country

I use James Hardie products on more than half my projects. I would really appreciate a catalogue.

Thank you Dennis. Another nugget for my "should know" file.

Is there a reason for not using actual posts and beams? They can have labels etc. for con docs. (Joe's post macros work great.) I do know there is usually a bit of conflict with the railing walls but at least the structure is correct for drawings.

If you do the posts and beams with the deck rails, how do you show them in the con docs? I also find I cannot space them properly because often they are not even spacing.

Turn off the layers for the existing house and turn on the proposed layers. This shouldn't change all those other items that are on other layers.

Charlie, do you use the framing posts and beams or just p-solids. I do a porch or veranda on almost every plan (we have a lot of bugs and wind here) and am trying to find a way to do these consistently and have them look right in 3D and plan view.

Go to the product section on Houzz. You should be able to find some manufacturers and see if they have websites.

I have given up on using this because I like the posts and beams to show up properly on the CDs.

This sound like it is definitely worth a try. I am starting to put my plot plan in a cad detail so the north reading will not effect my exterior views. Using a default sun should then work. Thanks for another option Christina.

Really good advice Michael. Jon, this isn't an area where I have to worry about sun angles. I am only after the "pretty picture" and I always note that it is for illustration only, not for construction.

I did add the sun angle, changed time and then rotated the north arrow. Worked great. Like you Alan, I think reality is vastly overrated. I am all for the pretty picture.

I will hunt for some more online info tomorrow. Thanks.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did try the sun shadow but maybe didn't do it right. Does the sun shadow only work if there isn't a north arrow? I'll try it again and then try Jons suggestion with the north arrow too and see what works the best.

I would like to cheat on my exterior lighting so the views have better shadows. I haven't been able to get anything to work. It always reverts to the proper sun direction based on the site. Is there no ability to move a light source around for this. Should I save-as and then totally change the north arrow for each view?

I have been using Dropbox storage for a few years, both Vectorworks and Chief job and client files seem to be fine and I have never seen any file corruption. Other people I know use one drive with the same consistency.

Have you gone into your video card setting and added Chief X7 to the 3D list?

NOOBIE mistake. Thank you Ross. I went to the room specifications, saw the baseboard molding and forgot the drop down list for the crown. Fixed in 3 clicks.

I raised the ceiling in a living room 24" but the crown molding is remaining at the default height. I will start a hunt for an answer after lunch but thought I would just ask if it is a simple fix. If I don't figure it out I'll post the plan later today after I finish the prelim.

Thanks for that Glenn. Pretty simple to remember.

I think a lot of long time Chief users have never worked any other way and so do not know the advantages this style has. Hopefully it can reach the top of the list one day.

I am with Alan on this. Holding down the mouse button to do all of this and also hitting other keys is ####. I would like the choice/option of click- release-click instead of drag on almost all items (lines, poly, walls, etc.) similar to other programs. Saves a lot of mouse (wrist) movement and if we could go past the screen edge too, drawing would be so much less frustrating. Oh, and as he also said, do not have to go back and reselect the tool again to draw another item once you release the mouse but maybe I have missed something in basic Drawing 101.

Same question here....Finishing up Con. Docs. is so much fun :-(

In the build roof dbx: click build roof planes and then check "retain manually drawn roof planes" &/or "retain edited auto roof planes". Delete any of the manually drawn/edited ones you want to change first.

So many choices. I will give them all a try once these drawings are out the door. Thanks all, for the generous help and suggestions.

Richard. I will give the program a try as soon as these 2 CDs are complete. I will also look at the other suggestions (4, I think) and see which may work the fastest for me. I now understand what you mean by plain text being easier and using the Anno set for style and size. My templates, after these 2 drawings will be much more complete. Joe. I am still not fully up on CAD details and will have to read and watch more videos to fully understand how to use them properly. I am finding that Chief really ignores this process in the CDs and it shows in the numerous ways users have adapted for drawings. Confusing for newcomers to the program.