GeertDC

The amazing Soffit indeed. I did not realize that Soffits would auto-fill when they touch at an angle. This is my learning of the day. The capabilities of this software keeps amazing me.

Are you looking to create an island that looks like this ? This is fairly straight forward in Pro with the custom countertop tool. In Suite you may need to play around with (overlapping) "Shelves" to simulate the countertop and "Partitions" to fill the holes in the back of the cabinets.

Another way to fake it is to super-impose a flat, stretched out cylinder (from the shapes library) on top of the outside lintel.

Your plan doesn't indicate where the Study is on the second floor. So, I'm guessing it's above the living room where there is a small window in the full gable wall ? Are you looking for something like this ? If so, see my comments below. The key thing is that if the study is the only room on the second floor, that should indeed be the ONLY room on that floor. When you add the second floor, don't “Derive new 2nd floor plan from the 1st floor plan”, but create the Study from scratch. Switch on the “Reference Floor Display” and align the walls using the “Align with wall below” tool. See picture below. Note that I added two small attic spaces as storage areas. If that is not required, you can leave those out. Also note that the two interior walls have to be “Knee Walls”. On the first floor, I separated the Living area in two rooms using an invisible wall. To get the cathedral ceiling, I unchecked “Ceiling Above Room” in the room structure specifications. Hope this helps. I don't really know what your version can or cannot do. One & Half Story Ref - GDC.plan

I had limited success with using the spherical panoramic backdrop option in HD Pro 15. The picture used as the backdrop image has to be just right for it to work. First, to create the panoramic effect, the left side of the picture needs to blend with the right side. So, the picture in my earlier post would definitely not work. Then, since the picture fills the inside of a “bubble” around your plan, the horizon needs to be in the middle of the picture, and there needs to be a lot of blue sky. The top portion of the picture fills a dome above the terrain, the bottom half a spherical pit under the terrain. One picture that somewhat works is the “Fields” picture in the “Backdrops/Land/Flat” folder. You need to make the terrain really big (1000' x 1000') so it will blend with the horizon. One small issue is the loss of resolution, which makes the backdrop fuzzy. But you get the effect that meowsqueak is looking for, a backdrop that is fixed with the terrain, not the camera.

In HD Pro 15 you could use a "Spherical Panoramic Backdrop". However, it looks like you need a backdrop image that is specifically designed for that purpose.

For a sloped soffit that needs to match the slope angle of a stair section, you could also use the "Bottom Height" and "Top Height" information in the Staircase Specification Dialog. Just make sure the length of the soffit matches the length of the stair section. Or, you could calculate the delta using the following formula: tangent("Rise Angle") * "Length of Soffit" "Rise Angle" is also on the Staircase Specification Dialog

Are you sure these are "Rectangular Polylines" and not "Boxes" ? You can change a "Rectangular Polyline" into any shape you want using the "Break-line" and "Change Arc/Line" tools. "Boxes" don't have that capability.

Not sure what HD title/version you have, but in HDP 15 you could try: Menu: Edit -> Delete Objects ... Select 'All Floors' Check 'Terrain Objects', uncheck all other objects Click on 'Delete', then click on 'Done' Menu: Terrain -> Build Terrain This also deletes the Terrain Perimeter. You will have to go to floor 1 and recreate it. Hope this helps

I submitted a problem ticket with Tech Support. This is a bug that was fixed in a recent update. The solution provided was to rename the templates folder, which forces it to rebuild using the latest version. Here is what Tech Support had me do to resolve the problem: 1. Save your work and exit out of Home Designer Pro 2. Within Windows, navigate in to the Documents folder 3. Locate and open the Home Designer Pro 2015 Data folder 4. Right click on the "Templates" folder and select Rename 5. Rename this folder to Templates OLD 6. Re-launch Home Designer Pro That fixed it for me. You will need to download and apply the latest update before doing any of the above. Note that this only fixes newly created Layout files. The workaround for existing Layout files is to only print page 1 of 2, as gord_crow suggested. For the record, the ticket number is 41486

Correct. Both the Drawing Sheet Setup and the Print Layout are in landscape. If it wasn't, I would have expected part of the drawing to be on page 1 and the rest on page 2. Here I'm getting two identical pages, as if the Copies Option in the Print Layout dialog has a built in x2 multiplier.

I'm trying to print a layout sheet but, no matter what I try, it always prints two identical pages. The Layout sheet is set to ANSI B (11" x 17") The paper size is also set to ANSI B (11" x 17") I'm using the "Save As PDF" function in HDP 15 See screenshot below: What am I missing ?

Thanks guys. I think I'll stick with David's advise. Which is, limit my hobby to rendering my own house and anything I can "dream up" myself.

Hello, I found my dream-home on an on-line home plan web site. Check out http://www.eplans.com/house-plans/epl/styles/victorian-house-plans-and-homes/hwepl14165.html The question is, can I legally make 3D renderings of home plans found on sites like this ? The plans are usually copyrighted and I do understand that if I ever want the build this home I will need to buy the plans. Building this particular home, unless I win big on the lottery, is not going to happen anytime soon. But I do like to sharpen my HD skills by trying to render this quite elaborate design as accurately as possible. Just don't want to get sued doing it. I'm not an architect or a builder. And I'm not a lawyer either. Making 3D renderings is just a hobby of mine. Any advise ? Thanks

Thanks. Will do.