jennyultimate

Hi, Thank you for responding so quickly. rlackore, your suggestion works perfectly. Thank you!

Hi, I used SketchUp's Geo Location feature with the intent of turning the location into a 3D object for Chief. From Chief, I imported the .dae file and it looks nice in 3D. However, I need to create a terrain Perimeter. when I use the create terrain perimeter, it just lays out a flat terrain. I want to be able to turn the .dae import into the terrain perimeter. Is that possible?

Thanks. But the viewing distance will be right up close as it is going on a construction fence around a 4 story building on a walking concourse in a busy part of town. I have it Ray Tracing now and it seems like it will be ok if I let it go for another few hours. I didn't set the DPI that high though. I set it to 95. Will that make much difference? It is set to 5000 pixels wide so maybe that will make up for the lower DPI? Again, Thank you both for the quick replies. Cheers!

Hello again Chiefs! I have been asked if I can give my clients very large files of both interior and exterior renderings for a project. They plan to blow them up to a large banner to put on the construction fence (maybe 6" tall x 10' wide approx). I was able to save a basic exterior final view (without ray tracing) as large as 15000 width pixels, which should make the picture about 6' tall. The quality is great when blown up and I don't really need the Ray Trace for exterior view. However, for interior views, which they plan to show a bit smaller on the same banner, I really want to use Ray Traces. But when I set the size to 5000 x 2600 pixels (approx 6' wide x 3' tall), it takes over 15 minutes till the image even shows up (instead of the black and white pixels). Is that just too large for a Ray Trace? I have it running now and just don't know if it will ever really work that big. A good high quality Ray Trace takes about 2 hours for my machine, but I do have shiny surfaces (kitchens) and I want lighting shadows etc. I am ok with setting it to Ray trace overnight but if that size is just too big and will never come out right, then I don't even want to waste the effort. Thanks Avon Catalog | Avon Brochure | Target Red Card | Target Ad

Thanks Alan, I am using X7, and was unaware that X8 is out. I did not pay for SSA this year, by mistake so I can't get current libraries (that are SSA only). Did you get this girl from stock photos or in the library? What format or file type stock photos should I look for? Just Jpegs? And then If I import them in the floorplan, do they show up in the 3d"s like the lady you put in does? Thanks for your help. Jenny

Hello Pros, I do not often have to do professional architectural exterior renderings but I am designing the new colors of an historical building and I would love to put people in the foreground of my renderings like commercial architectural renderings have sometimes. I have the CAD block of people but they seem to be line drawings or silhouettes. Where would I get the files so I can do this? I tried the library but again, they only seemed like line drawings and silhouettes. If anyone can help, it would be most appreciated. Attached is my Chief file and a Jpeg of the rendering to show the angle of the building I want to render with people. Thanks! Cheers! K St. V2 Chief file EXTERIOR COLORS Feb 2016.plan

Hello Chiefs! I was renting to own Chief X6 with support. Then before my final payment, I got the option to upgrade to X7 which I did and have been using it on main computer ever since. But I did not get support when it expired because ... well, I don't know.... money? Anyway, I had X6 on my laptop as well as desk top but now that I have X7, I can't work on X7 new jobs on the X6 program and am trying to install my X7 on my laptop. Can I not do that unless I have support? Or should I dump X6 on laptop altogether and then try installing? If I pull up my product activation on laptop and put in my X7 product key, it says "product key not found in online database. The Knowledge base seems to only tell me how to transfer files and data once it is installed, not how to install it on a 2nd computer. Maybe I need to deactivate X7 on my desktop? Can someone list the steps for me? Thanks! I wanted to get some work done this weekend but would prefer to sit by the fire rather than in my office. Cheers!

Yes, they are all on. I just added the same cabinets in floor plan view and then took another elevation and they showed up. I tried to reproduce the glitch by going to another plan and adding cabinets and appliances in elevation view and then they also did not show up in the floor plan. But then when I added them in the floor plan view instead of elevation view, all is good. I was using X6 (what I learned on) and I used to be able to add all kinds of elements in elevation. They always showed up in floor plan and any other view I went to. This is new to X7. I will wait and talk to the Chief team to report. But thanks for the feedback!

Hi Chiefers. I just switched to X7 and weird things are happening. Tech support is in a group meeting. Can anyone help? In elevations, I threw in a fridge and some partitions and a cabinet above..... but none of it shows up in the floor plan. All the other cabinets and appliances show in the floor plan and I went to display options to make sure everything was checked. But because some appliances and cabinets show but not others, I can't figure it out. I closed and rebooted, that didn't work. Anyone know what might be causing this?

Thanks guys! I think the strange top rail was just me trying anything I could to make the cable rail work and too much clicking through. Did not consciously choose that as top rail. So it has to be a panel first, then switch to cable rail in library? OK, I will do that. On the bad wall connections..... thanks for pointing them out. I knew they were there, but this was the (dodecagon) house remodel, I learned Chief on and when I was doing the interior space planning, I didn't know how to fix this so I ignored it as it was not in a room I needed to show pics of. Now that I am doing the exterior deck and pavilion designs, it was not an issue. I am using X6. Thanks for your fixes. I really appreciate the speed at which you can get answers on this forum! Cheers!

Hi Chief experts! Can someone please help me with a strange issue that is coming up? When I try to make my deck railing into a cable style railing, it turns all the 8' sections of the rail 90 degrees so they are parallel with each other and not acting like a rail at all. I have used this tool before (cable rail) and it worked fine. I don't know if it happened after an upgrade or what but I cannot seem to get it to work now. I have attached my file.... but please note: It is not complete, and it is now just for the exterior deck and kitchen pavilion. The roof on the house is not right but I do not need to fix as this is for concept pictures only. Can someone please see what is going on with the rails or tell me how to fix/do cable rails? Thanks so much! Davidson home V14 backyard V4.plan

Hi Barton, Thanks for the new cable light symbol. I can stretch it once it is in the plan by deselecting "retain aspect ratio" and the lights don't distort or anything. I am still having trouble getting it to angle up from the start point at the outer wall (approx. 105" under the beam) up to the center post @ approx. 170". The beam is 200" in length. I tried changing the x, y axis's in the Specify Origins box (in the symbol specs) but then the light disappeared altogether. I guess I don't understand the x, y, z axis thing very well. Here is my plan. You might be able to see what I mean by looking at the actual plan better. Davidson home V13.1 with cable light.zip

Thanks Dennis. But the y axis in in inches. Do you mean on the Electrical Service Specifications when I open the object? If so, on the left drop down I find the Y position (not axis) under the Offset heading. Is that where you mean... and if so, it's in inches not degrees. ANd I just changed that Y position from -1" (where it was defaulted) to 90" and then went to camera view and nothing changed. THis is frustrating! Any more thoughts?

Hi all. A while back I asked about getting the Kable lights to attach to a beam. I was told how and now I have them showing in my camera view but they do not seem to appear where they are placed on the floor plan and I can't get them to follow the angle of the beam.... upwards. I have tried playing with the tilt angle and the drop off but it doesn't work. Can anyone guide me on changing the angle from the start point @ 110" to the end point at 173" (the kables are 195" long). I would greatly appreciate some help here. I have attached 2 files. floor plan and 3d (please ignore the error message circles on my plan) Thank you, thank you! Davidson home V13.1-Floor Plan cable lights.pdf Davidson home V13.1-Full Camera 3D cable lights.pdf

Hi Doug. Your answer seamed the easiest to follow and I am able now to angle them along the beam in plan view. However, now I can't lengthen the cable light so it goes from the outer wall to the center post (210") without it disappearing altogether. I tried changing the bounding box dimensions thinking the given depth @ 113.25" was the length as it seemed the closest in appearance but it did not change it at all. And in camera view, it is not where it shows on the floor plan. It appears too low and not at all where it is placed on the floor plan. Plus and I can't get it to angle up from the outer wall @ 96" to the center post @ 140". After playing with a lot of different dimensions and options, I can't figure it out. Is there a "how to" for dealing with this? Or do you have time to help me figure this out? Thanks so much. Jenny