misterwiley

When I send a elevation to layout I get the option to check "use edge line defaults" or "pattern line defaults". When I open that layout box in layout I can see what those values are and can change them for that layout box. However I can't find the place within Chief that actually allows me to set those defaults so I don't have to open every layout box and change them every time. Could someone point me to where those defaults are actually set? Thanks in advance!

Since you mention the word "loop hole" here in North Carolina we are allowed to call a separate living area as a "mother-in-law suite". This allows you to have a kitchen without the need to meet the 1 hour fire separation rules. The only thing is anyone living there other then "family" would violate the "mother-in-law" suite rule and then it would be classified as an ADU. I guess the reasoning here in NC is that your family is less likely to sue each other if the apartment burns down than that of a stranger renting the apartment out. Maybe you have something similar where you live in the local zoning/code books.

Posting this for others that might run across this same problem and need a solution. Requires AutoCAD though. I found this thread while I was battling the same problem with a 3d DWG file I got from GE's website of a fridge that would import into Chief as one material. I'm not very good with AutoCAD but I do own the 2017 version of the program and was trying to figure out what I had to edit in AutoCAD so that when I imported the DWG to Chief as a symbol it would have different components that I could apply different materials too. The solution was to create a bunch of "Layers" in AutoCAD for each different material I wanted and then assign the CAD surfaces to those individual layers. This is what creates the different materials when imported into Chief. It has nothing to do with the AutoCAD materials that you can assign in that program. It has everything to do with the layers. Hope this helps someone else in the future.

You might try opening the PDF on your computer with Adobe Reader and then click "Save As", pick another PDF format, like optimized PDF and save it under a different name. See if that works? Some times Adobe Reader can fix issues by simply saving it within their reader program.

I would also note I have no idea if my above mentioned approach is at all efficient for the plan or layout file size. I could see on a really big set of plans how this might bog down the layout and cause slow downs or lag in the program with a bunch of hidden information but I've not really experienced that myself.

I think the idea is to send the entire view to the layout and crop it down to the schedule you want to have displayed, thus hiding all the others. You can also send the same view to layout multiple times and crop each differently to display what ever schedule you want or multiple schedules on one page if needed.

To get 1/16" dashed lines in a 1/4"=1' layout view it would seem you would have to create a line style with a super small line size and space size, like 1/216 or something. In all views other then printing it would make that line look basically solid which makes it seem like the wrong solution to what we are trying to achieve.

Yes this is 100% the problem which I'm experiencing. I very rarely have my views sent to layout at 1:1, its usually as Chopsaw said, 1/4"=1' but in my particular case in the cross section elevation example above, I usually send them as 1/2”=1’ scale and have small details that I need appropriate line dashing to be shown. Chopsaw’s comment is the reason why I can't seem to get any of my dashed lines to show properly or print in the line style I wish it would seem.

Hmmm, here is a little video of what happens when I toggle line weights with dashed lines. This is the stock 1/16" dashed line that comes with the program. This is how the line also changes when I toggle print preview. Seems like there is something I'm missing to keep the line from changing when I try to print.

Follow up questions on this topic, I like the look of the dashed lines but when I turn on line weights or print preview the dashes go from looking correct to almost a solid line or not spaced the same as I would have liked. I have tried making the line weight 1 or even 0 but when I print that dashed line keeps changing to look almost solid. Anyone else experience something like this when trying to get tiny dashes to show up for printing? For reference the line that I am working with is 14" long and using the 1/2" anno set. All layer and line weights are 1 for this elevation view.

Hey DJP, Thanks for your reply! At first I thought you were telling me to open the truss detail window and modify the individual truss cords and webbing to fit my ceiling, which made me grunt, but then after reading more carefully and looking at the tools available I realized you can literally shape a roof truss to be any shape you desire. Particularly love the "break tool" that you can use on a truss while in elevation view. This is amazing and will always save me time now that I know it is there. Thanks DJP! This is of course a fantastic work around and thank you! But I do wonder why Chief doesn't want to automatically create my scissor truss like it always has before. All the settings appear to be correct. Perhaps there is some unknown bug floating around with the way I created this plan that is causing that automatic function to break. Strange behavior but so glad there are tools available to bypass this and keep me working. Thanks again!

Hey Folks, I've run into a situation where my ceiling plane will not cut the roof truss to fit between the ceiling plane and roof plane above. This works on a simple OOB plan but for some reason this plan that I've created wont allow be to create a scissor truss. If anyone has a spare minute to look at the attached screen shots or better yet the plan file and see if maybe I'm missing something here that would be amazing. Things I've checked so far... fully enclosed room where truss is being built room only has roof above this room checked, flat ceiling is unchecked ceiling planes are contained within the interior of the room roof planes cover entire room force rebuilt the truss/deleted and redrew the truss/moved the truss to other locations with same result. Any assistance would be appreciated. Cheers! 11 Shackleford Dr - Permit Set.plan

Been using Chief for years and never knew about that setting. I think you might have just changed my life Thanks!

+1 I like this idea. You should post it into the suggestion's forum

@Bill_Nelson I'd definitely recommend getting in contact with @Alaskan_Son. He supplied me with a couple different macros a while back that made this process a breeze. He's worth his weight in gold for all the help he provides us non programmer types.

If you want the bottom cord to run out to the fascia then you will need to raise the roof plane up until the fascia bottom height matches the top plate height of the room.

Yeah me too! Thanks for sharing that.

If your SSA is current the Simpson library is a good resource. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/3d-library/index.php?r=site/detail/796

post the plan file

Actually, me too. I have run into a few different situations lately where railings have not been cooperating, especially around stairs and landings, in which I just build it in a separate plan and then convert it into a symbol. Symbols are are great as they don't randomly change on you if you walls or stairs change slightly and you can position them anywhere you like.

My favorite way to accomplish this ATM is to create the deck/room with custom invisible walls set to 0.01" thick to define the room and then draw the railings with no room definition checked and positioned exactly where they should be either inside the room or on the exterior of the room. You can then resize the railing walls in elevation views to get the fascia mounted newel post style like a lot of modern decks are designed these days.

I have a PS4 controller and haven’t been able to get it to work yet. Haven’t been able to find and documentation from Chief yet either on how we are supposed to set this up or troubleshoot it.

This is something that I've requested before and would love to be able to accomplish with Chief. I've done this before using sketchup with exported chief terrain models which actually worked out really well but never had any luck actually get a Chief terrain shape into a solid like you describe here. Would you mind making a little video of how you did the above step in method #1 but I also understand if you're to busy for that so no worries if not. I'll continue to tinker around and see if I can get it also. I appreciate all you contribute to these forums Micheal. Here is the post I made a long while make about this. I do wonder if this process has been made easier with X12 since they changed how poly-line solid and solids seem to work.

I have a small SSD of 125gb for my C: drive and then a larger 1TB SSD for storing all my applications and such which is D: drive. One this to note that might be different then you setup is that Chief is also install under the D: drive and saving to the D: drive.