Help with roof lines? Beginner unable to figure out the software...

[idrivea911]

I'm new to Chief Architect/Home Designer, coming from years of product design in solidworks. I was able to make my 1st floor and 2nd floor plans, but I can't figure out how to get the proper roof lines. The house is a cape at its core. But it has a couple of extensions and dormers that I can't figure out how to contend with. The attached pics are some plans a designer made in Revit from when we were planning an extension (I did a bit of cut/pasting to cover the extension). I'm trying to put together an As-Built in Home Designer so I can play around with other changes I might make to the floor plan. I also attached a screenshot of what the roof looks like in HD with some of the issues I'm trying to fix.

 

 

 

I have watched videos about "ignore top floor" where I treat the 2nd floor like an attic, and raise the 1st floor roof ~10". That's what's shown in the screenshot. That looks better than what I had in my 1st run. But I still can't get the roof lines to split. And I can't figure out how to get half the house at 10.5/12 and half at 6/12 pitch. When I make the change in the wall properties, the ridge line shifts towards the front of the house since it still starts both slopes at the 10" above Floor 1 ceiling.

 

Also, I don't know where HD stores my files so I haven't been able to share. Hello there is appreciated as well.

[y-g-m-n]

to adjust roof pitch.

Go to 2d floor plan.

Select wall where the roof plane starts in the top plate ( bottom of slope)

OPen up the edit screen for this wall.

Go to structure tab.

Adjust roof pitch to what ever you want.

 

DO this for all walls that do not have the default roof pitch

 

IF wall is a gable end then select gable.

 

And as always for me..

After auto roofs is done I may have to adjust the roof planes it generates to what I want.

[Jo_Ann]

idrivea911,
Home Designer has a steep learning curve. and you have chosen a complicated roof design.

The video tutorials, knowledge base articles, and reference manual..are there for a reason.

T I P: Do a full perspective view of the plan, then vertically tile the view.

         In the 3d window, choose rendering technique VECTOR, and turn OFF patterns and color.

         When you change a setting, the change is easy to see in the 3d view.

          Experiment and practice, to gain success.

[idrivea911]

2 hours ago, Jo_Ann said:

idrivea911,
Home Designer has a steep learning curve. and you have chosen a complicated roof design.

The video tutorials, knowledge base articles, and reference manual..are there for a reason.

T I P: Do a full perspective view of the plan, then vertically tile the view.

         In the 3d window, choose rendering technique VECTOR, and turn OFF patterns and color.

         When you change a setting, the change is easy to see in the 3d view.

          Experiment and practice, to gain success.

Thanks, I've got the 2D and 3D side by side but I really need guidance on splitting walls or some other approach. I'm about 40 hours into tutorial videos, and am now at the point that I'm out of things to experiment with. I'm Thomas Edison with the 300 ways not to make a light bulb...

[Jo_Ann]

I'm guessing when you mention "splitting walls", you are asking about the "wall break" tool.

Read up on that.

 

It would be beneficial for you to learn how to use the manual roof planes...BUT...this project can be done using the auto build roof function.

[idrivea911]

25 minutes ago, Jo_Ann said:

I'm guessing when you mention "splitting walls", you are asking about the "wall break" tool.

Read up on that.

 

It would be beneficial for you to learn how to use the manual roof planes...BUT...this project can be done using the auto build roof function.

I'm not married to auto roof, I've done a couple manual planes in my experimenting. Making the dormer on the back of Cape is giving me the most headaches. The problem I'm having is I don't know how to make exterior walls of different heights. The 2nd floor is 1.5" tall @ 10.5/12 pitch under the small return eave, but then 93" tall @ 6/12 pitch under the dormer eave.

 

Maybe you might be able to help me break it down. I attached a pic of a basic cape with a shed dormer, where the Cape roof eave does not cross under the dormer. If I can get that modeled, I can fumble my way through the various additions and bump outs.

 

[Jo_Ann]

Maybe this will help.

 

 

[Jo_Ann]

dormer example.plan