Help Database

Now that you've eliminated the automatic railings applied to the staircase, you are ready to draw in your own, and apply a glass panel to them.

Adding a manual railing on the staircase

1. In floor plan view, from the menu, select Build> Wall> Straight Railing , then click and drag a railing from the bottom of staircase to the edge of the top step.
   
   Make sure to keep the railing within the boundaries of the staircase.
   
   
   
2. Next, using the Select Objects  tool, select the newly drawn railing, then click on the Open Object  edit button to display the Railing Specification dialog.
   
   
   Helpful Hint: If you select the staircase first, press the Tab key on your keyboard, or Next edit tool, until you have the newly drawn railing selected.
   
   If you drew the railing in a little from the edge, use the edit handles to position it in the staircase.
   
   
   
3. On the Rail Style tab
   
   
   
   
   • Move the radio button down to Panels.
     
     
   • Check the box next to Follow Stairs .
   
   
   
4. On the Newels/Balusters tab, next to Panel Type, click on the Library button to display the Select Library Object dialog.
   
   
   
5. You can either search by a keyword, such as Glass or Cable, or browse to Chief Architect Core Catalogs> Architectural> Fences & Railings> Glass to choose an appropriate panel type.
   
   
   
   For the purposes of this example, we will choose the Glass Panel, and click OK to return to the Railing Specification dialog.
   
   
   
6. Click OK again to apply these changes and close the Railing Specification dialog.

Now that we've created one glass panel railing to follow the stairs, we can create a copy of it and move it to the other side of the staircase.

Creating an exact duplicate the railing and positioning it

1. With the railing still selected, click on the Multiple Copy  edit tool.
   
   
   
2. Click the Multiple Copy Interval  button on the newly displayed edit toolbar.
   
   
   
3. In the Multiple Copy dialog
   
   
   • Move the radio button to Evenly Distribute Copies When Dragging
     
     
   • Set the Primary and Secondary Number of Copies both to 1
     
     
   • Click OK.
   
   
   
4. Mouse over one of the square handles, so the cursor changes to the Multiple Copy cursor, and then drag across to flush against the other side of the stairs and release the mouse button to place the copy.
   
   
   
5. You should now have a staircase with manually constructed railing which you can manipulate in the same fashion as any railing, so create a 3D Full Camera  view of the staircase to see the results.