LeeDrafter

Hello,

I am trying to decide if I want to start using the materials lists in CA for takeoffs and estimating or if it would be more efficient to buy another software. I have been working for a home builder and drafting/designing in CA for a 10 years now, but I never took the time build the framing or other components exactly accurately. I just needed plans. I didn't need details stud layouts or anything like that which would be required to generate an accurate materials list.

Now my role has changed a bit, and I am now the estimator as I train a new drafter. I have been shopping for a takeoffs/estimating software. Although it seems logical to use CA since we already use it for design, it seems pretty complicated with a lot of steps required for accuracy. From reading this thread, it sounds like most people don't really rely on it for accurate takeoffs. Do I want to do the work to make all the floor plans super accurate, or is it better to use a different takeoff software that is a bit simpler even though I would have to input the plan data?

Does anybody out there work for a builder and need accurate takeoffs in order to buy materials? Do you use CA materials lists? Or, what other software do you like? I would appreciate any advice! Thank you!!

Just now, ericepv said:

Yes, you can import SKP files directly into Chief.You can edit the dimensions and materials from there.

Thanks! I will make an account!

2 hours ago, ericepv said:

I found this on 3D Warehouse;

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/485f70f7b75331356def609f64787d03/02R-06

Hi Eric, thank you. I don't have an account with 3D Warehouse and can't view the link without one. Before I make an account, I'm wondering if this is a texture that can be downloaded and imported into Chief?

Thanks!

Hello,

I would like to use a metal siding similar to this picture, and I can't find a similar material in CA. The closest I see is vertical paneling. I can adjust the angle so it's horizontal and change the scale for wider boards, but I don't know how to get rid of the wood grain look and change it to a metal texture. Any advice on a material texture that would work well? 

Also, does anybody know what this type of large scale horizontal metal siding is called? Perhaps there is more information on Chief Talk already, but I didn't know what to search for since I don't know the technical name for this material. Thanks so much!

Lee

X12

1 hour ago, ericepv said:

Lee:

You're off to a good start, here are a few adjustments you can make:

• Experiment with different sun angles
• Decrease the sunlight to about 15,000 Lux (if you are doing a PBR, increase the brightness)
• In ray-trace edit, set Ambient Occlusion to .50 min - 2.5 max (as a starting point)
• I also like to keep the ambient lighting to a minimum (it can make a scene look flat)
• Specify your background image (Enable Env. Light)
• Turn on Caustics (Advanced tab)

Also, for the camera:

• Increase height to 96"
• Get rid of the camera tilt, it should be level
• Narrow the field of view to around 40 degrees

The rest is adjusting your materials and properties (very important!).

 

Hope this helps- Eric

thanks so much! You listed many things I have never done before, so this is a good learning experience. There is so much to know! thanks

On 6/18/2020 at 4:04 PM, Westlanedesigns said:

Grass Glorious Grass. This drawing is still in preliminary stages but I wanted to share. I have been searching for a way to get more realistic looking grass in CA since I first started using the product 10 years ago. I finally figured it out last night by accident. There is still some work to do to make it better, but at least it is closer to what I want grass to look like than all the other terrain images.

 

Create a garden bed where you want the grass to be, then add this "plant" to the garden bed. I have never done this before, but if you add this grass to your library, select it and then place it in the garden bed it will distribute the plant. I turned off show objects, reduced the distance, changed to alternate grid, random angle and object scaling to 25% and 50%.

 

There is still some work to do to make it look better, but I wanted to get this out there and see if anyone else has tried something like this.

 

I should add that I am still using X11.

 

Grass.calibz 439.77 kB · 660 downloads

thank you so much for sharing this method along with the grass file!! This is so helpful! I have been wanting to create the look of real grass for years, but I haven't been able to achieve the look I want even with high-res grass and bump maps. But this works! I think other people use photoshop or other software, but I don't have experience in those. thanks again. 

On 10/21/2022 at 3:44 PM, robdyck said:

Post your plan file and I'll send you back a rendered image in a few minutes.

Thanks, here is a plan along with the ray trace I have done. I'm pretty happy with it except for the window glass and the grass. I put window treatments in to hide the interior while still allowing some transparency.

AERIE.zip

18 minutes ago, ericepv said:

You may also want to try experimenting with different settings for refraction (in the properties panel when set to 'Transparent').

Thanks, I will play with that too. Some of these words are new to me and confusing, haha. It takes a lot of trial and error.

13 minutes ago, robdyck said:

Are you actually rendering that with Chief or using a different rendering software?

The picture I posted was not done in Chief (also not done by me). I am trying to use chief to get close to that kind of look. 

14 minutes ago, ericepv said:

In the 'Define Material' box, set the glass to transparent/crown glass (in the properties tab), then darken the glass a bit in the material color section of the pattern tab (try various shades of grey). Also, be sure there are no interior lights turned on and set the interior ambient to zero.

Thank you, I wish there was a reflectivity setting I could adjust. I will mess around with the grey shades a bit more.

Hello,

I am working on an exterior ray trace, and I would like the windows to be slightly reflective instead of transparent. What is the right material and properties for this look? I tried to make the glass a mirror, but it turned out really dark in my ray trace. I attached a picture (not mine) that shows the look I am going for. 

I am using Chief X12. 

thank you!

Thanks All, these are some great methods for me to explore.

Thanks, that is easy enough to create the room polyline. But I don't know how to create the macro to display the area. I'll have to research that.

thanks, that would be better for accuracy, but it seems like it would take quite a bit of time to do that for 15+ rooms in every plan I have :).  I'll ask the flooring people how accurate they need.

ok, that's easy. I'm embarrassed I asked. I didn't see the interior area option and just went with standard area. thank you.

Hello,

I need to calculate room square footages to give to our supplier to order flooring. I noticed when room areas are displayed along with the room labels, it is not calculated to the interior of the walls. Walls seem to be included, and some rooms seem to be different than others on how the calculation is done. Is there a way to adjust how these room calculations are done? Or do you have other advice on how to get this information for flooring square footages? The only options I have come up with so far are drawing a bunch of polylines in all the rooms or doing the math with the dimensions, and I was hoping for something easier. 

Thank you

Lee- X12

7 minutes ago, LevisL said:

If you need 3 or more different fills, you can also check 'Use Layer Color' under Pattern Appearance in the Wall Definition dbx. Then change the layer color in your different layer sets.

Here's an example of my set up. In my working layer set, I have the attic walls layer set to blue so I can quickly distinguish between attic walls and normal walls (on my print set, both layers are set to black). Then on my floor and roof framing layer sets, I change the walls to a light grey.

 

In my case, I have the line colors of each wall layer also set to 'By Layer', but you could also uncheck that and just have the fill change color when you change layer sets.

Thank you Levis! that's exactly what I was trying to figure out. That will work wonderfully! 

Thank you Chris, I think this will work for me just to turn on and off "walls, layers" as you suggested. Using that method in combination with wall hatch, I should be able to make 3 different fills (or lack of fill) available. It's too bad there isn't a way to change fills or wall definitions per layer set. If I needed more than 3 fills, I don't think this would work. Thanks again for your help. 

On 10/30/2019 at 6:54 AM, Chrisb222 said:

I have wanted to do something similar but haven't been able to accomplish what you're trying to do, due to Chief's limitations on controlling wall display. At least within my limited knowledge.

 

I have, however, come up with a solution I'm comfortable with, that I understand, and that gets me close to where I want to be.

 

I like to show standard floor plans dimensioned to rough framing, but kitchen layouts to the finished wall surface. And I never want to show layers unless it's a wall with a brick or stone veneer. The two screen captures show an example of my finished drawings, using wall definitions and layer settings. 

 

You can see how the floor plan has a 3-1/2" thick interior wall and the kitchen plan has a 4-1/2" thick wall, and the exterior wall is gray on the floorpan and white on the kitchen plan.

 

This is working for me but it would be nice if the wall display had more flexibility.

 

 

This looks similar to something I am trying to do. How did you make the wall grey in one layer set and not the other? Did you just use the wall hatching tool, or did you do it some other way? I am trying to accomplish 3 different wall fills for the same walls in 3 different layer sets. It seems like I can only use wall hatching for one of the fills, wall type definition fill for the 2nd, but I don't know how to achieve the 3rd. Any ideas? Thank you

I found this video very helpful for learning about the walkthrough tool https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/10134/quick-tip-walkthrough-video.html

12 minutes ago, Alaskan_Son said:

Try the Rooms layer.  

Yes, thank you! So obvious, but I couldn't think of it!

Hi All,

Is there a way to turn on and off a room fill? Perhaps by layer? I use color fills for all rooms, and I want to be able to print in color without showing the fill in some layer sets.

Thanks!

Thank you! That is a great!

Hi All,

I would like to control the display of CAD line length and angle labels by layer in addition to via the dbx. Is there a way to do this? I know how to use the dbx below under display options, but I have a file with a bunch of different polylines and I would like to be able to turn on and off the labels without opening a dbx for each one. I would also like to display labels with some layer sets and not others for layout views. Thanks for any suggestions!

Thank you both, these are great suggestions! I will try all of these methods. I don't have experience with photo editing, but I am starting to dabble in GIMP to crop my renderings to specific sizes, so I have some more learning to do :). Thanks again