mthd97

End of life Chief Architect being upgradeable will happen on Jan 10 2023 for those who choose to not upgrade before that date. (That’s very clear to all of us) End of life CA being upgradable ends when SSA lapses or when the current users are retired and no longer spend money on SSA. (As I understand is the case right now or will that eventually change ?) Eventually we owners of a copy of CA whatever version it is will pass away. Can we pass on a workable copy of CA to our children ? (Probably Not ?) I don’t use Revit and never have, except as a demo version many years ago. We can’t own a copy of that anymore and I am not sure what the policy was when moving to their recent, by subscriptions only policy ? Whatever the case Autodesk Revit is definitely in a different league to Chief Architect. Most of those users of CAD BIM software would consider CA as a mere toy or a bit like home designer is to premier. That analogy is not quite correct and I have put them right. Sure some of those CAD BIM software products are like a very expensive sports car but Chief Premier none the less is like a slightly older model but new corvette to me. This new subscription charging could put the development staff under tremendous pressure from their new customers and force Chief to grow more rapidly ? A bit like how the new corvettes now have a mid placed engine like many modern sports cars now have. I think that if CA wants to be a player in the big league that they will need to make some significant changes to accommodate 3D Open BIM model sharing with Revit and other big league players. I believe that if they do that then they will survive but if not they will diminish. Autodesk bought Revit in the early 2000’s. Who knows, they might even offer to buy CA in the future or at least make a bid for it ? Not ruling out any other CAD software conglomerates from looking at CA either ? This would be a good thing for CA and I would not regret getting back on board with SSA. Especially if they were adopting IFC 3D model sharing capabilities or some other method of doing so ? That’s how the real world of AEC Open BIM is operating now. I think that will not happen with a predominately residential product that only does 2D DWG open BIM sharing ? Who knows, I could be wrong but it’s very interesting to see what will happen to CA in the near future ? I have enjoyed using Chief Architect for a long time. Although I have had to sometimes fight the program in past in order to get it to do what I wanted but not so much anymore because of how it has developed recently. I hope Chief Architect graduates successfully into the big league because if it does, it will be good for any CAD full 3D BIM users out there.

Dear Chief Architect and personnel. We don’t exactly know how you arrived at this huge landmark decision but it’s very good for those who can afford to keep up to date with SSA. And very bad for those who can’t and cannot afford a big upgrade or get back on board with Chief. I personally don’t like that type of direction that Autodesk have taken with their products. We will find out the results in time if that was a good decision or not ? I definitely do not think that is the correct way to ensure the future longevity of Chief Architect and your ongoing ability to attract new customers ? Just my opinion. I think you could all carefully reconsider what you are proposing to do in early January. I am not in a position to evaluate your main competitors products and how good they are in comparison to Chief Architect ? I am retired now so it doesn’t really affect me that much in that it is good we can still have perpetual licensing for older legacy versions if we happen to own one or more. I believe you could lose many potential customers to Revit and your other competitors with a decision like this ? Because you will lose the initial chance to get people started with Chief Architect by offering perpetual licensing. Just my opinion again. I don’t know if Chief Interiors will become your main gateway to Chief Premier or whether that new licensing policy will apply to that product as well ? I am sure you have carefully evaluated your decision and please be aware that I have the right not to like the dispensing of perpetual licensing from any CAD software company. My drafting machine is mine and I own it because I paid for it and invested in its up keep. If the person who sold it to me told me they wanted it back ? I wouldn’t feel very good about that. But you are allowing us to keep what we paid for so that’s fair as well as allowing others to get back on board if they wish to do so within the allotted time. Sorry but I can’t afford to get back on board with any CAD company at present especially with a big yearly fee. I hope I am wrong and the decision will not diminish potential new users who will take on Chief Architect in the future. We users don’t know what’s going on with the company and ownership etc and it’s not our business to know but using Chief Architect for our business is. It would be good to know what you are doing with X15 before the deadline. Perhaps you could private email us expired users in advance so we don’t miss out on owning the newer version of CA ? I would be interested in upgrading CA if it became IFC 3D compliant in X15. Illustration: I own a mustang and want to upgrade to the newest model but I am told I can buy it anymore. I can only rent one for a year. The only person who can buy one is the person who has upgraded all the previous models ? I can’t help but feel let down by the decision above. Still all the best for the future direction of Chief Architect Premier.

Thanks, I can clearly see the discrepancies.

My device had trouble downloading those attachments GD ? a PDF is usually good for most. Yeah even down under we understand the “B” word for that type of roof or valley. The carpenters usually say “That’s because it’s a B to build” lol. I your case it’s a “B” to change the fascia alignment etc. Hope they fix it up for you.

Just a quick troubleshooting question, has the birds mouth height changed on the lower pitched roof segment or is it the same ? I am guessing that you have already taken a cross section camera of each pitch type and zoomed into the connection point to see if anything might be going wrong ?

Cool ! You could send me a private message to show what other CAD you would prefer to use as the simplest method to achieve an automatic extrusion along a double curved path ? I watched a few videos on Sketchup about curved modelling but the GUI just confused me. I have clearly highlighted on the Archicad forum the benefits of using Chief Architect because it does a great job of many things that Archicad can’t do as well as Chief can just yet. I kid you not but I was able to model up a bullnose verandah like the one in this picture below in CAV6.0. I did it with attaching a custom curved molding profile to a tiny width but long countertop segment. This is what we do in that part of Australia. That’s why I many others kept on using CA.

Yes he had to be very patient to bend them along the nodes in both planes. I gave up once I couldn’t get them to bend in the second plane. You got some very good methods outlined above.

Very nice work Robert ! It was hard for me to get these curved arch window casings to look smoothe in 3D.

Awesome RR ! How did you get your casing to sit outside your building like that ?

Absolutely awesome Yusuf ! That took allot of skill and patience to achieve what you did above in X9. The very close following of those node points in both planes was what allowed the bending of the 3D polyline by the looks ? I would not have been able to work that out without your help. No doubt you would also be able to put a molding on top of a 3D solid using the same method as here. To save us time and much hard work it would be very good if CA allowed us to automatically put a molding on a selected double curved edge. I have been asking them to do that with the backsplash edges. Well done !

Awesome ! Well done Yusuf we all knew you are a Chief Master. It looks like you used polyline solids to achieve these results ? I did try to use a polyline and to convert into a molding when placed on a wall but I could only get it to bend one way. It would not wrap around the wall like a backsplash did. So how did you actually go about shaping your molding profile out of another polyline solid right inside a double curved arch ? I can see your boolean operations from your pictures above but how you actually shaped the edge of it, has go me baffled ?

Hi, If anybody is interested, I asked this same question above in the Archicad forum to see how they would solve it over there. This is a video from a lecturer of Archicad in Europe who solves it in that application. I would like to throw down a challenge to anyone who is a Chief Architect Master to make a video on how they would create a similar molding in Chief Architect so we can all benefit from it. If it’s not quite possible right now it would be great if we could do it in a future version of Chief ? I tried it in Chief X10 but I only got as far as RR and I posted his video over at the Archicad talk forum so others could see Chief in action. If you are a one eyed Chief supporter then please don’t hit the negative button just come up with a solution, if you can’t then just see if any Chief Master here can. You can use any other CAD application if you wish including Sketchup as we can import from that application. Enjoy and have fun ! Edit: This is as far as I got in CAX10, please see the picture below of a backsplash on a backsplash. If we could somehow edit a rectangular profile and turn it into a molding and then if could automatically extrude on the path of the edge or something like that ? Then this proposed method would be possible in CA. CAX10 CM.pdf

Yes, some good tips I picked up from that video above is to use an electronic level to get your roof pitch. I can use my finger to draw walls in CA on my tablet and I have a harness to be able to carry it around with me. It would be nice if we had a rectangular mode to draw walls with in CA. Please watch this video below from about 4 minutes in, to see what I mean. This is Vectorworks Architect and I personally don’t have that application but I like how it draws walls in rectangular mode. This method would help greatly for doing as built surveys as well if we could have this method working in CA. Notice how it ignores any overlapping walls that are affected when drawing a rectangle in a corner or right next to other walls. Pretty neat ! We have space planner rectangles but we need to be able to control the wall thickness on as built because they will vary quite a bit.

I tried for an hour to get the gable parapet walls to produce correctly and I tried a couple of methods but the walls did not model correctly just yet. First I peeled back the gable roof and the automatic gable end wall in the attic space disappeared. I then extended the bottom ground floor wall up into the attic space and then tried to break the top of the wall but my break tool wouldn’t show up on the screen. So I abandoned that method and I drew a wall in the attic space and I was able to break it and shape it into a triangle but the wall didn’t look right in its connecting to the bottom wall. I could not get the wall capping to work on that attic wall because it was greyed out and not available for that wall type. I think I will take a close look at that entertaining video made by DS Hall and see if I can’t get it to work. I will post his video method below for those who might be interested in his fine method ? https://youtu.be/W13WXMGjMys My results. Wow ! I even got bonus edge routing on the inner side of my gable wall, please see the first picture below. I will have to use a molding polyline to get capping and other treatments. I could use roof planes to cap the wall ? Gable Prapet Routed edges.pdf Gable Prapet other side.pdf I am not sure what caused the routing of the gable wall on the inside face at the ends ? Is it the gable roof base lines or is it something else ? Edit: Routing on the edges are from the gable wall being checked as attic wall. When unchecked it disappears but I had to lengthen the wall on each end by approximately 4 inches. Please see 3rd picture below. Gable Prapet not routed edges.pdf

I can also do basic levels with my version of the Leica Disto on a tripod. Laser level is preferred for a more sloping site. Yes definitely more work needs to be done with the space planning tools to be able to use them easily for an “as built survey” that is definitely the way to go. I hope some makes a suggestion about this ?

I never thought of doing it like that but it makes sense to use the space planning tools for each room because they remain static until you build the house model. The problem is when you get odd shape rooms. So the space planner has to become more developed for that method to work properly. Sadly Room Planner was discontinued mid 2019. Shame it could have been developed further into an as built app for Chief Architect users or as an add on ?

Yes, I will definitely give your suggestions a try with X10 and see what I can actually produce ? No I wouldn’t teach you Chief Masters anything as I am still back at X10 but I am surprised at how more flexible Chief has become.

Yes that’s what I am talking about, a rendered smooth surface . I have also seen S Nestor’s excellent video that he did on creating what some call a “federal gable” end building. He used roof planes as a capping and changed the material into concrete with the spray can icon. Will an actual wall capping profile work on top of a sloping wall instead of a roof plane ? Has anyone managed to add other decorative treatments to the edges and faces of these high gable ends and pediments ? Yes a flashing is important and it appears that using a roof plane to cap the ends can produce that result ? In this excellent official video, Scott demonstrates a flat roof parapet and he caps these level walls with a profile. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/1530/drawing-parapet-walls-with-a-flat-roof.html?playlist=95 Will this work on a triangular sloping wall and is there another way to add flashing where the roof buts up to the gable end without using roof planes ?

Hi, I am curious to know how some CA power users go about creating gable end pediments or parapet walls and then cap or decorate them with various treatments ? Is there a fast and efficient way to do them ? I have seen an official Chief Architect webinar that shows a method about half way through but they don’t exactly explain how they created the triangular wall tops that go higher than the roof. Did they create attic walls and then edit them in a cross section view or did they use a different method ? What method to do find is best for you ?

It wouldn’t take much to ask for locking of the walls and other onsite friendly methods to get Chief Architect to do an onsite as built survey. Maybe they could develop an app specific for that purpose and with finger input along with input from a BT measuring device ? They could also use the old room planner app and improve it to become the room planner as built app ? That way we can directly export to CA. An as built app by CA is really a no brainer for them and us.

If it’s possible to have an on-site human assistant, then you can’t beat that. What even happened to days when we had someone to hold the other end of the tape measure lol ?

A cool way to cap your end gable/pediment or parapet walls with roof planes converted into concrete. Another way to do end gable parapet walls, is in this excellent video by DS Hall. How to do a flat roof parapet wall and cap the wall top. See this excellent offical Chief Architect video below. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/1530/drawing-parapet-walls-with-a-flat-roof.html?playlist=95 And finally another excellent method, please see this official Chief Architect webinar. These have been posted here to help anyone who searches parapet gable end walls in Chief Architect and how to do them. Thank you to all who made these excellent videos above as they greatly help all of us Chief Architect users.

Hi, lots of good methods above and it’s whatever will work for you on site. Me, I have used a Leica Disto measuring device and a pen input windows tablet running Chief Architect. If I was doing an as built now, I would probably take my Microsoft Surface Pro and use my fingers to input dimensions with Chief Architect and hope for the best lol ! I can run CA on my MS tablet now and just use my fingers for basic drawing functions but I would take my mouse on site just to make sure. You can usually find a table on site somewhere ? If not just take a fold out table with you and pretend that you are working lol. I have had this app below on an android device before but I haven’t confirmed if I can export to Chief as a dwg just yet.

Hi RR, great method, can we then also attach a custom molding profile to the top edge of the custom backsplash you created here ? Will this method below work to complete the Job for the person above, as I only have up to X10 ? Edit: I did my own test in X10 with the backsplash tool and it worked for that part like the video RR created here. I tried drawing a 2D polyline to follow the outer edge of the curved backsplash. Then I converted the polyline to a 3D molding polyline but it would not bend in the same planes as the backsplash did. It would be very nice if we could attach a molding to any edge on a backsplash like we can with countertops. That would solve this problem once and for all and give us even more flexibility right inside Chief Architect. We can definitely model that house above in Chief Architect and even curve the walls but if we want custom moldings that bend in two planes at once that are not attached to a window frame then that’s not quite possible just yet. I was able to test a palladium custom arch top window in a curved wall and used a custom molding profile and it worked just fine. The molding followed the outer edge of the window frame and went around the double arches as well. If someone can create a custom molding profile on top of a curved arched pediment with the symbol wizard as requested above, then please post your video here. I personally don’t think it’s quite possible just yet right inside CA ?

I am following this post closely to see what solutions are available. It’s amazing to see how many options there are to solving this problem. Some here might model it up in sketchup and import it into to Chief. Please see an example below of importing into CA. BTW I don’t know who made this video but the introduction muppet song is still funny lol. There might still be an easier way right inside Chief ? Edit 1: In Chief Architect, can we create another curved backsplash like above, that is the same size as the molding width, then attach a custom molding profile to it ? Or can we instead extrude a custom molding along the top edge of the original backsplash ? Or could we put an arch with a molding profile on it around a curved wall. Then you would also need two flat curved moldings on each end to join the curved arch. Both joins would need to be invisible as well. I’m not sure what is actually possible in Chief Architect or X14 ? Thanks for the help to all those above.