Renerabbitt

I have a system that is similar to many other users out there. Active jobs/Job Name/CAD/DATE AND PHASE IN FOLDER NAME/.plan and .template files such that I have a folder named 200203-DRVA meaning that I am in the design review phase on design iteration "A" dated today's date. Tomorrow I will copy and paste that entire folder and rename it to 200204-DRVA. That was I can reference old designs, revert back to them if needed, also keep historical data or previous textures, elements etc. AND have an active backup vs automatic which can possibly be corrupted. These all live on a cloud service. You now have the added benefit of showing previous design iterations in your active plan with referenced files.

You have to do this in a 3rd party software. CA is not capable of UV mapping. You could do it through painstacking surface deletion and symbol compiling, but nowhere near worth the time invested.

I could also do it for you, probably charge $50

This is always problem number 1. Most of the guys around here will tell you, we almost never manually drag wall heights, it just invites problems. If you want structure height to change, you should do it in the room specification dbx. Simply draw room dividers to create a room, and if that room is to have different structure than the rest of the rooms, manually override the rooms structure from the room specification. Ideally, if the property does not have split level floors, you should just edit your floor in the floors and rooms default settings under edit/default settings/floors and rooms/floor levels/

I'm out of the office til this evening building a custom bed frame. Fun stuff..I'll take a look later tonight

POST 27 We're you as excited about the Cafe line of GE appliances at IBS this year? I sure was!! so I stuffed it into my first project back in the office. I did not model these, they are from the manufacturer, I simply fixed a lot of mistakes and cleaned up a lot of geometry, then imported and covered in custom materials. I did not have time to clean these up and reduces faces so be warned, these are 30-50K face count which will slow your computer down. Download: RABS CAFE APPLIANCES.calibz CLICK ME TO GO BACK TO THE INDEX!!!

Feed back is to put this in the tips and tricks forum!

Do you have a cloud service you can upload to and share?

My suggestion was to convert your terrain and landscaping to a symbol, much easier IMO. I think I remember suggesting you copy your plan over to a new file for each new day of work so you don't listen your projects. Might have to dig through archives, no way to reverse that without undo.

MIND POSTING YOUR PLAN FILE WITH A FEW ANNOTATIONS TO ILLUSTRATE WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO ACCMOPLISH...oops sorry all caps, was draftig..not gonna re-type that

There are ways to do this with chief tools, no argument there, but my absolute preferred method is to open a new plan, draw it out to spec and save it as a symbol in my library under that jobs folder...no fussing with deck edges and walls reconnecting/screwing things up. I know I'm the minority but this is what I do every time it comes to fussy railings...its fast and bullet proof...just not dynamic cept for in the Z plane

I I could guess but it would be better if you uploaded a plan with the symbol and also the molding

I'm possibly not the most knowledgable person when it comes to SSA but they do in fact handle almost any question you can throw at them as well as being part of a yearly upgrade promo rate. Additionally, these forums are filled with very helpful and knowledgeable users that are more than generous with their time. You can also find various users that offer training services. Hope that helped.

did you try the auto stairwell tool in the stair's active toolbar ? EDIT: Kbird1 beat me to it!

See this post, it has houses as symbols. You can pull a perspective overview and use Tools/Symbol/Convert To Symbol/ and it will convert any visible geometry. Its helpful to turn all interior layers off as well as framing, floors etc. Much easier, IMO, to CAD block trees and foliage and terrain and convert to seymbol

I think he is referencing CSV import terrain tools under File/Import/Import Terrain Data/ Personally I think CA does a great job of interpolating by using a minimum number of datums to complete the terrain model. I would NOT use chief for Cut/Fill calcs, and otherwise how accurate do you need the terrain model to be? It can be 100% accurate but at an exorbitant cost with little benefit to the designer or client. The ultimate question is, what do you need to represent with your terrain? Then we can craft a viable response. I'm happy to do terrain models for clients as a contractor, please contact me if needed. I'm also happy to gift my time on these forums pointing people toward resources or creating instructional videos. To the OP. Please post all relevant files so we can take a look.

Adding on to what Rob said, you can save your terrain model as a symbol in your library and place it as many times as you want in any configuration you want..same with the neighbors house

Send image to plan and then plan to layout, then you can crop out. Just change your layout box border accordingly.

Welcome to our community Eric, glad you chimed in. Could you give an example of a detail you'd like drawn and I can give you an example of how quickly it can be drawn in chief using the tools that you may not be aware of or familiar with. Sketchup definitely has a great approach with its input-as-you-draw technique, CA differs but is still very fast with the right methods.

Duet Display is available for Mac and Windows, or you can use the built in Sidecar app

POST 26 Using your iPad as a toolbar touchscreen the easy way: CLICK ME TO GO BACK TO THE INDEX!!!

Re to this quote-PM Sent

A present for you: SIMPSON PORTAL FRAME.calibz