On Land

Location: 06 Wood & Plastic/Trim & Moulding

Identical to Trim Panel JM9 and Trim Panel Ceiling JM9, except it's a skylight. And since it's a skylight, it can only be rectangular.

(Q: Why don't you give the ceiling version a slope parameter, then we could subtract from roofs and have all the shapes? A: Good idea, but you can only subtract straight down. You would need to subtract in an angled direction. A wish.)

The 'height' is stretchable in 3D. The height is stretchable in plan too, though the plan view is foreshortened. Further, the plan image shows the shape at the bottom of the roof, what you'd want to see in the RCP. But the hole in the roof is displayed as seen from the top; they won't align, don't worry about it.

Location: 06 Wood & Plastic/Trim & Moulding

Identical to Trim Panel JM9, except it's an object instead of a window, and it lays flat.

It's for putting panels in slabs, for ceilings.

No, it can't actually cut the hole. You have to do that, using SEOs. Target: slab, operator: panel object. Subtract with downwards extrusion. (There is evidence of a SLABHOLE capability in AC, but it is not realized.)

You can choose to show it in the RCP by putting on the layer F Trim Crown.

The 'cut' shapes are editable in plan.

You can show a fill inside the plan polygon.

Location: 06 Wood & Plastic/Trim & Moulding

Actually a window. For placing panels in a thin wall, which would be the casing. Use a 1" thick wall for 5/4x, and 3/4" for 1x.

The object is based on Panel Hole JAM9. The difference is the addition of other shapes. This renders obsolete Panel Hole Int Trapezoid.

Each shape can point up or down (Orientation parameter). The available shapes are:

If you want to flip side to side, you need to mirror the window itself.

All these shapes are based on a right angle. If you need irregular triangles, let me know, I would probably do a separate object for those. I am working on an arbitrary-polygon drag-and-drop panel, but it isn't done.

You are encouraged to suggest other shapes. An octagon would be very simple if anyone needs it.

There is a selection of surround mouldings, including 'none'. The panel itself can be modeled or not, and if it is modeled it can have a thickness of zero (like a coat of paint). The panel can be raised or flat.

You can turn off the moulding and the panel and just have an empty opening.

If you choose any of the 'cut' shapes (Top/Bottom, Side, Corner), you can set the cut distance or the cut angle. The angle is useful when placing a panel under a stair or roof. The angles and cuts should intelligently when one or the other is changed.

You can choose to cut the actual hole with the object's pen or the wall's pen (Cut Pen parameter). Panels should have a weight of 2 (22, etc). For interior panels, you can make the wall this weight, and use the 'Wall' pen setting in the panel. On the exterior, the panel wall should be a 3 weight, and the hole should be cut with the object's pen, which should be a 2 weight.

In plan, the window has two red line 'handles' to make it easier to select. You can drag the window by these handles, but unfortunately you can't stretch.

At larger scales (3/4" and bigger), the moulding will show a wood fill in section. Otherwise, it will show the object's main fill. I'm working on getting the scale-sensitive fill thing in all the trim objects.

See also: AC Reference Guide pg. 242

A skylight is like a window for a roof. It's an object which has the ability to cut a hole in a roof.

The AC library contains several skylights at Object Library 9/07 Therm and Moist Prot/Dormers and Skylights.

I haven't made any literal skylights, so if you need one use the AC library.

Why am I telling you about this now. Like windows and doors, the primary function of the tool is to place building elements of those types, but there's other generic uses for the hole-cutting functionality. Such as the Trim Panel window, which is a pretty poor window from a light-and-ventilation standpoint.

So my first skylight isn't a skylight, it's a trim panel. More on this soon; I wanted to discuss the tool in a general way first.

Placement Like windows have to be in a wall, skylights have to be in a roof. To place a skylight, set up the skylight tool and click over a roof.

OK, full disclosure, they don't have to be in a roof. If you place it outside a roof, you will get a warning, but the object will be created. If you move the skylight over a roof, it will become linked to that roof. The real meaning of the warning is that the skylight isn't linked to any roof, which pretty well defeats the purpose.

You will also be warned if the skylight overlaps an edge or a hole, including another skylight. Touching an edge is OK.

The skylight automatically orients itself along the slope direction, and tilts to match the slope angle. If the slope changes, the skylight adjusts itself. If you rotate or mirror the roof, the skylight follows. If you copy the roof, the skylights are copied too. If you rotate the skylight, well, you can't; it will re-align itself.

The Hole Roof holes are not as feature-flexible as wall holes. Hopefully future versions will be better. Hey, they're better than slab holes, which are in heaven waiting to be born.

Skylight holes are always rectangular. There are round, etc., skylights in the AC library, but they cut rectangular holes, and the object fills in around the round part with roof-matching material. Trouble is, there's no way to not-draw the edge of the hole; the lines are there no matter what the skylight does. The current GDL doesn't offer a way around this.

The roof hole is cut with particular edge angles. The sides are vertical (fine by me), the top is horizontal, the bottom is vertical. You can select the roof or the hole and edit the edge angle normally. Trouble is, if there is any change in the skylight, the hole is regenerated from scratch and those default angles come back. And I mean any change, even a pen. Dragging it, stretching it too. If you change the roof slope, the skylight is regenerated, and the angles revert. If you copy a skylight, the new one will have default angles.

If those angles work for a given application, then good. But for the trim panel, we want perpendicular angles top and bottom, permanently. Again, GDL does not currently provide a way to control this. It can be quite frustrating.

Layers Unlike doors and windows, skylights have their own layer. The roof can be hidden, and the skylight show. This is mostly for the good, but there is a side effect: If you select the roof and go to 3D, you don't see the skylights. If you select the skylight, you don't see the roof. (Where with doors and windows you get the opening and the wall either way.) Also, if you hide the skylight's layer, you still have a hole.

A typical skylight-type skylight should probably go on the same layer as the roof. The trim panel skylight can be handled as trim; if you want to see it in RCP, use the layer F Trim Crown.