glennw

Sherry, Just to clarify. There are 2 settings that you can choose from to act as a reference level for the Auto Storey Pole Dimensions. 1. Grade Level 2. 1st Floor Subfloor The second one is self explanatory - it is Chiefs default zero height (well, I thought that I would explain it anyway!!). Using the first one, you need to specify a value which offsets the storey pole zero level - either above or below Chiefs default zero (1st floor subfloor). Although it is called Grade Level, it has nothing to do with any Terrain you create and it's settings have no direct relationship with the Terrain. You don't even need a terrain for this to work. You may already know all tis anyway.

Timmy, You have an object in your plan that is causing the problem. It is "Silhouette_Woman_Talking" on the "Fixtures, Interior" layer. For some reason it is very, very, very wide. What you are seeing in the layout is a correspondingly wide Layout Box to accommodate it. Delete it and all should be good. Is it something you imported from Sketchup? You can see it and select it in a 3D view. I am not sure why it is behaving like that, but it is definitely corrupted and deletion is the best action to take.

Sherry, The Grade Level has noting to do with the Terrain. The two are completely independent of each other. The Grade Level setting is relative to First Floor Subfloor level, which by default is zero.

Perry had the answer. Draw your arc. Before you do anything else, select the arc and on the Edit toolbar select Convert Curve To Polyline. A dbx will open where you can specify the number of sides.

Guys, I think I will stick with the library as it does everything that I want. And how easy is it to find by searching for "vacuum"? Would a warehouse plan be any easier? Would they be metric or imperial plans?

Steve, This might help. Draw it in plan and rotate it.

Tommy, I believe that Johnny wants different line styles for the extension lines and the dimension line itself (in one dimension string). I don't believe this is possible.

Michael, I am not sure what technique you are talking about in post #20 - it could be the same. Probably easier if I just post the plan and you can look at all the setting, although I am not sure of all the options you want or need. you can change the mullion depth by using the Mullion Depth...Inside setting. A setting of zero will bring the mullions out to the inside face of the wall. A setting of 3 will take them about half way. A setting of 5 will make them very small. Glenns mullions.plan

Graham, This effect is NOT being caused by the sun, shadows, etc. It is being caused by the Shading Contrast setting which is Chief's auto shading (not shadows) in vector views. I can do the same vector view as my vid with the shadows turned on - it makes no difference to what is happening. That is what I did in my vid. What you say is correct. BUT, the light used is Chief's auto Shading Contrast setting - not the sun or any other light source. I disagree. It has nothing to do with light sources. The only way you can 100% overcome this effect is to change all the materials Shading Contrast to zero. I have no problem displaying shadows in a vector view. I can display shadows, adjust them, but it makes no difference to the root cause of this effect.

Robert, Is this getting close to what you want to control. In this pic, the mullion depth is exaggerated, but I can easily make it them any depth you want. This is only using the window parameters.

Graham, What do you mean by "between the scenes"?

I am pretty certain that what I said in post #3 is correct and this has nothing to do with shadows. It has to do with the materials Shading Contrast setting. Adjusting the sunlight in a Technical view has nothing to do with the original problem. http://screencast.com/t/vAhNUs0Lh

Hannah, I have a bit of a different take on this than Dave. I believe that it is the Shading Contrast setting that is causing the problem - in the same dbx and panel as Dave was on. This will cause different "auto shading" depending on the direction the material faces. Set the Shading Contrast to zero and you will see your white tiles with the grey grout, as they were defined. In elevation, notice the shading on the green (and white) round pendant lamp - it is darker in the middle and lighter on the left and right sides. If you use the Adjust Material Definition tool and click on the green section and open the dbx for Twill Fog, set the shading contrast to zero, you will see the effect - there is no shading applied and the color becomes uniform. Ditto for the white material. This is an automatic function that Chief uses in Vector views to distinguish faces that face different directions and have the same material. I have sent in a request to have an option to turn this "feature" off because when it is applied to colored vector view elevations, each elevation will have this auto shading applied with the result that some elevations will be lighter/darker than others. There is no other way that I know of to turn this auto shading feature off, other than to do it on a material by material basis. In your plan, it is particularly noticeable on the surfaces that face left and right. I note that you say the ones facing north and south are perfect - but I don't believe they are perfect - they are just not as bad as ones facing the other directions. Open any of those elevations and change all the materials Shading Contrast to zero and you will be surprised at the results.

They look like Point To Point dimensions to me. If so, they are Markers and are controlled by the Marker Defaults - nothing to do with the dimensions.

Or you could use Chief's Backdrop option.

Yes, turn of the layers. It looks to me like the whole thing (room and furniture) is a ray traced computer model (Chief?) with a background picture looking out the windows.

You could build a basic 3D model (including furniture) in Chief. Turn off everything except the furniture and do a 3D view that matches your room picture. Create an image from the 3D view and import it into the room picture in Photoshop

Or use the invisible line style.

Greg, That all looks normal to me. I don't believe the glasshouse view has anything to do with what you are seeing - it is the same in any 3D view type. When you build the second floor, it gets built, but the roof is stopping the walls from building up - the roofs cut the walls. If it were me, right from the start, I would turn on Auto Rebuild Roofs. Then when you build the second floor, the roofs will build correctly on top of the second floor and the ones on the level 1 will be deleted. Or, alternatively, delete the existing roofs and rebuild them after building the second floor. Or, do what you did - that way works because when you moved the roofs up, they went to the Attic level and then you built the second floor under the Attic level. Although I would normally display the roof on the floor level directly under the roofs. In this case, I would show the roof on level 2 - not on the Attic level. Good to see things are working correctly.

Lew, Can't we do that now in one Chief instance by creating a view in a new window or on another monitor?

This is how we do it in Oz (there are other countries besides the god old USA)! And please...no jokes about "upside down", etc..... http://www.build.com.au/door-handing-and-swing-direction

You can do this in layout for dimensions, but not for text. Open the Layout Box Specification dbx...General panel...Dimensions...Number Height. I think it only works for plan views though - no elevations or sections.

Larry, Build an auto dormer and then select "Eyebrow". About 5 or 6 mouse clicks I think. It should take about 4 seconds.

Johnny, In your first picture, the problem with the gable frieze is that the 2 small roofs on the ground floor are sitting out from the wall. Drag their right hand edges further to the right so that they but right up to the wall. The gable frieze above will rebuild correctly. Oh, your molding polyline at the rear of that bump out is sitting off the wall. What is meant to be at the front corner - what is the problem. Is there meant to be a corner board there. If so, you haven't drawn one. Michael got the second one. I'll keep looking and repost on the third pic if I find anything.

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