mthd97

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 ?

Hi there, might be best to start a new thread question. Ceiling planes work in X14 and way back. Tray ceilings will also work in X14. Try a nested tray ceiling for the flat outer edge and maybe raked ceiling planes for the inner part. Search for videos on CA nested tray ceilings.

@MN_JohnH wrote “l have had problems with squirrels chewing through the ez screen plastic windows” We use Aluminum in my region and we don’t have squirrels lol. I couldn’t stop laughing when picturing nutty squirrels chewing the window frame. I wonder if the beavers up your way chew the timber window frames as well ? Call in the animal catchers and bag those critters. Sounds like you need more control in your DBX to inset or offset your window frames in CA ? Someone could make another suggestion about this.

I see you have X14, see my reply to Chrisb222 on other possible solutions. There are lots of ways to make this look correct in 3D as other CA users can show you. Have fun trying the different methods.

Hi, are you able turn off the beam display and have the posts go the full height? Otherwise it might be better to just place 3D posts and make a polyline solid or a soffit for the flat ceiling plane. Then use slabs for the steps.

Hi, you can use a railing to define your front entry porch room and to display your posts. That might fix your ceiling as well.

Yes all good now ! I saved the referenced plan files from off my USB to the file location on my PC. Thanks.

After searching for information, I found your reply and I might need to use your suggestion on how to link an old layout to a plan and save them. I asked the question on the 11th of Dec 2023. Thanks.

I will need to create a new layout set anyway but I was just hoping to find a way to quickly reference the layout in the newer version of CA. Thanks.

No I just saved it in the same location as the new plan file. I will have a look and see how I can link them together. Thanks.

Hi, I was following the instructions on the CA help website about opening older files Via CAX8 and saving them as X8 files. I was able to open a legacy V9.5 layout file but after saving it as an X8 layout file, it wouldn’t display the layout any longer. I still have my old layout file to view but it looks like I cannot edit it to save it in X8. I also have the old plan file that does save in X8 and can be worked on in X10. I just need to create a new layouts for it and take it from there by the looks ? Anybody else had a similar issue with much older legacy files ?

As you may know the process is usually done by sending a 3D structural model to another app that does the calculations after importing the 3D file from the CAD app. I have asked for a 3D file export system from CA to other apps in the past and they are not available at this stage. As you know most engineers do the work on the 3D model and then provide the calculations. You can send 2D DWG files from CA to another app but that’s about it for now. Lots of us use timber span tables and other apps to do the calculations for us. There are some here using CA and Ruby script but I am not sure if anyone is actually using it for engineering calculations.

Thanks, that did the trick. As simple as that lol !

Thanks, I was able to see the signatures for a little while on my mobile device but recently they disappeared. I will try with another device to see if they show up. Edit: I can see them with Windows Surface Pro.

Hi, I have my settings to see others signatures alongside their content but they are not showing on my device. I have an apple iPad mini 6 why will they not show ?

It certainly would be nice if we had a custom wall profile to create log homes in CA ? I like Glenn’s method. I found this topic very interesting and had a quick search online and found out that SoftPlan has an interface for log wall homes. If I was building or designing lots of these homes I would give SP a trial despite just for that purpose. Please see this video. https://youtu.be/cMJRzoWQsGM?si=6cXpz_9lWOZIFELX PS. I don’t use SP but CA because I don’t do log homes. Edit: If I wasn’t concerned about having the log wall corners extending out. I would use Tim Shrocks method for Chief Architect but have the texture going horizontal not vertical as his excellent demonstration shows. https://youtu.be/f1iLmqWi2Es?si=SGeG-pTAm6BNdJf2

Hi Mark, I think you are doing ok while you learn how to model accurately in CA. As Eric already pointed out, you need to have all your walls connected correctly along with your roof planes. The room definitions will only work when walls are connected properly and you may have to use some invisible walls to create room definitions. With Chief you have to think in cubes that define rooms and how they stack up on each other. And then also with the help of S Nestor you should be able to produce a more accurate Chief house model from now on. Even the more complex designs like yours. The more you work with CA the more you learn the tricks of the 3D CAD house model trade. All good fun learning.