RL-inc

I would like to change the active layer and anno set at CA start up- any suggestion appreciated.

Not getting into specifics but I am dropping my rig off at my tech for some upgrades and a good once over ( been a bit sluggish and having to restart more often . after that my intent was to jump from X8 to X10. Any general suggestions on things to bring up to him to make the transition smoother and improve performance? ie- processors- memory , etc....

Agreed with Eric- This forum and it's contributors are a great resource but all of us put in a lot of time to learn this software. While we are all willing to help with certain topics of specific situations this is not an online classroom to teach CA. That is what the videos Eric and David are for. ( your question about the relationship of 1st floor and foundation is a good example of what they will teach you.)

If you have a solid knowledge of constitution and structural design CA is a great tool to generate your drawings and client presentations. Once you work your way through the training as mentioned above I think you will see that creating designs and CD's comes fairly smoothly. That said there is always more to learn no matter how long we have been at it

Agreed with Michael- Either no room def or have different wall types not closing the area.

Thanks much for the effort Mick but that's not it- Since preferences are program wide and not file specific the changes made are not affecting all of my plans- just the one in question. I have since copied the plan into a new X8 file and it is bumping properly. Side note - the plan that was causing the issue was bright forward from X4 and this may be a result of that.

Thanks for the info Gerry- kind of what I have been doing as far as locating in the 3d space- lot's of point to pint move and trans/replicate. I think I will keep a plan template with all of the molding sizes and profiles that I am using for this and copy paste onto new files as needed.

Follow up question- As I mentioned the new project we are working on is a bit more complex - mainly that there are more graduating pipe sizes as we move through the line. It would very beneficial if I could break a 3d molding poly that I am working on and edit it's size and the continue on with the line. Any suggestions appreciated.

Probably on me as usual but I am working with a new plan I just started from a template and none of the objects I am placing are stopping at walls as usual. Tried another new plan from template and that plan bumps into walls and stops as expected. Bumping and pushing is checked in preferences.

Btw. Doesn't really matter what the assumed elevation is.. In central Oregon we are at 3600 ft but surveyor generally assumes 100.00 as basis and we go from there.

Keep it as simple as possible. Create fresh plan Import only elevation data as such and property boundary as terrain perimeter. Make sure terrain is closed polyline Finish Create camera view and verify terrain is on. Done deal as far as I know....but that is a short trip

Jumping on that Richard said....does the zoning allow accessory units or duplexes? If this is truly on one lot there is not property line between the structures. If so there really isn't a distance to a property line to be considered for fire separation, just a fire fated assembly betwen units as in a condo plat .

Totally agree with Michael- I got started with CA 13+ years back for the same reasons- wanted to create clean efficient construction drawings of my designs. It took a fair amount of education and dedication to learn the proper layouts- details- notations - etc... But it was certainly worth while.

It is probably in your plan defaults for deck rooms- Default settings> Rooms> Deck Room Edit deck and deck support dialogs. Also fill out you signature as I and others have so we know what version you are using.

Much agreed An offer like that from an experienced vet in any trade is a great offer. Most of us paid the price of hard work and trial and error for our knowledge.

WOW .....framers nightmare

Sorry...sheathing

So you mean the wall something has to be notched around every truss tail?

None taken at all Chop You are correct -my mistake there.

What you are asking is a very involved action. I'm not sure how CA could interpret all of that information and convert to model.

I have done a couple of "imports" from DWG files and I seem to always have to trace my walls over the line drawings to get a stable version of the plan. The convert CAD to walls did bring in version of the model but it required too much reworking to make it worth while. (In all honesty I have only tried it a few times and those with more experience with it may get better results.) Do agree with Ray though- it was better than starting from scratch.

Of course

Good point Graham- I know of a long time production home builder that would never build multi family or condo plats. Said "your just organizing all the plaintiffs for the lawsuit in one building"

Side note on moving the roofs, I use tranform- replicate tool for that quite often. Group select all planes and move up or down in one shot.

Discussing fees and money is always a very personal subject some folks don't like openly discussing. I can understand that. I also agree that it is difficult to advise OP without full knowledge of their situation and abilities. All that said, I don't really offer hourly services. (When I have to for revisions, etc.... it is 95 hr) I price jobs per sq.ft. so the client has a total price going in. This also works in my favor in that as I have become more proficient in CA my speed had greatly increased. Translation- Less time =more money = better hourly rate. While I realize it may not work for everyone or every job it works for me.