Renerabbitt

17 hours ago, cavemanwfire said:

@Renerabbitt

Took a glance at this, and am a little unclear as to what the deliverable is. This seems like just a straight CAD job that an autocad user could do. Are you looking for 3d topography and retention? Do you have this survey in a dwg format?
Marking up a dwg survey is easy enough, building 3d topography with retaining walls is more work, what is the full scope of this job.

1. the block from scratch-- Do you mean modeling the entire neighborhood block(not shown in PDF's) with neighboring parcels?
2. services shown on a second copy--second copy of what exactly? second plan file, or put on an isolated layer or?
3. third copy---so you need a before and after plan file, 3d? one without the retaining wall and one with the retaining wall?

deliverable is just a pdf?

18 hours ago, para-CAD said:

Some day I'll set this one free.......

 

 

could show you how to build this in chief if you ever wanted to  would need a custom schedule and macros. Pretty cool MM

4 minutes ago, Joe_Carrick said:

Pretty cool, but for me that takes too much room on a Layout

People can always remove the 3d column... This was more for illustrating the font remapping

5 minutes ago, rikdekker said:

@Renerabbittworks except when I select it the only available option to convert to is "molding polyline". 

You're missing a step then. Explode it if it came in as a cad block ...else make sure it's a closed polyline. Can't convert a open polyline to a solid

9 minutes ago, rikdekker said:

That's awesome. Great tool to have in my tool chest. Unfortunately my client was looking for the Rockwell font. 

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7 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

I have several macros that cover all such opening labels.

I'm doing it a bit differently Joe. I am actually remapping for full height superscript and rich-text like outputs:

5 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

Just put a macro in the label of something in page 0 (or the page template of tthe title sheet) of your layout.  Hint:

• A Rectangle works well.  Just make sure you macro ends with "" so it doesn't show.
• I always open my projects with the Layout.

Ended up figuring out something else, but I’ve got another question for you so windows, doors, cabinets, and rooms will all go look at a hash full of user options on how and the end-user wants to display their labels and what conventions are used and then all of those objects, then get pushed to a remap function Which remap some of the character outputs to a different part of a font, and it turns out that this was creating a major bottleneck..a lineup if you will at the font remapped which pushed me to change the user options to a global hash as well as the font remapped to a global call But can you think of maybe another method for the font remapped to keep it lightweight and accessible without having to write it into each individual macro that utilizes its function? Can a lambda be accessed simultaneously by all objects like a global can?

Who has some clever methods to initialize globals without the need of opening an object?
I would love it if I didnt have to remember to open something in order for my schedules to populate from initalized macros. I know Joe has asked for this a billion times. Has anyone come up with workarounds?
 

On 9/9/2025 at 2:36 PM, chrismac said:

Thank you Rabbitt! How accurate are you finding the Matterport data? I've heard it can have a large margin of error. Are there scan techniques to improve resolution? Have you used it for exteriors as well? I've heard the proprietary software for Matterport can be limiting. I have not used Matterport but am familiar with FARO in a previous role. 

 

Best,

Chris

The pro 3 camera is very accurate since it mixes photogrammetry and a professional grade lidar sensor. Lidar from your phone will be very poor.
Lidar on exterior is ok for somet things, though I personally don't see a ton of need there.
I will say it only takes me 2-4 hours with a helper to measure an entire place directly into chief and take photos and do a phone lidar scan for backup. 

1 hour ago, chrismac said:

Hello, does anyone have experience with using LiDAR data alongside Chief? Such as FARO, Trimble, or Matterport. It looks like there is not a direct integration for point clouds into Chief. I have experience with this type of data in other programs, but never with Chief. Curious to know other's workflow. Any tips greatly appreciated. 

 

Chris 

Certainly. I typically order a matterpak which is an obj file conversion of the matterport scan then I slice it in blender as well as decimate it. Then import in units of meters as a symbol and save it in a plan file that youwill reference.
Reference it so that you arent constantly rebuilding a heavy scene. (The scan can be a 1M poly on up)

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5 minutes ago, amyondesign said:

How can two people work on the same files? We have two people who need to work on different parts of a project from two different computers (obviously). Is there a way to have the project management saved onto dropbox or google drive instead of a local desktop?

Export your project to Dropbox and sharit..just keep in kind you may want to delete the project from project management after you export since it will be an outdated copy once your colleague imports and works on it 

58 minutes ago, ClintonM said:

We strongly recommend not storing these files in a location that is backed up to the cloud

You CAN however safely write a script for task scheduler to backup these files to another drive when chief architect is not running

10 minutes ago, Artisan_TH said:

I have a few project in the new system.

I have saved every time I close a project

System set to back up daily

NO file in backup folder 

I have looked everywhere on my drives. NO zip file with .caproj  

The backup takes a long while and it prompts you before it performs and it will lock you out of using Chief until it completes. You would know it if it were backing up

On 8/17/2025 at 8:58 PM, SHCanada2 said:

This is project management mode...no access to the filenmae

Of happens when using custom wall types as well. Use the edit area tool and paste into new plan is the only way I know how to save the work 

3 hours ago, SHCanada2 said:

you cannot

Not entirely true 

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I believe I responded to this previously and never heard back. 
Years have passed of course, but I could offer this service for you easily enough:

4 hours ago, Adam_Gibson said:

 

That's a good point. Wouldn't it be great if ponies could have more than two walls?

Yes completely agree..you were there last year when dan baumann asked for that in class. Specifically for wall stepping.

Also would be great if we could just set any object to cut finish layer including default room moldings. Then your custom molding would be perfect

On 8/16/2025 at 9:31 AM, Adam_Gibson said:

Change the walls into pony walls, with the lower wall being a copy of the upper wall.

The reason I don't do a pony wall method is because often times I need to use a pony wall for other reasons, such as a brick pony wall
Otherwise yes this works

1 hour ago, PitMan71 said:

For some reason rooms under or around stairs where the lower space is underneath the "open to below" for the stair, the ceiling height reports the ceiling height AND the floor height above.. Is there a way to force it to just report the first floor ceiling height?

 

Thanks

What method are you using to derive ceiling heights?

3 hours ago, RDWMattB said:

Just tried Canvas for the first time.   A firm that I used to work for used it for a project, and I read their promotional posts on this forum, so I thought I’d give it a try because my developer client needed as-builts quickly.   I scanned the first floor of a 5,000SF apartment building for 4 hours with an assistant and was very exited watching the point cloud reconstruct the scanned areas on- screen, which looked correct.   I sent the 3 connected scans in with instructions and waited a couple of weeks.  My account was charged, and then got an email saying the scan could not be completed, - no further explanation given.   
I got a subsequent email stating I would be refunded the charges, which has happened.  
 

If my scanning technique needed to change, I would have liked to know how.  The service seems like a great idea, but at this point I’m out my time and the assistant’s, and am now 2 weeks behind schedule.  We will have to field survey the old-fashioned way, which will cost quite a bit.   My client’s not happy, and I’m pretty disappointed.   I’ve sent an email to customer service asking for more information, and am frustrated that there is no phone number to call.   So far, no response.
 

At this point,  I can’t recommend Canvas at all.   It seems like a great idea, but they’ve had years to develop a system, and I still don’t think it’s ready for its marketed use.  

 

Matthew Bancroft

Renaissance DesignWorks.

Portland, ME
 

 

send me the scan and I can take a look. click on the link that says "colorized" which will download a sizable zip file. Upload it to the cloud and kick it over to renerabbitt@gmail.com and I will post a video here to illustrate why it may not have worked.
If it is workable I will give you a fair price on converting it or you can of course get some other pricing in the seeking services