DavidJPotter

Unlike "reality" a camera can be placed in a plan view that truncates adjacent objects which looks strange, just move the camera viewpoint out of the interior or edge of adjacent objects and you should be fine. Also placing a camera viewpoint in an unreal or un "human" viewpoint can be done but gives you an unreal view, these are things you can control if you desire. DJP

Version 8 is extremely old, the oldest Home Designer title I have on my PC presently running in Windows 10 is version 10. I might have something older on my Windows XP hard drive but I have not opened any of those antique applications for years now. I am sorry but I just do not know. When I have time I will look. DJP

You open the CAD object's dialog box. Go to it's Line Style Tab. Uncheck "By Layer" and then set that line, arc or polyline to the line weight you desire. Rather straight forward. DJP

Engineering is not the point here, I believe. All that you are dealing with is expecting a mechanical device to exercise Human judgement which is an unreasonable consideration. Software is merely a mechanical servo mechanism for you to use but you must control and guide it manually to a specific result is all you are confronting. You need not redraw attic walls at all but rather just change the wall type to the wall type you desire manually by going to the <A> or attic floor level and then select and make the programming changes (the mechanical software will complain by delivering "error" messages but that is just a robot being a robot, which you should just ignore and just do what needs to be done with the tools at hand. DJP

In your original post I could not tell what exact outcome you needed and wanted, I still do not know and not knowing that I have nothing to offer except to ask that you clarify what exactly you are asking in a way that than can be exactly answered. I know you know what you want but it is not clear to others exactly what that is. DJP

Please ask this question directly of Chief Architect Sales and or Tech Support, they will know and they will say. DJP

Call Chief Architect Sales to ask them whether or not you can buy the library instead of upgrading to 2018. I do not know if this is possible or not but they will know and say. Disappointment you can recover from but doing nothing but that is a waste of time. DJP

Here is my advice on this subject: a way I have developed to deal with this type of wall conflict Floor_Plan;_Design__4_(HDP).zip

The best way to find out is to use it and then view the results, go for it! DJP

It sounds like to me you are expecting 2D behavior (Like AutoCAD etc) from a 3D Architectural application. Do as Eric suggests "Fill in your signature" so we all then know what software you are actually using, it makes a big difference. Post a screen capture of what you are seeing that is "insane" and Ideally a copy of the .plan file you are having trouble with. Note: What you do not yet understand can feel like "insane" but is probably not so. You have not yet provided enough useful information for anyone to truly help you, please provide it so we can all understand. DJP

I think you are making this more complicated that is necessary. 1: unless you are a state licensed Structural Engineer it is illegal for you to design trusses of any type (In Texas where I live it is a $5,000.00 fine for doing so). 2: all you need to do is to set the ceiling height at the bottom of the intended truss cord. Then build framing, you can manually edit the framing to better emulate what is actually going to appear if you like without using the truss tool. Trusses are designed by Engineers and constructed by others to be delivered at your site. All your model needs to do is to as closely as possible to look like the finished product. Perfection is NOT required. If in fact your Engineer or Truss company specifies trusses they can give you details of what the trusses will look like for your plans, they need NOT actually be in the plan in 3D. I do not know any carpenters that use 3D details for framing and such details are purely 2D in nature. DJP

You could use a soffit or slab to emulate a wall, a soffit will not mark the ceiling like a wall does. DJP

What I might try is to make a Save As copy of my problem plan to use as a control for creating a new plan. You take a blank plan file, set its Default Settings the same as your control plan for the first floor ("Edit - Default Settings - Floor" for the first floor in your blank plan. Then copy-paste your control first floor using the tool "Edit Area Visible" to do the floor copying. The the same is done for the second floor and or Attic, then you can recreate your "Floor Zero" or basement from scratch if no floor zero currently exists. If you make any procedural errors you undo (CTRL-Z) and try again until you are successful. Once successful you can then just complete your design in the new copy. DJP

There are some French, South African, Australian, British and Scottish users who have posted here but not as often as USA members, I believe that is merely the way of things for now. We will endeavor to help you if we can. Welcome to our forum! DJP

Open and look at the auto symbol's dialog box-materials tab to see what choices you can make relative to materials. DJP

Thank you for sharing your plan. I think you have done well so far. I m sure you have learned much about working with the software. Along the way you have also made many errors due to your lack of self education in and with the software and of home design and construction. You should carefully read your included Users Guide and any relevant sections of the Reference Manual when and where you get into difficulties. The main problem I have with this plan is not "Walls" but rather this design lacks basic necessary amenities necessary to support daily life: No bathrooms, no Kitchen, no closets, the family room seems to be the only "bedroom". The current design is completely unsustainable for comfortable, safe daily living. This software is predicated upon Default Settings and other settings, check boxes, input boxes and controls that you use to guide the software to a specific result. It is obvious to me that you have completely bypassed any study and just started creating without the fundamental knowledge and understanding necessary to arrive at a livable result for a Family home. I have been a professional designer and teacher for over thirty years, so I do not say these things to discourage you but to point out as Eric has suggested that you rethink and redo your design from the bottom up AFTER you have spent some time confronting what a home must be and have to make your daily life for you and your family comfortable and safe. The building of framing is unnecessary especially in the case that you are not a carpenter or builder. In any case one never builds framing until the design is completely finished in terms of spaces and amenities and the ergonomics of daily life have been evaluated and considered. For the untrained person it is merely eye-clutter and not very useful. Structural Concerns are best left to Structural Engineers who are schooled in the dynamics and stresses buildings must contain to be safe and sound. This software is not a substitute for that profession. When I finish a design I share it with such a person licensed by the State to adjudicate such matters that are key to the Life of any structure including its foundation, rafter size, wall framing, wind bracing etc. I do wish you success but also I must point out that your design needs a lot more development, thought and consideration perhaps with the input of your wife and family to make sure it serves you as it should. DJP

Try zipping the plan file and then attach the zip. DJP

You are going to need to share a LOT more information that the above to solve this conundrum. Post a copy of your .plan file along with what the ceiling heights per floor are to be and then, and only then can anyone actually help you. Too much missing data for that now. DJP

No, what you do is to build the terrain a step (elevation object) at a time and once the terrain is correct in its rises and falls you then set it TO the structures you have drawn using the "Building Pad" input box in the Terrain Specification Dialog Box. It requires patience, there is not "trick" but rather just being methodical, checking each elevation change in camera views until you get it just so. DJP

This software always considers that whatever is in the .plan file is a new construct, So it is then on you to manually adjust the garage's floor lever in the case where the garage has a lower floor level than the house. Then setting the second floor requires the same sort of planning in that if the main house has a different floor height than the garage per floor you leave the Default Settings Floor for ceiling height where it was for the floors of the house, setting the garage relative to just the garage. This is done before roofing the out structure or garage. The software will try to apply the main structure's default settings to all structures in the plan file, So you must take steps that this is compensated for by you. I would recommend that you manually draw the secondary structure's foundation if your software allows it, otherwise you set the garage's foundation setting in the Garage's own Room Specification Dialog box - Structure Tab before ordering the building of the foundation. This is not complicated to do but when creating more than one structure in a .plan file YOU must step in and help guide the software to a specific result, the software is merely a mechanical contraption that runs on settings and control provided by you. DJP

What I do when I have transom windows is to stagger the window labels , depending upon what software title you have the window labels should be selectable in plan view and left-click-select-dragged so that they are not on top of each other so anyone can then see that there are stacked windows and what size they are. DJP

The only way I see is to place a floor outlet in plan view and then using the "Offset from Floor" to raise it to the ceiling (instead of the floor), there is no "Ceiling Outlet" in Suite. That would be better than nothing. DJP

No, software (any software) does not "DO" anything other than what it is directed to do by the end user, always. You can with some difficulty and patience create curved and even domed roofs using just Home Designer Pro (I have not done this in years but have done it years ago before Chief Premier obtained the ability under End User control to create curved roofs by way of roof specification dialog settings). What you must do is to manually create manually segmented roof planes that follow a curve. The way I used to do it was to draw an arc in an elevation camera as a guide and then draw a short roof plane section altering the pitch of each segment to adhere to the drawn 2D arc line. Each new roof plane segment is set to the prior roof plane's "ridge". This way you mimic a curved roof segment. You then "Transform-replicate" that constructed segment however you need to complete the curve and then finish up the edges using the "Join Roof" tool on both sides of the segments sides. This is NOT for the faint of heart but can be done by being methodical and intent on succeeding. DJP

Do a Google Search for such programs please. DJP

How are you using "Transform-Replicate" to check the spacing? (You first must do the math to set up the transform-replicate tool before using it) I do not understand why you seem to be making a simple layout problem complicated. I am not a carpenter, I have never built an actual deck myself but I have drawn plans for countless decks and other structures.You allow enough space for the planks and that is all, keeping in mind that dimensional lumber is not as "perfect" in the real world as it may seem in a virtual environment of a computer. It is quite common that once my plans are printed that the builder and or client then do something slightly different. It is not terribly important as long as the planning of the plan is generally followed. I haven't posted until now because I fail to understand the need for perfection in an object that is inherently imperfect. You have a target dimension of the deck (x and y), do the math and then layout the framing, done. DJP