Designer1

Thanks for the reply Eric. Glad its still available!

In chief versions past you were able to select full or floor camera but with X11 I only see Full Camera option. When I go into camera defaults I do see floor camera. So why does it not show as an option anymore on the camera toolbar? Sometimes I miss having the camera just render the kitchen vs the entire house like the full camera does because it takes longer if its a big complex plan. Thanks!

Thanks Mark! Ill go ahead and add a layer and give that a try.

Hahaha! Im laughing at my original post and the comments. Yeah I can see how this is funny... I was in a hurry and didnt explain the question enough. Yeah there are no railings or inside walls used its foundation walls and all the appropriate stuff but I was just trying to use the best materials for the rendering. I know its a bit harder to apply texture to foundation walls then regular ones for renderings. How do you guys add textures to the foundation walls just add layer for stone? By the way... thanks everyone for your help and recommendations! These designs were just concepts for high density luxury so nothing planned at this point just ideas. The subterranean driveway has no corners to turn other then to get into the garage. Looking at my first picture I posted it looks like its a single car garage door but its a full size door easier for entry/exit.

Thanks Glen Ill read about the different file types.

If I use half walls, which was my preference because I can have a top cap to the wall and have it look finished, when I raise it beyond the plate height of the lower level it leaves a floor space between it and wont stay continuous to the next floor. If I use a regular wall type, like shown here in the picture theres a lot more steps to make sure the left and right walls at the curb and street are both the same height. Nice thing about the regular wall type is it doesnt have the gap for the floor space like the half wall does. Clearly pros and cons for both wall tool. I like that the half walls and railings you can select each wall and adjust height and also choose a wall cap for the top for a finished look. Any suggestions on best chief wall tool to use for this instance? Thanks in advance!

Thanks David... your answering all my posts today! Yeah this has never happened to me on this scale. Ive once before had a small object off from the house maybe 300' but it was not a big deal to see the house. This situation just as I was about to call it a day, I scrolled out so far on the screen a tip of a ballpoint pen would be larger then the house and it was way off in the far corner of the computer screen. I was so happy to find it! I have no idea how that got so so far out there as I would have to scroll out that far to the point I couldnt even see the plan. Either way it doesnt matter Im just happy I found it, deleted it and now it works!! Thanks again for all your advice and help!

Thanks so much for that David. Yes you have been on Chief a lot longer then I have. I started with version 9. Ok I will try this method out, it has got to be better then what im experiencing right now. Its so frustrating to show some of the prior chief designs only to have half the design ruined because you only see color not textures. Then to go hunt for textures that are similar to the product that was no longer available is time consuming and frustrating. By chance when you save "back up entire plan" does that save within the chief file or somewhere else? Im just wondering if it makes the chief files excessively large if I was to do that for all my current and future plans?

Ive never had this happen in Chief before. In full camera the house appears, in full perspective overview its only the backdrop??!! Is there a button on some dbx that I selected to have it disappear?? Since 2003 using Chief Ive never seen this before. If its not a simple fix Im going to go ahead and use the full camera because Im in a time crunch and cant spend the time diagnosing it but wanted to ask if anyone has had this happen before. Thanks!

A frustrating thing Im coming across when dealing with old plans is when I open them up and find that chiefs libraries have been updated since the plans completion. Then when you go inside to view the plan half the textures are missing and its just appearing as paint colors. Is there a way that once Im completed with a plan to package it so that every texture used in the plan remains with the plan? That way in a year if I go back into the plan it doesnt look crazy and barren with no textures anywhere? I know we can export plans etc but Im just looking for once Im completed with a plan it takes all used chief textures and keeps them in the plan regardless of chiefs updating libraries. Hopefully theres a way! Thank you!

Great thanks Michael... I will check it out when he sends me the files next week. This will be my first Autocad to Chief transition so well see how that goes. Next... Ive got to convince him to dump autocad and update his Chief license so we can keep any future projects more simple...haha j/k.

Mark, thanks so much for the information. Good to know!

I saw this cool neighborhood in the bay area that featured really cool and unusual 50s and 60s homes. The roofs were low to no pitch and on all corners of the homes roof were rounded. Now whenever I see something unusual like that I stop and think... Can you design that in Chief Architect?? I found this picture of the neighborhood online to just show what kind of roof I was talking about. So my question.... can you build this house roof style with automatic roofs?

Not to derail the world travels and cruises stories... I thoroughly enjoyed them! Just wanted to let everyone know my friend got back to me and does have Chief Architect but its an older version. The plans were created in Autocad completely so Im not sure how this adventure from Autocad plans to Chief is going to be but worth the learning I suppose. Just wanted to get back with everyone on this. I just wish the plans were done on an earlier chief version at least that would have been useful. Oh well off I go on this cad adventure next week.

Hi Lew, I totally understood what your saying and agree... we all need to pay our bills. I wasnt suggesting we all should do everything or nothing for free just talking about my situation. When I mentioned being inspired by the medical field around the world I wasnt suggesting anything other then I hope something good comes out of this corona situation. No matter what peoples field of work or interest is to just be inspired by the goodness of humankind we see going on around the world at this time. So no misunderstanding, I understood what you were saying completely. :)

Thanks Mike. Im hoping the good thing that could come out of this corona virus situation (not anything good about it at all) is that it will empower people around the world to do more good. I think after the world has seen the medical community of Drs, nurses and others risk their own lives to save others makes us all kind of think how can I improve peoples lives around me. I thought I might not be a Dr or nurse and might just be a designer but Id like to try improve someone elses day or life even if just a little. Hopefully increase the goodness on the planet little by little if everyone does a bit. Just my two cents on that.

I agree Lew. Its just this is a great friend who has given so much to me for free that I dont want to be some cheap friend that nickels and dimes when he has done so much for me over the years. Sometimes just being a friend willing to help out when someone needs it is enough payment for me.:)

Great! Thanks Michael for the recommendations I appreciate it!

Hey Michael! Im not sure exactly what files he has as he only texted me yesterday that he wanted to hire me to do the interior design, landscape and renderings, thats when I had told him id at least do one for free if it worked out. He has literally given me all his published coffee table books to me for free over the last 15 years that hes published so I just wanted to help him out. I remember him mentioning at one point they had chief but believe they switched back to autocad. So as far as what the program is that he used for the plans im not sure. He was going to send those to me this week by drop box. Im crossing my fingers he has chief but Im doubtful its most likely acad. So not sure about file type. By the way, speaking about drop box... is that what most of you use for sending larger design files over to people long distances? Ive never used that before and wondered how popular that is and if it was the preferred way to go.

I agree 100%. I will wait to hear from him next week and see what he says hed like to do. Yeah his homes are very large custom homes for celebrities etc so were not talking about some small 2000 sq ft home either...thats why Im not feeling overly confident in this translation from autocad to chief because ive never done it before. Yes, id be up for some learning experience on it though. Were close friends so I dont feel like id be judged on it, rather hes my friend for over 15 years outside of design work. So your right probably the right experience to try this out for future opportunities that might not include a close and forgiving friend haha.

I think id not only have to trace the house but redo the entire thing because he wants exterior and interior renderings. So cabinets, windows doors etc. Maybe its not as big of a deal as Im thinking it was going to be. I was going to do the job for free as he has given me all his coffee table architecture books hes designed for free. Im just not sure I will be able to get it all done in a reasonable amount of time for what hes looking for. I think he thought it was going to be a quick send over, do some quick renderings and send it back. It sounds from the descriptions that its a lot more involved then that.

Thanks for all the information. Ugh sounds like it wont be worth the time for the job nor will it be worth it for him. I guess I can hold onto hope that maybe he went back and decided to keep Chief...that would be great. I dont know why anyone even works on autocad for architecture...even Revit is better then that. Oh well, thanks for the replies, I appreciate it!

Does anyone have any experience translating Autocad files to Chief? I know chief has the ability but wasnt sure how great the process is. Ive heard for working drawings its ok but wasnt sure about 3d renderings, interior design stuff and landscaping. I have a friend thats a well known world wide designer who asked me if I could do some interiors, renderings and landscaping for some of his designs. His office use to have Chief but the employees complained it was too difficult to learn something new so they kept autocad and dumped Chief.... So im wondering how realistic this is going to be for me to even take this job. Am I going to have to redraw his entire plans to get it to look decent? It might not be worth it. Let me know if anyone has any experience with this Acad to chief translation. Thanks!

Nice Mick thanks for the recommendations!

Thanks everybody! In the past I always wanted the latest and would spend $3-5,000. They would last a long time but now feel having brand new but perhaps older chips and spending less is a better value. I dont need the latest but feel the 2060 chip seems better then what I have now. Have any of you heard any issues with the intel 7 or Nvidia gtx 2060 cards having issues running chief? Plus the other thing I dont like having the latest components as I did that several times and then when bugs arise given they are newest your stuck until updates or fixes. I prefer to get the old tried and true Toyota type chips that you know work well with reliability and no issues. Thanks for all your input and help!