DavidJPotter

Open any Cabinet dialog box - Door or Drawer -input boxes where you can raise/lower more left/right door hinges and knobs-pulls DJP

See if this helps in your quest: DJP

You import the .dwg using the "File - Import - DWG command" dialog. Once imported, I recommend you move the import away from your structure and terrain plane. Then you rotate the imported dwg so it properly is orientated to your existing structure. Once that is done you can then you can sketch over the imported contour lines with HD Pro elevation objects (lines, splines) then once created you assign a value relative to the stated values, one at a time until you are finished bottom to top with in the area of your HD Pro Terrain Plane. It is a process of transference from the imported dwg as a guide that you trace over within HD Pro to eventually obtain the desired 3D product. I do not believe such a tutorial exists just for Home Designer Pro use (only Chief Architect Premier which has many more abilities and tools than does HD Pro.) DJP

If such items have a "Dialog Box", look and see if that Dialog Box has a "Fill Tab". If it does you should be able to use the Fill Tab of the object's to apply a fill, if no fill tab then no object fill is then possible. Take a look please. DJP

Go to "Display Options" and make sure that the "Elevation Data" layer is not "Locked" (if it is locked you cannot select it or edit objects on "locked" layers). DJP

Personally, I never use GPS imports because they are harder to control and are often too complex for most home computers to handle. That said, you did what you did and have what you have. You should remove any remaining elevation objects within the permeameter of your Flat Region (they will cause bizarre-o world results). It is not true that elevation objects cannot be edited and that IS what you must do to lessen the slope between the edge of the flat region and surrounding elevation objects, one at a time, manually. "Automatic" results are more work than they have actual value in this software. DJP

That particular icon indicates that you currently have one or more walls that are not properly connected in your plan view. Find the bad wall connection manually and then repair it and the icon should then disappear. DJP

That behavior tends to indicate that your video support is insufficient to support this software. Minimum Requirements are stated on the Home Designer Website. Go there and see how that compares to what you currently have. Updating the software drivers is a good idea either way but may or may not solve your visual problems. Upgrading your computer will. DJP

In order to obtain symmetry in a roof design, especially a gambrel roof system, each pair of roof planes side to side, must match in terms of their pitch and baseline heights. This is also true for the other two roof planes that are opposing pairs. Until they are made symmetrically on both sides you will not have a useable product. The roof plane baselines must also be laid out in plan view symmetrically as well as having matching pitches and baseline heights. The easiest way to get a gambrel roof is to properly set up your structure in plan view and then follow unerringly the steps and settings described in the Build Roof Dialog - Roof Types Tab - Gambrel Roof settings placed by you in the opposing walls on the wall's Roof Tab, the opposing walls set to "Full Gable Wall". Only if the geometry of your floor plan and its pre-settings being correct will you then get a product. It can be done manually but whatever method used must be precisely and methodically laid out. DJP

See if this helps DJP

In Home Designer Pro you create One layout file PER printed page, so 20 pages = 20.layout files. In Chief Premier that is NOT true, a Chief Premier .layout file contains a potential of 1,000 blank pages. That is one of the major differences between Chief Premier and Home Designer Pro. DJP

In a cross section camera ninety degrees to the wall you manually edit the block wall so it steps as you wish downward using the "Break Line" tool of the wall polyline, take a look! DJP

Print quality is controlled by how you send your images to layout before printing. Vector View plan and camera views produce the sharpest images and lines. All the other camera types use Pixels and are thus the tend to "pixelate" when printed depending upon the resolution that you choose to send them to layout. For Cabinet Elevations, Exterior Elevations and details, I always use Vector view or Plot Lines settings before sending to layout for printing. Anything else, in terms of Construction Documentation is a waste of time. I use 3D view ONLY for design clients and NEVER or almost never for CD's as 3D views can and are often misunderstood by building professionals who are used to crisp-clear-easy to read 2D views and dimensions. DJP

In Premier you have the "Detail View", which added some fills automatically but in Pro it is all done manually by you ala AutoCAD procedure with 2D overlays. DJP

You create a layout file for EACH printed-scaled page you require. 10 pages = 10 layout files named so you can keep them organized. The major difference between Chief Premier's .layout file and HD Pro's layout file is just that. In Pro requires a single layout file per printed page and in Premier its layout file by default can contain up to 1,000 different pages in a single file. DJP

You can always move a light by way of its dialog box. You can, sometimes with greater difficulty, select a light source in an elevation camera view but light sources/fixtures can be rather small so it requires one to zoom in to gain finer control. All such edits require patience and determination. Keep trying, keeping in mind my advice please. DJP

IT is a mechanical tool, IT doesn't do or keep YOU from doing anything, unless it contains pre-programmed limitations. You, currently are the only sources of any limitations. DJP

In HD Pro, Architectural and Suite 2021 all paper size restrictions have been removed. In past versions the max size was 18x24. What do you have? DJP

I started with Version 4 of Chief Architect in 1994, so I think your math is a little off (there was no Chief Architect of any kind in 1986; (2021-35=1986). That in itself is nothing, just saying... DJP

The gap can be manually closed in a cross section camera view, you select the wall which will display its edit handles for you to pull the upper wall down or the first floor wall up to fill the gaps. DJP

That is what "Room Divider" walls are for to separate spaces for differing purposes. DJP

Sorry, me either exactly. DJP

Architects and Engineers commonly use AutoCAD, a strictly 2D software program. The company that makes AutoCAD also has a program called REVIT that is natively 3D like Chief Architect Premier. Auto Desk company also makes an application called Architectural Desktop which is natively 3D in nature. All of those applications are for the use of Professionals and come with a Professional price or monthly rental fee. Most licensed Architects will not accept another's design, no matter the software used, they do their own designs, they are commonly quite slow creating your plans and commonly change a huge fee, sometimes a fraction of what the home's actual cost to build. I have designed countless custom home plans and those houses stand in most of the 50 States, many of them by people like you who developed their own plan file and then shared it with me to fully develop a set pf Architectural plans which can then be used to get bids from contractors and financing from Banks. The finished plans are shared with a State Licensed Structural Engineer who creates the Structural Plans and then together the Architectural and Structural plans are then submitted to a Local Permit Authority to obtain a building permit. Structural Engineers commonly do NOT do Architectural plans, they specialize in Structural design, plans and detailing. Architects are not Engineers and Engineers are not Architects. I am a drafts person and if you do your own plans you are acting as a drafts person only, not as an Architect or Engineer both of which are state licensed. DJP

Yes, within the document which is formatted for a particular paper size. Son on the paper size, if printed to the target paper size will then display scalable content but not otherwise. Home Designer Pro, in plan view displays a virtual scale of 1' = 1'. That is why when you print it, so it fits on a piece of paper, you print it to a scale that fits on the target paper size. That is what scaling is for. DJP

Have you searched here yet? https://www.chiefarchitect.com/3d-library/index.php?r=site/library&search=&x=0&y=0&x=true&soft_8=8&hid_soft_8=8&hid_version_9=1&utm_source=Home+Designer+Architectural+Trial+Version+22.3.0.55+x64&utm_medium=software&utm_campaign=Resource%3A+content DJP