DavidJPotter

Here is my attempt to help you: I am not at all sure if the sound is working in this, if not, I did try. I think Eric understood better what you need than I did. DJP

Welcome to the forum. Respectfully, you should just start a new forum origination or thread as opposed to tagging your question on to this already existing thread. It is not a big deal but is just better form. I suggest that you create your plans in Home Designer, then print them out to share with Professional contractors, Structural Engineers that can advise you on getting your project properly built. Home Designer is basically a communication aid to get your intentions and desires understood by others, so get started! DJP

3D Printing was added as a feature only last year, in only Chief Premier. Only a tiny percentage of Premier users have reported results using Chief Premier. New things take awhile to catch on. I do not know the acceptable file formats that 3D Printers require (none of my clients are interested in having such things, so for me, my use of Chief Premier and Home Designer is purely for monetary gain, not a hobby) but you can find that out by reading your users manual for your printer and so find out. Then you can look at what Home Designer will currently "Export" from its "File- Export" menu and thus answer your own question for now. I doubt anyone here knows positively unless this thread is read by someone at Chief Inc Sales. You can also just call Chief Architect - Home Designer Tech Support or Sales and just ask them. DJP

I am Beta Testing Chief Architect X10 (Version 20) and a client asked me to create a conceptual layout and model for building a custom home for a property he just bought. We had a quick on line meeting, he sent me some conceptual photos of houses in the area of his property. So I put this together for him, emailed the link and a PDF of the layout, this is the result, all in just two hours! You guys are going to love the new Home Designer versions that come from the development of the new Chief Premier:(click on the link to view the 3D model please) https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2F3d-viewer.chiefarchitect.com%2Fgo%3Fshare%3D144051735589548&h=ATPkfAnDEKZan6P5MJIZazcKjvCPc6pEStUDjBXs2ZdnkX_EoPiOCV1HvadNvql9JxQ5Kaq3jptoIGkbqqQTq8TTC5W80Pr7El2tunVDD6bC2PVvbAPqceVK0RlFqRDZIpYPoycAlSqAyx1ZsN-pWf8y3-cjbbXIOtsxpDaqGWXcuLJH7xXZULylXeZJEYMMUYObjCN5T_pBCCYdHQEyCnUK__jBA7Jhl-fIN3bYMsrzkGE2vpcps4nilOTmCd3Oj6I1fex2AeGQ3p05J8yGvYulZwPNXyBsJ2ACAwjW6BvFk5LCpucJ-veilpUZixB4OA

This is a matter of symmetry in that if you want symmetry, the baselines of the roofs must line up from one end of the house to the other, easy if you think of it in terms of simple geometry. DJP

No software in the Universe draws or creates anything, rather it is you who is the only important factor in terms of outcomes, not what software you use. In capable, certain hands, this software can assist you to the goal of a digital, relationally correct copy of your home AFTER you have self-disciplined yourself to learn how to use it and its tools. Best of success~ DJP

Doesn't AutoCAD have the internal ability to assign line weight and color to lines??? It seems to me your whole premise is to make nice in AutoCAD? So I say "Make it so Number One". DJP

I do not believe you will be able to do as you intend using 2012 unless you have Home Designer Pro. No Chief Architect or Home Designer software can do slanted walls (you have to use roof planes as "walls" and roof planes cannot hold doors and windows, only skylights). You might fare better using Sketch Up for such an exotic design. DJP

No, sorry DJP

Architectural 2018 has a "Custom Countertop tool" (I do not remember about 2015). Architectural, any version has no ability to convert polylines into 3D objects, sorry, that is in Pro and Premier only. DJP

https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-01073/raising-a-bay-window-to-create-a-seat-alcove.html See if this helps any, please DJP

Use two separate cabinet objects, one as drawers and one with a door.provided you have Pro 2014, I do not presently have anything that old working, so this tutorial was done in Pro 2014 DJP

I am sorry, I tried to make a video of editing your roofs but the visual did not come out, the attached image shows the result of the manual editing DJP

Home Designer Pro, any version, does not have the ability to remove unwanted vector view lines {Chief Premier does). To get rid of the unwanted vector view lines you use a "Standard Render Camera" view and the unwanted lines will disappear. DJP

I assume you are using Home Designer Pro (you need to share this vital data with anyone who might help you). I need to know what version you are using and what software title. You also should share a copy of your .plan file or post some screen capture images so we can at least see what is what, otherwise no help is possible. DJP

Here is your video I promised, done in Architectural 2018: DJP

Share a copy of your .plan file and I will show you how in a video. DJP

Premier does many things that HD Pro cannot do, this is one of them. You might try editing the symbol in Sketch Up and then reimport or edit it in Chief and then reimport into HD Pro. DJP

What I have done here is to place sloped soffits under the roof and then adjusted their location to between the roof rafters. I then downloaded a seamless texture I found using Google Search of Insulation. Created a custom material named "Insulation". Then applied that new custom material to the sloped soffits. I never even thought of doing this until your post today, works for me. In terms of different camera views, you would have to turn on and off appropriate layers in "Display Options" per view, per camera type to get just the look you need and want. Each camera type and plan view has their own "Display Options" dialog that controls what you see and do not see. DJP

Like Eric said, what you have will define what you can and cannot do. Do you want the bar top the same height as the countertop? Or do you want the bar top raised above the usual 36" tall of kitchen CT's? Two different methods would then appear to do this but you need to say, exactly what it is you want to do and with what. DJP

Standard Render cameras in all Home Designer titles use "Open GL" render software. Open GL only supports 8 light sources per render, so no matter how many you place, only 8 get randomly selected. You can control this to a degree at least as to which 8 lights are to be "ON" in a render view by way of "3D-Lighting-Adjust Lighting" dialog and singly by way of each light sources' dialog (Electrical Services Specification Dialog). To really get the appearance you desire, will require an upgrade to Chief Architect Premier that has a render engine that supports as many light sources as you desire (Called Ray Tracing). Never the less, much can be done to improve the appearance of your Architectural Render views, it just requires more intervention and manual editing by you, especially adjusting Material Properties in camera views (materials definition tool, icon looks like a tri-color and only appears in camera views, the Define Materials dialog has a "Properties" tab for adjusting the appearance of materials. I know you were hoping for a simpler, more straightforward solution but frankly, there isn't one available, just hard diligent study and practice to get the most out of render views. DJP

This video might be of help, take a look: DJP

Were I you, I would create an elevation camera and then measure from the bottom of your building to the target max height using dimension tools. Then you can measure using that dimension to see if your virtual building is too high or low and then adjust the roof plane heights using the "Transform-Replicate" tool to attain the target ridge height. DJP

Unless I am mistaken, Architectural has no"North Pointer" object that controls the magnetic North of the plan file. Pro does, the North Pointer determines "North" for the entire plan file and structure, it also controls the Sun Angle by a preset clock so you can do shadow studies if necessary. You cannot do this in Architectural (I could be wrong but I do not think so). I cannot state this more clearly. With a Magnetic North Pointer controls input lines' compass bearing for the property lines (again an HD Pro facility only, I believe). In Architectural, I would lean towards using a scanned site or plot plan (received from a licensed surveyor) which you can import, scale and orientate relative to the house structure or structures. They usually have a graphic North Pointer which can be used to establish magnetic North, all done manually by you using the software's provided tools. BTW I consider geographic and magnetic to be equivocal in this sense. DJP

No, No< NO! You establish a North Pointer relative to the house (How Magnetic North vectors relative to the North-South of your Desktop). If you enter a compass bearing in a wall, it will just mess up the wall. Architectural does not have a "North Pointer" as Pro does (sorry) so setting up true North in Architectural is near impossible and easy in Home Designer Pro (you do get what you pay for). Then when a magnetic North is established when you enter the distance and bearing data I will then set those lines to the established magnetic North that you manually established earlier. Terran elevation data is usually entered manually as to relative height for a lot. Architectural costs about half of what HD Pro does for good reason, sorry. DJP