solver

No. I posted multiple suggestions on how to improve tab management. Please write this up and post as a suggestion.

Suite lacks the ability to define new wall types.

No need to back up. New version installs in a new directory. No need to uninstall 2014, unless you just want too. If you have made changes to the default templates, they will need to be copied over to the new directory structure.

The Chief Architect forum is ChiefTalk. This forum is for the Home Designer products. They all have a free trial that you may download and test for yourself. This is really a sales related question best answered by the folks at Chief, but yes, you can get a door and window count, and it will contain measurements.

Post the plan?

You really do need to upgrade

That's not the default setting for Home Designer -- that is, cameras are set to display in plan view is the default. There is a related setting under Edit>Default Settings>Camera Always Display Active Cameras.

Have you tried defining a new wall? Essentially a combination of the two. I don't see any reason you could not.

A door and a doorway, window and pass-through.

As I suspected, the display of cameras in plan view is off. Tools>Display Options Check Cameras.

When you have structural problems especially, it's best to post the plan file as well as pictures. Make sure it's closed before posting. Make a copy of the plan. Go to the Build Roof dialog and change the pitch to 10. Go to Edit>Default Settings>Floor and make sure your ceiling heights are correct. Do this for both floors -- in plan view, go to floor 1 and then set defaults, got to floor 2 and set defaults. Go to Edit>Reset to Defaults. Select All Floors and check all the options. Build the roof. Go around the plan changing walls to Full Gable and changing the pitch as needed. This should get you to a default build, although I suspect there will be problems with the second floor roof. Resources for self help: The built in Help System (always a good place to start) Getting Started Knowledge Base YouTube

Post the plan please. There are some settings that could cause the cameras not to show. Easier on me to look at the plan than to type out a bunch of instructions.

I did not watch the video, but did test the Save Active Camera function. Nothing is supposed to happen visually when you click the button -- it just saves the active camera. When you close and reopen the plan, the saved camera will be there in plan view.

I deleted the upper corner boards, then moved the lower ones into position via the mouse. They can be moved and resized. I blocked the molding together so it would be easy to select, but that should not make a difference. I moved it to floor 3, and aligned it, but also just set it to -130" and it was close.

You will need to draw in an attic wall to fill the space. Turn on the reference display to see the first floor.

Looks good. Noticed 3 things. Turn off Boxed Eve for the porch roof, and on for the main roof it connects to. Turn on Gutter for that main roof plane too. Any more questions on the roof?

I assume by masonry, you are referring to concrete. Running a materials list shows the following.

The drawing for the front porch roof was not attached. Getting rid of the fascia gap is easy. The fascia must be at the same height so they join seamlessly. Now reconnect the porch and garage roof, and the connection should look good. Gutters 1st, it sounds like the manually drawn porch roof is not connected to the main roof, if you are getting a gutter there. When you draw in a roof plane it needs to be connected to the adjacent roof plane. By connected, I mean, select one roof plane, press 2, select the adjacent roof plane, and the program will, if possible, connect them. Posting screen captures will help us understand, and result in better answers. And don't not post about a problem. Check the resources below first, then post if you cannot work it out. Resources for self help: The built in Help System (always a good place to start) Getting Started Knowledge Base YouTube There is also a Users Guide and Reference Manual available for download.

Don't let David's video make you think fixing the roof is that difficult. It's a 3 minute job, not a 30 minute one. To show how a small change to the plan can make a difference in the roof, I moved the front wall of bedroom 3 forward to align it with the entry wall. This makes the ridge continuous and in my opinion, cleans up the look.

Good question for Sales/Support. You might contact them directly.

How did you "paste a jpg file to a soffit"?

By changing the materials, you can get many looks. This exposes the actual roof framing. You can also do decorative rafters using angled soffits. Set something to Insulation Air Gap to hide it.

Thread from June https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/1200-porch-creation-with-different-roof-pitches Edit>Reset to Defaults Select All Floors. Check all boxes below. Uncheck Roof Over This Room for both porches. Set the left, and 2 rightmost front walls to Full Gable. You should have, minus the porch roof, what you see here. This roof is auto built. I prefer to let the software build what it can, then use the manual tools as needed to complete the work. Review the thread referenced above for info on the porch roof. What does the front porch roof look like? There are often multiple ways to build a roof for a plan. Home Designer simply covers the space with a roof with your settings -- pitch, hip or gable etc. It does not design the roof. It is often possible to take an auto generated roof and clean it up visually, make ridges align for example. You need to use the manual roof tools for this. When you copy a plan, details matter. Roof overhangs, ceiling heights, room dimensions etc all need to match to give the software the info it needs to build the roof. Even then, it may not match.

See this thread on ChiefTalk discussing the alignment issue.

Did you try searching the built in help for Reference Grid?