions where these values could be edited when sending. Hmm, I'm using the latest version of X12 but ....? Is Help not updated with the program?

Works for me every time. MacOS FTW!!

I knew a kid once they called Trey. We used to tie him up to the ceiling. Is that what we're talking about??

They allow you to control those settings within the Layout Box Spec DBX once you're in the layout. Eh, it works.

Perhaps the word "default" is being used in a slightly different context. May be a reference to an actual default setting in a prior version, according to Help: While Help advises against using Edge and Pattern Line Defaults, I use them all the time and very much like what I can do with them. Also, in earlier versions you could specify the line weight of Lines and Patterns in the Send to Layout DBX, and the program would remember those settings in subsequent sends. Which is akin to a "default." It seems now the 20 and 10 weights are hard-coded in the Send to Layout DBX, but it wouldn't be the only leftover oddity in the program/documentation. Just look at the language of #3 in the screenshot; they copy/pasted the text from #2 but didn't change "Edge" to "Pattern" at the very right side of the paragraph. "Clean up on Aisle 5!!"

I don't think David meant turning off "framing" but rather turning off the fully clad wood-framed wall. I don't know of any way to do this, but it would be a nice feature.

This is exactly how I do it.

I would raise the column by opening the dialog box for the slab, referencing the slab top location, then entering that for the column bottom.

Two DAYS?!? I've been using this software for 7 years and I'm still bamboozled. But I love it. It's a love-hate thing.

Happens to me too. In fact just happened again tonight. After you have your custom toolbars set up, simply go to your Desktop (Finder), to Documents>CA12>Data> and find the MY TOOLBARS file. Make a COPY of it somewhere else, and when the toolbars freak out, quit the program, delete the -now corrupted- MY TOOLBARS file from the CA12 Data folder, and COPY over the saved one. Works perfectly.