mthd97

We probably know that this depends on how the pdf was created. Vector (lines) or Raster (Pixels). Please see this excellent AutoCAD video for an explanation on converting vector pdf files to dwg. It helped me understand better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9uZoMGA3Ow

True ! but he might also be using a simple garage as an example of one of the problems he is having with using CA. We all know that is not a valid reason alone to jump ship. We all have a right to make choices about that CAD tools we will use for our work. So that’s up to him because I am sure he will get frustrated when he sees how much extra time it will take to do a simple job in R rather than CA.

Hi Terry M Stephens, It’s cool to use another CAD app if that is certainly beneficial to your workflow going forward in your private business. Many of us also use other CAD apps too. I was just highlighting that an auto reversing a wall problem is not really a big enough reason to give up on CA and call it “Nonsense”. As you may well know, the program defaults to that action under certain conditions. The system inside CA is designed to be very user friendly, fast and to get to the final result quickly. With more sophisticated CAD/BIM apps, we will have to put more time and effort into learning how to use them correctly in order to be efficient. Changing apps may solve some problems but will indefinitely create others for us. All cool !

Thank you Joe.

Hi Glenn, what’s OP stand for ?

Hi all, it’s a bit late but I would do it this way. Depending if I am lowering the floor ceiling height or expanding it ? I would group select the roof planes and set them to the new height level. Then edit the floor defaults (not individual room defaults) first. Then see what happens in 3D and make any needed adjustments to the model. Of course after reviewing this excellent video from a little while back to see how CA works with floor ceiling height defaults. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/5434/setting-second-floor-defaults.html

Sometimes the very newest Mac OS can have its glitches and that’s why I am still using Ventura at present. My machine came out with Monterey installed. I am very pleased with my change to Mac, I should have done it years ago. I really like how CA works on MAC.

That’s funny, in Australia they used to call the English Australians Skippy. BTW I am not the one jumping up and down over a simple thing like “auto wall flipping”. I am merely stating that if the program is being used correctly it should not be flipping the walls for you hopefully ? It certainly would be great if you could post your template as has been suggested above so that they can rectify it for you. It’s all cool if you want to use “R”. Just be warned that there are lot of things that it cannot do that CA can do, like auto timber framing for one. I have only used a demo version of “R” in the past and it seems like a good program for structural steel engineering on commercial projects. Every CAD program has its own particular limitations and strengths. We employ the CAD products that works best for our own unique business model. True I have had issues with CA too but I accepted its limitations after trying to resolve my issue with help here and from the training videos. All good !

Hi, I recently went over to a new Mac Studio M1 from an old windows 10 HP PC. I downloaded the CAX15 windows version trial on my HP, the program worked but my video card did not produce the 3D camera views. It produces the 3D views with X10 though. So I just uninstalled it from my HP. I then installed the X15 trial version for Mac on my M1 Studio and it all works fine. I am not sure why you would need to have windows 11 installed also on your MAC because CA will still open CA windows files on Mac too ? What operating system do have installed on your M2 Macbook ?

You may have heard the saying “that a bad tradesman always blames his tools”. First we must learn how to use our tools correctly. I’m am very sure if you went over to the “R” word you will probably use the “F” more often. Probably just a simple user error. That has never happened to me in 25 years of using CA.

Yes I agree and it would certainly be very nice to see these common stair types made available in CA. Perhaps someone could create a visual list in the suggestions forum of the common stair types needed ?

I got a space mouse last year with a CAD mouse wireless compact. They are great to use and work differently in each type of CAD application. I am interested as to how you find it to work with CA ? I seem to prefer mouse navigation in the 3D window, probably because that’s what I am used to in CA. I am always ready to learn new tricks in CA with a space mouse.

I think it would be great to have more customisation for common stair types but you have to draw the line somewhere. With a highly radical stair design, you are probably better off creating it by some other means ? Let’s face it, you can’t create every stair type out there with the main function in the program.

That’s cool ! We all look forward to seeing the improvements in X16.

Read that post above and you can get a tiny glimpse of what is coming in X16 from the VP.

I have been doing them the old way since V6. DJP did a video a while ago that shows what we basically do. It’s not quite perfect and there are other ways of getting around it. But here is his excellent video on that old method. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EHcBxh6wW0 If anybody has a more accurate method then please post.

Hi Mark. I didn’t mean that the WMR would cut your siding out. I meant that if it had a negative value in the ML, so that it would deduct from the total area of your siding. My other suggestion was to have no siding at all, on that particular Gable as others have suggested above. Then use a WMR to draw the siding that you need in manually and look for it in the ML calculations. Anyway you have figured it out by the looks ? Yes it would be good if we had a method of cutting out materials to stop them from making the ML inaccurate. One of the Chief Masters here might have a trick or two up their sleeves, to get that roof that meets that gable to cut out that siding triangle that you do not need ?

Hi, Have you tried using a “Wall Material Region” and see how that reflects in the ML ? See if it is possible ti give it a negative value in order for it to deduct from the siding ? If that doesn’t work then you could leave that gable with no siding and use the WMR to create siding for that gable. Please see this video on FMR & WMR. I am sure you will figure it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxvwbt_R7_g

Hi Rickster, I asked in a question thread about a year ago and got a reply directly from Chief Architect staff saying to use that particular method. Please see this article for details on why. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00279/opening-legacy-files.html No problems !

Hi, If you are ok with just 2D plan files as either PDF or DWG, sure you can do something like that. I have recently taken a very complex split level home including the terrain from V9.5 and saved it in X8 along with the old layout file and they both look fine. I can also open the plan in X10 to work on it and it all looks right. The layouts I can only work in X8 for now but that’s cool, I am ok with working in X8 or doing new layouts in X10 after a re-modeling. It even works fine in going from windows to Mac as I did above. Well done to CA for making it relatively straight forward.

As mentioned above I also recommend that you save all your past work to a suitable sized USB drive. You can definitely use much older files in newer versions of CA via CAX8 saving. See the information on the website for directions. Have fun archiving.

I recently bought a brand new gaming computer with XP pro installed on it for Archiving purposes. I got it from eBay. I have never seen XP work so fast. I installed CAV9.5 & 10 on it but I had to install the HASP driver manually from the actual dongle. All works good now. I spent $800 AU or approximately $500 USD because I have heaps of plans stored in CAV10 and earlier. To move my legacy plans and layouts to later versions of CA, I open them in X8 and save them, then work on them in that version or later if possible. Not a simple exercise.

Hi, it looks like that railing defining the entry porch area with the pillars is showing underneath ? 1) You could try tweaking the railing settings in the DBX to see if you can hide the top frame. 3) You could also try thickening the roof over the entry porch area to cover the frame. 4) You could delete the railing and keep the roof and build the post and supports manually. 5) Or create a flat ceiling plane to place under the roof area to cover the showing frame. 6) A combination of those methods mentioned above until it looks right. 7) Wait for a current Chief Master to provide you with a suggestion. Have fun troubleshooting !

You would certainly think so ? Will Chief X15 build a truss like that above automatically or would it need to be manually created first ?