6 replies to this topic

[Bill Beatson]

Hello all,

 

Is it possible to duplicate the Skylight 3D symbol and rename it "Solar PV Panel" so that I can use it and give it properties separately from Skylights?

I can't find the Skylight symbol anywhere in the 3D files.

 

(P.S. I still use V.14 which is still adequate for my needs).

 

Bill Beatson 

 

 

[Martin Livingston]

Hi,

 

Download a 3D model from SketchUp Warehouse solar - Products - 3D Warehouse (sketchup.com) , draw a 2D picture the proper size, create a new 3D symbol (turn on "slopes with surface") and there you have it - a 3D skylight.

 

Softplan recognizes the SketchUp .skp files.

[Wesley Penner]

I don't have access to V14 anymore, but how does that work when you place a skylight in V14? Are you in roof mode and Skylight is a specific tool? Or is it a symbol that you choose from the symbol library? If it is a symbol then you can simply copy it in the System Library. But if it is a specific tool in roof mode, then Martin's suggestion is probably the best.

[Bill Beatson]

Hi Martin,

I never use SketchUp but will give it a try.

 

Wesley,

Skylights seems to be a specific tool that only works in roof mode and cuts a hole in the roof surface materials but not the roof timbers if were there first. After Skylights are placed on the roof plane I usually use - Draw > Auto Stick Frame - which fills the cut timbers leaving the hole for the skylights. Couldn't find Skylights in the 3D System Symbols Library.

 

Many thanks both.

 

Cheers

[Mark Petri]

What we used to do is create a roof section or some other entity that is sloped to the roof pitch and texture it as solar panels. I don't think in V14 you can easily slope many objects, but beams, site objects, roofs all have possible uses for such things. Otherwise the good old use of 3D shapes and working with orientation and saving as symbols works too. Tom Roman is the guru of such modeling in past versions to achieve great designs all within SoftPlan.

[Wesley Penner]

That's true. I remember using a site object for an oddly shaped ceiling when I used v12 or v13. A site object may be the way to go because you have such infinite control on the slope and shape. Not sure how it would work for visibility on the roof plan, though. Did we have layers in v14?

[Bruce Donelson]

I think that Version 14 was the first to use layers.