Rich_Winsor

Although it pained me greatly, in this case I eschewed my usual use of carriage returns for the sake of clarity. Plus I wanted to make sure Michael could read it on his cell phone.

Holy cow! When I was pecking this out at 3AM I was starting to have reservations. Would it be taken in the right way? What if I go to all this length to produce a list and nobody responds? I'm going to feel pretty foolish. I guess I shouldn't have been worried. Thanks for all the positive support. I hope it brought a little levity into your day.

??? beta testing 2013? I think that ended about 8 years ago.

In an effort to expedite the process of getting answers I have compiled a list of the probable responses you will get when you post a question on this forum. I apologize in advance for any slights or omissions whether they be perceived or actual and for any trampled toes or ruffled feathers. @solver– Eric will direct you to the correct forum and ask you to create or update your signature. @Chopsaw – Chop will race solver to see who can be the first responder. @Joe_Carrick – Joe will say that what you want can be done with a macro and offer to sell you one. @GerryT – Gerry will say that Chief’s macro capabilities are too limited and not worth working with. @DRAWZILLA – Perry will say that he would do it the way Scott does it. @dshall – Scott says that he does it Perry’s way. @Renerabbitt – Rene will say your image is garbage and offer to do it right for a price. @MarkMc – Mark will say that you should have used a cabinet. @glennw – Glenn will say he’s not exactly sure of what you are asking but thinks that Chief can do it and offer an example. @Richard_Morrison – Richard will tell you what you propose is probably illegal and your contract isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. @DavidJPotter – DJP will tell you that Chief is just a tool and you need to learn how to use it. @Gawdzira – Alan will say “meh” and go back to tattooing his dog. @Kbird1 – Mick will list the links to pertinent KB articles. @HumbleChief – Larry will say he feels your pain. He’s been using Chief for 20 years and still doesn’t get it. @Dermot – Dermot will tell you the program is working as it should and if you disagree you should submit a new feature request. @Alaskan_Son – Michael will tell you that 90% of the info given out on this forum is BS and recommend that you educate yourself or better yet pay him to educate you. So there you have it. All that’s left to say is if you really need help…POST THE PLAN

Nicely done Robert!

Here's how I handled the lookouts on my duplex garage. No worry about shear load strength or sagging since the 2 x 8 fascia boards are sitting on the wall top plate. Not to digress, and I don't claim to know more than Simpson, but as a woodworker the notion of gang nail plates drives me crazy. Nails and nail plates are intrusive wood splitters. Unlike fastening metal, when joining wood more is not necessarily better. And if you really want to make a secure joint a few well places screws will hold better than a forest of nails. JMHO

As Solver says the Stop button will stop the ray trace regardless of the pre-set Duration parameters, but once stopped the ray trace can not be resumed. You will have to start a new ray trace. You can of course edit the ray trace image you created using the Adjust Image Properties tools and you can save the image using the Export Picture button.

Glad you fellows got everything hashed out. It's like I can see your lips moving but I can't hear a word you are saying.

Hey Justin. While you are mulling over all the hardware options don't neglect to find a case that will hold it all. I recently opened up a rig I was using in 2005 to run AutoCad and Solidworks. Check out the size of the video card back then. How about that cooling system - a single 1 1/4" fan. Fast forward 15 years and the video card has gone from 6" x 2 1/2" x 1/2" to: GTX 780 & 1080 10 1/2" x 4 3/8" x 1 1/2" RTX 3080 11 1/4 x 4 3/8 x 1 1/2" RTX is another 3/4" longer than the 780 & 1080 which were already pushing the capacity of a lot of cases. If we extrapolate out another 15 years the video card will be the size of a suitcase.

Moe, you're giving me too much credit. I'm basically an image guy. I'm just using Chief's tools to get the image results I want regardless of how it would be built. Are you talking about increasing the depth the tray ceiling is recessed into the ceiling? If so, sure, I can make it look like that.

You need to take your 2D image of the art work and use it to create a new material in your User Catalog in the Library Browser. Right click on User Catalog / Click on New / Click on Material Once you have the material you need to apply it to something. In this example I used a Polyline Solid 72" x 42" x 1/2". I set the Psolid into a wall niche that was 72" x 42" x 3" deep and changed the material from the default Concrete to the new material I made from the art work.

You know, I considered that but when I thought about it if I recess the trey, then what I am in effect making is a tray ceiling. No matter how you spell it, the usage of trey/tray can have grey/gray blurry areas of interpretation. In any event, in an attempt to offer some help to the OP, I went ahead and had a play with recessing the trey. FWIW, Chief's tools seem to be functioning as expected for me but this case is very uncomplicated . Funny thing is If you tilt your head just right, the ceiling bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain "Wings Joint" logo. BTW, God bless those nice young ladies.

Info straight from the horse's mouth. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/blog/computer-for-design-and-gaming/

Well, I declare! Is nothing sacred? Glenn recommending the Rotate Plan View tool? Now this shakes everything I was ever taught right down to the core.

Real simple 3 button (set/up/down) system to program the limits. It also has a nice feature where the speed of the door opener is regulated so that it slows down when it starts and stops a cycle. When you close the door it starts slowly for about the first foot or so and then briskly continues on down until about the last foot of travel where it slows down again and nestles down on the weather seal like a butterfly with sore feet.

I wasn't picking on you, just trying to figure out the process. I may be over-sensitive to this issue as I just installed a pair of similar fixtures on my project so I can see where the light actually shines. To completely digress I will give an unsolicited testimonial to Genie for their new wall mounted garage door openers. I just installed the first garage door (as seen in the pic) with the wall mounted opener and it's a WAY simpler and more efficient system. Installing the unit literally involves tightening 3 set screws onto the torsion shaft and lagging one bracket to the wall.

Hey Joey, I got the free version of TM but I have never gotten around to playing with it yet. Not to be a nit picker but I was curious as to why the light shining from the fixtures over the garage doors seems to be displaced up and to the left of where one would expect it to fall on the wall and doors? Just wondering?

I often use Chief to illustrate non-building world items. Looks like this was back in X8 days when I designed a pair of hood hinges for my pickup.

Well I must be doing something right as that plan is titled "Flat Head Screw". I just wanted to add a spot of realism to some hardware I was modeling. Apparently Mr Phillips felt the same way you do.

You do know that you can control the image size and the duration of the ray trace in the Ray Trace Options DBX? These settings must be made before the ray trace is started, and once started can't be altered other than to stop the ray trace. You can set the ray trace to run from 1 minute to 24 hours or you can set it to run from 1 to 999999 passes. If you really need a million passes you can set the ray trace time to no limit and it will run until you stop it or your machine melts into a tiny puddle on the floor.

In this case why would I want to..... On the other hand something like this....

Hi Levina. What the little green guy is showing is the effect the backdrop can have on the model. In that plan we have the model (in this case the saucer) and no other objects. The saucer has a 100% reflective surface but there is nothing else in the plan to reflect except what might be in the backdrop. Everything that is showing on the skin of the UFO is a reflection of what is in the backdrop. It's interesting that the reflected effect wraps all the way around the saucer like a Spherical Panoramic View even though the backdrop is flat. Anyhow, in the situation you describe the challenges will vary depending on the type of view you are creating. But whether it be an overhead or street level view the process involves getting a good quality photo of the existing situation from the viewpoint you want and then recreating that viewpoint in the camera view in your plan. As Glenn mentions above (nicely done BTW) it helps to have an image editing software program to tweak your backdrop image to suit your needs. Once you have an image you want to use for the backdrop open your Library Browser and right click on your User Catalog. Then go to New and then Backdrop to add your image to the list of backdrops you can choose in the camera specification DBX. Of course there are many other considerations to deal with such as matching the sun angle shadows and how much, if any, of Chief's terrain to include and how it blends into your backdrop image. Good Luck, hope this gets you started.

I will volunteer my thoughts on backdrops in ray traced renderings. Backdrops in PBR's behave entirely differently and can cause unexpected effects on the outcome. Backdrops certainly make a difference in ray trace quality but have very little effect on rendering time. They are after all just image files. The higher the quality of the image you turn into a backdrop, the better it will look in the rendering. To have a backdrop or not will depend on your intended results. If it's just the view out of an unimportant window in an interior scene, maybe a backdrop will just be a distraction from your intended focus. In other cases the background is everything. As below. Plan View corresponding Ray Trace

This topic lingers like an unwanted virus. Do a forum search for GDW (Garage Door Wizard). After numerous resurfacings of the topic I have no idea where we stand on the availability of the program from the creator. PM me if you are interested in a free trial. GDW Test-2.calibz