FlightDeck

Hi @y-g-m-n can you give some specific examples of electrical items that do not work with these tools? And why pot lights are difficult? Asking because the suggestions I gave above all work okay for me (in HDP16). Pot lights align ok with the Center Object tool (tho I suggest the Transform/Replicate tool might be faster for many lights). And track lights align okay using the Parallel/Perpendicular tool (and also the Mirror tool).

Hi @BoDay1, it might be a little different in your HDP24, but in my HPD16 when I put the mouse over those tools, text appears below them explaining how to use them. If it doesn't in yours, maybe there is an option to turn that on somewhere? In any case, for the example of lining up lights, you could place the first one, then select it, and then use the the Transform/Replicate tool to make copies in the desired direction and spacing. Alternatively, you could place a bunch of them manually and then use the Center Object tool to align each of them. So you pick one to be aligned, select the Center Object tool, and then you mouse over a second one that you want to align with. A small indicator will show either a vertical or a horizontal reference line depending on where you move the mouse pointer, and this indicates which way the alignment will occur. Move the mouse to get the one you want and then click and it will align the first object to the second object. You will have to repeat this for each light, which is why the Transform/Replicate tool might be easier. I don't think the Parallel/Perpendicular tool would be useful for the lights example, better for something like walls or other objects. You simply click the object to be adjusted, then click the Para/Perp tool, then click the second object to be used as a reference. It uses a "smallest angle" method to adjust the first object to be either parallel or perpendicular to the second object, depending on which is the smaller adjustment. I don't use text boxes so hopefully someone else can cover that. The Center Object tool works somewhat, but it seems to align only the *centre* of the text box with the mouse reference line on the second text box. I couldn't get it to align left edges or bottom edges, for example. But that's probably just me (or my 2016 version). Hope that helps, cheers!

Thanks @scottharris! Guess I was only mis-remembering, and not going crazy that it suddenly disappeared! I'll revert to the classic workarounds. Thanks again, cheers!

Hey all, in HDP2016 I don't see the "Shelf Ceiling" option on the Room Specification > Structure tab (see screenshot). I'd swear I've used it before, but maybe I'm mistaken and it wasn't available in HDP2016? Thanks! (Note the screenshot is from a very basic test plan just like the "Plant Shelf" tutorial.)

Thanks Eric! I just came back here to post that I found that exact option by accident while working on something else! Apparently the interior sill is hidden below the finished floor, so changing the "Height above floor" from 0 to 1" makes the threshold magically appear. (And reduce the door height the same amount if needed to keep the frame unchanged.) Cheers, KDJ

Hi all, hope everyone is well. In HDA16 I'm trying to turn on the display of a threshold/sill for an interior door (for transitions between flooring types in adjacent rooms). The door specifications under Casing has "Use Sill/Threshold" checked (was on by default), and under Framing the "Sill Thickness" is default (1.5") and the "Double Sill" is default (unchecked). I've tried various combinations of these settings on an interior door and I'm unable to make a threshold/sill appear. Exterior doors happily show a threshold / sill of course (in the same material as the exterior trim), and have the exact same sill settings in the door specifications as the interior doors. Is HDA16 hard-coded with no possibility to show a threshold sill in an interior door? Thanks and regards, KDJ

Not what I was recalling / hallucinating, but very useful! I may be able to use this. I note the table gives counts rather than area (for example 3 sheets of drywall). I'll check the forum again to see if I can find the example I'm recalling. I've just checked custom backsplashes and countertops and I see that both of those show area, perimeter, and volume under Polyline in their properties. This is very close to what I recall seeing, but I thought for some reason we could do it for walls. I also recall that whoever posted it was indicating that different versions of the software so more info. His might have been from a CA product as I recall the dialog box was full of data.

I think by now it's becoming clear that the area display I thought I saw before (I think it was in a post here somewhere) must have been imagined, and that the software does not have a simple "what is the area of this wall" tool.

Because I don't want the area from all the walls, only specific ones (different coverings). As mentioned I can't figure out how to get the area option to do a wall. The materials list that pops up shows subfloor and base moulding, but nothing about the wall (and the values it shows appear to be from the entire floor rather than just the rectangle I select).

Not in my case. Even though both sides of the room dividers have an Open Below room above them, both sides have identical floor and ceiling heights. (In this case the room dividers are being used purely as a workaround to permit different mouldings on different walls in the same room, as discussed here https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/1868-disable-mouldings-on-individual-walls-in-a-room/). These dividers are however ending at complex corner junctions of multiple walls of differing types/thicknesses, and I've found these corners are always problematic particularly when editing things. It's possible that the room dividers are looking at floor/ceiling heights on the other side of these corners and seeing differing heights that way.

Thanks Kat. I did try the Area option but it only lets me select an area on the floor. I can't figure out how to select a wall with it.

Thanks Kat. Oddly enough this isn't the case. They are however below a room that is "Open Below". I wonder if that's another trigger.

Thanks Eric. Nice to know I'm not going crazy! (Well I am, but for other reasons! ) Sometimes I've tried altering the thickness back to zero but it rarely works. Will give defining the wall type a try. It's bizarre I didn't have this happen in HDA. Maybe somehow none of my HDA models had the issue that triggers it.

Hi Eric, I haven't used that before. Playing with it now but I don't see how to select a wall to get the details for that. And if I select the Room option nothing seems to happen.

Hi, I saw a post on this from 2014 but the "solution" wasn't clear. I've noticed since using Pro that the default zero-thickness Room Dividers keep converting themselves into invisible walls with the thickness of a default wall. I can't be certain but it seems to do it when re-opening a plan or maybe using Undo. I never recall seeing this issue in HDA. How do I make it stop doing this? Thanks

Hi all, I could swear I've seen a window in the software somewhere that shows the area of a wall when clicked, but I can't find it now. Where is it? I want to use it to quickly get the net areas (without window/door openings) of walls to estimate the amount of tile, drywall, etc. Thanks!

Wicked tip!! Thanks, Eric!

I think others already beat me to this... Yes, they sort of do..., kind of... When I drag one window/door into another, their frames will merge (meaning the wall between them goes away). I believe there are some settings to control the details of how they merge, though I haven't explored them. Anyhow, in this way the windows/doors will appear as a mulled group, both side-by-side and on top of each other. Here's an example from my current model made from 7 separate windows: Moving them, however, is a slightly different story. For side-by-side items, if you click one and initially drag it along the wall *away* from the others, they will separate. If however you instead initially drag it *towards* the others, they can be moved moved as a group in both direction until you release the mouse button. When the groups are more complicated, such as vertical stacking, I select them as a group using one of the methods the others have mentioned (ctrl-click, usually), and then I can easily move them all as a group. Unfortunately we can't group them into an "architectural block" in the HD software. So overall it appears to me the the ability to *create* mulled doors/windows fully exists within the HD software. The handicap is that they are a less easy to move around in HD, but it's still achievable.

I'm confused..., isn't mulling just a group a smaller windows (and doors) making up one larger one? I do that all the time in Arch and Pro versions by just dragging the windows/doors into each other so they merge. Is this what we're trying to do here?

I found that once it's a triangle it can be resized and snapped to other geometry just like a rectangular soffit, so didn't need to do any math at all to have things line up.

Thanks, I did try the sketchup import before using the custom countertop instead, but of course it comes in as an object rather than a soffit geometry so it doesn't behave the same way in the model, and it's resize options are limited. Raymond's solution above is the best so far as it does exactly what was needed. It's a shame it's such a non-intuitive way to access though, as it's a useful feature a lot of users probably don't know exists.

Ah cool, it worked, thanks!!! There was a catch though: the wall corner needs to be 90 degrees first. When I tried doing it with an angled wall corner, it wouldn't make the angled soffit. So instead I used a 90 corner to get the angled soffit, and then moved it over to the angled wall corner to fit. Thanks!

Thanks, Eric. When I tried that before the roof plane made a real mess of the model with the roof sticking down through the middle of it, lol. Similar when I tried a ceiling plane. I wasn't sure how to clean it up afterward. Do you mean I should create the plane way off in space somewhere separate from the model, so that it doesn't show up where it matters? If so, I understand. So far though the manual placement method is working so I think I can live with that

Secret setting!! lol Okay got it, thanks! Here is the actual model redone with this attic wall technique and patched with one "soffit sheet of drywall": Pretty much seamless underneath, and no more problem with the stair stringer trim on top. I tried the ceiling (roof?) plane idea but had zero luck with it. No idea how it works. Found it easier to just fiddle with the sloped soffit. Using a cross-section view through the stairs to see the alignment from the side was very helpful.

Would a "full roof return" do what you need? Check this help manual, page 16: http://cloud.homedesignersoftware.com/1/pdf/documentation/home-designer-pro-2014-users-guide-roof-tutorial.pdf