katmacphail

Do you mean that you actually will build? Or just for the website? Katharine

I'm looking for a new computer also. I have a MacBook air and everything is older and less powerful than yours but CA doesn't run slowly on my computer. I did have a big problem with crashing and I contacted CA technical support and they made it stop. Have you asked them what could be causing the speed issues? What are you contemplating purchasing? Katharine

I could look at your plans via screen share and give you some feedback if you like. Katharine

I feel like I'm missing something, maybe I have something turned on or off that should not be- because it seems really inconvenient that the window numbers change. I've just turned off labels and am labeling them all myself.

I gave up trying to get the schedule to automatically generate changes and yet stay the same window #s in the callouts. I am using the numbers on the window quote and labelling all the windows with the appropriate hand drawn (static) label. On the window schedule itself I got rid of the column "number" which kept changing the label numbers and am putting my desired window # on each one in the code column. That way the labels won't change and won't conflict with what the supplier has. If there is a better or easier way to do this, please let me know. Otherwise if I add a window or change the schedule at all, all of the callouts change and that is messing up the window schedule with the supplier. Katharine

Eric, the window that has the callout of W09 should say W13. It changed after I made it into two awning windows rather than one fixed window. The window schedule that the supplier has calls that opening W13 and I don't want to confuse matters by changing the opening callouts in my window schedule revision. The other window labels/callouts are also changing. I just want them to stay the same. I am drawing them in by hand and converting the window schedule to text and controlling it from there, but it would be really great if all of it could be controlled by the model. Katharine

Chopsaw, where is that? The window I am having trouble with is w09 in the second floor bath. I want the label to say w13. Katharine

I have sent out the window schedule for pricing and have established window numbers for each opening with the supplier. I need to keep the window opening numbers the same, rather than having the window number change when I alter a window. For example, instead of a long fixed window I'd like two awning windows, and when I do that the window number changes. I tried to fix the label, changing it from "automatic label" to "specific label" but no matter what I do I can't specify the window number I want, the new number is still there. Is it possible to fix the window labels to specific opening and then change the windows? It will be a giant mess if I change all of the window labels at this point and I would rather not have to do it all by hand but I can. Any advice? Basically I want to be able to permanently label the openings and alter the windows as needed without the label changing. Using x10. 572_Walden_raise_second_floor.plan

Thanks Eric How do I strip the roof plan down on purpose? I guess I can play around with that. Uncheck ceiling plane over this room, maybe? Katharine

When you say draw in my own, do you mean draw poly line solids, angle them, sandwich them together, make one side slate roof and the other side plaster and fake the roof? Do I make the 3rd floor walls 29" high? Because I don't think the poly line solids would cut the walls as roofs do. I could make those out of poly line solids also, I guess. I won't be able to put a window in there so should I make the stretch of wall that forms the dormer out of a real wall and fake everything else? Do you think it is worth sending it to support? The reason I'm questioning it is that if I do it will take a few more days. Ultimately I just want it to work properly. Maybe I can't have that right now. Thanks Katharine

I have been working on getting this model right for a long time now. The underside of the mansard roof is stripping when it touches anything. Part of it is extending through the window as shown in this image. I'm using CAx10 on a MacBook air. I've rebuilt it several times. I've messed around with the walls. Should I send it to support? Is there something totally obvious that I am missing? If really strange things are happening with the model, should I scrap it and start over again? I've got a huge amount of hours in this now. I'm looking for someone who can show me or explain to me or teach me what is happening. Maybe it is just a glitch. I need advice. I'm willing to pay for help. 118 Pearl existing.plan

I tried drawing walls and nothing came out of the roof plane. I'm going to erase it and try again. What is this thing in the wall that looks like a cane in the section shot and is like a white sheet in the other section? It isn't in the other roofs.

Eric, how did you make the dormers? Every time I touch the exterior wall in any way, it gets stripped. What is that second image? The walls on the third floor are full height walls, what we are seeing is the underside of the roof. Until it disappears. Katharine

Hello again Last night I needed help building the mansard roof and tonight I need help figuring out the dormers. The interior walls go nuts when I try anything. I have attached a screen shot. Is it because I have full height walls drawn for the third floor? Should they be attic walls? I have tried cutting holes in the roof, sometimes I am able to do it and other times I am not able to do it, other times the exterior wall pops up through the side of the roof, at one point I was able to get a hole in the roof but then the inside got stripped as in the screen shot. I'm sure that I am missing something obvious. Katharine 118 Pearl existing.plan

Eric, you really are a genius. Thank you. I don't use the automatic roof generation at all so I didn't even think to turn off the roofs in certain areas through the structure dialog. Obviously! I appreciate your help. katharine

Eric, That is perfect! I don't know how to turn off roofs over the other spaces. I tried building the other roofs manually and then asking the program not to rebuild those while I automatically built the mansard but it didn't work. Let me make sure I get the sequence: select the walls and define the upper and lower pitches in the roof dialog. turn off the roofs (don't know how to do this) automatically build just the mansard roof, putting in 84 as the pitch and then building the roof. Katharine

How do I draw the mansard roof planes manually? I have set the roof type in the walls with an 84" lower pitch and 6" upper pitch, then in build roof I put in the 84 in 12 pitch but there is no upper pitch. This is my problem. I'm not totally new to this and can build other complex roofs and have experience with 'hole in roof'. I can join roof planes. I guess I will review fascia and roof baseline heights to make sure I understand it. Is it possible to draw walls that are not at 90 degrees to the floor? Katharine

Good evening. I am finally giving up and asking for help. I've watched the videos about automatic generation of mansard roofs, and it doesn't seem to be working in this case. I am building an as-built model of a mansard roof, three story apartment building. The steep pitch on the mansard is about 84, and the upper pitch would be about 6. The bay windows on the front continue up to the roof and are also part of the mansard. I've attached a photo of the house. I'm attaching the plan which is currently a hot mess. There is living space on the third floor. My question is this- can I draw the mansard roof planes manually? I need the roof to start at the third floor level and then I plan to draw a cornice around the building. Any advice? I'm using X10. I'd be willing to pay someone for some lessons. Thanks Katharine 118 Pearl existing.plan

Dermot- Thank you so much, this is exactly the problem. Had I used my old template I wouldn't have noticed any changes. I will try to learn the new system. I appreciate your help! Katharine

David- Last night I noticed that the name on the plan, while I have it open, is now "working plan view" which I had not noticed before. The saved file name has not changed, just the name on the tab while the file is open. I then am having a problem sending views to layout, and I thought the two might be related. I thought it was possible that "working plan view" went to layout differently than "plan", as it previously been called at the tab while I'm working on it. Because I started a new plan with a template I hadn't used before, I thought maybe a preference was set differently. I tried looking up "working plan view" but couldn't find information anywhere. It seems that this has been changed recently and I am just noticing. My real problem came up when I was trying to create a layout. I sent a section view to layout, no problem. I sent the third floor plan to layout, no problem. I sent the second floor to layout, in a new window, no problem with that window but the problem is the first window, which had been the third floor plan, was now the second floor plan. Originally I was trying to set up the two plans on one sheet. Both windows became the most recent view sent to layout. This had never happened before and I tried everything I could to fix it- the only thing that was different was the "working plan view" in the tab and the different template that I had used to start the plan. I don't want every window in layout to change to the most recent view sent to layout. I don't know if it is just my old mac acting up, the program, or what. Katharine

Ok, so the working plan vs. plan isn't the issue. Here is my problem: When I send the second floor plan to layout, I have a second floor plan in view. Then I send the third floor to layout, and I have two third floor views. The plan layout boxes switch to the latest plan sent to layout, if that makes sense. I don't know if it is something strange about my latest file that I just started, because it hasn't happened to me as recently as yesterday on other projects. Katharine

I'm having a strange issue, all of a sudden. I"m using x10, have been for a while. I started a new project, which of course has a new plan. I started from a template, a different one than I normally use. I noticed last night that the title of my plan ends with "working plan view". I have tried to fix this, started the program over, always says 102 Florence: working plan view. I don't know what this is about but maybe this is contributing to my real problem, which is that whenever I send a plan to layout, it replaces the other layout window that I have already established, no matter what page of the layout. This hasn't happened to before. The section layout stays the same, but the plan layout windows all change to the most recent plan send to layout. Thanks for your help Katharine 102_florence_scheme_b.plan june 1 presentation.layout

I'm also interested to learn about landscape design documentation in Chief Architect. I would rather have everything contained in one file but I will check out the other programs mentioned. I know this was posted a while ago- Katharine

Thank you Lew. You inspired me to watch a couple videos, and the #6 mistake while using Chief Architect was the one that helped me- understanding platforms. I do know how to change floor levels within rooms, but with 7 levels with 3 units on each level, I felt that changing all of the floor heights in all of the rooms would be tedious and frustrating. Turns out there is a tool for that, the one that selects objects with the same properties and then the one that applies those properties. I had originally set all of the platforms for all of the levels when they were open 3500 square foot "rooms". Now as part of a revision I need to change the platform levels for the entire floor but each floor is broken up into rooms and not open as it originally was. I was hoping to be able to manage this in default settings but I can do it this way too. Katharine

I am working on a project that consists of 3 buildings now joined together as one building (as of 1910). All three buildings have different floor levels. We are tearing one down and building a new multi-dwelling building. We are also making modifications to the other two buildings, so I would prefer to have all of them modeled at once (rather than blocking two in while I address the third). Is it possible to build them separately and then import them into the same model so that I would have control over floor heights changing (applies to the new building). If anyone has any experience with modeling this kind of project, I would appreciate it. I've been treating a whole floor of the new building as one room then changing the ceiling height on that. I can't change the floor structure though without changing the floor structure of all the buildings. Maybe I should just use the actual floor structure of the new building since the others already exist and I can fudge on the existing floor to ceiling height in the existing building. There are 7 floors in the new building and only 3 floors and basement in the existing buildings. I'm using x10 on a mac. Thanks for your help Katharine