Just a Poll


winterdd
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How many of you include detached structures in one plan file. An example would be this Floridian Style home I am working. The home itself is custom and quite challenging but as you pull up the driveway there will be one 27X27 garage to the left and one 27x27 garage to the right. In the past I found that multiple foundations and roofs can sometimes go nuts if, say, the garages have mono slabs and the main home is stem walled and you auto-build them. This is the first 3 separate structure project I have worked.

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Separate plan files....I few reasons come to mind off the top of my head:

  1. revisions for each building and the design process with the customer
  2. municipalities typically require separate submittals, so easier to create those with separate files
  3. roof creation:  might need slightly different styles or roofs for each structure...and auto vs manual roofs, etc
  4. site plan: can move them easier on the site independently if want to experiment with locations
  5. terrain
  6. ...other reasons i'm not thinking of
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Some more reasons:

  • simplicity for storypole
  • keeping the accessory building on Chief's grid - this helps in too many ways to mention
  • simplicity of section and elevation cameras
  • simplicity of the construction pages in layout (maintain your same page system for each building)
  • future re-use of the accessory building plan and layout file for identical or near identical structures
  • set up of separate building defaults
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I like the idea's here. I can do one site plan but do a CAD detail of the garage plans to copy and paste on the main home file. Thanks guys. What sucks is the garages will match the home and give that grand look for the renderings if they were all in one file.

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1 minute ago, winterdd said:

What sucks is the garages will match the home and give that grand look for the renderings if they were all in one file.

This is very simple to accomplish. I would use a reference view for initial design review and I'd convert the garage to a symbol and place that symbol in the main file for a higher quality rendering, at or near completion of the design.

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To date I have always included multiple structures in one plan file.....  Houses,  ADU's,  detached garages......

 

If it was an apartment project I may consider separate plan files.......

 

I never convert garages or ADU's to symbols......  for whatever reason,  my projects are ever changing.

 

I had a project with a detached garage,  an ADU and a House, and a Swimming Pool  all oriented at different angles....  I put them all in same plan file......  this made it easier to see the relationship between all structures around pool.  

 

I suppose you could use ref sets but editing between plans seems to be more difficult.

 

Different strokes for different folks

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Chief_QA is the correct approach.  I'm still wrapping my head around it.  I still prefer a site plan file, then separate plan files for all the reasons mentioned by others above.  i then export models of the two plans and position them where I want on the site plan  (much easier than figuring out the x,y,z locations of imported plans)  All 3 file plan details and cameras can be exported to one single layout file for submittals and presentations.

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On 2/15/2024 at 6:43 AM, dshall said:

To date I have always included multiple structures in one plan file.....  Houses,  ADU's,  detached garages......

 

If it was an apartment project I may consider separate plan files.......

 

I never convert garages or ADU's to symbols......  for whatever reason,  my projects are ever changing.

 

I had a project with a detached garage,  an ADU and a House, and a Swimming Pool  all oriented at different angles....  I put them all in same plan file......  this made it easier to see the relationship between all structures around pool.  

 

I suppose you could use ref sets but editing between plans seems to be more difficult.

 

Different strokes for different folks

I do it like Scott, if it's too big to fit on an arch d size then I just use a larger page size. of course, if the buildings are too far apart then I would draw them in separate plans.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 2/14/2024 at 6:01 PM, Chief_QA said:

You can show multiple plans in one camera view using the reference display.  You can even position them as well.

 

image.thumb.png.4b8766c3f8a50c628f7616ca2992f3ac.png

Is this done in a camera view? Can you let me know where to fins this? It sounds like what another program in the past calls external referencing.

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5 hours ago, Chief_QA said:

In any view that you would like to display other plans, just click on the floor number in the toolbar and it will open that dialog.

 

image.thumb.png.1ac83207b3460e58696ff487253e652f.png

This is the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. I had no clue this was a feature. Wow, lots more to learn on the program.

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It really depends on the type of project it is. I've done numerous residential developments which involved creating several different styles of buildings, each in their own file and then converting them into symbols and placing each symbol in it's assigned position in the master plot file. I've also done several single family residences which include a main house and a separate ADU or maybe a pool house. In these cases, I've kept everything in a single file because the design for each structure is always evolving throughout the life of the project and I find it easier to keep it all in one place since an auxiliary structure (garage, pool house, ADU) can't be edited if I bring it in  as an imported symbol.

 

There's really no right way or wrong way. it all depends on the needs of each project.

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