glennw

How do you do it? Can you be a bit more specific. If you are talking about type of measurement (area, count, linear, volume), they are defined in the materials definition. If you are talking about units of measurement, you can control that in the Materials List (in the Count column).

On the lower concrete wall, what is that bit of vertical concrete on the left hand side that looks like it is splayed at about 45deg? There is also something wrong with the right hand side - the end of the footing is not at the correct angle and the upper wall does not line up with the lower wall. Can you post a plan with that wall definition in it.

Search the help file for Drawing Groups.

Either with 2 different wall definitions or use a Wall Material Region that cuts away the masonry wall layer and displays the cladding.

They are not really shadows. The effect is caused by Chief distinguishing surfaces as they face different angles to the render camera - this happens in real life. The colors are same on both walls. Even though both walls are in direct sunlight, they appear (in real life and render) different because they are at different angles to the sun. You can get rid of the effect (but I really don't know why you would want to), by using a vector camera (as opposed to a render camera) and changing the materials Shading Contrast to zero. This is a vector view with Shading contrast set to 90%: Note that shadows are on in both examples - you can have them on or off, makes no difference. This is a vector view with Shading Contrast set to 0%:

That could be possible - it was a long time ago. Either way it was a big headache.

You can always use a text box and arrow with the %ObjectProperties% macro (does Chief still include this OOB?). Or there are macros that will only return certain properties if you don't want the whole list. This will return just about every property of the object - maybe too many properties. Once you have the text box, arrow and macro set up, you can drag the arrow from one object to the other and the object properties will change according to the object type.

I am also on a mac and it works for me. Select the layer you want to track. Tab so that the Layer Set drop down has the focus. Use the arrow keys to scroll through the layer sets.

That setting only applies to a layers attributes - not the layer itself. You can't add a layer to just the current layerset or any specific layerset - you add the layer to all layersets. Think about the problems you would encounter by adding layers to only certain layersets. Way back, many versions ago, Chief would allow you to create new layers in only a certain layerset(s). The problems it caused were significant and they changed the behavior - that was many versions ago.

A layer should be available in all your layer sets.

You could probably do what you want using referenced plans and saved plan views. ie, you could have you master plan that contains your basic floor plan. You would also have seperate plans for each of the plan variations. Your master plan would be the primary plan that you work with - this plan would reference all of the other variation plans. You could choose what you want displayed by using saved plan views. You may have to use things like room fills in your referenced plans (to hide, say, and existing bathroom), along with other tools like Move Up and Move Down (to control the referenced plan display. This would also allow you to open the referenced plan for edit and those changes would be displayed in the referenced plan used by your master plan. In theory, it should work.....

I thought there was a way to set the increment, but I can't remember!

You can use the left or right arrow keys (or up and down) to move the slider in set steps. I am trying to remember how to, or if it is possible to change the interval - I will have a play (was it Distance Moved By Arrow Key?). I know you can change the height of the cutting plane on an interval by interval basis, but that may get tedious. Hi-lite the distance input box on the right and enter a distance. Press Tab (not Enter). The cutting plane will move. You have to go back and hi-lite the input box again and enter the next height.....

If you are using an auto roof and auto bay, you can use a Gable/Roof Line (red line below).

Special Use Arrows were dropped in X12.

Chad, When you use Backup Entire Plan, you get 3 choices of how you want to save the data. Read up in the help file and try it out to see what happens. Using the zip option is usually a good one for what you want to do.

The big problem with the material list polyline is that the objects you want to include don't always fall neatly into a polyline. Whatever method you use will often not do exactly what you want. ie, how to you treat an existing roof plane that gets extended - split the roof plane into two seperate roofs if you can?

You can toggle Material List on a layer by layer basis. This means that you can place all the new work objects on their own layers, and check Material List for those layers. You can then uncheck Material List for all the layers that the existing works are on. Then, when you generate a ML, it will only include the new addition objects. It is a lot easier to do than it sounds, especially if you set up your layers before starting any drawing.

What macro are you using and what properties do you want?

Yes. Oh, OK, I thought you said the above.

Yes, but you did say that you changed the main layer.

Yes. It is a bit hard to say exactly the cause of this, but I suspect it has something to do with the wall layer settings when you built and/or edited the wall framing. Can you remember what the wall definition was when you built the framing?

The wall framing is on the left (Siding-6) walls is centering on the OSB layer for some reason.

I assumed that the wall layer on the outside of the stud wall was an air gap, I can now see that it is an OSB layer. Did you ever have that layer designated a main layer? You will only see the effect of this if you make a change to the options and then redefine a wall type - nothing will happen by just changing an option. I am having a play and trying to figure out what is happening. If I delete the housewrap layer from the left hand room walls, the framing snaps back to the main or framing layer. But, if I do the same to the right hand room walls, the framing snaps back so that it is centred on the drywall layer.

Looks to me like your Main layer could be your air gap. When you change a wall definition with already built framing (and auto wall framing turned off), the wall framing will relocate to centre on the main layer - but it will keep its original size. You could also check what your Resize About setting is. PS We posted at the same time. I will look at your plan when I get a moment.