mthd97

Hi, I am wondering if there is an aluminium frame window catalog in Chief Architect from a USA manufacturer that could be used to represent our windows in Australia ? Going back a very long time, someone did have a window library for Australia as an add on purchase. Around V10 I think ?

Yes when it’s all standard there usually is no issue just that we would like to know what the manufactures standard heel height is. My recent case was with a job that has a parapet joining two duplexes side by side and two box gutters either side of the parapet. I needed my box gutters to be set down in order to get enough depth for them. I needed to increase the width of the top chord from 4 inches to 5 approximately. So special cases like this and also having a truss up-stand height as shown in the diagrams above by other users do come up. Sometimes the truss needs to be cantilevered so other special cases also come up and even if we don’t have the webbing specifically correct the truss designer will get that correct with his program for us. So good cross sections and details are a must for good communication with the truss builders.

It was clear to me that in X15 we need to specify the truss heel height. Just make sure our truss manufacturer reads our cross section or in this case provide a detail of the heel height. As long as we have it set to a default value in our template, I don’t see it as a problem. Having designed Trusses in the late 80’s with Bostich Software the truss design program will also have a default value for the heel height when it prints out the cutting list. It’s always good to coordinate with your truss supplier to see what their program default heel height value is set at. When you have special case Trusses, just provide specific details and drawings so they build them correctly for you.

Are you wanting to rotate your cross section camera on the horizontal plane of the floor plan ? Yes it can. Or are you asking if you can rotate the cross section view after it has been created in the vertical plane ? Yes via view to CAD then rotate.

Nice demonstration on how to make flush mounted down lights on the rake. Thanks Eric.

Cool ! Tips n Tricks Rabs.

Probably not ! No ridge capping. No flashings even though we don’t do them automatically just yet. Chief will usually add more detail. Anyway nice little farm house 3D render presentation.

The last truss should be a truss with angled webbing and plates but I see this type of end roofing quite a bit. As long as the engineer can prove that it can carry the loads with vertical supports and hopefully nailing plates then it should work in theory ?

I think I first saw the term ‘Outrigger’ in the Bostich training manual on trusses. It really doesn’t matter what you call them as long as they are counted in the quantities and shown on the plan. Regardless if you have to adjust them manually or not after they are automatically produced in CA. Have Fun !

Outriggers ! Where I come from, that’s something to lookout for in CA. The outlook looks good for Outriggers around the world. Whatever floats your boat !

In practice if there is no protruding footing to build the new part of the wall on. Then you simply create a footing designed by an engineer that butts up against the edge of the existing slab or footing that will be doweled into with rods that are drilled and usually glued in. There are many ways to do this with Chief, a pony wall with a footing underneath will work. You will figure it out. Edit: Building regulations vary in different parts of the world so it’s good to consult what is an acceptable method of construction in your area.

Hi, the general principle in drawing automatic roof planes in CA is to set the roof perimeter with walls underneath first, even if you have to delete some of those walls afterwards that’s cool. You can open the wall dialogue box with a double click on the wall and choose if the wall underneath is going build as full gable roof or as a hip in the default instance. That should get you started and you can always edit roof planes after that if need be.

That’s a good idea for a “Window Wall” tool that can slope. I am not a code writer and I haven’t carried out any lengthy experiments in CA like many of you have been able to do. I am wondering if a modified roof tool could be made fit for a slanting wall application ? After all you can place skylights and dormers into roof planes which are of course openings. It’s certainly would not be impossible for software engineers to accomplish.

My suggestion is that you could all ask for this feature in the suggestions part of the forum, if you do not want to do a complicated work around. Chief Architect has to grow somehow for the future so it might as well be “a slanted walls feature” and make your work much easier ? I have never needed to use slanted walls but commercial buildings use that allot these days for curtain walls. I think that Chief Architect may never have a slanted wall feature included in it because it is strictly for the low rise residential field. I hope I am wrong here ?

This is definitely where “AI” can come into effect and be useful. “VAS” Voice Activated Search. Talk to the program and let it automatically find the library part for you. The only problem with that, is that it will also pick up any cursing on the part of the frustrated user. The good side is that “AI” will also help us to keep our tongues in check lol.

The downvote can be counter productive. It can also give a way to discourage a sincere user of Chief Architect who might have an older version like me and need some help. I like it when a forum lets you know who liked or appreciated your help and or comments.

That’s hardly surprising because Chief Architect is very user friendly and it’s GUI is easy to follow and learn. Particularly how it is set out with it’s parent tool icons and it’s child tool icons. Once you know how they work you can get quickly up and running and designing with Chief in a short time frame.

Well done Glenn and not too messy either. You have lots of great tips & tricks to share with us to get Chief to behave correctly.

From 93 to 97 my Builder boss was not a fan of computers for quantity take off. I couldn’t convince him to get a CAD system in place back then. Coming into that Job above from a family owned lumber yard where we were from 1986 making prefabricated wall frames and trusses. Using the Bostich system from the USA with the old DOS system of numerical input. from 99 I decided to use CA for that purpose as I was on my own after 97. But because CA wasn’t developed enough back then I just used it draw my framing plans and took things off manually. Now if I was doing that sort of work I would be confident in using CA ML but I would still use basic checking methods to ensure the quantities are in the correct range. Those checking formulas could be placed in the excel spread sheet for comparison. With CA you can very quickly build a 3D model with framing that you can edit. When you are a building estimator you know what percentage to allow for each of the framing and other building elements. So a perfect 3D model is not essential when you are at the estimating stage. Many changes will occur along the way. I thoroughly recommend using CA for this purpose and as you become more skilled at using it to build a 3D model, you will become more accurate in your quantity take offs as well. When you are taking off concrete slabs and reinforcement you usually have to get that info from an engineer. For more accurate trusses and wall bracing and anchoring you would need to use a system and engineering application to finalize the process. Nothing is perfectly accurate in estimating to get the cost correct so that you do not loose money, that usually comes with much experience. Have fun !

Awesome !

Way to go ! Chopsaw, I have never heard of this technique before. Tearing off a strip or give it the “scourging” treatment. I would like to see it illustrated or a video on “Scourging a roof plane” cool !

I understand why now because the 3D navigation works better with a standard mouse. I tested it in X10 and X8 as well and it wasn’t that fluid. I think we need to find out how others here get it to work more smoothly like the person in the video above apparently does ?

When you install it, it gives you quick training exercises to learn how to navigate in 3D. The game is to move the tea pot. I got one this year and I absolutely love it. Yes it’s very sensitive but if you apply very light pressure on the direction you want to navigate in, it will work good for you. One hand on the conventional mouse and the other on the spacemouse when you need to navigate in 3D. To learn how to use it with CA, please see this video on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ChiefArchitect/videos/chief-architect-x8-3d-mouse-support/1343304632365452/

Oh yeah ! That too !

Yes I understand and with a laptop you don’t want a slow performance with work like that and sitting around waiting for your render to produce. I have moved over to a Mac Studio recently because I was fed up with the amount of house keeping time it took to maintain a windows PC. Even my Microsoft surface pro still takes up too much time keeping it up to date. I hope that Apple will produce a laptop specifically designed to handle real time RT renders better than it has up to now.