Exterior molding

[Designer1]

Does anyone know what the best method would be for creating an exterior molding that honors doors/doorways and windows?  Right now the molding polyline (shown in the picture) runs right over my door.  Any better alternatives to this?

 

Thanks,

Chad

[Mark3D]

Select just out side the building to select exterior room then make room molding poly line add your molding

[Designer1]

Thanks for the reply.  thats what I did to get this result.  Everything looks fine but I dont like how the molding overrides the doors.  Is there another molding type I can select that respects doors/doorways and will stop when a door is there?

[Mark3D]

Is that not what you are after

[Designer1]

Thanks Mark.  Clearly there must be many different molding choices.  When I click on the outside of the box I made three molding choices are available.  I selected the first one.  which one did you select to get that result?

[Mark3D]

Make room molding poly line that is the tool name 2nd last tool

[Designer1]

So strange... I just tried that but got the same results.  I wonder if its the molding.  If you use ca-64 for your molding goes it still work for you?

[Mark3D]

it depends on the height setting when you set it up 

[Designer1]

Ok just tried all three on exact same box and the only one that would work was the third option.  Very strange. I wonder why the first two dont work?  You mentioned you used the second option correct?

[Designer1]

Yeah I used the molding ca-64 with 24" height and 6" width.

[Mark3D]

read there names they should give you clue let your mouse hover to see there names

[Designer1]

Yeah all the names are so similar.  Id be helpful if it were Exterior polyline molding, Interior room polyline molding etc.  Very similar names and functions. Thanks for the input Mark.

[CJSpud]

As a final alternative, you could put breaks in the molding PL at the edges of any door openings (perhaps the exterior trim around the openings) the molding is covering up; then select the segment where the door(s) is located and then click on the option for "no molding on selected edge" (or whatever the exact terminology is).  You might have to zoom in at each door location and fine tune the location of your breaks.  You could have a section view or 3D exterior view open at the same time to help with this step if needed.

[Dermot]

The height that you specify in the "Make Room Molding Polyline" dialog box will determine which doors and windows the molding will get cut out for.  More information can be found here:

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00070/adding-a-belly-band-to-a-structure.html

 

[Designer1]

Nice!  Like those solutions Im going to do that from here on.  Dermot my question is if you have to extrude the molding so that it goes to the outside of the building and can be used inside the home why three choices of molding selections?  Also what would the use be for the other two applications?  If you can double click in any room and put a molding up anywhere why would you use these other tools? Clearly Im missing the benefits of these other molding tools.

[Alaskan_Son]

1 hour ago, Designer1 said:

Dermot my question is if you have to extrude the molding so that it goes to the outside of the building and can be used inside the home why three choices of molding selections?  Also what would the use be for the other two applications?  If you can double click in any room and put a molding up anywhere why would you use these other tools? Clearly Im missing the benefits of these other molding tools.

 

They aren't all "molding tools".  You have the following 3 tools

•  Make Room Polyline: This will create a plain unfilled, unbroken polyline that follows the inside (normal rooms) or outside (exterior room) surface perimeter of the room.  These can be used for any number of purposes but are commonly used for things like area calculations, to convert to floor material regions, to convert to other architectural objects or for moldings that ignore openings.
• Make Living Area Polyline / Make Standard Area Polyline:  The name and function of tool varies a bit depending on which type of room is selected.  For exterior rooms it is called Make Living Area Polyline and will create a hatch filled polyline that follows the main layer perimeter of all areas set to be included in living area calculations.  For normal interior rooms it is called Make Standard Area Polyline and will create a hatch filled polyline that will extend to the exterior main layer surface of exterior walls or to the center of main layer of surrounding walls depending on the Include/Exclude From Total Living Area Calculation status of both the selected room and the adjacent rooms.  Again, this tool can be used for any number of purposes but is most commonly used for area calculations.
• Make Room Molding Polyline:  This tool is the only true molding tool of the 3 and will create an unfilled molding polyline that will automatically remove any existing room moldings, place breaks at all openings included at the set molding height, and automatically suppress moldings and the aforementioned openings.  Again, this tool can be used for a number of purposes but is typically only used for moldings.  Its automatic behaviors don't make it very well suited for much else IMO.

 

Beyond those 3 we also have Expand Room Polyline.  This tool will expand the selection area to overflow into adjacent rooms by ignoring all invisible walls and railings.  If you click on this tool you will be given the option to create any of the 3 polyline types I went over above but for the new expanded area. 

 

Hope that helps. 

[Designer1]

Michael, Thanks for the clarification.  I didnt really know what the uses were for those other two applications so thanks for the examples.  Funny how you can use chief for 15 years and know most things really well but then still learn new things with different tools...I love that.  Thanks again!