vikiw_bend

New laptop. Installed X16, copied my user library, templates, hotkeys, toolbars, textures, and everything else I thought was important from my desktop to the laptop. My user library contains many, many materials copied from manufacturer and bonus libraries, as well as some linked from the core libraries. (trying to minimize how many catalogs I have onboard). Now, on the laptop, these copied materials in my user library do not have their textures. I've tried downloading the relevant catalogs again, and in many cases, the material has no texture, even in the catalog's file. The warning of missing files references a folder in the Chief program file (referenced files) that doesn't exist on the laptop OR the desktop. I am at a loss. The laptop only has a C drive, and all documents, etc. go to OneDrive, including the Chief X16 data file. Is that part of the problem? If so, how do you go about creating a partition for a D: drive? I'm obviously in over my head, here, and could sure use some help.

Thanks!!

Hi, now that I have a desktop AND a laptop, I don't remember how to transfer Chief between the two depending on which computer I want to use at the time. Can someone help me out?

Please talk to the James Hardie people to update their Chief catalog. They have new products and new colors that I'm sure others besides myself are eager to use. There is an entire Artisan Siding collection and an Architectural Panel collection that have been on the market for over a year.

Is a plan database worth the effort? I keep plans in folders and subfolders on my hard drive (and cloud backup), It's easy in Windows Explorer to find a plan based on its category, subcategory, etc. I haven't used the plan database feature and wonder if it's worth a try. Can anyone speak of advantages/disadvantages of it compared with what I'm doing now?TIA.

Thanks for all the input. I've decided to get a 4090 for my desktop and juice it up, and for a laptop, get one that has the minimum to run Chief, figuring I will use the desktop for rendering, not the laptop.

Following. I also need a new laptop.

Joey, your elevations are beautiful. How do the different elements look when printed in B&W? I have a bit of time today to play with my elevation camera layer set, so thanks, Joey and Michael for the push.

But if I don't, the elevation is all too dark and heavy and doesn't read well. What I do instead is draw a polyline box around the foundation and hatch it, all using white, so the foundation looks like dashed lines. Guess I'll keep doing it that way.

Michael, There is no linestyle choice on the Edge Line Defaults, just line weight and color. Even in the plan, changing the linestyle on the foundation walls/footings/foundation does not change the camera view. I'm baffled.

Michael, you were right. But, I don't like the way the elevations look if I do not use Edge Line Defaults. So I'll figure something else out.

I have set the camera to show the below grade lines as dashed, but when I send the elevation to layout, the lines are solid again and have lost the weight and color I assigned. Since that's theoretically not supposed to happen, what am I missing?

I am embarking on selling stock plans and will need to offer a CAD package. I have never exported a CA plan or layout to .dwg and could use some helpful advice. First, I won't have any idea what version of ACAD the person is using. Second, do I turn all my layers on and select "all floors" - that would be the same mess I get when I import a .dwg. Or, do I open each plan view and cross section or CAD file and export each one as a separate .dwg? Or is it possible to export from the layout page to a .dwg? If so, will the person be able to isolate the different views in order to work on them? As you can tell, I'm completely clueless on this topic. Also, since I don't have ACAD, I'll send a sample plan to a friend who does to see if it comes through ok. Or, is there a cheap or free program that let's me look at the .dwg file as it will be to the end user? Thanks in advance.

That's really nice!

Hi Stephen, I checked out the other post as well, and you have some great ideas. I'm going to try them out. This has been frustrating, because I need to be designing and drawing stock plans, not spending so much time trying to learn another program (Twinmotion). I can pay for a few renderings, but until I start selling plans, I can't have professional renderings for each one of them. Chicken and egg situation, since the renderings are so important in grabbing the potential buyer, but I can't pay for renderings unless those potential buyers sign on I appreciate your input and the other input I've received from the Forum members. You guys all rock.