Help Database

There are a number of different ways to create a barrel roof in Chief Architect. The easiest way to do this using two roof planes is to join them before they are specified as curved.




Use one of the following procedures to join two curved roof planes so that they form a single, smooth curve.

In this example, two roof planes were created manually using the Roof Plane  tool, and then specified as curved in their Roof Plane Specification dialogs.

Using either the edit handles or the Join Roof Planes  edit tool, the planes do not meet in the center of the building to form a single curve.

Because the width of this structure is exactly 30 feet (9.14 m) and both roof planes have the same fascia height, it is possible to accurately position the joining edges by enabling Object Snaps  and specifying dimensions in the Move Object Using Dimension dialog.



To specify dimensions using the Move Object Using Dimension dialog

1. Be sure that both planes have the Angle at ridge set to 0 in the Roof Plane Specification dialog.
   
   


2. Select one of the roof planes near the edge where it meets the other to display its edit handles and temporary dimensions.



3. Click on a temporary dimension to open the Move Object Using Dimension in line text box.
   
   
   
   In Chief Architect X1 and prior, the Move Object Using Dimension function would display a dialog.



4. Specify the distance that the edge should be from each wall, in this example, 15 feet (4.57 m) and click the OK button to close the dialog and apply the change.




5. Select the other roof plane near the edge nearest the other plane and use the move edit handle that displays to reposition the edge until it snaps to join the other roof plane.
   
   


6. Select 3D> Create Orthographic View> Cross Section/Elevation  then click and drag out to generate the view to confirm that the roof planes are curved as expected.
   
   In Chief Architect X1 and prior, use 3D> Create Vector View> Cross Section/Elevation.

In most situations, however, joining curved roof planes will not be this simple. The easiest way to join roof planes to make a smooth barrel shape is to join them while they are flat and then curve them.



To curve flat roof planes

1. For exising curved roof planes, begin by clicking on one of the planes near an edge to select it, and then hold down the shift key and click on the other plane to select them both.
   
   
   
2. Click the Open Object  edit button to open the Roof Plane Specification dialog.
   
   
   
3. Remove the check in the box beside Curved Roof to make both planes flat, as they were when they were first created. Click the OK button to close the dialog and apply the changes.
   
   
   
4. Select one of these flat roof planes near the edge where it meets the other to display its edit handles; or, if you are starting fresh with two new roof planes, select them in this manner.



5. Click the Join Roof Planes  edit button and then click on the other roof plane near the edge that will join with the other.
   
   The Join Roof Planes  tool automatically joins the two planes at the center of the structure, equidistant from their baselines.
   
   


6. Group-select the two roof planes using the shift + click method described above and click the Open Object  edit button to open the Roof Plane Specification dialog and edit both planes at the same time.
   
   


7. Place a check in the box beside Curved Roof and then specify the Angle at ridge to be 0. Notice that the Angle at eave value adjusts to the change.
   
   



8. Click the OK button to close the dialog and select 3D> Create Perspective View> Full Overview  to confirm that the roof planes are curved as expected.
   
   In Chief Architect X2, use 3D> Create Render View> Render Full Overview.