Book Roofs are symmetrical roofing elements which fit together to build complete gable and hip roof systems. They have limited editing facilities, and so the roof panel was developed for complete flexibility in adding roof features. Roofs, like floors, have cutouts, although the requirements are somewhat different; in fact, the same object is recycled to apply as Deck cutouts. Doors and windows are actually wall attachments, but are feature rich, and so deserve their separate discussion. SkyLights are essentially windows that fit into roof cutouts.
Book Roofs were the initial roofing features available in Punch!. They are completely symmetric about the roof centerline. They are editable to the extent that the total length and width of the book roof can be changed, but the shapes are immutable. The two pieces (three or four for hips) all have the same pitch. The roofs have top surfaces, bottom surfaces and edges.
Top Finish sets the finish for the tops of the book roof panels.
Bottom finish sets the finish for the bottom of the book roof panels, which make admirable cathedral ceiling surfaces. This is a new property for Punch! version 7.5 and up.
Edge finish sets the finish of the roof edges. Punch! limits these to include only color, no texture.
Pitch sets the pitch for all sides of a book roof. All sides have the same pitch, though they extend in different directions, of course.
Elevation sets the vertical distance from the bottom of the roof's eaves to the zero reference plane.
Roof panels, also called freehand roofs, are floor-like panels which have a non-zero pitch. They are a single piece and therefore have a single pitch in a single direction. They are shaped by describing their horizontal projection (plan view); they can be shaped in any manor, using a polygon of any number of sides. They can be used to create a ramp or any other slanted structure or surface. Their properties dialog is shown above on the right; they use all the same controls as book roofs except for:
Azimuth sets the direction in which the pitch is the highest downward. It is usually fairly critical for roof panel fitting that the azimuth be precisely perpendicular to one or more edges of the panel. The azimuth is expressed on the plan by an arrow located at the center of the panel, which points out the azimuth direction and states the pitch.
Measure elevation from allows the user to change the elevation measurement point from the usual lowest point to the highest point on the selected roof panels, which aids in aligning roofs at their peaks. Unfortunately, when this parameter is changed the elevation measurement is not adjusted in Punch!, resulting in each of the panels shifting true elevation by its own height (the difference in the elevation measurement points).
Just as floors have their cutouts, so do Roofs and Decks, at least in Punch! version 10 and after. These are new in version 10, and their requirements are difference from floor cutouts. They differ from floor cutouts in that they are attached to the roof (book roof or roof panel) or deck they are drawn on, and take their elevations and pitch from them. They cannot be drawn except while physically on a roof or deck. Roof cutouts (and skylights) have dimensional problems brought on by a quirk in Punch!'s legacy roof measurement systems discussed in detail in The Ten Commandments of Roofs. However, roof and deck holes to not have any properties; the edge finish cannot be changed, the elevation and thickness are degined by the panels they pierce. All they have is position and shape, so InSync has no dialog to affect them.
Punch! doors and windows are wall attachments. They can only exist within a wall. There are (in Punch! version 8.0) both standard wall styles and custom styles, and the door trim can be standard or custom as well. The door properties dialog is above on the right.
Door finish sets the finish on the door itself. In versions before 8.0, that same finish also sufficed for the door frames on both sides of the wall.
Left/Right frame finish sets the finish on the left/right wall-side door frames. These are new in Punch! version 8.0 and forward.
Door style selects the door style from one of the standard styles or any available custom design (in Punch! version 8.0 and forward).
Left/Right frame trim sets the door frame trim style to standard flat trim or any custom trim style (in Punch! version 8.0 and forward). Any custom base or crown trim can be used, but Punch! has supplied a category of trims specifically for door and window frames.
Width sets the doors' width.
Height sets the doors' heights.
Elevation sets the vertical distance from the bottom of the door to the bottom of the wall it is embedded in, remembering that doors are wall attachments.
Trim width sets the width of flat trim if the standard flat trim is selected. It may range from 0 to any positive measurement. At 0 it eliminates the frame altogether, making the door opening uncased.
Open angle sets the angle at which the door is opened, both in the plans and in LiveView.
Open side selects the side of the door that the hinge is on, in those styles which have an identifiable side. "Right" means the hinge is on the side away from the wall start end, "left" is near.
Windows are, like doors, wall attachments. The window properties dialog is below on the left. The properties are mostly the same as those in doors, except for:
Vertical/Horizontal flip sets whether the window configuration is to be flipped about a vertical/horizontal axis. This has meaning mainly when using a non-symmetrical window shape, and mirror imaged copies are needed to complete the window design.
Vertical/Horizontal panes sets the number of pane separators in the window in the vertical/horizontal direction. The numbers may range from 0 to 4.
SkyLights (new in Punch! version 10) are essentially windows set into roofs, and is a roof (book or panel) attachment. There are three standard styles (rectangular, octagonal and round) and the usual variety of custom styles. SkyLights suffer from a mis-measurement problem as cited above, which is detailed in The Ten Commandments of Roofs. The skylight dialog is displayed above on the right; the options are straight-forward from the window discussion.
InSync and the contents of this help file are
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