glennw

Keith, The Elevation Regions were probably created automatically from closed polylines (contours). That's all an Elevation Region is - a closed Elevation Line. If you draw an closed Elevation Line (polyline) and open it's dbx, it is actually the Elevation Region dbx that opens - not the Elevation Line dbx.

Joe, I think that you missed what I was doing. I was not using reference sets to display the post on other floors in plan. I was using the reference set temporarily to locate the post so that I can draw a cad box on the other floors. And what you say is exactly why I do not use reference sets to indicate the posts on other floors. I do not like using individual posts on different floors because they are too hard to keep synchronised if they need to be moved. And I don't care about the material list. Each to his own.

I am not sure on a mac, but on a PC you can go View...Zoom...and set it to a smaller zoom value. This assumes that the post is not one piece spanning the 2 floors. I was also demonstrating the fact that you can place an object on one floor in plan and have it display on another floor in 3D. I don't use reference sets to do tis sort of thing because I couldn't be bothered changing reference sets or redefining reference sets to display these types of objects. I place the cad box once and it is there permanently.

This is what I do in this situation. I forgot to move the post, but you can see that if you move it in plan, it will move on all floors that it spans. I think this is a better way than having separate posts on each floor - it is a lot easier to control the objects over multiple floors - especially if they need to be moved. http://screencast.com/t/EbtGY6RFV

Johnny, Perhaps...could be another setting?.... http://screencast.com/t/6qUQmOcZg8

Keith, You have several Elevation Regions that are causing most of the problems. There is one main culprit in the top left corner of the site and several down in the lower left. The easiest way to delete them all is to select one, click the Match Properties tool, check Object Type (make sure it is an Elevation Region), OK. This will select all (well, most of them) the Elevation Regions in the plan, hit Delete. Rebuild the terrain. There are other weird things going on with the plan as well - but the above is the main cause of your problems. Here is a video: http://screencast.com/t/IiVcGgbeI

Maybe try and avoid a single layer wall.... ....more specifically, it is probably your Build Platform To Exterior Of Layer setting in the wall definition. You either have a single layer wall or you have that setting to your outside layer.

Kirk, Am I mistaken or does using a symbol multiple times in a plan not add much to the overhead? I am thinking that there is only one instance of a symbol and Chief somehow uses that one instance multiple times? Or...maybe I am way off track?

In the default Build Roof dbx, uncheck Same Roof Height At Exterior Walls (on the Roof Panel).

Perry, Mostly you need to zoom in close to see the roughness of the shadow edges.

I think the first thing to do is check your maths.

In this case Joe's method worked. It only worked because you were still more than 2" away from the end of the wall. I bet that if you move the shower screen closer than 2" from the end of the wall, the wall will snap back and won't leave a nib. Chief doesn't want to leave a wall nib any larger than the width of the wall.

Rob, Mine are probably less complicated than yours and usually I can visualise the load path.

OK Jon, I am surprised you missed it and haven't been using it. It is the only help I ever use. I never use the .pdf help file.

I think I do what Joey does. I draw the posts on one floor level (usually the lowest floor) and in 3D, I make their height span over as many floors as they need to. I then represent them on the other floors as a cad item as required.

Jon, Am I missing something here? - Or are you missing something. Sure, Help...View Reference Manual gives you the .pdf manual. But using Launch Help (F1) (from toolbar or menu) gives you the interactive, contextual help file that has a really good search function, especially if you use the Advanced Search tools. The shortcut for this help is not the right mouse button, it's F1 - but I would be surprised if you don't already know all this and that is why I am surprised by your post.

Interestingly, I believe the only countries in the world that haven't adopted the metric system are Myanmar, Liberia and....oh yes...the USA. Rich, In the US, I think Imperial is the incorrect term - they should probably be referred to as the Customary System - but who really cares!

Australia changed to decimal currency back in 1966 and 1971 for measurements. What...Oz can do it, but the US can't! Just to keep things consistent, maybe you should go the other way and go completely imperial and use Imperial pounds, shillings and pence for your currency!

Chief makes working in both formats easy - especially for dimensions. You can choose to show both metric and imperial units by using the Secondary Format. Or you can change the default Format between Metric and Imperial. This means that you can draw a plan in imperial and then change the default format to metric and all the dimensions will change to metric - how easy is that!

In Oz, we don't even use centimeters, just meters and millimeters, but mostly just millimeters. The only difference really is where the decimal point goes.

Here is the fixed plan with auto build roofs. Apart from the problem with the ceiling heights at the rear of level 2, there were 2 roof pitches defined for the gable behind the chimney. You will need to fix up the columns in the front porch. If you don't want to drop the ceiling heights in the bath and attic, you will need to increase the pitch or height of the roofs coming up from the rear of the ground floor (if you want the upper and lower roofs to be coplanar). Luedeker 3 fixed by Glenn (2).zip

The problem is that your geometry will not allow the roof planes to meet. The one area that is a problem is the roof over Bath 3 and the Attic. If you want to retain the existing roof pitches, you need to reduce the ceiling height in those 2 rooms to 238". This will then allow the lower roof to build over those 2 rooms as a single plane. The roofs CAN be built automatically - very easy. Is this what you are after?

Roof Blocking sounds like it does what you want.

If you drag the inside roof edge (of the thin bit of roof running down the gable wall) back to inside of the wall, the upper boxed eave disappears.

Michael, They are not macros. This is a hard wired Chief tool. That is just any text in the Text Box - you can type anything and it will display before the auto height. You need the numeral or a dash to make things work and locate the height. And yes, height is above or below Chiefs zero level.