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Ceilings Follow Curved Walls
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The Ceiling command in Version 12 has
been improved by allowing the ceiling material follow the curve of walls.
When utilizing the new Auto Trace Ceiling command, if the room contains a
curved wall section, the ceiling will compensate by adding extra edges
along the curved wall. The extra edges will allow the ceiling to even be
given a slope to allow for a curved, cathedral ceiling.
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- In Ceiling Mode, select Draw >
Ceiling > Auto Trace.
- Left click in the room on the drawing
you wish the ceiling to cover. If the room contains a curved ceiling, the
ceiling material will follow the curve of that wall.
- To give the ceiling a slope, select
Edit > Edit Item.
- Left click in the middle of the
ceiling.
- Choose the Pitch radio button and
enter the desired pitch for the ceiling.
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New Entries Added to Ceiling Finishes
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Softplan Version 12 offers further
flexibility for the ceiling finishes than ever before. Previously, ceiling
finishes were limited to 4 predefined choices, however, this list has been
expanded to 20 entries, which can be renamed by the user to more
accurately represent the materials used when listing in SoftList as well
as material assignments in SoftView.
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- Select File > System Options >
Finish Options > Ceiling Finish Options.
- Select the Entry to
rename.
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Highlight Color Configuration Added
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Version 12 has added a Highlight Color
configuration. Previous versions of SoftPlan did not have a Highlight
Color configuration.
This option is configurable at either
the System Level or the Drawing level.
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- Click on File, Drawing/System
Options, Assign Color.
- Change the Item group to
‘Miscellaneous’.
- The Highlight color is the last in
the list. To change it, double click on the color bar. A new color can be
selected from the ‘Standard Colors’ section or from the ‘Custom Colors’
selection.
The Highlight color is used to
distinguish between an item being edited or changed and similar items
that have not been changed or edited.
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Ceiling on Bay Command Added
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SoftPlan Version 12
has added the ability to now add a sloped ceiling to a bay area. Functioning
much like the Roof on Bay command, this allows you to quickly placed a sloped
ceiling on your drawing, based on your ceiling option configurations, without
having to further modify ceiling edge properties afterward.
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In order to demonstrate this
feature, you will need to have a drawing open which contains a bay area
formed by walls. If you do not have such a drawing, open one of our
provided sample drawings to use.
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- From the Drawing Mode selection list,
select Ceiling.
- Once in Ceiling
mode select Draw > Ceiling on Bay.
- In the bay area on
your plan left click on each of the 3 walls which form the bay. The walls will
highlight as this is done.
- Once all 3 walls
have been selected, right click your mouse once.
- SoftPlan will now
add a sloped ceiling to the small bay area. The ceiling pitch will be based on
the pitch entered in your Ceiling Options configuration.
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Ceiling Thickness Default Configuration Added
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Version 12 has added the Ceiling
Thickness default configuration. This option is available at the Drawing
level or System level.
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Go to File
> Drawing/System Options > Material Dimensions > Ceiling
Options.
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In the Ceiling
Section, Thickness is defaulted to 0.625”. This can be changed to the
thickness that you require.
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Ceiling on Opening Command Added
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SoftPlan Version 12 has added a new
feature in Ceiling Mode to allow a sloped ceiling to be created above an
opening. This command can be used to apply a ceiling to the underside of
the roof section drawn using the Roof on Opening command in Roof Mode. The
Ceiling on Opening command can only be used when the room the opening is
located in already has a sloped ceiling. If there is no sloped ceiling
found a warning message is displayed and no ceiling is drawn.
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Open and existing drawing and
switch to Ceiling mode.
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Add a Ceiling Board to a room
and set the ceiling to be sloped by giving it a Pitch.
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Select Draw > Ceiling on
Opening.
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Click onto an existing opening
in the room. The program will place a sloped ceiling, located on
the edges of the opening.
Note: It may be necessary to use the
Ceiling Hole Polygon command to trace a hole out of the main ceiling, and
to edit the Gable end of the ceiling on opening to be a Hip style with a
Vertical Pitch, for viewing in SoftView 3D.
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Ceiling Board Offset Added
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Ceiling Board has an Offset which can
be used to create suspended ceilings. Previous versions of SoftPlan did
not have an Offset for Ceiling Board.
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- Go into Ceiling mode, place your
cursor in the middle of the ceiling board and edit the ceiling
board.
- Place a checkmark in the box beside
Offset and enter the height off the ceiling.
- The default offset will include the
floor system, if it is present, and the wall height. Decreasing the
offset will lower the ceiling board into the room.
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Ceiling Board Edge Reference
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SoftPlan Version 12 has added the
ability to now allow Ceiling Board Edges to reference other Ceiling Board
Edges to assist in placement.
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To utilize this feature, use a
plan that may have a section of ceiling board drawn on the plan, or add a
partial section of ceiling board to an existing plan.
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Select Draw >
Ceiling.
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Trace the outline of the area
the ceiling is to placed within.
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Once the ceiling is drawn
select Move > Adjust Item.
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Select an edge reference
circle that is adjacent to another ceiling board, and adjust this
to its new position, referencing the other ceiling board
edge.
· Softplan will place the edge
reference circle on the ceiling board edge, and assign it a solid fill
pattern to illustrate it is referencing a valid object.
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Default Pitch for Ceilings is Set to Half of the Default Roof
Pitch
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Version 12 now
provides separate sections in which the pitches for ceiling and roof can be
entered. By default, the ceiling pitch is set to half of the pitch of the
roof.
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- To edit the pitch of the ceiling go
to File> System/ Drawing options> Material Dimensions> Ceiling options
(Img1)
- The default pitch is set to 3”
(Img2)
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- To edit the pitch of the roof go to
File> System/ Drawing options> Material Dimensions> Roof Options
(Img 3)
- The default pitch is set to 6”
(Img4)
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Multiple Floor Ceiling
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Version 12 of SoftPlan has improved
the Ceiling mode by including a Multiple Floor Ceiling feature. Like the
Multiple Floor Roof feature in Roof mode, you can now reference the
ceiling to locate walls on a lower floor plan. This will aid in creating
volume ceilings that span two floors.
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- Select Ceiling from the Mode menu.
The walls of the floor appear in dashed lines.
- Select Draw ® Multiple Floor Ceiling.
The Overlay Drawing menu opens.
- Choose the lower floor plan drawing
and then the Open button. This will then place the lower walls under the
active drawing. The lower walls will be outlined in black.
- Using the Draw ® Ceiling ® Manual
Trace command you can now have a ceiling locate lower walls.
The Auto Trace feature cannot be used
to place a ceiling in a room that has a lower wall shown through the Multiple
Floor Ceiling command.
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Auto Trace Command Added
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SoftPlan Version 12 has added the
ability to automatically trace the area of a ceiling. SoftPlan will
automatically locate the perimeter walls of a room and add a ceiling to
it. Using this feature eliminates the need to “manually” trace the
perimeter of a room to apply the Ceiling, greatly reducing the time to add
the ceiling material to the floor plans.
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Open an existing house plan
and select Ceiling Mode from the Mode Selector.
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Select Draw > Ceiling >
Auto Trace.
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Click into the middle of a
room on the floor plan. SoftPlan will scan for the perimeter walls
of the room and automatically add the Ceiling material locating
the perimeter walls. The Ceiling can then be edited for a specific
Material, Insulation Depth and other properties.
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Ceiling Options Menu Added
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A Ceiling Options menu has been added
to Version 12. This menu is available at both the System and Drawing
level. Options available include Ceiling Joist Depth, Width, Spacing, and
Ring Joist Width. Options for Ceiling Thickness, Insulation Thickness, and
Ceiling Pitch are also set here as well as the ‘Default Material’ for the
Ceiling finish.
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Go to File > System/Drawing
Options > Material Dimensions > Ceiling Options.
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Ceiling Insulation Thickness Default Configuration
Added
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Version 12 has added a setting to the
Ceiling Options for Insulation thickness.
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- To set up this option go to:File>
System / Drawing Options> Material Dimensions> Ceiling
Options
- Under Ceiling, input the desired
thickness for Insulation.
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| Changes made at the System level will be
applied to ceilings created on new drawings. Changes made at the Drawing level
will be applied to ceilings created on the current drawing. |
- Once the Ceiling board is drawn in
Ceiling mode.
- The Ceiling can be edited using Edit
> Edit Item.
- Place a checkmark beside
Insulation.
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This will enable the
Insulation thickness that has been input at the Drawing level.
When the Insulation is enabled, it will allow automatic generation
of insulation in cross sections that cut through the ceiling, as
well as the ability to estimate for the Ceiling Insulation
material within Softlist.
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Highlight Color Configuration Added
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Version 12 has added a Highlight Color
configuration. Previous versions of SoftPlan did not have a Highlight
Color configuration.
This option is configurable at either
the System Level or the Drawing level.
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- Click on File, Drawing/System
Options, Assign Color.
- Change the Item group to
‘Miscellaneous’.
- The Highlight color is the last in
the list. To change it, double click on the color bar. A new color can be
selected from the ‘Standard Colors’ section or from the ‘Custom Colors’
selection.
The Highlight color is used to
distinguish between an item being edited or changed and similar items
that have not been changed or edited.
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Ceiling Profile Mode Added
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Version 12 has an added feature in the
Ceiling mode that allows for generation of Ceiling Profiles.
In order to create a Profile a ceiling (board) must be drawn and pitches
assigned to it. Only ceiling board(s) will be shown in the Ceiling
profile.
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- Within Ceiling mode, draw the ceiling
using either Manual Trace or Auto Trace (Draw > Ceiling).
- Edit the ceiling and assign the
desired pitch (Edit > Edit Item > click the From button on the
ceiling to be edited).
- Edit the ceiling edges as necessary.
Once all edges are edited accordingly, the ceiling will then conform to
the chosen style and display in Ceiling mode.
- Select Draw> Ceiling
Profile.
- Choose the direction to view the
profile.
- The SoftView window displays, showing
the resulting Ceiling profile.
- At this point the profile can still
be edited or saved as a separate drawing. Go to File > Save As. Give
the drawing a name.
- The drawing can now be opened in
SoftPlan to be modified or printed.
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