DavidJPotter

On the Home Designer website it also states that to gain full benefits of visual acuity possible requires specific hardware support to attain the best results. DJP

I think you need ti clarify EACTLY what you are trying to do. Eric and I have tried to answer your "question" but I do not believe you have stated yet clearly exactly what you need and want leaving us to guess what you need and want. DJP

This forum is for Home Designer software users (not Chief Architect Premier and Interiors users), what software ARE you using please? Different titles contain differing abilities and tools. DJP

You are welcome to download a free trial version of any of the three new versions of Home Designer software and see for yourself. I downloaded Home Designer Pro trial and saw that they added "Physically Based Rendering" render type that was not present in earlier versions. It has been present for years in Chief Premier and Interiors as well as photo realistic "Ray Tracing" but these have never been available to Home Designer software titles. The other complaints you listed are solved mainly in Chief Architect Premier and Interiors software or are merely shortfalls of competence with end users. No software anywhere delivers a perfect product without a lot of competence applied by its end users. DJP

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By direct manipulation of a wall poly line (Home Designer Pro Only or Chief Premier, not Suite or Architectural). By programming a wall to be a "Solid Railing" then you control its height by the Newels and Baluster Height input box (Chief Premier, Home Designer Pro, Suite and Architectural.) You mainly control wall height via a Room Specification Dialog - Finished Ceiling Height input box (the ceiling height controls the height of the ceiling and secondarily the height of the walls that form a room. This is all explained in your Reference Manual in detail. DJP

In HD Pro with a layout file you will have to delete the old view on the layout page and then send from the new updated plan file the view which you wish to update on the layout file. in Chief Premier you have a "Relink File" tool for such purposes but again, that, along with MANY other features is why Premier is a lot more expensive than HD Pro, sorry. DJP

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Please share a copy of your plan here or with me so I can see what its size in Mb is and also so others can LOOK and evaluate. If the size in Mb is zero then most likely your plan is completely lost but if it shows a size of considerable Mb then there is hope you can repair and retrieve the plan file. If it is too large to attach here you can use Google Drive, One Drive or Dropbox to share a copy with others. DJP

Is it that when you open your named plan file that it is blank or is the plan file "lost" (you cannot find it)? If you can open it is the plan view blank? If so hit your " F6" key to bring the structure back in view in plan view. Have you tried creating an over view camera to see it the plan file is actually blank? You need to provide more exact data/description as to what you are seeing or not seeing please. The advice you obtained at Chief Talk might help, did you actually read the article? ( https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00099/accessing-your-archive-files.html ) DJP

It is not recommended that you use this as procedure for combining two plan files. What IS recommended is that you develop EVERYTHING for a single project in a single plan file. Layers can be turned on or off depending upon what you are graphically communicating. If you developed a terrain plane separately from your structure in a separate plan file then that was just a rookie mistake that new users often make. Be that as it may, you can copy-paste-hold position your terrain data from that plan file into your structure plan file. You are basically causing double work for no good reason other than you did not know. Terrain is always orientated TO the structure. You NEVER move or rotate the structure, rather you rotate the terrain to the structure's orientation, the common "North South" of the plan view. For Magnetic North one uses a "North Pointer" that can be orientated relative to the North-South of the plan view. You do not need a video to do something that is not recommended. DJP

You can also order your window casings to be wider and thicker, then just apply the stone material to the window casings exterior. DJP

The wall polylines of a pony wall are highly adjustable via the Wall Specification Dialog - Wall Types dialog or in elevation camera views. DJP

FOR vector view elevations I use the ""Delete Surface" tool before I send the view to layout to remove the glass, just leaving an outline of the glass. I often add 2D "reflection Marks" from the 2D CAD library to make it more evident that glass is there but is transparent. DJP

I wouldn't recommend starting with anything but Home Designer Pro. DJP

Import this Sketch Up symbol and see if that works for you, you place a Doorway in Architectural and then place the imported Dutch Door symbol into the space created by the Doorway. DJP Dutch Door.calibz

The last time I needed one for a project I was working on, I downloaded a "Dutch Door" unit symbol from 3D Warehouse, placed a "Doorway" where I wanted the Dutch Door and then placed my downloaded symbol of a Dutch Door into the doorway. DJP

The "White" material is the white border of the imported custom material image. You need to delete the existing imported image and then crop the image so it can then cleanly repeat across a 3D face without the white space, this must be CAREFULLY AND PRECISELY DONE in order to get the desired effect in Home Designer. You reedit the image and then reimport into Architectural as a new custom material. DJP

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Hallo Mate! With Glass shower walls I do not recommend setting them as "Railing Walls" (I only use that when I need a lower solid wall with glass on top by way of using the "Pony Wall" setting-not railing walls). With regular glass walls their height can be manually set using an elevation camera and just editing, directly the wall polyline of each glass wall to your desired height. DJP

In Architectural you first download the Sketch Up file from 3D Warehouse (.skp) and then open Architectural plan, go to the "File Menu - Import 3D Symbol" using the offered dialog box to navigate to your "Downloads" folder, select the .skp file and then click "OK". For other sources check, as Rookie65 suggested: pool table - Catalog Search (chiefarchitect.com) DJP

Place a "Door", then open its dialog box and select a "Gate" to replace the door, then adjust the height of the gate to match the railing walls that form the stalls. DJP

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