4 pane french doors

[winterdd]

Is there a way to add lites to these doors like we can with windows? Of course I have a request for doors that aren't in the library, or atleast my library.

 

[winterdd]

2 minutes ago, solver said:

Doors are easy to make or customize.

 

And much may be done via the door dialog -- have you reviewed your options?

yeah the "lites" option wasn't available to manipulate on these but I will look into further.

[joey_martin]

Don't use a library door, just use the door tool.

[JacobB]

Lites and custom muntins can only be applied to doors that are using the "Glass Panel" door style.

[SusanC]

Screen shots below show a visual of what JacobB said - this can be done if you select the "Glass Panel" door style and then open the "Lites" tab to add muntins.  

[winterdd]

26 minutes ago, SusanC said:

Screen shots below show a visual of what JacobB said - this can be done if you select the "Glass Panel" door style and then open the "Lites" tab to add muntins.  

This is pretty cool.

[SusanC]

In addition to having control over the muntins and even the width of the muntins, you also have the ability to change the width of the rails and the stiles of the glass panel door.  In the screenshot below, see the section that says "Panel Frame Widths" and this is where you can make adjustments.  

Now if we could just get Chief to add these features to the cabinet door dialog box as well....    

[Taylor_B]

On 1/9/2023 at 6:34 PM, joey_martin said:

Don't use a library door, just use the door tool.

FYI for the curious: the reason some controls don't work on library doors is they're 3D models, and while they have "glass" components, the program doesn't really have a good way to  identify and modify 3D model data like that. That typically boils down to "if the 3D Model isn't how you like it, adjust the 3D Model".

The doors baked into the Door Type dropdown are parametric objects, special door objects that the program has explicit control over. This is why those types of doors actually change their shape when given an Arch, etc., but library doors don't.

[SusanC]

Taylorb, that is very interesting!  Is this also the case in the cabinet door dialog box?  The library cabinet doors are 3d objects and thus not completely adjustable while the drop down cabinet doors are parametric objects with more ability to adjust?  

[kellyh]

36 minutes ago, SusanC said:

Taylorb, that is very interesting!  Is this also the case in the cabinet door dialog box?  The library cabinet doors are 3d objects and thus not completely adjustable while the drop down cabinet doors are parametric objects with more ability to adjust?  

Yes. That's the exact reason. Essentially Chief is dynamically generating that parametric object whereas with a 3D model, it's just using the existing 3D geometry of that model. The most Chief can do with that geometry is adjust the width, height, and materials, and that's really it.

[Taylor_B]

Yup! And because they're parametric panels that can be set as "Framed" and "Glass door", one would think that adding Lite controls to cabinet panels would be possible... Thoughts, @Dermot?  

[JacobB]

22 hours ago, Taylor_B said:

one would think that adding Lite controls to cabinet panels would be possible...

Theoretically, it should be relatively easy to add lites to cabinet doors and drawers. Custom muntins would probably be more difficult but still easy. That said, the lites and custom muntins code is pretty dusty, so if we decide to fix bugs or make improvements that would significantly increase the effort it would take.

 

Edit: See Dermot's and my comments below for more clarification.

[SusanC]

Ahhh!!  Thank you again kellyh, Taylor_B, and JacobB for the explanation of how parametric and 3d objects are used in both the door dbx and the cabinet door dbx.  Yes, @Dermot, would you consider dusting off some code and adding some more capability to the adjustability of the basic cabinet doors in the drop down menu of the cabinet dbx?   There are many users who would be very grateful to be able to select a cabinet "framed door" option from the drop down menu and be able to control muntins as well as width of the rails and stiles.  Thx!   

[Dermot]

Yes, it would be possible to add all of the same parametric door controls to cabinet doors, including the ability to adjust the rails and stiles or add divided lites. 

 

It just isn't as easy as you might think.  The fundamental problem is that the code for the parametric doors was developed specifically for standard doors and we would need to make it more general purpose (and clean it up a bit) in order to use this same code for cabinet doors. 

 

This is a project that is currently on our lengthy todo list but I am not sure when we will be getting to it.  If you would like to see this happen sooner rather than later, then I would encourage you to submit a feature request.  We use the number of people that request a particular feature to help us to determine its priority.  The more people that ask, the higher up the list it moves.

 

[SusanC]

Dermot,

Thank you for responding.  I did put a request for this on the Suggestions forum awhile back, which I am assuming is the place to formally submit a feature request?  

Thanks,

Susan

[SusanC]

Hi Eric,

Thank you very much for the video.  I've made custom doors from solids and countertops and saved them as symbols, but had not thought to use a door or window as a tool for creating a custom symbol.   Very clever.  

Susan

[DBCooper]

I like to make door symbols using cabinets.  See this thread for some examples:

 

 

 

[JacobB]

14 hours ago, Dermot said:

It just isn't as easy as you might think.  The fundamental problem is that the code for the parametric doors was developed specifically for standard doors and we would need to make it more general purpose (and clean it up a bit) in order to use this same code for cabinet doors.

As Dermot's pointing out, I probably should have put more emphasis on the caveats. Theory rarely plays out as expected.

 

15 hours ago, SusanC said:

would you consider dusting off some code and adding some more capability to the adjustability of the basic cabinet doors in the drop down menu of the cabinet dbx?   There are many users who would be very grateful to be able to select a cabinet "framed door" option from the drop down menu and be able to control muntins as well as width of the rails and stiles.

This is no longer even theoretically easy. Even if all of those requests were easy, multiple easy things make a difficult task.

 

14 hours ago, Dermot said:

This is a project that is currently on our lengthy todo list but I am not sure when we will be getting to it.

I probably should have mentioned this as well, just because something is easy doesn't mean it will become a priority. @SusanC you mentioned at least three separate requests: more cabinet door styles, control over the rail and stile widths, and lites. I'm guessing between those, you'd probably put lites at the bottom of the priority list.

[SusanC]

 

I am always amazed at what I learn on Chief Talk!

Thank you to all the Chief Staff on this thread for explaining that doors in Chief's drop down menu are parametric and library doors are created as 3d objects and what the properties are of each.  I had made a request on this thread and in the suggestion box for the ability to have more customization of cabinet doors through the cabinet dbx, not understanding - until it was explained on this thread - how these doors were created on the back end and what the limitations are.  I'd be happy with any improvements to the parametric doors, but understand that is not as easy as it sounds.

Chief's cabinet tools are amazing and as a kitchen / bath designer, I'm constantly using them and very appreciative of their many uses and stability.  I will go forward trying out some of the ideas presented on this thread for ways to create custom door styles: Eric's creative use of the door tools to create cabinet door symbols, DBCooper's link to MarkMc's countertop strategy, and really interesting - Dermot's use of the cabinet itself to create door symbols. 

Thanks again everyone for such great input!!

Susan  

[MoeGia]

I love seeing the Chief Staff interacting on this board.  Lot's of useful information going both ways.  Thank you all for taking the time; your time and patience is greatly appreciated.