katalyst777

Use two cabinets.

I'm not sure if Pro 2014 had this option, as I went from Architectural 2012 up to Pro 2015, but in the current version of Pro, you would just turn off the railing for the Stair, then manually draw a railing over the top of the stair inset however far you want, and mark is as "Follow Stair" in the Railing Specification dialog.

Nope, not in any version.

What version of Home Designer are you using? Only Pro allows you to put in actual Framing elements, but you can probably fake the look in a less advanced version using Shapes (like a Cylinder or a Closed box) from the Library Browser in the less advanced versions.

Getting the overall pitch, Ceiling Heights and walls all set up right is going to be the best place to start. Can't tell without seeing what you already have so far in the plan file if you might need to fake a short floor 2 or not to get the roof just right, but this article would be good to review. http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-01020/

Were any of the walls already present? If so, they were probably "Attic Walls" which have "No Room Def" checked by default.

This would be better posted in the normal Q&A section, rather than asking the company's Sales folks.

There are no images?

http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-01809/

I use the Corded Round Rug symbol (resized, of course) from the Library Browser and gave it grey/black materials to mimic a shower drain.

Having your camera views come out with a red/orange tint like that on export or when printing is a video card problem - I think only seen with some integrated Intel chipsets, if I remember correctly. Having trouble finding the earlier thread where they referenced this. Try updating your video drivers to see if that takes care of the issue. http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00897/

Only Pro has framing, but you can probably fake the look by importing a scissor truss symbol in to Suite. Importing 3D Symbols - http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00888/ https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/search.html?q=scissor+truss

The company that sells the software also offers one-on-one Training online with Certified experts. http://www.chiefarchitect.com/training/personal-training.html

What help did you review? What is in the software, or what is online in the Knowledge Base and Training Videos? Check these out, if you haven't already. http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-01045/ http://video.homedesigner.chiefarchitect.com/?search=key+frame

I don't think you "need" Pro for this based on the other forum posts. There are many times in the less advanced versions where you need to get the roof built as you want, then turn off Auto Rebuild Roofs, delete extra walls, adjust Ceiling Heights, get rid of temporary second floor rooms, etc. You've got a bunch of methods that will work just fine, but personally I'd create two separate, unattached buildings the distance of the Roof overhang and adjust the Ceiling Height in one of the rooms until the roof planes align how you want (probably with the gutter matching up?). Once you've got the roof settled, go back in to the Build Roof dialog, turn off Auto Rebuild Roofs, then when you delete or move walls the roof won't regenerate.

I think that you have a Ceiling Height messed up somewhere on Floor 1 - because if you turn on Auto Rebuild Roofs, then select Reset to Defaults (under the Edit menu) with "1st Floor" and "Ceiling Heights" checked, it rebuilds correctly (except for one area in the back where a first floor roof plane cuts off the wall above it on floor 2).

In your Build Roof dialog, did you maybe say to ignore the second floor, and retain the existing roof planes? If not, I think it's time to post the plan to figure out what you may have done, because I'm out of guesses.

Since only Pro has manual roof planes, it is wise to understand how the automatic tools work. I only upgraded to Pro with this last version, and always had to use the automatic roof tools before, and can only think of about two or three roofs that I would have needed manual roof tools for (especially a Victorian, I cheated and ended up using "cone" geometric shapes for the roof and was still very happy with the results).

Roof Planes cut off walls. It looks like the software doesn't think some of Floor 2 is an enclosed space, so it's generating a roof based off the first floor. Did you try creating any of the second floor space with a wall that was already there (an automatically generated Attic wall)? Attic walls "No Room Def" selected by default, so double check the Specification dialog for all of the exterior walls and if you see any are Attic Walls, uncheck "No Room Def" so that they can be used to enclose a room space.

The columns just really are off the patio area. The easiest way to lower them will be (since you have Pro) to group-select them and open their Specification dialog to lower their height so they actually rest where you want them to. Based on what I can see of the plant, it does look like a 2D plant image, which should rotate with the camera view and might look a bit strange sometimes.

In the Build Roof dialog, set the main pitch that most of the roof will be (so for the house, 5/12). The on the individual walls for the garage, you need to set the pitch different from the default (so 8/12). "Gable" walls don't have a roof plane resting on them, so you can't set a pitch for them. It's pretty well covered in the Roof chapters of the Reference Manual and User Guide, but you might also want to check out some of the Knowledge Base articles and videos too. Here's are some good ones that can probably help clear it up if you're still confused. http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00127/ http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-01043/

I asked this in your original thread as well. "Are the plants/columns/etc actual 3D symbols, or just 2D images that rotate when the camera is moved?" Agree with Mick that a screenshot would be helpful.

Follow the instructions in this Knowledge Base article. http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00888/

In the layout, select Edit then go to Display Options. Remove the checkmark in the Disp column for "Layout Box Labels" and click OK.

Amazon still has older versions available.