Fun2Learn

HI everyone. I prefer the lighting as shown in the default views. However, when I add a single lamp or light fixture, the lighting switches to only the light as would be coming from the light fixtures. Is there a way to override that and just keep the general default light source (you know, that "etheral" undefined bright light coming from the ceiling, LOL! When I am just doing a quick design, I don't want to worry about adding enough lights and fixtures at this point. The rooms usually looks very dark with only one or two lamps in it!) thanks!

Thanks KirK and Rene. I can see the limitations of using a photo with chief for staging- thanks for demonstrating and explaining, though, Kirk. I will definitely check out that amikasa app. BTW- Very nice work, Rene, on those interiors. Is that the real view?? Gorgeous! Thanks, Phyllis

Thanks, Lew. (2008--Oh, oh, what unfortunate timing, LOL!) I thought that there was at least one lady on this forum that said she mainly did virtual staging--must not have been from photographs. I've seen some on-line services where you can install photos and add furniture, but always wondered how they could be accurately scaled, and angled in the correct perspective, etc. Oh well. Thanks again, Phyllis

Hi everyone. I can't seem to find any information about how to use Chief to do virtual staging from a photograph. I know that there are folks out there who do it, but I am wondering how it is actually done--the steps and processes. How do they get the dimensions and scale accurate when placing furniture, or is it just a guesstimate? Or do you have to make a plan/model of the house? That seems like it would take quite a long time and not be very efficient, though. Perhaps you use a combination or using photo and model??? I have not been on these forums for a long time, and I have only been using Chief sporadically for my own use. For quite some time, I have been extremely interested in all things real estate and home staging. I am about to sign up for classes to get my real estate license, and have thought about offering virtual staging to my clients to help them sell their homes--and perhaps even to other realtors/sellers if I get fast enough at it!! Is anyone teaching how to do virtual staging with Chief, by any chance? Just fyi: Although I live in what would be considered a "desirable", semi-rural/rural area within commuting distance to D.C., very few homes here are staged or even professionally photographed when listed online! I gather than most owners around here probably wouldn't pay for home staging, though many could really, really benefit from it! Thanks in advance!

Thank you so, so much Michael and MarkMc!!! I tried to mark both answers as "best answer" but Chief will only let me do one! I never realized that you had to let go of the mouse button first--I think I was letting go of the control key first! It worked like a charm, as they say!! I also didn't realize that the bumping toggle controlled the bounding box stop, etc., Mark, so that is really good to know. I tried that and it went in place even more smoothly. Good to know about changing the bounding box size (I couldn't remember where that was controlled, so thanks for the reminder, Michael), however, in this case, because of the angles, it wouldn't work well, unless it would be possible to rotate the bounding box 90 degrees! Thanks so much. Phyllis

Hi. This is probably a dumb question, but I can't seem to get library items to stay in place if the bounding box is interfering with placement, even while using the control key. For instance, right now I am trying to nudge a corner hutch from the furniture library into a corner, but every time I let go of the control key, it pops back out. The bounding box corners protrude way past the angled sides of this corner hutch. I have been having this problem more and more lately with various library items for some reason. I've searched for answers but can't find any. I am using X7. What am I doing wrong? Thanks for any help you can give. Phyllis

Thanks, Perry. I will try that! Phyllis

As the original poster of this question, I want to shout-out a very belated "thank-you" to Perry and Joe Carrick for their videos they posted to help me with this! I guess I got busy (Christmas, etc) and frustrated and gave-up on this shower stall question before I realized that there were a couple more answers posted! I just got back to this tackling this particular issue yesterday and played around with some of the suggestions and finally got it to work, using several ways. Perry- at first I couldn't get your method of creating two walls and merging them together, but I copied the steps in your video exactly and finally to it to work-thanks! The only slight problem was that the "top rail" (tile in this case) on the half-wall wants to have a slight overhang at the end. I can eliminate the ones on the sides by controlling the width of the top rail, but not sure how to control the overhang off of the end. Joe- (and Visual D& D had a similar suggestion) -I tried changing the lower part of the pony wall to just one solid, 4" thick tile, but the wall definition box wouldn't let me delete the stud framing, even if I tried to make it a "masonry type" or "other" wall type (in the drop-down menu), so I just made it 0" thick. It looks ok in view, but it wants to put the glass centered over the 0" stud! (which puts it at the edge of the lower tile wall!) I tried making a 2" thick tile on the inside and a 2" thick tile on the exterior (still keeping the stud at 0" thick), and that seemed to fix the glass centering problem. How do you eliminate having to have a stud in there somewhere? Or did I misunderstand you all? Several of you had suggested just adding a polyline countertop or solid to cap the lower pony wall, which does work, but I had a hard time getting the angle right, and then if you change the pony wall, the poly-solid doesn't automatically move with it, but it is an option. I am just wondering how Chief got the lower pony wall to have a tile cap automatically using the "interior tile" wall type for the lower pony wall, as they did in their Chief Architect X7 bathroom webinar video! !! Here is a link if anyone is interested:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql5CM-6gVBQ The shower wall layout starts about 9:40. Maybe I should just ask Chief, but my SSA has expired and I can't afford to renew it right now (I am not even making any money off Chief yet, as I am still trying to learn it in my free time! And, shortly after my SSA expired, X8 WOULD have to come out having all the great improvements to stairs that I had been wanting!!!!) Thanks again!

Hi Perry. Thanks again for the info. I just tried that method and can't get both walls to be in the same place at the same time!!! What ever is the last wall to be drawn or moved into place seems to take precedent and the other wall disappears! I even tried raising up the bottom of the full-height glass wall first, before drawing the 1/2 height wall beneath it, but the glass wall still disappeared. What is your secret ??? Thanks. Phyllis

What do you use for the glass on top? Can you get a shower door in it using the regular door tool? I just tried this method and, though I set the materials to be tile on the outside, it is showing up as drywall and if I try to change it with the material eyedropper, it changes ALL the drywall (even on the "object" only setting) in the room, except the half wall where I wanted the tile!!! (I did get the top "rail" to show up as tile, however!) Thanks, Phyllis

Thanks, everyone. So I understand from your answers, then, that there is no way to specify the top "cap" for the lower part of a pony wall in the materials or wall types, etc. So I guess I have to put it in manually as a p-solid or countertop. (I wonder how they did it in the webinar video?) Graham, can you explain what you mean by using partitions for shower enclosures--do you mean interior walls? Perry and Tommy- I did try putting in tile for the top rail on the materials tab, but nothing changed! Is that what you meant? Does that only work if you use a half wall and then draw a glass wall on top of that? (I never tried to draw one wall on top of a half wall in Chief--does that work?) Thanks again, everyone.

I hope someone here can please help me before I waste too much more time trying to figure this out on my own!! I need to finish off the top of the lower portion of a tile/glass "pony" shower wall. In camera view I see the inside of the lower wall (the wood framing, in other words.) I would like to have the tile cover the top of the wall. I am working alongside the the "Chief Architect X7 Bathroom Webinar" I found on youtube, and in the video the tile/glass pony wall seemed to automatically finish the top of the lower wall with tile. I can't seem to figure out how to get mine to do the same!!! Thanks, everyone.

Well , Mr. Harris, would you mind elaborating on what will be going on at the Chief Users' Reception? It sounds more like an event for those interesting in purchasing Chief, am I correct? Just wondering. Thanks.

Hi everyone. I got an email from Chief inviting me to a "Chief Architect User Reception" that is coming to Washington D.C., which is about an hour's drive (allowing for the ever "fun" search for a parking space) from me. The invite says "You are invited to a Chief User Reception hosted by Chief Architect in Washington, D.C.! Network with other Chief users in your area and learn about Chief Architect Software." If you have ever been to one of these, can you tell me if it is worth the drive and cost of parking to go to one? I am not sure what I would learn about Chief there, if I already own it. Will I learn great tips on using it? I know I can call Chief and ask for more details, but I would prefer to hear from someone who has "been there, done that!". Thanks. Phyllis

Hello. I am working on a remodeling project for a friend. Her home has cathedral ceilings. I am trying to draw a pantry walls that only go up to 8'. If I use the "half-wall " option (and set height to 96"), it won't let me put a door in them. If I draw regular interior walls, the program generates "attic walls" on top of the interior walls that go to the ceiling. If I try to delete the attic walls, or mark them as invisible, it shows a gap in the ceiling drywall, as if there was a wall there that had been removed--quite unsightly!! What is the best way to handle this situation where you want tall interior walls that don't quite reach a ceiling?? Thanks, Phyllis

Thanks, MarkMc! Rotating about X did the trick! (I was sick, so I am just now getting back on this.) Changing the origin helped, too--I was wondering why the actual object was showing up outside the bounding box!! I really appreciate your help. I was able to play around with the colors on that sign, too, so it doesn't look quite so "garish"! Thanks again, Phyllis

oh- and MarkMC what does "rebuild the 2d block after rotating" mean? Is that what allows it to be shown in the correct position?

Thank you so much, Greg and MarkMc, for explaining the difference between open object and open symbol! I didn't even realize (or forgot) that there was a difference--I haven't been on Chief much lately but I am back on and am finally trying to really learn all the fine nuances. Unfortunately, my hex symbol (same one as you all found) does not seem to be rotating up to vertical even though I did click "rotate" about Z axis 90 and clicked rotate +, and clicked "ok". All it does is move the symbol further up in the air, but it I still flat. What might I be doing wrong? Thanks so much.

Thanks Mark and Mick. Mark--When I open the item, there is no option to rotate. If I select it and click on "transform replicate", it only seems to be able to move it about the plan, but not change the item from flat to vertical. I had the same problem with the starfish decoration that came in the bonus catalog. I can't figure out how to change it from vertical to flat!! Mick--that is a good idea, but I can't figure out how to do that in sketch up either (though I have only a very limited experience with sketch up. Oh well--it isn't that important. I can live without it for now! Thanks anyway. Phyllis

Hopefully there is a simple solution to this: I imported a 3-d decorative item from 3-D warehouse (sketchup). It is a Pennsylvania Dutch barn hex sign. It is coming in, both plan and section or camera view, as laying flat (as if it were a rug!) I can't seem to figure out how to get it to rotate in to a vertical position so I can hang it on the wall! I have tried the rotate/replicate button, but it doesn't seem to work for this application. What do I need to do? Thanks, Phyllis

Thanks, HumbleChief. This makes me feel better--so I am not the only one, ha, ha! And thanks for the offer of trying to help look at my plans. I haven't downloaded x7 yet (I need to investigate what all I have to do with existing plans in x6, etc. and it didn't look like x7 had a lot of advantages that I would need right now anyway.) But perhaps if I converted the plans to x7 some things would work better??

Thanks for the tip! I wouldn't have thought to look in the samples gallery (I assume you mean on Chief Architect's website?) for instructional type videos. I will check there. Thanks.

I just used that particular situation as an example of wanting to see some training videos that get into more advanced, complicated situations. I don't want to pay for videos if they are just going to cover more of the basics and "typical" stuff that is easily figured out on your own (or asking a quick question here!). I have posted many questions here and yes, this forum has been very helpful. However, I still think I could benefit from some in-depth video training (I'm a visual learner!) Again, I just want to know if anyone has seen those pay-per-view videos and if they are worth the $33 and helpful for "beyond the basics" training. I am aware of many of some of the other free videos, and have watched many of them. In regards to that particular stair situation I mentioned above,(actually it was two stairs underneath each other that each had unusual features and didn't line up exactly with each other ), I would hate to ask/expect someone here to spend a lot of time working on it and it would take quite a bit of time just to explain what was going on with the existing scenario. I did ask general questions on this forum about sloped ceilings/floors over stairs hoping for a good link to a video or advice as to what tool would work best. But, HumbleChief, if you have some free time, I may just take you up on the offer and post the plan again later when I feel up to tackling it. (I did send photos of the existing stair situations and the plan to SSA, and at first a nice young man there (I think he was just a part-timer) was trying to help and even he had troubles with it. Then it got passed off to a lady who didn't even seem to try to help and just told me I needed to pay for their expensive personal tutoring. Maybe I misunderstood what the "support" of SSA is supposed to be about.) Thanks.

I agree, too! I am trying to find out if those pay-per-view instructional videos/webinars are just more of the "basics" or if it would really help me move from beyond the basics to more advanced customization, etc. For instance, this fall I tried to get help with a particularly tricky sloped ceiling over a stair (it formed the floor of a closet above) and couldn't get any info anywhere within the "freebie" resources (I even asked online here, but it is a very confusing, existing situation). When I called SSA, they told me I should pay for an expensive personal tutor! I was not happy, to say the least.

Hi. I agree with MPDesign and have had the same issues;-Chief's Bay windows don't work well if you want a pre-fab, mulled bay window. Joe Carrick, would you mind posting your bay window symbols in the symbols forum or a link here? thanks.