Gary_M

6 hours ago, lbuttery said:

And yet Autodesk Revit figured it out... interesting

 

I believe Revit etc is just cad lines

 

Chief is 3D 

 

What do you do with features that are in the newest version that aren't in the earlier version ?

 

just leave gaping holes ?
 

I believe that if it could be done then CA would do it

 

Lew

 

Nope. Revit is 3D as well. No idea though how good or complete the backwards saving is. It's Autodesk so it can't be that good. 

AFF is a designation for height from the BOTTOM of the finish floor- not the top. It is almost always the same as from top of subfloor.

Very nicely done Charles!

And think seriously about getting a spill proof sippy cup. Worth the investment I would think. 

I am not familiar with "CA Suites" but have you watched the training video on dimensions and setting the defaults? Once you do that you will see how easy it will be for you.

That IMO is where the real power is to be had.  Oh well, there I go, talking to myself again.

Well, at least they are interesting conversations! 

Okay, perhaps I exaggerated when I said I was a newbie ?

 

"Chief Plan" ???

 

Yes, the "Chief Plan". That means the Chief Architect software created plans you are creating to draw this project. Are you using Chief Architect software? What version? What level of expertise in construction do you have? Posting the plan means uploading the Chief Architect drawing file.   ?????

Works for me. Select your door and then the tool bar on the bottom of the screen will pop up. There is an icon that looks like a house- that is your button

Dennis,

I think he might be thinking along the lines of the newer Softplan UI, Revit, etc.

Since I work with autocad as well it's not much of a problem for me. When you are going to have someone send you a dwg ask them to make all the layer colors whatever you want to see them in. It takes all of 2 seconds to do IF they are using layers correctly. I say that because in autocad you can make any given thing whatever color you want irrespective of the layer color. That is "bad form" but a lot of people do that. If that is the case then if all the blocks are exploded in the drawing then you can draw a marquee around everything in the drawing and change the color as well. Even that only takes a few more seconds but then the blocks and perhaps some other entities are just bits and pieces then which can be a pain to work with. So, that is how it works!  

Thanks again for the post Graeme. You're right it does only take 2 seconds, literally, to do 1/50th of the work required to get a usable DWG. The text and arrows are the time consuming bit and in this case there's a LOT of text and arrows. I'm trying a different strategy and will see if I can learn some ACAD and change the original to read all/more black. What do others do with DWG's? Just thrash through it? Is there a better way?

Larry, as you start going through it remember that a lot of the colors that are used in autocad  are user set for working with a black screen. Have you tried changing your CA background color to black just to see what you can work with? It would be worth trying out I would think.

Keep your template plan(s) on dropbox and use that for your base no matter which computer you are using.

Besides the Chief videos:

www.chiefexperts.com

http://www.chiefapprentice.com/

Rob,

Message me and I'll give you my email address to send me a couple of the shp files and I'll see if I can get them for you.

Weird behaviors like this can sometimes be a result of a mouse going bad or needing a new battery. Shot in the dark here.

I keep the PB & Library windows open on another monitor. Every time I open Chief, they are a little bit higher on the monitor screen, until finally the top title bar is off the screen & I can't grab to move them back down. So then I gotta restore tool bars.....

Anybody else get this?

I get it too and yes it is just a minor irritant. The bottom of the library window still shows for me so when I grab that to stretch it down it moves the top down as well.

Chief is $$$ - any advice on something more affordable that just does time tracking and billing? 

Well, since this site is for users of "Chief" and yes, we paid for it, what are you saying? You don't have Chief? If not then why ask your question here? If yes then I'm not sure what to say.

Sorry Rob but I see none of those colors, or numbers, in the SW catalog.

For the same reasons as you Barry I changed my background color to a real faint "peach" color. Took all the strain off my eyes that the white created. Having a black background creates a different set of eye issues. With that said your screen background color and printing have no relationship to each other.

In autocad what Todd is referring to is called "match properties". Insert a window for example. You change that window's properties only- not the default window properties. Then you want that window in 2 other places. Insert the default window in those 2 other places, click on the "match properties", click on the window that has the properties that you want and then click on the other 2 windows. They take on every aspect and setting of the window you want to mimic. A very, very handy tool that doesn't require you to change defaults, which can be tedious, and also doesn't require going back to the library. It can be a real timesaver.

I hear Colorado is the place for grass.

Washington is too. Wonder if that is why CA is moving across the state line? 

No Lew. Draftsight is enough for you. On a dwg such as this that was so screwed up, and without you having any knowledge with autocad type stuff, it would be more a waste of your time trying to deal with it rather than letting someone here help you. That is unless you want to learn a new program? 

Yes Todd, in a sense they are backups.

Thanks Tom. I am coming to that same conclusion. Not in the budget for this year though for buying the Surface Pro.

55 download and 5.25 upload at $40 per month in the little town of Silverton, OR.