For New Users "Roofs Cause and Effect"

[David J. Potter]

Roofs -Cause and Effect

In order to do what you want to do with Architectural Software you need to understand what you want to do and what tool to use to gain that result.
What do I mean when I say "Tools"?
I mean the Default Settings, Dialog Boxes and their check-boxes and input fields; those are tools.
These are more important than all other tools!

Lets take the subject of "Roofs".
Roofs are basically a study in 3-D geometry and the effects of gravity on the various environmental objects borne by the forces of the atmosphere per unit of time.

Roof planes have three dimensions described in terms of Cartesian Coordinates developed by the Frenchman Rene Descartes' naming conventions "X" minus or plus for "Left and Right", "Y" minus or plus for "Down and up screen" for a two dimensional "Plan View" environment; the "Z" axis (Height) is added to describe in plan view towards the user (positive Z) or away from the user (negative Z).

This system is used in the programming language that is built into all the tools of Chief Architect Inc software.

Where a roof starts in terms of "Z" axis height is determined by the "Default" setting of the "Ceiling Height" for the floor on which it will be created. If your "Floor or Room" ceiling height is set to 9' the roof plane will be created at that height in terms of where it would structurally deposit its "load" on the wall it is anchored to.

Its pitch is set in "Roof Defaults" for the majority of the model's roof planes.
Exceptions are set in the "Wall Dialog Box - Roof Tab" per exception instance.
The "Roof Tab" does not have a global default setting because it exists for the purpose of defining exceptions to the majority of roof conditions.
If you want a different pitch to form over a particular wall you make that programming order in the wall dialog - roof tab of the intended wall.

Pitch above this wall can change the single pitch over that wall.
The "Pitch Lower" input box allows you to say what pitch you want to have over that single wall.
The "Pitch Upper" input box allows you to state that you want the "Pitch lower" that you set to continue a certain distance in terms of height above the floor ("Z" axis height) or distance from the wall's baseline (By the way the "baseline" spoken of here is the outer edge of the exterior wall).
Once set this tells the roof generator to start a different pitch roof at that designated distance or height that you set.
This is how you create "Mansard" roofs, "Salt box" and other dual-pitch roof conditions in the software.
If you miss one wall dialog box - roof tab setting you will not get the desired result.


This is the way all of the effects and the tools that create them in Chief Architect Inc software are programmed.
So it is incumbent on you to understand the terms used in the "Manual" and "Help" files that describe how they work.
It is on you to practice using these seeing the cause and effect these make till the dawn of conceptual understanding blooms for you.

All of the check boxes, input boxes, default settings either work for you because you checked and set them based on your understanding of their use or they work "against" you and the software seems like a malevolent opponent caused by your personal omissions that have elected it to that role.

This is how it is. It is not some other way. Understood the software becomes an extension of your innate Artistic creativity. Make it so.

DJP

PS: I wrote this originally for the "Home Talk" web forum.
Thus it addresses just the basics of Roofs and not all the dynamics of Manual roof tools but it is a foundation on which more advanced creativity is based.
If your default settings are not controlled by you they put you at effect and failure.