NevinF

Exactly Alan. And until we as an industry can figure out a way to develop people, we'll never solve the labor shortage issue everyone is crying about.

Hi Robert, Unfortunately, we don't build that far north. We are in the Eureka area. Humboldt County.

We hire for character and train for skill. "A" players are not born, they're trained. Where do you propose these "better quality workers" get their experience/training? Also, our foremen are currently the best carpenters I've ever met in our area, but there is often more than one correct way to do something. I appreciate this advice Graham. I think you're right and will certainly do something down this line whenever possible and for those items that have such an installation instruction.

Thanks Graham. Good points, and we can certainly do that for some items. But there are a lot of things that we need to specify for our guys just exactly how we do it here at our company. No window installation guide mentions the importance of perfectly aligning multiple windows in a bank. Or something like foundation layout or fascia installation, for example. Of course a journeyman carpenter knows how to install fascia, but what about new guys just learning the trade? Or even experienced carpenters coming from another company. This is to explain to them our current method of installation, our quality level, etc, etc. It is intended to speed the learning curve for new learners as well as get experienced carpenters on board with our company standards, and will also serve as a marketing piece to the client. When considering our company vs. a competitor a document like this brings confidence and assurance knowing we have a plan and a process for ensuring predictable results.

We're looking for someone to help us create a company Best Practices Manual. Need details and 3D views along with step by step instructions for different parts of a project. A company called Hammer and Hand has made available a document very much like we want, but our procedures vary from theirs. http://hammerandhand.com/best-practices/manual/ I've attached two examples that I've made. I've found that to get the 3D view of this type of cutaway details I had to use a lot of polyline solids. We are a design/build company in Northern California. We use Chief all the time, just don't have the manpower to dedicate to this project. We are happy to pay well for good work. Floor Framing.pdf Window installation.pdf

Nice models, Levis, and your way of showing text on the 3d model looks great. Thanks for sharing. I'm assuming the text is placed directly on the layout in this case? For some reason when I work in the layout it is extremely slow and frustrating. Maybe my layout is bogged down unnecessarily with PDF's or something. If your problem is the model shifting under the lines/text that are on the layout, that is a bit different that what's happening to my elevations. What's weird is that my story pole (not using auto story pole) dimensions are shifting up more on the bottom than at the top. The top is still almost in the correct position aligned with the ridge, but the bottom is almost 2' high.

Thanks. I haven't tried another pdf writer yet. Possibly that will fix the problem. I hadn't noticed that it looks like the problem is only in standard view. Good point. Thank you!

No it has not been changed.

For some reason, when I print to PDF some of the lines are shifting from where they are on the layout. It seems like it is just happening on the elevations, at least as far as I've noticed. Here are some screenshots of the original layout: This is what the PDF looks like: Has anyone else had issues like this? Is there something I am doing wrong? Here are the plans for anyone who has a moment. https://friesen.syncedtool.com/shares/folder/432502762ef40e/

Thanks for the input guys. You all confirmed what i was hoping wasn't the truth. Can't have more than one terrain in a plan. I don't think having two different files is a good idea because as the design progresses/changes in the "Proposed" file, the "Existing" file would be separate and left behind. Creating a separate file just to create the symbol works, but then place the symbol in the real plan and toggle the terrain perimeter on and off to show the fill. Just a real clunky way to do something that every plan should show, if you ask me.

I want to toggle the terrain between existing and proposed for my client so they can see how much site work will be required for the project. Is there no way to do this? I know I can use CAD lines to show this information in a plan view or section, but need to view it in 3D also like these pictures show. To do this i had to delete the elevation region, which is obviously not an option in the real world.