designer468

Thanks so much for trying! I have 2018, so they must have just added this feature. Bummer. :-( Fortunately, the flower pot did the trick. Thanks again! Anna

I don't get a rotation handle when when I take the cross section and select the object ...

I tried elevation view, but could not see any way to rotate it. I did try catalogs but couldn't find the feet I wanted. I ended up finding a vase that was really close in shape. I reduced it down in size and gave it a "wood" material. It's working for now. :-) Thanks for the tips!

I'm trying to flip a cylindrical object upside down in order to create a set of mid century modern furniture feet (the ones you often see at the bottom of 1950 tables). I can rotate it and flip it sideways, but I need to flip it upside down and can't figure out how to do that.

Ahhhhh ... I have to piece it together. OK, I'll work on it. Wish there was a way to just set the back of the cabinet to be open. :-( Thanks for the help! Anna

Hi, I'm trying to create an architectural piece that is similar to the links below https://www.pinterest.com/pin/210472982570016543/ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/210472982570016506/ So there will be some open shelves (that are completely see through), some shelves with a back on them (open with no doors) and some areas that are closed door cabinets. I know how to manipulate the cabinets to have open shelving, but I can't figure out how to create open shelving that is see through. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Anna

OK, I got it. For anyone else who runs into this problem: 1. Double Click on the Room or open up the Room Specification 2. Click on Wall Coverings 3. Click on Delete to remove the Wall Covering set for all the walls in the Room Thank you Solver!

It doesn't allow me to delete. Every time I hit the delete key, it just beeps at me. And I don't see an option to delete it.

But won't that change the material for all the walls in the room? I just want one wall to be painted a separate color.

Can you see it now?

As a side note. I just checked to make sure I'm up to date on program updates. It looks like I have the latest version ... unless I want to upgrade to 2019.

Just uploaded it. Let me know if it doesn't post. Thank you Solver!

I am consistently having issues when I try to paint one wall. If I use the dropper and try to paint the one wall (using either Component or Object), it paints ALL the walls in the room. So I have been selecting the wall, opening up the dialog and trying to select the material that way. Unfortunately, I get a wall that is partially painted. It has weird artifacts. For some reason, it works on the attic wall but not the lower wall. I am attaching an image of the artifacts and the wall dialog as I've got it set. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Here is the Design. designer468_house-V3-ManRoof-Brick_Fireplaces_Short.plan

Hope they eventually extend that feature to HomeDesigner. Thanks for the help!

Thank you David for answering this on a Sunday! Do you mean that each camera can be configured with a specified backdrop? I opened up the Camera object but can't see where backdrops can be specified. Or do I have to change the backdrop via 3D - 3D View Defaults every time I switch from one camera to the next?

I think I know the answer, but I'm going to see if anyone has any tips for this. Can you set two backdrops? One for the front and one for the back? I took a photo of our backyard and set that as the backdrop. Looks great looking out the back windows and doors! But that same backdrop appears for the front yard windows. Looks odd to have a swimming pool in the front yard. :-/ Any tricks for that? I may just put giant bushes in front of the front windows to hide the backyard image.

That fixed it! Thank you!

The house plan I'm working on has a carport with a roof that extends from the house. For some reason, the ceiling is detached from the underside of the roof ONLY for the garage (or carport in my case). 390 Hibiscus-1-15-18 Garage Ceiling.pdf I can't figure out where this is being set.

Thank you Solver! That did the trick. In case someone else runs into this same problem, here's what I did: 1. Made copy of file as a backup 2. Build-Floor-Delete Foundation 3. Build-Floor-Build Foundation (set foundation as Slab) 4. It initially made the garage (or carport) slab slightly higher, so I adjusted this: - Double click on the Garage to get the Room Specification window - Click on Structure - Change Stem Wall (I) to 4" (which is the height of my slab foundation)

I created a house plan and the default was set to be a perimeter foundation. I've already set up all the walls and windows and don't want to start over. So I need to convert the perimeter foundation to a slab. The house is an Eichler type house, so everything is built on a slab similar to what is seen in the carport. There is no step up into the house. Everything (garage and carport) are at the same level. 390 Hibiscus-1-15-18 Foundation.pdf It's just built on one gigantic, single-level slab. I don't want to make each room a "Garage" in order to get that same slab look. And resizing the stem height doesn't get it to be the same as that garage slab in the image. Any tips and advice would be most appreciated! :-) 390 Hibiscus-1-15-18.plan

Thank you all for your advice! I was reaching such peak frustration that I thought I should step away from the program for a couple of days. I'm not ready to throw in the towel, because I'd like to master the roofing (or at least not be totally frustrated by them). But I figured I needed to be in a more calm state before tackling the roof. :-D Thank you David for that video. My architect's roof is slightly different and I need to reproduce her exact design. That said, your video is an awesome tutorial on roofing and I'm going to watch it carefully to learn the techniques. I also need to talk to my architect about dead valleys. That has me concerned. By stumbling on that one other video you had posted, I also learned that it's much better to use google to search for tutorials. The Home Designer website only brought up 2018 tutorials. Google and YouTube searches produce a lot more videos (by Home Designer and other users). I'm adding this for anyone new who might be reading this thread. Solver ... I have been thinking the same thing. I probably need to start from the ground up. I can easily copy the cabinets over. I have two questions about approach if I start over. The remodel will take that one rectangular section of the house, raise the walls to 10'9", add a gable roof that is 5" pitch. The old part of the house has a 3" pitch. I can do this in two ways: 1) Draw the walls at 8' high. Then select the rectangular room and raise those walls to 10'9". Then turn on auto roof to get whatever roof it puts on, turn it off and modify it myself. OR 2) Keep auto roof on. Draw the walls at 8' high. Create a second story over that rectangular area and Open Below. Set that second story roof to be 5" pitch and gabled. Turn OFF auto roof and reduce the second story walls so that the overall height is 10'9". Then I'll have to manually do the tie in between the old roof and new, following my architect's design. Which approach would you all recommend? I'm leaning towards (2), but I struggle with changing materials on Open Below walls. But I need to try Jo Ann's recommendations. My second question is about interior walls: I noticed that the videos from experienced users often use Interior 6 walls in strategic places. Presumably those are weight bearing. If I put an Interior 6 wall in a certain location, will that trigger Auto Roof Builder to put the peak in that location? Thank you again for all your help. I'm determined to learn this and appreciate all of your tutoring.

David ... are these roofing videos for Chief Architect products good for HomeDesigner Pro users as well? Are the roofing techniques between the two products essentially the same?

Turning Auto Build Roof on does NOT make the issues disappear. I’m dealing with 2 key issues: 1) Auto Roof is great for new designs ... HORRIBLE for remodels where some areas of the roof must remain locked in place (even while exterior walls are changing). I have an architect's design that I must reproduce. The existing 8’ walls must keep their roof planes as they are. A rectangular section of the house will be raised to 10’9” walls and have a separate roof. Auto Roof can’t handle that — it wants to modify the roof line in a way that is inconsistent with our architect’s designs. Jo Ann kindly recreated my design, but not to spec. I MUST move the external walls or my dimensions are off. If I correct the walls with Auto Build roof ON, the roof gets wonky and does not look like the architect's drawings. If I turn Auto Build Roof OFF and correct the walls, I get exposed plywood, artifacts and foundation issues. I upgraded to Pro, but managing those roof planes is not easy. I can’t get them to work. I don't have CAD skills. This product is great for a novice doing basic kitchen and interior design. It is NOT great for complicated roof systems. The User Manual and videos are way too simplistic. I would have no problem doing the roof if I had a simple rectangular house with a simple ceiling. Jo Ann's plan used soffits to cover up ceiling issues that were being created by the roof program, so I thought that was a commonly used technique. I saw Solver’s comments that it is a technique if you don’t own Pro. I've got to now study ceiling planes and roofing, but the videos and instructions are lacking. More hours of struggle ahead. Sigh. Thank you DavidJPotter for pointing out the Reference Manual. I had not seen that. 2) Open Below has a bug when it comes to changing materials on one wall The reason the fireplace is a miscellaneous wall in the room is because there is DEFINITELY a paint bug when using Open Below. Open Below joins all the walls in the area. Whether I use a paint can or the dialog box, I can not modify the material on just a SINGLE wall. If I change the material on one wall, it changes it for the entire area. If I connect the fireplace wall to an Open Below wall, it turns white. So I've had to do work arounds in order to get a visual of what the fireplace would look like. I’m documenting my struggles here in case someone is considering upgrading to Pro to help with ceiling and roofing issues. It did not make things easier with respect to the ceiling or the roof. The manual roofing tools are complicated and the support materials are lacking. I’ve easily spent 200+ hours on this program and way too much of that time has been spent on battles with the roof and ceiling. It continues to be my nemesis. There ought to be 5 more videos showing an assortment of complicated roof situations — especially with respect to remodels vs new home design. I will post a review on Amazon soon.

When I try to do a manual ceiling in the attic, it puts the ceiling plane up in the air. My project uses two floors with Open Below. Which level do I go into to make the ceiling plane? Jo Ann kindly did this design for me because I was not able to reproduce the roof that represents our remodel. She put soffits in the attic. Are soffits also used to create vaulted ceilings ... especially when the Open Below option is being used?

Do you mean using soffits to draw in my own ceiling planes? Is there a video that explains how to do that? And if I use soffits, how do I punch skylights through the soffits?