Tutorial 17: Full-height Radius (Curved) Panels

Turn a flat-topped panel into a curved one — enter a single Top Arch Radius and let ConstructiVision springs an arc across the whole top edge, no peak fields, no right-elevation entry.

Most tilt-up panels have a flat or gabled top, and the core curriculum built exactly those. Some walls call for a curved top instead — a cambered arch across the panel head. ConstructiVision draws that from one number: the Top Arch Radius. Enter a radius and the flat/peaked top is replaced by a true arc, sprung from both top corners and crowned in the middle, with the peak and right-elevation fields stepping aside because the arc now defines the entire top edge.

This is a standalone advanced lesson. A curved top is different geometry from the flat TP08-12 thread the core lessons built, so it starts from its own fresh panel rather than resuming that drawing. Everything you need is set here from scratch.

Note

This lesson is AutoCAD-only. ConstructiVision on the web has no equivalent today — the browser page for this lesson explains why, so you are not left hunting for a feature that is not there.

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Transcript (16 captions)

0:01 — Tutorial 17 — Full-height Radius (Curved) Panels. A standalone advanced lesson: give a full-height panel a curved top from one number — the Top Arch Radius — and let ConstructiVision spring a true arc across the whole top edge. We build RAD-1: 20'-0" wide, 7 1/4" thick, a 30'-0" radius arch instead of a flat or peaked head.

0:20 — Start a fresh panel. In the real workflow you click New Drawing → Panel; the Main Panel Details form opens on the new panel — the same home form every panel starts on.

0:23 — Drawing Details — the mark. Prefix RAD-.

0:27 — Panel No. 1 — digits only. The mark reads RAD-1. Suffix stays empty.

0:31 — Add your initials under Drawn by. Leave Drawing Scale on Auto and Casting Face Down on Outside Face.

0:36 — Set the flat-top starting point — you add the curve next. The width matters most here: it sets the chord the arc has to span.

0:44 — Panel Details. Thickness 7 1/4.

0:49 — Width 20'0 — this is the chord the arch spans, and it sets the radius minimum you'll meet in a moment.

0:53 — Bottom Elevation -1'6 — the panel bottom sits 1'-6" below Finished Floor.

0:57 — Top Left 22'0 — the eave height the arc will spring from. Watch it copy into Top Right: leave the right at the copied 22'-0".

1:04 — Top Arch / Radius — this one number turns the flat top into a curve. 30' on this 20'-0" panel.

1:09 — Three fields gray out the moment a radius takes — Top Peak Distance, Top Peak Elevation, Top Right Elevation. The arch replaces them.

1:16 — The radius rule: an arc has to reach both top corners, so it must be at least half the panel width — 10'-0" here. A smaller radius has no valid arc.

1:27 — With Top Arch Radius at 30', OK — ConstructiVision draws the curve, replacing the flat top with a true arc.

1:49 — RAD-1: a 20'-0" outline with a smooth arc across the top, crowned at center, meeting both corners at the 22'-0" eave. On this 30'-0" radius the crown sits a little under 1'-9" above the eaves — a gentle camber. A larger radius flattens the crown; near the 10'-0" minimum gives the deepest curve the width allows.

2:05 — Check your result: RAD-1 has a smooth arc, no peak marker, and reopening Edit Main Panel shows Top Arch Radius 30' with the peak and right-elevation fields grayed. This standalone lesson has no graded CV-CHECK command — verify against the outcomes on screen. If a top ever draws flat when you expected a curve, the radius is almost always the cause: confirm it's set and at least half the panel width.

Tip

The written steps below are the authoritative version — they are kept current continuously, while videos are re-recorded in batches. Companion video versions lists which build each video was recorded against.

What you will build

A single new panel, RAD-1: a 20’-0” wide, 7 1/4” thick full-height panel whose top is a curved arch on a 30’-0” radius instead of a flat or peaked head. When you finish, the drawing shows the panel outline with a smooth arc across the top, crowned at the center and springing from both eave corners — and no peak marker anywhere, because there is no peak.

Before you start

  • This lesson does not build on TP08-12 or any earlier drawing — it stands entirely on its own. You need only ConstructiVision loaded and a project open (any project; create a scratch one with New Project if you like). See Tutorial 1: Getting Started with ConstructiVision if you need to open a project first.

  • You should be comfortable with the Main Panel Details dialog from Tutorial 2: Panel Options — the Top Arch Radius field lives on that same form, alongside the dimensions and elevations you set there.

  • Nothing to download: you type every value below into a brand-new panel.

Lesson

Step 1 — Start a fresh panel

Click New Drawing and choose a Panel drawing. The Main Panel Details dialog opens on the new panel — the same home form every panel starts on.

In Drawing Details, enter:

  • Prefix: RAD-

  • Panel No.: 1

  • Suffix: leave empty

The mark reads RAD-1. Add your initials under Drawn by, leave Drawing Scale on Auto Scale, and leave Casting Face Down on Outside Face.

Step 2 — Set thickness, width, and the eave elevations

In Panel Details, type the panel’s flat-top starting point — you add the curve in the next step:

  • Thickness: 7 1/4

  • Width: 20'0

  • Bottom Elevation: -1'6 — the panel bottom sits 1’-6” below Finished Floor.

  • Top Left Elevation: 22'0 — this is the eave height where the arc will spring from. As always, the left value copies into Top Right Elevation; leave the right at the copied 22’-0”.

At this point the panel is an ordinary flat-topped 20’-0” × ~23’-6” panel. The width matters for the next step: it sets the chord the arc has to span.

Step 3 — Enter the Top Arch Radius

Find Top Arch Radius (the field labeled Top Arch / Radius, next to the peak fields). This one number turns the flat top into a curve. Enter:

  • Top Arch Radius: 30'

Watch three fields gray out the moment the radius takes: Top Peak Distance, Top Peak Elevation, and Top Right Elevation. That is by design — the arc now defines the whole top edge, so a manual peak and an independent right elevation would only fight it. The arch overrides that manual peak geometry entirely.

You will also see the Radius box beside Expansion Gap ungray — that Radius Panel companion field is only meaningful once an arch is present. Leave it at 0 for this lesson; the curve itself comes from the Top Arch Radius you just entered.

Step 4 — Understand the radius rule (and see it enforced)

The radius cannot be arbitrarily small. An arc has to reach both top corners, so its radius must be at least half the panel width — here, 20’-0” ÷ 2 = 10’-0”. A radius under that describes a circle too small to touch both corners, and ConstructiVision refuses to draw a broken top.

See it: change Top Arch Radius to 8' and click OK. The panel draws flat-topped — the arch is skipped, not faked — and the command line says so:

[CSV-ERROR] arch: camber radius 8' < half panel width 10.0000 -- arch skipped; enter a radius >= 10.0000

No magic default is substituted: too small means flat, loudly. Open Edit Main Panel, set Top Arch Radius back to 30', and continue.

Step 5 — Draw the curved panel

With Top Arch Radius at 30', click OK. ConstructiVision draws the panel with a true arc across the top:

  • The arc springs from both top corners at the 22’-0” eave line and crowns at the center.

  • The crown rises above the eaves by the camber the radius produces. A larger radius gives a flatter, shallower crown; a radius near the 10’-0” minimum gives the deepest curve the panel width allows. On this 30’-0” radius the crown sits a little under 1’-9” above the eaves — a gentle camber.

  • There is no peak marker: a curved top has no peak vertex to call out.

Check your result

Tip

This lesson uses a fresh, standalone panel rather than the graded TP08-12 thread, so there is no CV-CHECK-LESSON17 command — the lesson checker has no spec for it. Check the outcomes against the list below.

You should now be able to verify all of the following on RAD-1:

  • The panel outline is 20’-0” wide with a smooth arc across the top, crowned at the center and meeting both top corners at the 22’-0” eave line — not a flat or gabled top.

  • There is no peak marker anywhere on the top edge.

  • Reopening Edit Main Panel shows Top Arch Radius at 30', with Top Peak Distance, Top Peak Elevation, and Top Right Elevation grayed out — the arch is driving the top.

  • Entering a radius below 10’-0” (half the 20’-0” width) draws the panel flat-topped and prints the [CSV-ERROR] arch: camber radius ... < half panel width ... line; restoring 30' brings the curve back.

If the top drew flat when you expected a curve, the radius is almost always the cause — reopen Edit Main Panel and confirm Top Arch Radius is set and is at least half the panel width.

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