Rich_Winsor

Since I already had the model I figured I would have a play with capturing the atmosphere, vibe, ambiance if you will of the OP's image. Here is a 10 pass Ray Trace I like to call: "A Glowing in the Gloaming". Original image is here: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/uploads/monthly_07_2015/post-1906-0-94583300-1438200417.jpg

Really like the man cave theater in Interior Rendering 5 but you gotta swap out the Reese's Pieces for m&m's.

I think we can all agree that Chief is a very complex software package with seemingly endless and permutations and combinations. The question is this: What percentage of Chief’s features have you mastered? Perhaps mastered is a little too strong. How about we go with what percentage of Chiefs features have you become reasonably proficient with? For example I will go first. I currently use 3 CAD programs: AutoCAD, SolidWorks & Chief Architect. I started with some cheepo 2D CAD programs and worked my way thru AutoCAD Lite until in 2000 I got the full blown version of AutoCAD. I used AutoCAD daily from 2000 – thru 2006 at which point we were looking for more 3D capabilities and started exploring SolidWorks. At my peak in 2006 I would say that I was capable of using 75% of AutoCAD’s potential. I tinkered with a bootleg version of SolidWorks for several years and finally had the wherewithal to purchase a legitimate seat in 2012. I have used it sparingly up to the present. In my opinion SolidWorks is exponentially more complex than Chief and I would say that I’m probably capable of using about 10 to 15% of its capabilitys. This brings us to Chief. I started with HD Pro from 12 thru 14 at which time I took Chief’s offer to upgrade to X5. Since I tend to learn mostly what I need to do the task at hand there are still segments of the program I have yet to explore or employ. I’m probably flattering myself by claiming a 50% proficiency level (it’s probably more like 40%). Anyhow, I think it would be interesting to hear to what degree ya’ll think you are using the programs capabilities.

Amen, the only time I ever see 4:30AM is at the end of an all nighter.

I thought Chief was picking up the tab for ya'll. Why those cheap so and so's. Do you mean that the "stipend" they offered to supply doesn't include round trip air fare to Oz?

Well since this topic has taken this turn I have come up with a sliding scale: Hey You!.....da Man.....Sir.....your Grace.....your Eminence.....your Highness.....your Majesty.....Call me anything you like, but don't call me late for dinner! But personally I always thought The Grand Poobah has a nice ring to it.

I know it's bad form to laugh at others misfortune... But I had to LOL @ this one.

Not to mention what has become a colossal PITA deactivating and reactivating all your applications. Lord help you if you should forget to deactivate one and have to go begging to the vendor to get back an installation that you are entitled to.

Hmm? What was the other one? American Pharoah to win the Triple Crown?

Thanks Dan, it's comforting to know that someone has successfully accomplished this. Since I don't have this machine hooked up to the internet I'm thinking that I will use the method of creating a Windows 10 installation DVD and install it that way.

Just to throw a cat amongst the pigeons, has anybody tried upgrading a machine with a dual boot configuration to Windows 10. i.e. upgrading from XP Pro/Win 7 Pro to XP Pro/Windows 10.

Just don't change your name to Caitlyn.

That's the way it goes Alex (r u alex?). I usually start out by seeing if I can reproduce the look of a picture. During that process I often take liberties I probably wouldn't do if I was modeling it for myself just to get the look I'm after. Of course then when more feedback is wanted I have to scramble to make the plan presentable. I didn't go as far a checking out how the model will frame because at this point I would just be guessing as to the composition of the walls. They look pretty thick in the photo. You might have to fake some porch ceiling framing but the rest should be straight forward. BTW, I don't know who you pi$$ed off to get that scarlet numeral -1, but I gave you a +1 to get you back to even. Everybody deserves a fresh start now and then. Edit: 10:40PM Just tried letting Chief do the framing. Auto build a foundation derived from the 1st floor and the have Chief auto frame everything else. Looks pretty good to me. That ceiling p-solid is only 1/8" thick so it didn't really affect the framing. Just delete the 3 p-solids.

Here you go. Plan is attached. As far as my plans go it's pretty clean. I used a couple of polyline solids to cap off the walls and form the porch ceiling so I could get the wall material to wrap around underneath. Roof becomes Walls.plan

Maybe I should change my sign in to Poppy Jasper.

Thanks fellas, interesting that this seems to be a problem especially for people named Richard. I guess I will need to have another play with this to see what is going on. It seems to me that if the gutter layer is locked you shouldn't be able to edit it, but if it is unlocked it should show up as an editable option in the "Roof Plane Specification" dbx. You should also have the "no molding on selected edge" option here too. It would make controlling gutter behavior a lot easier IMHO.

Yeah but if I do it that way the change doesn't "stick". For instance in "Full Perspective Overview" if I subsequently change the "Active Layer Set" to something else like "All On Set" and then change back to "Camera View Set" the material reverts back to whatever was defined during the initial roof build and ignores my changes.

Why can't we change the material for the default gutter molding once the roof has been built? When I first build the roof I have the opportunity to change the gutter material in the "Build Roof" dbx but once the roof has been built there is no longer an option to change the material in the "Roof Plane Specification" dbx. What's up with that? Very inconvenient.

Here is what I came up with. Pretty straight forward. Standard Gable roof. Used board & batten for wall material. The roof doesn't really become the walls. It just has a material that looks like roofing. Didn't take the time to get all the side wall window configurations but hopefully you get the idea.

I have to admit I am having some serious concerns about gathering so many of the elite Chief users together at one time. What will happen to the Chief knowledge base if there is some type of natural disaster or terrorist attack? What if Mt. Shasta blows and buries Idaho in 10 feet of volcanic ash? What if an asteroid hits Coeur d'Alene and turns it into a crater the size of a small state? What if a crazed Vectorworks user takes over the meeting and holds everybody hostage? What if this new forum has been a front all along set up by a disgruntled AutoCAD user to lure Chief's best and brightest into a trap? We can't be too careful. I think just to be safe Glenn Woodward should be kept in a safe room in a subterranean bunker far from Idaho until the meeting is over. Remember, just because you are paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't out to get you.

I hate having auto updates crammed down my throat too but this looks like it might be of some help. http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-releases-tool-to-hide-or-block-unwanted-windows-10-updates/

Is this what you are looking for? This was done by making both end walls Gable Walls. Use 2 manual roof planes with identical locked ridge heights and 2 different eave heights. In this case I used a 4 x 12 ridge beam and 4 x 6 rafters. Remove the room ceiling and change the roof sheathing material to tongue & groove.

OK, so here's the deal. I haven't really spent any time on the railing so far because I'm sure I can get the look I need. What I can't do is get the stairs tools to generate a slab step/tread like the ones in my picture. Forgive the use of a rogue 3D program but here is a 3D model of what one of the stair steps needs to look like. I have exaggerated the tread undercut for clarity. Can this look be achieved using Chief's stair tools or should I just stick to my first approach of stacking slabs together?

Where is Glenn? He took off on a walkabout and hasn't been heard from since. He would say "don't use the "Rotate Plan View" tool to rotate your plan.

Thought it had been unusually quiet around here. Hope everything is OK. You need to watch out for those hospital people. It's job security for them to find something wrong with you.