Double trey trouble

[sortarius]

Greets gurus, i sure could use some help here. Im 10ish hours into building a virtual version of the housebeing built for us irl. Im at the master br which has a double trey. Ive done the first trey fine but everytime i try to add the second it tells me i have overlapping holes and shows goofy in camera. The ceiling is 9' with each trey a foot tall. Thanks so much. Spent 3 hours just on this.

[Alaskan Son]

Do you mean TRAY?? Or are we playin basketball dawg? : D

[Rosco]

Maybe post a picture of what you're trying to achieve?

[sortarius]

Here is what I am trying to do:

Picture of room:


Room overview:


Room and Countertop Specifications:


Outer Countertop and Molding Specifications:


Inner Countertop and Molding Specifications:


Here is a typed version of the YouTube video I was using as a tutorial:

Steps to make a Tray Ceiling

1. Use the CAD Box to draw the tray area(s) inside a room.
2. Click the room.
3. Click Make Room Polyline.
4. Click Convert Polyline.
5. Leave Countertop selected.
6. Click OK.
7. Set the Height from Countertop to the height of the room.
8. Set the Thickness from Cabinet to the height of ceiling treatment.
9. Click OK.
10. Go into Camera mode.
11. Double click the new “countertop” ceiling.
12. Go to the Materials tab.
13. Click Custom Countertop (Polyline).
14. Click Plan Materials.
15. Click Bone.
16. Click OK.
17. Click OK.
18. Exit Camera mode.
19. Click to highlight the CAD Box drawn earlier.
20. Click Convert Polyline.
21. Leave Countertop selected.
22. Click OK.
23. Click the check box for Hole in Countertop.
24. Click OK.
25. Go into Camera mode – the tray should be visible now.
26. Exit Camera mode.
27. Click to highlight the CAD Box.
28. Click Copy & Paste In Place.
29. Click Convert to Plain Polyline.
30. Click Convert Polyline.
31. Click 3D Molding Polyline.
32. Click OK.
33. Under the Molding tab, click Select.
34. Browse to the molding desired.
35. Click OK.
36. Make the height 6”.
37. Make the width 6”.
38. Click To Top option button.
39. Set Offset to the same as the ceiling height.
40. Click OK.
41. Go into Camera mode.

In addition, when I add in the original countertop, even though it states the height should be 9' like the room, it drops down to cover my crown molding.

[Tommy Blair]

It looks like you could probably use soffits for that and might be easier.

[jpremodeler]

yes, first soffit 24" tall, then but one up to it 12" tall.

[sortarius]

Thanks guys. I was able to use soffits and get it to work. I think when I tried to do it yesterday they werent lining up right or something...but today the skies opened and the sun shown down and a stray ray hit my computer and it worked.

My only follow-up question I guess would be, is there any way to combine them to reduce some of the lines in the plan so it looks more like the original with two boxes?

[Curtis Johnson]

You can put CAD lines over the soffit lines you don't want to show - make their color white - in the line style tab put them in the front group and/or move to front of group if needed.

[Curtis Johnson]

A downside to using soffits is that the upper most ceiling surface ends up controlling the room and wall height. If you intended the room's wall height to match the lowest ceiling height then you need to do things differently. Trusses are frequently stepped up from the wall plate height to achieve higher ceiling heights inboard of the exterior/bearing walls. If that is what your intent is, then you probably should be using a hole in your ceiling to get the needed steps. If you are able to achieve one hole successfully, you could do a double step within it and then fill in with polyline solids and your crown molding to finish it off. I suspect that is the way most truss manufacturers would build the trusses ... with only one step ... and the framers frame in the extra one. My two cents worth. There may be a better way - but that is the way I would approach it.

[sortarius]

Thanks Curtis, lots to digest there. Will look into it when I get home. I "built" the roof but havent even begun to fight that battle yet to make it match my blueprints. Hopefully by raising the room ceiling it doesnt mess up the roofline, but if so I will revisit your suggestions!

All I know is this software is fantastic! The learning curve is very long, but until this I have been able to figure everything else out either intuitively or via videos. It's just too bad you cant hold up a few 2x4s and they just "snap" together haha.

[Tommy Blair]

Thanks guys. I was able to use soffits and get it to work. I think when I tried to do it yesterday they werent lining up right or something...but today the skies opened and the sun shown down and a stray ray hit my computer and it worked.

My only follow-up question I guess would be, is there any way to combine them to reduce some of the lines in the plan so it looks more like the original with two boxes?

It will probably do what you want by going to the layer display and uncheck cabinet module lines. (soffits are a cabinet tool) The soffits should then clean up as far as the lines go.

[Curtis Johnson]

If your room was an interior room, then you might be able to get away with changing the room ceiling height and using soffits as suggested. However, your plan indicates that it has exterior walls, so what I mentioned may be a factor in your design. If the roof planes bearing on the exterior walls of this room have soffits that are to match up with the soffits of adjacent rooms' roof planes, then the room ceiling height/wall plate height could be an issue. Some homes have roof designs that allow having a higher ceiling plane for a room (like yours) but that means the roof is likely higher and therefore the soffit could/would be higher (unless there's a gable). Lots of different things can be done with different design features. Let us know if you continue to have trouble and need more assistance.

[Joe Carrick]

This example is just 3 Room Molding Polylines with moldings applied with different heights and sizes. IMO, this is the easiest way to create this in Both 2D and 3D. It won't frame, so it would need to be detailed manually but it is pretty easy to get the geometry right.

[Curtis Johnson]

Joe:

I am assuming that you cut a hole in the ceiling before applying the moldings - correct? If displaying framing is not an issue, I agree that this is a simple approach to use.

Edit: Joe - it might be helpful to the original poster (or others) if you took snapshots of the moldings and setting you used in your example.

[Joe Carrick]

Curt,

I started with a 9' high ceiling and used 3 Room Molding Polylines.

The 1st Molding Polyline has a 12" high x 36" wide Rectangular Molding @ 7' above the floor.
The 2nd Molding Polyline has a 12" high x 60" wide Rectangular Molding @ 8' above the floor.
The 3rd Molding Polyline has a 6" high x 4" wide Crown Molding @ 8'6" above the floor offset horizontally 60"

You can pick any Molding Profiles you want - or even build up the shape from several different molding profiles.

In 2D, the above will display as 3 lines (36", 60" & 64" from the wall) and the line style can be set to anything you want.

Note: In Plan View, the Molding Polylines with appear as 2 Lines (The Line itself and the outermost edge of the Molding Profile) so to get the display the way you want it you might have to edit the Polyline and the sizes of the Moldings.