glennw

That's what Undo is for.

Richard, Yes, I grew up with Generic CADD - an absolutely fantastic program until Autodesk purchased it and killed it off. I have tried to base my hotkeys on the 2 letter CG shortcuts and it seems to work pretty well. The easiest way to share the hotkeys is share either Create Hotkey List (.html file) or Export Hotkeys (.xml file). I am happy to share mine. Glenns hotkeys.html

Joe, One of my favorite topics! The OOB Chief hotkeys are absolutely useless as they use the simultaneous hotkeys and not the sequential ones. Several big problems with these - they are simultaneous (I only have 2 hands, 8 fingers and 2 thumbs - lets leave the feet and toes out of this) which makes them extremely hard to use and they are almost impossible to remember. The sequential ones (particularly the 2 letter ones) are easy to remember, can be very logical and easy to physically use. I have many 2 letter hot keys like: ZI zoom in PA pan window ZA zoom all (fill window) ZW zoom window ZO zoom out RS render standard RV render vector RW render watercolor BR build roof BT build terrain TS terrain specification CF full height cabinet I already use CB for base cabinet So...I think you are exactly on the right track. I would love to see Chief ditch the OOB simultaneous hotkeys and replace them all with sequential hotkeys. By the way, just to complicate things, you can have a combination of simultaneous and sequential hot keys (for the one tool).

I think that you must be confusing those 2 dbx's with the Roof Defaults dbx which DOES have a Gutter tab where you can specify the profile for the auto drawn gutters.

Cheryl, If I understand you correctly. You want the scale of the layout box to display for each layout box. To do that you need to open the layout box dbx and use %box_scale% Using %scale% in a text box on the layout sheet will display the visual zoom level for that layout page - probably not what you want.

My last guess without seeing a plan is that you have your rooms defined as Unconditioned areas. Or if you have Use Default set for Conditioned Room, you are using a room type that defaults to Unconditioned (like a Balcony, Attic, Deck, etc). Unconditioned areas are not counted as part of the thermal envelope and thus do not show up as such in the General section of the ML. Otherwise, post the plan.

Scott, You may need to take that class in terrain building. The Subfloor Height Above Terrain setting has nothing to do with the shaping of the terrain (apart from the Flatten Pad setting). Subfloor Height Above Terrain only allows the user to set the relationship (the relativity) between Chief's zero floor level and the terrain level. I don't think it is a bug, I think the terrain just needs more elevation data. I never use Elevation Points - I always use Elevation Lines/Splines or Elevation Regions, etc. If you read the manual: Chief Architect requires many points to make an accurate approximation of your site. Even small sites may require over a hundred points to generate an accurate model of the terrain if it is sloped Elevation Points are most effective when they are imported. When adding elevation data manually, use Elevation Lines and Splines instead. See Importing Elevation Data. PS. There were 4 elevation points in the original file, not 3 - one in each corner. I was just having another look at the terrain pic you posted. It is a bit hard to tell because the elevation points are small and feint, but it looks like you have deleted 3 of the elevation points and only left the one in the top left hand corner. Or you may have reduced the size of the terrain so as to exclude the elevation points - I think I can just see the bottom 2 down below the terrain. But I can definitely only see the top left one inside the terrain perimeter. Guess what - if you only have 1 elevation point - you get a flat terrain.

Do you actually have a General section displaying in the ML - or is the whole General section missing? If the whole General section is missing, go up to the toolbar and select Display Options. Make sure the General section is checked.

You should be able to grab the grip that the extension line references on the elevation and drag it off the elevation - the same way you delete an extension line in plan.

You need to supply more elevation data to enable the terrain to build correctly - the 4 elevation points are not enough. You will find it easier to use Elevation Lines or Splines than Elevation Points. An Elevation Line is really just elevation points at about 2'0" centres. Or, you could change the Terrrain Surface Smoothing to Linear - this will smooth out the peaks and troughs..

I opened it in X6 and could not duplicate your problem. I would send it into support - that's what we pay SSA for.

What version of Chief are you using. Does your version do curved roofs. Can you post a pic of the General panel of the Roof Plane Specification dbx.

I don't think this is correct. You can always change the material back to Use Default and then you can change the material in the Wall Definition dbx if needed (or repaint it if you want).

Post the plan

Have you tried 3D trees and plants?

I don't have access to Chief for a few days, (I just saw Pattie Smith do "Horses" at the Byron Bay Bluesfest) but I believe those fins can be controlled by a setting called "mullion depth" or something similar - you can use positive and negative numbers ( all from memory - so probably way of track) ps, we see Santana and Jethro Tull tomorrow!

Scott, I wish I could attend - it sounds like fun. But covering all that in an hour? I think that may be like pushing **** uphill with a stick. You will need to skip through it pretty quickly You will probably need to learn a few more expletives as well!

Your layout should normally be at a scale of 1:1. Why do you need a layout at 1:100?

The gap may fill - but it may also fill with the floor framing material - depending on you wall definition. In this case, it looks like the floor framing should stop at some wall layer inboard of the outer stone layer. My best guess is that it is your Build Platform To Exterior of Layer setting. You probably have it set to the outside wall layer. Try changing it to the wall's main layer or something inside the outer stone layer. Once this is set correctly building the floor framing or not shouldn't make any difference. It is hard to be more specific without seeing your wall definition details.

Lew, I am not sure what you did wrong, but Michael gave you the correct answer. It also works on multiple stacked dimension lines. This applies to one extension line, not one dimension line. You only need to set the Proximity Fixed setting for 1 extension line. And this is exactly what happens. https://www.screencast.com/t/ix08yNnAxE5

Mark, You won't be able to open the file because it was created in X9. Here is a copy that was created in X8. If you have SSA you should be able to upgrade. 49 Foreshore Drive Salamander Bay Version 2 GLENN V8.zip

Lew, They are Ceiling Break Lines....on the Ceiling, Break Lines layer. They indicate where the ceiling changes from flat to cathedral. It is a little confusing when you look at that layer in Layer Display Options, because even though they are there, the Used column doesn't have the red cross in it.

Mark, There are several ways the terrain can relate to the floor levels. I have attached a plan where the floor and ceiling levels relate directly to the terrain levels so that you don't have to do the mental gymnastics to understand how the 2 relate to each other. Have a good look at the Absolute Elevations in the Room Specification dbx's. If desired, these settings can be specified in your floor defaults. This method means that when you have real world levels (or even assumed datum as in your case), you can specify your floor, ceiling and terrain heights in real word heights that all relate directly to each other. Note that the Subfloor Height Above Terrain is set to zero - in this case the terrain levels are equal to the floor levels. I also changed all the retaining walls to default top and bottom height which means their top and bottom heights will auto adjust as you change the terrain data. Using this method also means that if you place something like a slab, you can use Absolute for the Elevation Reference and that height relates directly to both the buildings levels (floor, ceiling, etc) and the terrain. Hope this doesn't confuse you too much! 49 Foreshore Drive Salamander Bay Version 2 GLENNS.zip PS. I just realised that you will also need to check Automatic Footing Bottom Height for the terrain retaining walls.

Hey Scott, I would rather do the above than use symbols for multiple buildings. Handling the above situations is usually no big deal with all the tools we now have available. But, in the end......whatever floats your boat.

That sounds like normal behavior for a double click on a toolbar button (under normal circumstances). For a tool that can have multiple saved defaults (like dimensions or text - not windows or doors). there is a setting in Preferences (Edit Active Defaults on Double Click) which controls what type of dbx opens if you double click on a the tool. If it is checked and you double click on a tool button that can have multiple saved defaults, the currently active saved defaults dbx opens. If it is unchecked, the Saved Defaults dbx will open, allowing you to select a saved default. Your problem sounds a bit screwier than that though as you say you are having problems with windows and doors, and you aren't double clicking.