Custom Window - Trapezoid Shape

[Ange822]

Hello - I am wondering if there is a way I can create a Trapezoid shaped window. I found a similar thread but it was for a parallelogram shaped window.

I have been playing around with the "shape" tab in the window specification, but can not for the life of me figure it out! I have also looked at other threads to see if I can make a custom window but I could not find that either. I have shown in red what I would like the window shape to be;

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

 

 

[JacobB]

Unfortunately, Chief currently doesn't let you do that easily. The only way I know of to get a window that shape is using a symbol. Luckily you can create an appropriate symbol using a shaped window.

 

Steps:

1. Create a window with the desired look, but rotated.
2. Convert that window to a symbol.
3. Rotate that symbol about the y-axis.
4. Place the symbol in the plan.
5. Cleanup the wall around the symbol.

 

The window shape has some significant limitations:

• Top
  • Maximum of three edges.
  • No edge can be vertical or undercut another edge. Specific limitations: horizontal offsets must be sequential and must have a separation of at least 1".
  • Lowest point is 1/4" above the bottom (there is a workaround).
• Bottom
  • Only allows sloping the bottom (always one edge).

 

Edit: I realized there is an easier orientation for this situation that doesn't require the workaround, but I'll leave it here in case it helps someone else. Left window is the original, right doesn't require the workaround.

The workaround to remove side edges:

1. Make the window height 1" larger than you want the final result.
2. Create the desired shape, but set the Side and Top Inside Corner heights to 1" higher than the final result.
3. Make a new window that is the desired height.
4. Use the object painter to transfer just the window height to the shaped window.

• Notes
  • The bottom of the frame breaks when doing this, but that issue and others are fixed in X15. Now that these issues are fixed, we should probably change the left and right side height minimums to 0" instead of 1/4", but that obviously hasn't happened.
  • Making the side edges zero works fine, but making the side edges negative with this workaround is problematic.
  • Opening the window specification dialog and clicking OK will reset the shape and undo the workaround.

 

TrapezoidWindow.plan

[DrawingABlank]

Looks like there is a solution using symbols.

Just adding this in case others find this thread looking for odd shapes...

Eric had some ideas for non-typical shapes using pass-throughs.

Odd Shaped Doorways Using a Pass Through - Chief Architect

[JacobB]

13 minutes ago, DrawingABlank said:

Looks like there is a solution using symbols.

Just adding this in case others find this thread looking for odd shapes...

Eric had some ideas for non-typical shapes using pass-throughs.

Odd Shaped Doorways Using a Pass Through - Chief Architect

Good point. Manually mulled pass throughs is a good way to enable most of the window functionality, and to do 90% of the wall cleanup. You'll still need the workaround and symbol for this particular case.

 

Here is a working example that only needs a little touch up.

TrapezoidWindow.plan

[DeLayDesign]

@Suggestions

Great ask - You give us the option to flatten the top; why not give us the same option for the bottom?

[Ange822]

@solverkindly created a video to show how to do this, see the youtube link below;

https://youtu.be/lFbTQTRypao