Richard_Morrison

If the ceiling plane doesn't show in the model, it is probably because the Ceiling Plane layer is turned off in that view. (Just because you have the layer turned on in the floor plan doesn't mean that it is turned on in the 3D view.)

Might want to include geographic location...

Some things to try: 1) Change upstairs rooms to "Bedroom" or something that has proper room definition. 2) Move No Locate invisible walls so they aren't aligned with face of wall. BTW, you are only moving the DISPLAY of the first floor roof up to the second floor; you are not really moving the roof itself. It doesn't get confused, and then you can adjust the dormer roofs to meet the main roof correctly. (See the automatic points being generated.) Your dormer roofs are a little shy of the main roof. You can move down afterwards, if you wish. I hope Wendy will chime in, because she's the Dean of Dormers, and I'm just mucking around.

Right now, the face walls think they are interior walls. If you add invisible room dividers horizontally across, say, at mid-cheek wall, the windows are much happier since they are now in an exterior wall. You may still have some issues with the roof plane, but it's a start. EDIT: You should consider moving the display of the lower roof up a story so that you can show the intersection of the dormer roofs correctly with the main roof.

You might take a look at a program like Accutrans 3D to significantly reduce the polygon count. http://www.micromouse.ca/index.html (Although this one, mentioned by Jon Caffee, looks pretty impressive. http://www.mootools.com/plugins/us/)

http://sarcasmsociety.com/15-people-who-proved-there-is-such-a-thing-as-a-stupid-question

Given that this is an incredibly complex, oftentimes unintuitive program, we all need a helping hand. Not just newbies -- even old-timers sometimes get a brain fart and struggle. However, I think that there are frequently times when people ask questions out of laziness rather than bewilderment. At a minimum, I believe, someone should have: 1) Watched the introductory videos. This forum is not intended to be a replacement for proper training, at least, in my opinion. Chief takes a significant effort just to get to newbie status. Downloading the trial version, mucking around a few minutes with it, and immediately asking "how do I get walls to line up with each other between floors" is just laziness, and you deserve any snide answers you get. (again, IMO.) 2) Pressed "F1" to see if the answer is there. Often, it is. 3) Made at least a half-hearted attempt to find the issue in prior threads. Most questions have already been addressed, and the answers often aren't that hard to find.

Gene, Why do you care and why are you making suggestions about the design? If you are the one building it, you may want to assure the constructibility for yourself, of course. I can't say this architect's roof design currently does much for me, but I don't know the whole story. Maybe there is a phase 2 with an interesting pergola that I don't know about, or maybe the owner has said to him, "do this as cheaply as possible." I personally don't mind suggestions from a contractor, and welcome them, as long as these are in private discussions with me only. If a contractor unilaterally started showing roof alternatives to my client, it would be the last project that I ever did with that contractor. (And I would probably alert my other architect colleagues, as well.) In the past, I have had many hours of work getting the client to a solution, often delicately balancing competing interests between the husband and the wife and the City, that has been unraveled by "helpful" suggestions from a contractor. I hope that isn't the situation here.

Your site plan shows several lots, and it's not clear which one is yours. May I suggest you look at www.undercoverarchitect.com? It has LOTS of tips about the process. I'm concerned that you are going to be spending a LOT of money, and you are getting off to a less-than-optimal start here.

While there may be a number of suggestions for how to get rid of the bowling alleys that you've got now, this is really the wrong way to start designing a house. You should start with the site. There is no indication of North, grade levels, views, prevailing winds, site access, nor any indication of how the basement rooms are going to get light, air, and exit paths. This all affects how the main living spaces should be arranged. Oh, and the building code might be a factor. We don't even know which building code is controlling.

Why not do a clean reinstall?

ArchiCAD always allows you to save one version back. So, if you download prior versions, you can get back any number of versions, but it's pretty tedious and you lose any intelligence from later versions, of course.

I'm trying to understand why not having a border is really an issue. I don't think I've ever seen borders used in dimensions, and I'm not sure why changing the fill color or transparency would be useful. I'm willing to be convinced, though. It just seems like a lot of hoopla for marginal benefits.

I would say that photorealistic quality means that you can't tell if you are looking at a photograph or a computer rendering. As adequate as Chief Architect's rendering capabilities are, I have yet to see to see a Chief rendering where I was scratching my head trying to figure out if it is a photograph or a computer model. Some in this gallery would qualify, though. https://artlantis.com/gallery/ Interestingly, Artlantis used to be commonly used by Chief Architect users, but haven't seen it brought up in years.

We don't have a border, but we DO have a fill option. However, it only exists in the Defaults. Go there and uncheck transparent.

The word is actually "ogee," in case you need to find it in a dictionary sometime.

Similar to "(c) 2017 David Skogg"

Well, I was going by the Reference Manual; see page 54. "Files that have been opened and saved in Chief Architect X9 cannot be read by any of the program versions listed above." and "Plans created in Chief Architect Versions 10 through X8 can be opened in the latest Home Designer programs for viewing and annotating, but not for general editing or drawing of architectural objects." However, I now see the "flag" for limited editing is still there, so I misinterpreted this very confusing section. (Sorry, Lew.) But I'm still sticking by my position that handing out an editable file is a bad idea from several standpoints.

Like Joe, I've been using Dropbox for years with no problem. I'm not sure that I would try it with any other program like OneDrive, though.

X8 was the last version to allow this. Saving in HD Pro format was eliminated in X9.

As Ken said, they can't open X9 files in HD Pro in any event, so you are probably off the hook. I would be VERY reluctant to share Chief files in any case, since then they can take these to someone else. (I have had clients try to do this to try to save money after I've given them a design. I generally don't provide drafting services for other designers; I am not very cost-effective as a mere drafting service and I certainly don't want the additional liability.) Unless you are already under contract to provide the files, this is part of your intellectual property capital and you shouldn't be giving it away, which you already understand.

If you have a good start on your remodeling plans, but really want to make your home "sing," I can help you get there. If you are unsure about the design direction after playing around with it for quite awhile, and need help getting your remodeling designed and built, I can help you get there. I am a licensed architect and interior designer with over 30 years of experience, and have dealt with most of the planning departments around here for many years. San Francisco Bay Area only. It will be a good fit if you understand your needs quite well, but recognize your design limitations and abilities, and are open to new ideas. I listen carefully, and probably will suggest alternate solutions that you may not have considered. It probably will NOT be a good fit if you "know exactly what you want," and just need someone to draw up the plans for permits. I also have design coaching services, if you only want some excellent design advice. www.richardmorrison.com

Well, prices have now gone up! (As well as the value. What is provided is now more extensive.)

This may have something to do with CAD Style Font Sizing being checked (or unchecked) in Rich Text. (On Options tab.)

I think you want Print>Drawing Sheet Setup. The drawing scale applies to individual CAD windows, so the labeling is a little confusing.