scottharris

Chief Architect Moderators
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    438

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by scottharris

    NKBA Auto Dimensions

    in General Q & A

    Posted

    Caitlin,

     

    The ‘reset the templates’ is in X14.  In X13, you can verify you are using the default template in your preferences -> new plans.  It should be something like ‘Residential Template.plan’ or ‘Kitchen and Bath Template.plan’.  I suspect @solver is  correct – your plan may have started as an Home Designer plan.  Follow his steps to covert that into a Chief Architect plan.

     

    For the CAD point (edit: Point Marker): place it near your cabinet end panel; add a dimension to the point, click on the point; click on the dimension and enter in the precise amount.  You might see how that process is done in this wall elevation video.

     

    If you still need help, reach out to our support group - they are open 7-4 PT.

     

    • Like 1

    Create a vaulted AND coffered ceiling WITH trim? (reference pic included)

    in General Q & A

    Posted

    Nick, the soffit tool may be difficult to get rotated based on your photo.  You might try using the 3D solid (in X12 it’s the polyline solid).  You can take an elevation view, draw the solid, position and size; move back to plan view and stretch to the length of the room.  If you want moldings to follow you can 1) use the molding polyline or 2) draw the soffit shape and molding together in CAD; save that as a molding profile and again use the molding polyline tool.   Below is a simplified example.

    mold.jpg

    • Upvote 1

    NKBA Auto Dimensions

    in General Q & A

    Posted

    Caitlin, when the dimension won’t pickup an applied panel, such as one placed through the cabinet dialog – you can use a line or a CAD point.  In the image below, I placed a CAD point and then can position the dimension.  I noticed in your plan it seems to be missing several dimension defaults – you might reset your template plan to use the Chief Architect version – since you upgraded from Home Designer it might have imported that into Chief Architect.

    dim.png

    pref.png

    X12 v X13 on mac pc

    in General Q & A

    Posted

    14 hours ago, basilbabaa said:

    As seen from earlier in this post, I have remained on X12 because of struggling with trying to learn how to optimize render quality in X13 with the changes CA has made from the rendering engine of X12.  I have just ordered a new Mac Studio and would like to upgrade to X14 when possible, but first would like to understand it in X13....

     

    The Breckenridge plan was developed in 2016 (probably X11).   It predated our RTRT (real time raytracing) and the lighting in the model was designed for both standard rendering and CPU raytracing. It appears the plan’s lighting was left in the state for the CPU raytracing which required much, much brighter lighting; it does not look good in standard or PBR renders.  And, the materials were not in an ideal state. With at said X13’s rendering engine changed from OpenGL.  It’s dedicated on the Mac to Metal (PC = DirectX).  Older plans need to have the lighting model adjusted – in some cases substantially.   To get a softer lighting look more like X12, turn the lumens down further.  If you are on a Mac using the M1 – X14 runs directly w/o the Rosetta emulator – about 20% faster.  Below are a few of the settings adjusted in your modified Breckenridge home – more could be done.  To get a look at the current state of our rendering, take a look at the Austin Sample Plan. Hope this helps.

     

    For a Mac w/o RTRT (real time raytracing)

    Camera Settings

      Ray Casted Shadows  Off --> On

      Bloom On  --> Off

      Ambient Occlusion 100% --> 8%

    Technique Options

      Camera Exposure 0.957 -->.3

      Brightness -53.04 -->25

    Lights

      Under Cab Lights 428 -->25 LM

      Added Lights under Cabs 85.5 -->25 LM  --> Added Lights was only necessary for the CPU Raytrace option in this older plan

    Materials

                    Stainless U / V Roughness 90 / 30 -->40 /8

                    Pendant Lights Glass -->Lighting White

                    Flooring Polished --> General

     

    PC w/ RTRT (real time raytracing)

      Ray Tracing On

      Backdrop Intensity 1,000

      Bloom Off

      Sun Off -->On

      100,000 --> 500

     

     

     

    X13-PBR.jpg

     

    • Upvote 2

    X14 interior dimensions

    in General Q & A

    Posted

    Are you using an X14 template or a migrated X13 (or prior) template?  If the X13 template, you will want to modify your dimension defaults for the particular plan view you are using to change the dimension style and setup.  Dimensions changed a fair amount in X14; if you can use the X14 template plan, it is optimized for these changes.

     

     

    dims.png

    • Upvote 2

    New Mac computer

    in General Q & A

    Posted

    Chief Architect X14 runs directly on Apple M1 ARM processors without the Rosetta emulator.  As a result, there is approximately a 20% performance improvement when you take a 3D view, generate elevations or other tasks.  X14 is in beta now – if you’re interested send an email to beta @  chiefarchitect.com 

    • Like 6
    • Upvote 1

    Notes Sheet for Idaho

    in General Q & A

    Posted

    Cris, welcome to Idaho!  The local NHAB chapter (NIBCA) would be a good starting point.  Several long time members there should be able to get you started.  Also, could be the county and other local building depts. have notes they can share.

     

    If you do design/drafting for local builders, let us know (PM), we get lots of requests for local work and like to pass the information along. 

    X13 Internal Rendering Error & Crash

    in General Q & A

    Posted

    I have an I9, MSI Laptop w/ a 3070 GPU and Windows 11.  I too frequently see the 3D ‘device removed’ error.  In working with our testing & engineering groups, we believe this is a video driver issue from NVIDIA on the 3xxx GPUs in Windows 11.  NVIDIA is working on it (maybe too slowly).  I finally moved my laptop to Windows 10 and so far have not seen the issue.  Moving to Windows 10 was not ideal, but I also had other performance issues that appear to be solved with Windows 10.

    CPU Ray Trace on Laptops – Beware of Battery Heat

    in General Q & A

    Posted

     

    I have both a Mac and PC laptop that I have damaged the batteries by CPU ray tracing overnight.  Typically, I would setup the scene and then ray trace at a higher pixel count overnight.  My first experience was when the Mac was very, very hot one morning.  Later I found the case was warped and the battery was the cause.  The PC laptop seemed to manage the heat better, so I continued (?).  Recently its battery stopped taking a charge and I ordered a new one.  In replacing it, the battery had mushroomed (see photo).  It should be flat.  I’m sharing the story to perhaps save you a battery replacement or possibly worse.  CPU ray trace on laptops in short periods, and/or reduce the CPU utilization, or use a desktop, or use real-time GPU ray tracing.

    Happy New Year!

    battery.jpg

    • Upvote 1