glennw

Johnny, One thing that you should be aware of is that the Number Style settings that you show in your pic ONLY apply to dbx's, not to the general drawings.

Maybe have a look at "Lower Wall Type If Split by Butting Roof"?

My guess is that your outer wall layer is defined as a main layer. Otherwise, post the plan.

Johnny, Do it with layers and a new layer set. No need for new wall definitions - that could get messy. I would think that unchecking "Walls, Layers" layer would do exactly what you want. Walls, Main Layer Only will not display the total wall width, "Walls, Layers" will.

Mike, It is usually the column width that determines the size of the images. And it is usually a long column name that causes a wide column. So, abbreviate the column name and then drag the column width narrower, the image sizes will shrink accordingly. You could also have a play with the Scale Images setting, if that is causing a problem. The attached pic shows two 2D Symbol columns. The one on the left has been dragged narrower and the named changed to just "2D".

Johnny, Have a look at this. It may have some possibilities for what you want to do. I am still working out the squirrely bits, but it seems promising. One disadvantage is that I don't think there is a way to have the text automatically change columns if you add or delete text or stretch the text box. Once the text is in a particular column, it is there for good unless you cut and paste to another column. ie, the text won't change columns as the height of the text box changes. Sorry it came to a bit of an abrupt end because I hit the 5 minute restriction, but you should be able to get the idea. http://screencast.com/t/5h4cpYNURO Regarding your first couple of posts, can you post a plan with those text boxes that you are having trouble with. You should be able to do what you want with the Paragraph formatting. I would just need to have a look at your text.

Johnny, Yes, I think I can do this. ie, columns of text with automatic paragraph numbering over all the columns. I just put the finishing touches on and I will probably do a vid.

Johnny, I'm not 100% sure of your exact setup or how you got there. Are you using Bullets in the Paragraph Options? Are you changing the size of the text box, or are you trying to do it in the Rich Text Specification dbx?

Dimension Defaults...Locate Objects...Openings...check Casing, uncheck Sides. Seems crazy that these Temp Dim settings are controlled by the default dimension settings and not the Temp Dim settings.

Johnny, In Layout, do you have Line Weights toggled on? I would guess the answer is no. This setting works the same in floor plan view as well. With this setting toggled on, and when you zoom, the text will remain the same size in relation to the plan, ie, it's screen size will change. With Line Weights toggled off, the text screen size stays the same with zooming. Or, alternatively, you can get the same results by toggling on Print Preview. I have always thought that a setting like Minimum Display Size, like we have for Dimensions and Labels, should be available for line styles.

Yes, I hav e seen this happ en as wel l.

Johnny, You can't use Text Styles with Rich Text. On the Text Style panel of the ordinary Text Specification box, you can select Use Layer For Text Style (which I think is what you want), Use Text Style, or Use Custom Text Style. This is also available with text defaults. These options are not available with Rich Text. All your text boxes are Rich Text. Unfortunately, you can change ordinary Text to Rich Text, but you can't go the other way. But, it is easy though, to multiple select all the Rich Text boxes and open the dbx. Change any settings you need (like font) and do all the Rich Text boxes at once.

Preferences...Architectural...Roofs...check Automatically Place Roof Intersection Points.

The only differences between the Preview and the Final View Options can be found at Preferences...Render. These are Show Images, Reflections in Mirrors, Use Textures and Software Edge Smoothing. Apart from those options, there should be no other differences between the two 2 view types.

They are baseboards belonging to your dormer. Why do you have the dormer drawn on Level 1? Probably better to cut and paste it up to the attic. Also, why do you have an invisible wall and window there?

Scott, I mean the "live" or automatic association is broken. ie, you have to manually update the view in layout, just as you describe. I think we are agreeing.

Johnny, No, you do not need to send a pic to get color and shadows on an elevation in layout. If the view in Layout is a Live View and Update always, the layout view should be exactly the same as the actual elevation - ie, the color toggle, shadows and view (vector, standard glass house, etc) type. So get your actual elevation setting set up correctly and send as Live View, Update Always and all should be OK. If you use Plot Lines (with or without Color Fill), the live association between the actual elevation and the layout view is broken.

Hold on, I'll just polish up my crystal ball! Post the plan!

I would leave auto build roof on, create another floor for the loft and check "Ignore Top (1st) Floor" in the Build Roof dbx.

As long as you have View...Color toggled on.

If you want to use a sun, from the Sun Angle Specification dbx, change Lat and Long to zero, Sept, 22, 2015, 12pm, GMT 00:00. That should get you fairly close to overhead. Or, better yet, upgrade to X8.

Johnny, I watched the vid, particularly the bit you mentioned on the massing. I believe Chief can do it just as well AND auto build the roof, foundation, etc as the model is being built. As I mentioned above in the last post, you are not restricted to drawing in a 2D plan, Chief allows drawing and editing in 3D. If I get time, I will try and do a vid that duplicates what you see in the Vectorworks vid.

Nic, I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "elevation views". But, in Chief, you can control levels, room heights, etc in cross section views and even 3D views by direct dragging or through the dbx. This is great for massing studies. If you turn on auto roofs, auto foundations, etc, it is a very fast way to manipulate and visualise a concept. I did a video a while back on this, but can't remember where it is.

Mark, What does that mean?