Mastering Building Navigation & Display Settings

INSTRUCTION TYPE: Exploration INSTRUCTION TITLE: Mastering Building Navigation & Display Settings CATEGORY: User Interface OBJECTIVE: Learn how to control the visibility of different building components to focus on specific structural elements

PREREQUISITES:

  • Basic software navigation

  • Opening an existing project file

  • Understanding the main interface layout

EXPERTISE LEVEL: Novice

PARAMETERS:

  • Display Toggles: Various building components that can be shown/hidden

  • Hierarchy Levels: Parent/child relationships between structural elements

STEPS:

  1. Open the Building Navigation panel on the left side of your screen

  2. Locate and uncheck "Roof Design" in the component list

  3. Observe how the roof structure immediately disappears from the 3D view

  4. Re-check "Roof Design" to restore visibility of the roof structure

  5. Experiment by toggling other major elements (Walls, Floors, Foundation) to understand their relationships

  6. Navigate to "Display Settings" panel on the left side

  7. Expand the "Objects" folder to reveal more detailed component categories

  8. Toggle Store, Wall, Ceiling, Roof, Truss and Free Struct options individually

  9. Unselect all components except "Roof"

  10. With only Roof selected, expand the Roof subcategory and experiment with toggling Rafter, Plates, Ties and other roof-specific elements

EXPECTED RESULTS: You should be able to isolate specific building components and understand how they are organized hierarchically in the software.

COMMON VARIATIONS:

  • Some project types may have additional specialized categories in the navigation panel

  • Custom components might appear under "User Defined" categories

TROUBLESHOOTING:

  • If toggling an element doesn't change the display: Check if you're in a specialized view mode that overrides display settings

  • If components appear transparent instead of disappearing: Verify that "Ghost Mode" isn't activated in the view settings

FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS:

  • Explore Object Information and Selection techniques

  • Learn about creating custom view configurations

  • Experiment with sectional views for structural analysis

QUERY EXAMPLES: "How do I hide the roof to see inside the building?", "Can I see only the wall framing without sheathing?", "How do I focus on just one floor level?"

PreviousExplorationNextExploring Wall, Floor & Roof

Last updated

Was this helpful?