Help with @steve_nyhof garage doors symbols

[GeneDavis]

@Steve_NyhofThanks for doing garage doors but I cannot figure how to get a door with lites in the top panel, using your .lib items.

 

When I look at my user library in the library panel, I can see the various choices, but when I go to select a library item in the door spec dialog, they aren't there.  All I have is the single panel strips, which repeat to populate the whole door opening, but I want lites in the top row.

[Steve_Nyhof]

Hi Gene,

 

There should be complete garage doors in the library as well with a top row of glass. Let me know if you cannot find that. 

[GeneDavis]

There are, but for some reason when I go to my user library in the door spec dialog, which is the only way to get a garage door in a plan, I do not see the same library items I see when I view my user library in the library panel.  The library panel has the doors with glass, the library is not the same as when going to the user library in the door spec panel.

 

Here I show the selection I get in the door spec.

[Chrisb222]

3 minutes ago, GeneDavis said:

I go to my user library in the door spec dialog, which is the only way to get a garage door in a plan

 

Not the only way, you can place the door directly from your Library Browser.

[Steve_Nyhof]

Yes, please drag the door you want from the library onto the garage wall. Thank you

[GeneDavis]

And I have now discovered that this is the ONLY way these library doors can be placed.  Thanks.

 

[Joe_Carrick]

Gene,

If you set you Garage Door Defaults to use the Library Object it should work for all new doors placed.

[GeneDavis]

Hi @Joe_Carrick@Steve_Nyhof@Chrisb222 this whole exercise has me a little confused.  I have made garage door symbols and placed them in my user library, and can place a default garage door first, and then open the door for edit of its spec, and change it to one of my catalog doors.

 

My user catalog doors (the ones I made) can also work by direct placement, that is, with the garage door tool active, I can click one of my doors in my user library panel and click/place it on a wall.  That click/place works with the doors I have from Steve, but Steve's cannot be found if I do a garage door as described in the above paragraph.

 

The do not appear in the library when in the dialog.  See pic attached.

 

So what is the difference between how I did my garage door symbols, and how Steve did his?

[Steve_Nyhof]

Hi Gene,

 

I am not looking at my doors, but maybe as a symbol I have some option not set. I did make these in X15 while still learning Chief so it is possible I do not have something correct. When I want to use the garage doors I just put then in the plan on my garage wall and move on, so I have not tried what you are talking about. Now I am curious as to what is different.

[Steve_Nyhof]

What I am finding is that it needs to be a symbol to show up in the DBX

https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/W7xS5a3le3OoCEuhaSUw

 

Here is more of why the one works and the other does not

https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/LfjOvLqiaAst1tXNT5CT

[Chrisb222]

36 minutes ago, GeneDavis said:

Hi @Joe_Carrick@Steve_Nyhof@Chrisb222 this whole exercise has me a little confused.  I have made garage door symbols and placed them in my user library, and can place a default garage door first, and then open the door for edit of its spec, and change it to one of my catalog doors.

 

My user catalog doors (the ones I made) can also work by direct placement, that is, with the garage door tool active, I can click one of my doors in my user library panel and click/place it on a wall.  That click/place works with the doors I have from Steve, but Steve's cannot be found if I do a garage door as described in the above paragraph.

 

The do not appear in the library when in the dialog.  See pic attached.

 

So what is the difference between how I did my garage door symbols, and how Steve did his?

 

Yes, I understand. The doors I created can also be selected within the DBX, regardless whether the default door is a Library Object or a standard Chief door style. 

 

I knew this when I posted and assumed it's something about how Steve created the doors, but I don't have his catalog so I didn't comment on that.

 

Here's my catalog if you're interested:
 

 

[Steve_Nyhof]

@Chrisb222 So based on my videos, what am I missing on my doors that could make them work?

Thank you

[GeneDavis]

I am a long time Sketchup user and for me it's easy to create doors and then import them into Chief.  The symbol-import dialog allows you when importing to do DOOR category and then when checking advanced options to create the symbol as a garage door.  When I do a garage door this way it gives the ability to select it in the door spec dialog from library AFTER placing a default garage door.

 

Doing it all inside Chief, i.e., creating a door using solids then blocking or whatever, if the same sequence of symbol creation, DOOR, then ADVANCED, then in options, GARAGE DOOR, you get the same results.

 

 

[Alaskan_Son]

9 hours ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

What I am finding is that it needs to be a symbol to show up in the DBX

https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/W7xS5a3le3OoCEuhaSUw

 

Here is more of why the one works and the other does not

https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/LfjOvLqiaAst1tXNT5CT

The difference is likely whether you add to library as a door or a doorway.  One is a symbol and the other is a parametric door object.

[GeneDavis]

@Steve_Nyhofplease describe your procedure in creating the garage door symbols.  Show us with screencaps if you have the time.

 

An example of a garage door I did is this 6' w x 8' h overhead door with lites in the third panel up from bottom.  See the two screencaps of my Sketchup model.

 

I do file>import 3D symbol and find the .skp file in my files, click to import it, then choose that it will be a door, do advanced, then under options, choose garage door from the dropdowns.  That's it.  Once in, the 3D symbol is opened for placement of stretch planes so the door can behave parametrically.

 

What was your process?

[DBCooper]

Michael is correct.  One of the library objects is a symbol of a door panel and the other is a full garage door.  You can only choose a panel symbol from the door dialog but you can place either from the library and into the plan.

 

[Alaskan_Son]

8 hours ago, DBCooper said:

Michael is correct.  One of the library objects is a symbol of a door panel and the other is a full garage door.  You can only choose a panel symbol from the door dialog but you can place either from the library and into the plan.

 

...in addition, it should be noted that when pulling and dropping directly from the library:

• a Door symbol (panel) will just be the panel used for whatever style of door you have specified in its Options tab.  When dropped into the plan, it will respect its Size, Position, Label, Materials, Components, and a few other settings, but everything else about the newly placed parametric door object will respect your current defaults for that door type.
• a Doorway object (parametric) will carry over everything about the door--Door Panel settings, Casing and sill settings, Jamb, Arch, Framing, Rough Opening, Energy Values, Schedule settings...everything. 

If you want to just use the panel itself, then add to library as a Door and make sure none of its settings are silly unless you want them to be unique for a very specific reason.

[Steve_Nyhof]

 

On 3/14/2025 at 9:01 AM, Steve_Nyhof said:

Here is more of why the one works and the other does not

https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/LfjOvLqiaAst1tXNT5CT

 

Non of my doors used Doorway as a symbol from the start. I tried that and that is goofy. The video above shows how I make a door symbol and use that to generate the same panel garage door, and that symbol shows up in the DBX in the Library list, again because it is a symbol.

 

Once the Door symbol is made and put into a wall, you can open the garage door and change all the settings you want and then save that to the Library. This now is only a garage door and can only be inserted into a wall from the library and not from the DBX library list (it is no longer a symbol). You can still open it in the Library and change its settings as a garage door.

 

IF HOWEVER, you create a full sized garage door (7' x 18') as a Door symbol it will show up in the DBX library list. But only as a symbol, and you cannot change the settings like you can in the example above. So, if you want to be able to swap out full garage doors you would want to create a Door symbol as a full size garage door and leave it as a symbol. 

 

The doors that have the row of glass in them where saved as a full size garage door symbol, but then I still adjusted the settings I wanted and saved that to the Library so that when I inserted it into a wall, all my garage door settings were in place.

 

When I have a client that wants to change a 16' wide garage door to an 18' garage door, I delete the existing door and add the new 18' wide garage door from the library. By doing it this way I know that all my default settings will come with that garage door when it is placed and I have nothing to change.

 

It would be nice if I could swap out a garage door from the DBX or the library tool  because I would not need to relocate the door or attach the dimension again. 

 

[Alaskan_Son]

12 hours ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

None of my doors used Doorway as a symbol from the start…

….Once the Door symbol is made and put into a wall, you can open the garage door and change all the settings you want and then save that to the Library.

You may not have put them in there that way from the start, but this described process adds to library as a Doorway (parametric object) after the fact.

 

12 hours ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

It would be nice if I could swap out a garage door from the DBX or the library tool  because I would not need to relocate the door or attach the dimension again. 

We actually already have this functionality. The Replace capability you mention should automatically be activated once you select a Door (symbol) from your library.  
 

If the Door does not yet exist in your library and only the Doorway exists, then you can drop the Doorway into your plan, select it, click the Add to Library As tool, and then select the Door symbol from the list given.  

[Steve_Nyhof]

10 hours ago, Alaskan_Son said:

If the Door does not yet exist in your library and only the Doorway exists, then you can drop the Doorway into your plan, select it, click the Add to Library As tool, and then select the Door symbol from the list given.  

 

I did not know there was an option for Add to Library As tool. Going to look into that. Thank you

[Alaskan_Son]

4 minutes ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

 

I did not know there was an option for Save As. Going to look into that. Thank you

It's not exactly Save As.  Its juts a way to save the desired element or component from a composite object.  Its only available for a small handful of object types.

[Steve_Nyhof]

Correct, I updated my language above

 

This is what I find. I never question Michael, and I do always learn from him.

 

This is what I am learning for being able to change the garage door into a Door.

https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/HjmT6E57Z2hjPRpM0LMZ