DavidJPotter

Every object in this software has a "Dialog Box", Open the "Terrain Specification Dialog" and then look directly at the "Building Pad" input box. Uncheck "Automatic" and then play with raising and lowering the input value for that input box and then observe the resulting changes that changing that value makes in terms of positive or negative values. Back in the 1990's "Terrain" was first added to this software as a feature and is treated as an additive to this day. Terrain has its own tools and settings to do what it does. Study the Reference Manual Sections that explain how to use them to get a product and then practice applying changes to a Terrain Plane to get a feel for how it works. Guessing how something works is something we all do initially. Guessing is mainly a waste of your time. Study and practice and confronting the software and its dialog boxes is the way to become competent and is not a waste of your time to do. DJP

There are two locations for this: 1. Edit - Default Settings - Materials - Exterior Wall ... and 2. Edit - Default Settings - Walls - Exterior Wall - Define Wall type - Set your "Gray 3" as that exterior wall types exterior material DJP

That statement "...cursor changes to a finger..." is true on a PC. I have no idea what should be true on a Mac. You should call Home Designer Tech Support on Monday for a cogent answer to your complaint. DJP

Those lines are on a layer in "Display Options" called "Ceiling Break Lines". By default they cannot be selected as objects only displayed or not. They indicate that your roofs are built low enough, plate height-wise that they are intruding into the edges of the flat ceilings which causes the angle of the roofs to become part of the room's ceiling (coffered ceiling edges). DJP

I am available for Live Help sessions on line on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 10 AM to 7PM Central Standard Time. Call or e mail for an appointment time. Not fully understanding in detail what it is that you need help on makes it difficult to estimate but I doubt we would require more than an hour or so to straighten out your difficulties. DJP

Yes, you are me thinks. Call Tech Support on Monday. The thing for me is I never tried exporting from layout and so it never occurred to me to even try because from plan view or camera views the scaling takes care of itself. To each his own. DJP

Yes exporting .dxf views from a layout is improper procedure from the beginning and doomed to fail. The way this tool is designed to work is to export views from a camera view or while in a plan file exporting a plan view from your plan view. Exporting a .dxf view from layout always throws off your scaling of the exported view because a layout view exported is scaled for printing to a specific paper size which makes the resultant .dxf object hard to impossible to scale if you were to share it with an Architect or Engineer. The plan views and camera views are always at "Real World" scale (1' = 1' scale) and so can be easily shared with AutoCAD or other CAD programs that also use real world scale. To do otherwise is a complete waste of your and others time. DJP

This software is completely mechanical and only "knows" what you tell it to do. So within the limits of its programming you can do what it is programmed to do. See Materials Lists section of the Reference Manual for specific information and procedures. Please look under your "Tools" main menu "Materials Lists" for your various possible choices. Each of these commands do very specific and limited things when commanded and may or may not be what you need and want. All I am saying is "check it out" after study and practice to see if that helps you. DJP

How to auto-generate roofs per type is well defined in your software: "Build Roof Dialog - Roof Styles Tab". It is fairly straightforward but does require some study and practice to do with confidence and within the programming limits of the software and roof geometry. DJP

I haven't done cost estimating since back in the 1990's for remodeling. One of the first things my boss asked me to do was to check out Chief Architect's "Materials List" tool to see if it would help us estimate materials costs. Which it did and does do but what I found out is that the "Materials List" tool just measures what is in your plan file and it also measures how you constructed your plan file, so it also measures how competent you are in perfectly emulating your virtual model with how it will be constructed in the field. So with that limiter and disclaimer it is a place to start. I do know several Chief Architect Premier users who use Chief Premier for estimating BUT they use the Chief Architect plan file model to gain raw data which they then input into professional grade cost estimating program designed for that specific purpose. I am sorry but it has been several years and I do not remember the name of the software used. If you were to post this question at the Chief Architect Premier Users Forum (Chief Talk) you would probably be able to get more specific answers than here. DJP

This feature exists in Home Designer Pro and Premier. Any view, Plan or camera view can be dynamically connected and editable to the plan or camera view it originated on layout from in Pro or Chief Premier. It is easier to edit such views in Premier but also can be done in Pro. DJP

Same plan or any plan? DJP

Pro does not export and or import wall types like Premier does, but I suppose you could create a .plan file naming it "Wall Types" and within that plan you could save altered wall types and then copy-paste those altered wall types from one plan to another using "copy-paste" giving the altered wall a new name so you could tell one wall from another. Not as convenient as Premier but can be done. DJP

Toilets can be found in your "Library Browser", sub category: Architectural - Fixtures - Toilets. Dryers and Washers can be found in your "Library Browser", sub category: Architectural - Appliances. DJP

The raised roof section needs to be defined with walls, invisible or not so you can set that area's ceiling height higher than the left and right sections at a lower ceiling height. the little prow roof on the higher roof sections you cannot do in Architectural for that would require Home Designer Pro or above. You may have to get the exact ceiling height for the higher area by trial and error until you get just the right amount of separation. DJP

Suite has a limited capability in this regard but you can change globally siding by opening the siding 4 or 6 wall in Edit - Default Settings - Walls - Exterior Wall, then go to that wall's "Define Wall Type" dialog where its exterior material can be then changed and that change will be applied to all exterior walls of that type within a plan file. The same is true for Edit - Default Settings - Cabinets by cabinet type. There are other ways available but you should learn them by reading-studying your Users Guide and Reference Manual found under "Help". DJP

I was not being a wise guy with my answer, your question was a little too broad to answer with certainty. LIke Law B10 commented a barrel roof in Pro is painstakingly difficult, in Premier it is a lot easier but you can use the dormer tool and specify a barrel roof (take a look the the dormer specification box-roof drop down. Each roof type and its geometry have specific steps to accomplish, this requires study followed by practice. There are no "tricks", just hard, intent work. DJP

In Pro or Premier you have or not have a sub floor by removing that layer in each room dialog box - Structure tab or more widely in Edit - Default Settings - Floor, it depends on what your overall intent is structurally. DJP

Te ceiling height settings per room tell the roof tool how high to build the baseline of the roof whether you draw it manually or use auto build roofs. Step by step instructions on how to build the various roof types can be found in your "Build Roof Dialog- Roof styles tab". If you have not already read-studied your free "Users Guide" and the section on roof types in your free integral "Reference Manual" should also be carefully studied and then practiced upon in simple test plans to really get grounded. DJP

It helps if you read the "Reference Manual" section on Units and also this is explained fully in your "Users Guide" on how when you open a new plan is where you select "Metric Units or Imperial Units". Easy to do but afterwards you are stuck with whatever you originally chose. If you were to upgrade to Chief Premier it has the ability to "switch" between one unit or the display both. Your main barrier is your own not knowingness. DJP

It can be done but is a little too complicated to explain in detail here on a free help forum. I does involve a number of advanced techniques to bring it off in fully 3D and the simple solution is to just draw the wall elevations using 2D CAD. DJP

It takes a lot of practice and study and sticking to it until you develop the skills. Roof geometry is determined by the geometry of your 3D model, Default Settings-Floor, Room Dialog settings, Build roof dialog settings and your developed skill at manually editing-creating roof planes. DJP

Please call Tech Support. DJP

Read-Study these help articles please: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00777/working-with-light-sources.html This should answer most of your questions. and https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-01007/controlling-light-sources.html DJP