jwdvorak

Hey Gary, thanks for the tip. I played around with it, used wall breaks to remove the wall section dividing the two garages, you're right, it closed the hole. It's a conundrum, tho, because the plan is for 2 attached garages & houses (zero lot line or duplex), so the wall separating the 2 garages is necessary. Redrawing an interior to wall separate the 2 garages on the 1st floor had no effect, but adding a wall on the 2nd floor, the hole reappeared until I selected the No Room Definition option. It's a hack, but it works. Thanks again, appreciate your advice. Woody

Using Home Designer Suite... making a plan for two attached boat/RV garages with a common gable roof. One garage is offset from the other (picture #1). To achieve necessary height the building has a shortened 2nd floor, approximately 6' tall (1.5 floors). This configuration leaves a giant hole in front & rear exterior wall sections (picture #2). I tried adding wall extensions on the 2nd floor... it closed the holes in the upper exterior, but adds a "phantom" hanging wall inside each section of the building (picture #3 & #4). If I make the wall extensions Invisible, the exterior holes reappear. How can I close these holes in the exterior wall without introducing interior wall extensions? Alternatively, how can I add the wall extensions & split them vertically, to make the lower interior section Invisible & the upper exterior section solid? TIA, Woody

Thanks for replies... Solver, I suppose 'native support' was a poor choice of words. The HD product comparison chart describes this feature available in Pro, only: Manual framing tools for fully editable framing, including joists, rafters, trusses, beams, posts, and more. Create any framing system for your design. I guess that's what I meant. So, my point is, rather than drawing 'fake' posts and beams in HD Suite (and not being able to draw custom rafters, purlins, ceiling & roof structure at all), then redrawing the whole frame in SU, I'm wondering if HD Pro would provide the ability to do it all in one place? Probably a moot point, because I'd guess the timber frame company would likely prefer a SU drawing of the frame alone, rather a HD rendering. Also, I'm merely an amateur, my frame drawings will need to reviewed and redone by an engineering professional, anyway. I'm just contemplating whether gaining this specific feature is worth the extra investment? Any more advice? If you guys wanted to design a TF structure, would you use HD Pro to do it? Or, do you think I'm better off using the tools I'm already using? Thanks, ~W

I'm currently using an old version of HD Suite (2017), designing 2x timber framed (post & beam) house + garage (attached, like a duplex). HD Suite doesn't support timber frame design, I've been faking it using interior soffits; drawing the actual timber frames in Sketchup. I'm considering upgrading to HD 2022 Pro, as it provides native support for timber frame design. My question: does HD Pro's timber frame feature auto-place the timbers (posts & beams), or can you move them around to customize your frame (provide support for interior structures, like stairways)? Thanks, Woody

Doh! When all else fails, RTFM, right? I opened HD (2017) Help, searched for import, and learned the supported version of SKP file is 2016 or earlier. So, I guess DJP was correct, but I misunderstood what he meant. At this point, I suppose I really should think about upgrading... ~W

DJP, that is not true (yet). There is a warning banner displayed on the 3D Warehouse site, which states: "Heads up! After August 11, SketchUp 2017 models will no longer be available for download on 3D Warehouse unless it was originally uploaded in that format." Currently, as I browse the 3D Warehouse search results, and click the little Download icon on one of the models, it pops up a selection list of options (see screenshot, attached). The options are SU model versions from 2021 back to 2017, plus Collada and KMZ files. Of course, I chose the 2017 version, which I'm able to open with SU 2017, but it fails to import into HD. As an experiment, I tried downloading a SU 2018 version of the model; I could not open that file with SU 2017, and it also failed to import into HD. FWIW, I may simply choose to upgrade HD to the latest version, and this issue may become moot. But it seems this should be working with the SU 2017 model version. Thanks for the reply, if you have any other advice I'd be interested to read it. Woody

I'm using Home Designer Suite 2017, and Sketchup Make 2017. I downloaded a *.skp file from 3D Warehouse, it's a SU 2017 version (a boat). I'm able to open and edit the object in Sketchup 2017, but when I try to import the file into HD, it displays an error. The error message is: This SKP file was created in an incompatible software version. Unable to import. Show Details displays: C:\p4sync\dev\Releases\18\chief\source\SKPReader.cpp(408): Warning #272032575 "This SKP file was created in an incompatible software version. Unable to import." 7/29/2021 9:01:44 PM Build: 18.3.2.2x64 After that error dialog, another error is displayed: Please select a valid file before attempting to specify Advanced options. Show Details displays: C:\p4sync\dev\Releases\18\chief\source\AdvancedImportSymbolDlg.cpp(104): Warning #272032415 "Please select a valid file before attempting to specify Advanced options." 7/29/2021 9:01:44 PM Build: 18.3.2.2x64 Any advice? Thanks, Woody