elgreco

It looks like a very good spec. As for the graphics card... the 4090 is superior to the 4060 by a a huge margin but the question remains... will you need the extra power regardless of the cost? do you do a lot of real time rendering? Personally I would stick with the 4060 but increase the RAM to 32GB. Also check to see what ports are available on the 4060 for additional external monitors Elgreco

Thank you all. I appreciate your help. I'll give your suggestions a go and see which works best. Regards George

Thanks guys. I appreciate the quick response. It seems this is yet another example of a variation in design practices and terminology around the world. Understandably, Chief implemented the definition most relevant to the low hanging fruit, ie. the North American market. The UK definition of a two way switch differs from that in the US. I think it's time Chief introduced a 'localisation module' to cater for these regional variations. Unless I can find a workaround, (all suggestions welcomed) I will have to add a note in the schedule: eg." A Three-way switch means it's a two-way and a four-way switch is in fact a three-way. Any unintentional references to a two-way switch in the schedule should be read as one-way and in no way should it be read as any other way." That ought to clarify things perfectly ... Joking aside, can I modify Chief's default symbol for a three way switch $3 to be $2 ? Regards George

Hi All Don't know if I am missing something vital here but why is it that when I connect a second light switch to a lighting circuit it shows up as a Three Way switch. Logic suggests that if I can switch a light from one of two locations it should be marked as a two way switch. Thanks for your help Elgreco

My suggestion is to use progeCAD (Autocad alternative, from progeSOFT) which can import a .rvt file and then export it as a 3D symbol (DXF, 3ds, STL) etc which can be read by Chief. progeCAD can be downloaded as a full functioning trial for 30 days but it is very affordable to buy in any case and a good tool to have in your CAD arsenal even if you no longer use AutoCAD. I hope it helps

Hi all IT'S TIME WE ALL MET! (In the virtual sense at least). With all of the distractions of Covid out of the way (who am I kidding!), it's time we got together over Zoom to discuss ... Chief Architect. Not sure if we can set it up before Christmas so best if we aim for early in the New Year. I set up an email address for the User Group, for general communications and I invite all those interested (UK, Ireland, EU ) to email me on: ChiefUKUG@gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you all and sharing ideas, suggestions, tips and experiences around Chief products etc. Regards George

I too made the switch from HDPro to CA Premier a couple of years ago. I have a current SSA (barely affordable as it stands) and I hope I will continue to receive new perpetual licence versions of the software (as long as I continue to have a current SSA). Having evaluated Revit and ArchiCAD for 18 months I chose to remain with CA software mainly because of their perpetual licence model. For the same reason I also switched from AutoCAD LT to progeCAD. At the proposed subscription pricing, new licences for X?? will not be competitively priced and potential new users will surely look at alternatives. I would urge CA to maintain a flexible subscription model (ala ArchiCAD ?). A rigid subscription price that does not reflect the intensity of use (of the software) eg. 3 hours a day or 14 hrs a day, cannot always be justified. Simon, if you like, go to the UK User Group page and leave your details. We will shortly be starting Zoom calls to link up with all UK and Ireland CA users.

Hi Elliot First ensure all layout elevation views are created as Plot lines. (Note: Plan views are created as Plot Lines anyway). You can export a whole Layout sheet to AutoCAD but each view will be exported at the scale set in the layout page. For the structural engineer to be able to use the elevation data, such as measure heights, window dimensions etc, he will need to scale up the elevation views by the relevant amount. EG. if a view was created in layout at 1:100 scale that view will need to be scaled up in AutoCAD by a factor of 100 in order to become 1:1 in model space. It's always a good idea to have an AutoCAD compatible package available to test the exported file before sending to the engineer. I highly recommend progeCAD which is highly compatible with AutoCAD at a fraction of the cost ($300?). Regards Elgreco

Hi beeja1 It took a while but I got to the bottom of this one with help from support. If you 'Export as DWG' CA will export line data. Plan views are exported as Plot Lines. Camera views (eg elevations and sections) do not contain line data. So when you 'Send to Layout' choose Plot Lines and those views will appear on a DWG or DXF export. I assume you are using Premier. Regards Elgreco

Hi all First my apologies to those of you who have received my invitation to join the group even though you are not based on this side of the pond! It was due to a mix up with my list of names. Of course, anyone is welcome to join. So far I have received expressions of interest from: Mukesh Sydney23 Philhurdwell TheKitchenAbode Rickwoodie Missmatch Aladinsaneuk PhilHerlihy Microblackcat (possibly) Many thanks to all of you who responded. I will wait a few more days for further responses and then contact everyone to arrange a Zoom call to start the Group. Regards Elgreco (George)

Likewise, I am trying to wean myself off AutoCAD but there are some things Chief cannot do (at least not do well enough). Most of my projects have at least one full page of text (A2 or A1). You can cut and paste text from AutoCAD into Chief but you should use the paste special option in Chief (Alt+SHIFT+V) topaste into Chief. The text window can then be adjusted to suit but you may lose some formatting eg. Bold text becomes 'un-bolded'.

Hi Pat I too would welcome column text, especially the way AutoCAD does it. Basically you select the text you wish to reformat, specify how many columns you want and the text flows from one column to the next. If you make any edits, insertions or deletions, the text reflows into its assigned columns automatically. This feature is very important, especially if, like me, you handle a lot of text eg. construction or specification notes. It is a weakness of Chief. Maybe in a future release? We can live and hope.

goldadamgold, did you resolve this query or is it still pending? I had a similar issue recently and took it up with Tech Support and I may have the answer.

Hi Rickwookie How do you use Chief X12. In what context in your line of business?

Hi Rickwookie Thanks for responding to the invitation. ... and then there were three.! So far St Albans is the Centre of Gravity of the UK/EU user group. My claim to St Albans fame is having done a design job there some 5 years ago! Spread the word. Rgds George

Hi Graham Good to hear from you and lets spread the gospel. I know there are a few UK and EU users out there but letting them know about this Local User Group won't be easy. I came across Home Designer accidentally, some years ago and I was so impressed I bought it within a few weeks of seeing it. I used it primarily for conceptual designs and relied on AutoCAD for final drawings. I am hoping , with Chief X12 I can do everything in one package. Other than including a Metric Unit option, CA have shown little interest in developing markets outside the North American region. In that respect they are missing one hell of an opportunity. I even offered to take on the product as a UK reseller (I have a long history of IT Sales experience in technical software solutions), but CA's management declined the offer. Modelling some of the complex external architectural forms in the UK was always a challenge, even for AutoCAD/Revit/ArchiCAD. But I agree with you that with a little effort, and some help from Sketchup imports, many of the limitations can be addressed. CA is principally a single building product and it is difficult to apply global changes to one building when there are other building in the design (eg adding a new floor to one but not the others). Perhaps CA can assist us in tailoring the product for local needs. We could also approach local kitchen, door and window manufacturer's for help in adding their products to the libraries. IMHO, I feel that CA X12 can address most, if not all, of the needs of 80% of the small design practices out there. Keep in touch and let's grow the group. Regards George

I have been using Home Designer Pro for some 12 years (now upto HDP 21). I recently upgraded to Chief X12 and I am looking to set up a UK and EU user group to include Chief X.. and HDP users. It would be useful to share ideas and tips on matters more relevant to UK and EU design practices. If you are interested in joining please reply to my post. Regards George Woking, Surrey, UK