Recessed Coffered Ceiling

[Delain]

My lack of understanding of Ceiling Heights is definitely playing into not understanding what I'm doing incorrectly here.

I've been trying to create a recessed type ceiling with the flat part coffered by using soffits. For this exercise, I used Ceiling Planes attempting to learn more about how to use them.

Attached is a plan where I set the Floor to Top for the Siffits at 120" expecting them to come up directly to the underside of the flat ceiling plane which represents the flat panel of the recess. I haven't finished stretching the soffits over to the edge of the flat ceiling plane for this test.

However, when I view this in a 3D view or elevation section view, the soffits are above the flat section instead of flush with the underside. You will see that I set the flat ceiling panel's Lock Inside Bottom Height to 120" thinking that would represent the 10'-0" ceiling height for the room.

What am I not understanding? What needs to be changed with either the soffit settings or the ceiling plane?

 

Thanks in advance,

Delain

ceiling planes v1.plan

[DavidJPotter]

 

DJP

[solver]

Uncheck Auto Adjust Height on the soffits.

[Delain]

Eric,

The Reference manual doesn't help me understand too well what checking/unchecking the Auto Adjust Height does or provides.

This seems to have fixed it and perhaps I'm asking more than is reasonable, but what needs to be changed so that the top surface of the soffit is flush or sharing the same surface as the underside of the ceiling plane (see image)? After the uncheck, it is lower but seems to share the top surface of the ceiling plane.

Also, I tried my best to determine how to have the ceiling plane use the top of the soffit as the hinge point(?); instead, it is some distance below the top surface. What is controlling that?

 

Thanks in advance,

Delain

 

[Delain]

David,

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to do the video for this. I have experimented with that approach using Room Divider walls to build the separate room/ceiling area.
Trying to create a sloped ceiling section leading to the flat section for this plan. Complete failure trying to use sloped soffits, so abandoned that and watched a how-to that showed ceiling planes. Trying to use that approach was not too successful. This is the closest I've come to making it work with ceiling planes. The Ref Manual is very short on explaining what is meant with many of the height type points of reference for various objects. i.e. Lock Inside Bottom Height for ceiling planes
Nor suggesting scenarios when one reference might be preferred over another or when to uncheck the Auto Adjust Height as Eirc suggested.

 

So, I come to the forum and hope for some grace.

 

Thank you,

Delain

[solver]

Take a cross section and use the dimension tools to see where the 120" is. You should see the top surface of the ceiling plane is at 120". 

 

You can set the top surface of the soffit as required, or change the ceiling plane.

 

11 minutes ago, Delain said:

Also, I tried my best to determine how to have the ceiling plane use the top of the soffit as the hinge point(?); instead, it is some distance below the top surface. What is controlling that?

 

In a cross section, measure how far up or down the ceiling plane needs to move, and manually adjust it up or down. 

 

Basically, you are in control of the exact positioning. Ceiling planes always seem to need adjustment.

[solver]

[Delain]

Eric,

Thank you for the good information. I was able to duplicate your result in the post with the image of your settings. However, it has created some other issue with the opposite side of the slanted ceiling planes. Not sure what I'm seeing to understand what needs to be changed. (see image)

I know I'm being too picky, but when I'm using a program that acts like the user can control the majority points of reference with user inputs, then it gives me certain expectations of what I should see after keying in specific dimensions, etc. So, I'm trying to understand as much as I can to know what I am truly supposed to be in control of.

Thank you,

Delain

ceiling planes for eric.plan

[solver]

A couple of tips.

 

When you post a plan showing a specific view, save the camera so whoever looks at the plan sees what you see.

 

Use the full camera to look inside.

 

Ceiling planes are like roof planes in that they need to be joined manually. They may look like they join in plan, but may not. Consider what happened when you moved the ceiling planes up -- what happened to the top edge.

[Delain]

Good tip and I will try to save the camera views when needed.

Good grief gravy!! Ceiling planes are . . . difficult.
After banging my head with trying to see where the dimensions in the Plane Specification dbx were off for each plane, I had to go around and use the Join Plane tool, after drag-resizing each of the ceiling planes smaller, so they would re-Join to the flat ceiling plane section in order to get rid of the one with the gap.
And looking back to the Specification dbx, I could find no discernible change in the data points after the re-Join. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Not sure my fix was the optimal approach.

Now . . . dragging the size handles of each coffer-soffit so that they snap to what I would think is the edge of the sloped (and flat) ceiling plane does not get them to flush up to that ceiling interior juncture. You can see that all but one has been resized this way.

Camera view 2 shows the result of trying to rely on the Plan view manipulation of the soffit ends - they protrude through the ceiling plane. What don't I understand about this?
The only way I could come up with to get the soffits to appear as in Camera view 1 was to resize the soffit in that 3D view.  Another way it can be done in the plan view, perhaps?

 

Thank you,

Delain

 

ceiling planes for eric.plan

[solver]

I don't recall ever doing what you are, and don't understand why the soffits do not align as expected.

 

Unfortunately, the program is full of oddities like this and I just work around them.

 

Suggest you send this in to support.