Michael_Gia

Ok thanks! That works. (For those who want to know the details)... I defined two new macros. (height*25.4).round (width*25.4).round Then in window label I specified the label using these 2 macros to show width x height in millimetres. Thanks a million. Crazy that tech support doesn’t know to mention this? Another question is, what is the “Use Default Formatting” in the window label dbx? How or where is that controlled?

No, I’m using my default imperial plan preferences. I just tried creating a new plan with the default metric plan preferences and the window labels do indeed display in millilitres as you say. But, is there no way to change that in an existing imperial plan?

Is there really no way to have Chief display my window dimensions in millilitres? Currently my window label is specified as: %width% X %height% This returns a label of width x height in inches. Is there a way to display these measurements in millimeters? I called tech support and they told me there isn’t. I can’t believe that.

Look up reference floor display videos on Scott Hall’s YouTube channel. Here’s an old one that really helped my grasp how to use reference floor display in layout, and why to use them....

I’m going to guess the layer that the mirror is on, is not turned on in your elevation view.

Maybe make the ceiling a material with some emissivity? PBR is not quite there yet but I’m excited about where they Chief is going with this approach. Personally the Srandard rendering serves me well especially since it is updated in layout.

Ok alternate solution is: -Open symbol (icon with chair and pencil - bottom toolbar) - Options tab, chose “floor mounted” - 3D tab, “Z Position” = finished ceiling height less an inch. (In my case Z = 173.5”) You can also chose “ceiling mounted” but uncheck “flush mounted” and then enter your ceiling thickness plus an inch for “Z Position” (in my case Z = -7)

So the solution is to draw a small ceiling plane outside where the eave is and then place your spots on it? Great fix but I was hoping there was some setting in roofs or wherever to allow a quite common item such as soffit lighting to behave as expected. Thanks for the suggestion though, it is a lot easier than fiddling with the light height and angle.

Plan is attached. I placed 3 spots in the soffit above the 3 garage doors. Chief placed them originally under the plywood of the sloped roof. I had to then adjust the height of the spots and angle to get them to sit flush to the soffit. What am I missing? Why doesn’t Chief automatically place them where a soffit/eave spot should be? Plan: https://www.dropbox.com/s/m6qmbb6apn7ur98/Joseph and Johanne test plan.plan?dl=0

I second the motion regarding “story” or “levels” to deal with floor and ceiling heights as opposed to the “room” approach that Chief utilizes. Since we are already defining walls with materials and paint it seems that we could simply add baseboard, crown mouldings etc right in along with the wall definition and be done with it.

This is the exact reason I switched to a MacBook. It’s the same speed today as it was on day one. I also never experience the video card compatibility issues I used to have with my previous pc’s. It’s also true as others have mentioned you will pay less for an equally or even superior spec’d pc and you can’t really build that lightening fast monster machine like you can with a pc, (if money is no object, that is). It really, just works.

I’d guess they want to select a polyline segment instead of the annoying default treatment of polylines as a continuous connected group of lines. Just guessing. There are no dumb questions though. Right?

No disrespect intended. You guys are the greatest, however I also know how intimidating it can be to post a question on a forum as a newby. My opinion is we should either post an answer or not respond. Let’s leave the policing up to the moderators.

1) Control the wall height by opening the room dialogue box, goto structure tab and set your ceiling relative height. 2) You can also click on a wall in a 3D camera view or cross section view, grab the top wall handle, drag down or up and press tab, enter distance you want to lower or raise wall. (Not the right way to do this but is needed in certain situations. Dont mind those grumpy veterans. Ask away.

Probably a leftover view on page “0” that is not linked anymore to anything. Goto page 0 and delete it.

This is why I stay with Chief. This forum and all you regular knights in shining armour.

You beat me to it! thanks a million!

Nevermind. I had inadvertently selected garage as room type for my hall.

When placing a door on an interior wall, Chief wants to all of the sudden make it an exterior door type with the frame at 5-1/2” deep. What setting controls this?

My attempt. Some textures, shadows etc. 3D trees which create shadows thus adding a smidgen of realism, maples of course. (I’m Canadian) Overall I might’ve dropped it down from WB to Looney Toons though. Add some 3D trees though. They help.

Really nice, but I think you got lucky if that is indeed your first PBR. I was also lucky on my first attempt but then I got bold and started tinkering and that’s when it all went south, and fast. I’m also on a Mac and these take about 3 to 10 seconds depending on settings. I am now comfortable with this new rendering technic after watching this short video. I basically copied all of her settings, adjusted some materials and made sure I had enough light fixtures etc... check it out... https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/2426/physically-based-rendering-technique.html (beats the hell out of raytracing)

I think you just might have started a classic PC versus Mac, Armageddon, lol. My two cents. I switched to Mac 5 years ago. I’m happy I did now but it was a good 6 months of cursing and regretting the decision at the time of the switch. Although, seeing as I use Dropbox for everything today I think which system you use is becoming less of an issue. I’m using X10 now and my MacBook pro handles it very well. The specs you posted far outclass my system so you’ll be fine. However, if you want your system to fly through raytraces at world record speeds then, dollar for dollar the more knowledgeable folks in this forum can help you build a much faster rig than anything Apple has to offer. ...and this is coming from a self declared Apple fanboy.

Don’t the default wall types included in chief already have a default paint layer?

Ah yes, I haven’t customised my toolbar yet. I will now. Thanks! Are plan views the new paradigm in Chief? That is, are Plan Views king now? Seems like the way to go for me personally. Example, Layout files should have a 1:1 relationship with Plan views. Anything sent to layout should be sent from a dedicated Plan View.

A great feature of using “plan views” is:... ...you know when you’re in an anno set and either accidentally, or on purpose you switch layer sets and then get the dreaded “using active defaults” in the anno sets drop down? You know what kind of mayhem that can inadvertently cause right? As in, “where was I?” Or, “oh no what anno set was that I just sent to layout now?” Or “how did this layout box suddenly adopt the wrong anno set/later set?!?!?” Etc. Well... If you use “plan views” all you have to do is double click on the plan view in the project browser and your view will be “reset” to its originally saved layer and anno set setting. If you develop this work flow and the habit of double clicking in the plan view before sending to layout then you’ll never have random annno sets or layer sets associated with views sent to layout.