3 replies to this topic

[Peter Nauta]

How come the pre-loaded openings are not made with the 3D opening wizard ?....

I understand SoftPlan outsources them.... but why wont they use their own 3D opening wizard themselves ?
 

The pre-loaded ones are nice.... but it doesn't really help when half of the openings are the exact same just different overall dimensions.... 


It would of been really nice for SP2022 to have cleaned up and refined the wizard as it lacks a lot of functionality as it seems it hasn't been touched for a long time now.

I really don't want to be forced to us a program like SketchUp or catalogue another library to do something as simple as adjust a window size in a door...

Just seems really odd for how flexible SoftPlan is on all other fronts ( roof, wall, trim, shelf, rail, etc... profiles ) that the 3D opening wizard lacks such detail.

Softlist is cool, and all the other neat things that have been added over the past few releases... but what the human eye is usually going to see first when they look at a 3D rendering is the Front Door of the house.


Maybe an option to adjust the depth of the panels in conjunction to the rails would help..... 
 

Even somethin so simple as modifying a Country door from an Existing Elevation opening turns out completely different than as the Pre-loaded counterpart in 3D

 

Has anyone else had an excruciating time trying to make presentable doors using the wizard ? If so, has anyone found a solution ?

I love creating models with SoftPlan as it is real quick and accurate.... until I need a Front door that'  slightly more generic.  A lot of the manufacture doors are even just an image slapped onto a rectangle.

The attached example shows how there is no control over depth.... no matter what I do to make the panels... There is no way to have them inset, and it comes out as lines instead of a solid.

The 2 sidelights are made the exact same way as the door... only difference is the hinge is set to N.

Why does the LEAF or RAIL surface not even show up then ?

Another question to add to this.

Why can't I have the exterior of the door 1 colour, and the inside of the door another colour ?  It is not often where you see an exterior door painted the same colour on both sides....

 

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Mark Petri]

All valid comments - I agree. I find it cumbersome for many styles of openings as you stated. Even when working with 3D symbols from SketchUp there are several little details that do not work as well as one would hope. It would be great if there was a major upgrade to the opening wizard and customization of openings in their respective edit menu. Parametric modeling of the components would be huge (for cabinets too).

[Keith Almond]

Just as a matter of interest, you CAN model doors in Softplan ... it's just a HUGE amount of work.

 

A door is only a visual representation of what you are going to supply, and at 1/4" = 1'-0" how detailed do you need it to be. Quick and dirty is normally good enough. Isn't it?

 

Yes, I do agree it would be nice if we could build the actual 3D model component more easily, but time spent on a project is important to me. The customers can still visualize what they are getting even if it's not perfect.

[Peter Nauta]

I just saw another tutorial of yours today Keith and will try that out.

I mostly make the 3D models for our clients after the construction blue prints have been drafted.

Another issue i started having has been if I have a wall with a stone skirt, and lower the garage openings into the foundation wall.  The automatic door buck brings the texture of the foundation wall up and around the door frames.. but also protrudes it past the siding/stucco to the face of the stone...

offsetting the frame has no affect,  I've seen other posts where people have been having issues just removing the door bucks themselves. 

 

It's a nice feature but I think what can be happening is that the height of the cross opening is reflecting the height of the opening above, rather than stopping at the top of the foundation wall.