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

Thanks Bryce. But I tried that. I had to reset the preferences to default to get the temp dimensions back. But then I lost some of the customizations I created. Once I did that, I had the ability to turn them on or off randomly.

Does anyone know a way to get the cable lights (either from the chief library or elsewhere) to be modified to an angle other than 90d (or perpendicular) to the wall you are starting it from? I am re-modeling a dodecagon shaped living space that has exposed beams going to a central post. When I put the cable light at the exterior wall under or at the beam and try to get it to angle towards the center post, it will not do it. As I said it picks one of the walls left or right of the corner angle and only goes perpendicular to either wall. I tried going into the attributes and changing the x- y angles by 15d here and there as a test, but it didn't work. I attached a PDF of my project so you can see what I am working with. (My chief file is larger than 10MG) Please ignore the error circles on some of the walls. In order to get the 3d view looking right I had to make some adjustments that caused those error circles. I have another plan saved for construction. This one is for visuals only. Thank you. Jenny Davidson home V13.1 chief talk file-Floor Plan.pdf

Hello again. I know this seems like a silly question but I am starting a new plan (after learning on a really difficult project with a dodecagon shaped house), and I was looking forward to doing something simple. So I start drawing my new walls, in a new plan, and I don't get the temporary dimensions as I am drawing walls. I may have made some changes in the other plan, but to my knowledge, never to the preferences, only to the (plan specific) defaults, so now that I am starting a new plan, should it not be as it once was? I am using x6 and when I first started, the temporary dimensions were there. I have checked all my defaults, looked in the manual, and looked for any current videos that might explain why they are gone, but I can't find any cause. Please help.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I do a lot of kitchen and bath remodels and I use a local custom builder so the label is worthless but I will use the sub categories and the cabinet components and add a custom description too. 20/20 was really for kitchen and bath designers who sell cabinets. I am independant and use custom builders mostly so I don't even need pricing info as every project is different (custom). Thanks again, these tips will help!

Thanks you guys! I found the closet thing to an incremental move is to set the snap settings @ a small measurement and then use the arrow keys. Still not quite as good as 2020 was for that. I could select the object in plan view, then type in any increments or fraction to move it and then use the directional arrow keys provided (12) to move the item anywhere, with or without a target. But I am getting used to the way that Chief does it and it seems to work ok. Thanks again.

Hello fellow designers & architects! I am new to Chief architect after moving from 20/20 because my design jobs were getting more architectural in nature. I just pulled a cabinet schedule from a very large custom kitchen I am designing, and the schedule is very basic and does not even say whether the cabinet is a drawer base vs a regular cabinet with doors, let alone any custom mods I made to the cabinets. I looked in the manual for instructions and there are not any that address this issue. Is there a way to get it to list the customizations I have made to each cabinet or even to notate basics like drawers vs doors? Please help. Thanks Jenny @ Ultimate Designs

I am a new Chief user coming from a 2020 background. There was an incremental move available where I could type in a value and use arrows to move an object that direction, in the value I asked. I had to put in a clients existing deck supports manually on a current project. I need to move some of them just by a few inches, but if I drag and drop, i may move them side to side as well and I do not want to do that. They are perfectly spaced on the "x" line and I just need to move them on the "y" line a tiny bit. Please help. Thanks

There is a pavillion in the mediterranean template, but I want to design my own. Very similar but I want to get creative with it. I need a training source or video. Please help. Attached are some pictures similar to what I want to create. MURRY BBQ STYLE.pdf