glennw

Scott, Sounds great, I will try and fit in with a time that suits, but I would prefer other than 3am! I know you only need 2 hours sleep a nite, but I like my sleep. It would be great to get together a list of all the little things that need a fix. Sat and Sun afternoons are usually hard for me.

Tony, Why not let Chief auto build it? Do you need something more like this? This is how Chief auto builds it. I think there is another way to do the geometry on a bump out like that, but see if this way helps first.

Michael, You are joking, correct? You forgot the smiley face! Is there any remote chance that these comments could have something to do with your familiarity with the imperial system? Using metric, we would not refer to a portion as 25/100 (this is an imperial fraction). We would refer to it as .25 - very simple. Likewise, a third is .33 - not 33.33/100.00 (I love the way you can mix imperial and metric).

Alan, This is easily controlled by the Scaling Unit on Export/Import. The hard part is sometimes knowing the correct unit to use.

Scott, A .dwg file is a native AutoCAD file format. A .dxf file is a Drawing Interchange Format file. I believe it was developed by Autodesk for file exchange between AutoCAD and other programs, but a long time ago. It is really just a text file that you can open and look at in a text editor like Notepad. If you export a layout, all the objects drawn straight into the layout will all transfer with their own layers, as you would expect. But, any objects that have been sent to layout and are contained in a Layout Box will end up on the Layout Box Export Contents layer after the export of the Layout. I think if you want to preserve layers from the original plan file, you need to export from the plan file and not the layout. You can Export either a dwg or a dxf. Start the Export process and when you get to the Save Drawing File dbx, it will default to AutoCAD Drawing (*.dwg) down the bottom in the Save as Type dropdown, scroll down and select DXF (.dxf).

Lew, Those posts have absolutely nothing to do with your claim and the reason for my original post to you: I am still waiting to see a post where a user has said this - or even implied it. If I am missing something, please enlighten me. On the contrary, rather than trying to shut down the dialog, I am trying to continue the dialog and get some clarity from statements that, to me, seem unfounded.

Are you talking about manual or auto dimensions?

Lew, Just as I figured.

Lew, I can find plenty of posts that contain "workarounds". I can't find a post where someone has insisted that where there is a "workaround" available then the suggestion or "fix" is not needed. I assumed that because you made the statement that you would know of such instances - maybe a wrong assumption? I would appreciate it if you could help me find one.

You can open the beams dbx and change the settings for size and height to whatever you need. Did you use the Floor/Ceiling Beam tool to draw the beam? If so, it should have auto located under the floor joists. My guess is that you used a library beam which will auto locate on top of the floor joists.

Lew, Can you give me at least one example of a post where this applies?

Yes, that should be easily to do in Chief. Post some specs or a sketch of exactly what you want and I will have a go.

Alan, You can then use the Heat tool from the edit toolbar on the tube (to make it expand) so that the shaft will slide in.

Dermot, Does this vid change your assessment in any way, or does it reinforce your explanation? http://screencast.com/t/qoj5l4neESij

Yes, I can reproduce your problem with an object changing layers when the layer set is changed. I have never seen that before. Probably one for tech support.

Those options will become available once you change the wall top or bottom height from the default. The easiest way to do that is drag the wall down in a section/elevation view. Or use the temp height dimension if you want accuracy.

I would not use this method as all the internal walls and the existing ceilings, etc. will not move up. They will retain their existing heights. If you don't want the slab to rebuild, turn off Auto Rebuild Foundation. The best way to change some of the rooms, IMHO, is to use the Match Properties tool as Michael has suggested. Change just 1 room to what you want. Select that room. Click Match Properties from the Edit toolbar. Click Select All. OK. Select Apply Properties from the Edit toolbar. You can now "paint" those properties on to as many rooms as you want.

Perry, I am assuming it is this type of thing. This is page 5, Elevation 7. But yes, a more accurate indication of the exact problem and a posted plan would help.

My guess is that the lines or the layout box are not exactly horizontal or vertical. Open their dbx's and check, or ........post the plan and layout.

From the manual.

Posting the plan would help.

I don't think that you will find a pattern that adapts to the perimeter shape as per your pic. Patterns are regularly repeating and as such are uniform in the area they fill. There is the Insulation box, but you can't edit the enclosing box to other than a rectangle. You could use the Spline tool to draw it manually.

I think things might work if you delete the minus from in front of the latitude.

And that is why I am very careful to make the distinction between Chiefs levels and the actual floors in the model. I can draw a floor plan on Chief's level 5 and have it appear in 3D as if it is part of the model drawn on Chiefs level 1 - just by manipulating the floor/ceiling heights.. ie, floor level 1 does not have to be drawn on Chiefs level 1. I think I did a video a while back demonstrating this where half the single storey house was drawn on Chiefs level 1 and the other half was drawn on Chiefs level 3, BUT, in 3D, it looked like just one large single storey house.

Todd, If it were me, I would draw the foundation under the basement (and nothing else) on level zero. I would draw the basement and the foundation under the garage on level 1. I would draw the main floor level and garage on level 2. I would not draw both foundations on the same plan level as they are separated too far in their height. But, this may not suit you as I think you want to draw both foundations on the one level (say, level zero). You can do this no problem by manipulating the heights, but you will then have to draw the basement under the main floor on it's own level (level1). Then draw the garage and main floor on level 2.