Dermot

I am not aware of any specific feature differences between the M1 Mac and other Mac's. You may see performance differences though. One of the biggest differences between Mac's and PC's is that you will not be able to take advantage of the new Real Time Raytracing that is currently only supported on some high end video cards (GPU) that are only available for PC's. Some more information about the differences between using PC and Mac can be found in the system requirements here: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/products/sysreq.html

Some more information can be found in the X13 Migration Guide: Migration Guide - Chief Architect X13

You can't add a generic material region to a style palette but you can add a custom backsplash. The list of object types you can add does appear in the style palette specification dialog. See picture below. As you add things to the palette, they are removed from the Add Object list. As far as adding cabinet partitions to the style palette is concerned, this is currently on our todo list but is just not something we have had a chance to get to yet. Personally, I think we have far more important things on our todo list but everyone is entitled to their own opinions. If there are other things that you would like to see added to the style palette or other ways that you think these tools can be improved, then please feel free to submit a feature request: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/forum/8-suggestions/

You might want to have a look at this video series: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/playlists/105/layout-construction-documents.html You might also want to check out the samples gallery: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/products/samples.html In particular, some of the samples have full plan sets and even some associated "how to" videos that might be worth looking at. I would maybe take a look at Breckenridge, Bachelor View, Grandview, and/or Lake Point.

Here is a tech article that may help: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00106/troubleshooting-3d-camera-view-display-problems-in-chief-architect.html If all else fails, I would contact technical support during their normal business hours.

Since toolbars are customizable, we don't remove them when you uninstall/reinstall. If you would like to have the program use the factory installed toolbar files, you might want to try renaming the "Toolbars" folder in your user data folder. When you start the program, it should automatically copy the installed toolbars into this folder. If this does not solve your problem, then you may want to contact technical support.

The edit toolbar button just turns it on/off on a countertop edge. You have some more controls in the custom countertop dialog. This tech article also has some information that might be helpful: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-02936/creating-a-waterfall-countertop.html

Not exactly but there are a variety of tools that can make it easier to change the style of objects within a plan. You can import defaults from a template plan (or any other plan) into an existing plan. This will change your defaults but won't necessarily change the objects that are already modeled unless they are using dynamic defaults. You can also setup and use style palettes to quickly change the style of objects in a plan. You can also use replace from library to quickly change objects within a plan. You can also use the object painter to quickly transfer settings from one object to one or more other objects. You can always just group select objects to quickly change their style settings all at one time.

You can either continue to work on your X10 plans in X10 or migrate them into X12 (or X13) if you want to take advantage of the new features. If you are migrating plans, using the Backup Entire Plan tool (as suggested by others) is a good way to create a backup of your old plan and make sure you don't lose any referenced files. You should not find any significant problems bringing your old plans forward, but the older they are the more likely it is that you might find some minor problems. Please feel free to always report any problems you might find to our tech support team. You may also want to review the "What's New" guides below: https://cloud.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf/documentation/chief-architect-x11-migration-guide.pdf https://cloud.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf/documentation/chief-architect-x12-migration-guide.pdf And if you are interested in X13 which is now available to beta test: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/whats-new/

Just to clarify, stairs can be modeled as either separate sections or as subsections contained within in a single section. If they are separate sections, they can have different widths along with other attributes such as railings and materials. If they are subsections, they will all have the same attributes. One easy way to tell that you have subsections instead of separate sections is by paying attention to the handles and labels you see when you select it. If you see "1-1" and "1-2", this means that they are subsections. If you see "1" and "2", then this means that they are separate sections. You should also note the different edit handles you get. See the picture attached below to see these differences. By using the "Break" tool you will take a stair section and split it into two subsections. By using the "Complete Break", you will split it into two separate sections. If you have a stair section with multiple subsections, you can also use the "Disconnect Selected Subsection" tool to break it into two completely separate sections.

You need to specify the drawing order. See if this video helps: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/61/controlling-the-drawing-order-of-objects.html?playlist=97

The same way you report any other bugs. You can call (1-208-292-3399), email (support@chiefarchitect.com), or use the online support center (https://support.chiefarchitect.com/home). More info about contacting support can be found here: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/#contact

Depending on how you want to build this, it can be as easy as adjusting the bottom separation:

If you want the joist direction line to control your deck joists, you need to draw it on the floor below. Personally, I would recommend that you use the room specification to control your deck joists and planks. Just turn off the "automatic" option to calculate this based on the size of the deck and then you can specify the directions you want. I would also turn back on the auto regenerate feature until you need to make any custom framing changes. Here is a tech article with some more info: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00794/customizing-deck-planking-and-framing-automatically.html

There are a lot of ways to draw lines and adjust the length/angle after the fact. Since you have come from another cad program, I would encourage you to watch some of the training videos: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/playlists/97/cad-tools.html

My best guess is that your pdf export is taking longer in X13 because you are not using the same settings that you were using in X12. If you are using the same settings, then it is possible that you have found a performance problem that we are not aware of yet. Please keep in mind that X13 is still being beta tested so some new problems should not be unexpected. If you think you have found a performance problem in X13, then please report this directly to our tech support team. You will need to provide us with a plan along with some detailed information about your system and settings. We will also need to know exactly where you are seeing the problem and what you are doing at the time. If you think you have found a case where the performance is worse than it was in a previous version, then be sure and send us a plan that is from the previous version. That way we can open it up in both versions on the same computer and compare the times that we get. If you send us a plan from the current version, there is no way to confirm if it was faster in the prior version because it can't be opened there. You can find more information about how to contact technical support here: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/

You should always report any and all problems that you find in X13 directly to our tech support team. And if tech support asks you for more information, such as a plan or system info, then please be sure and send this to them as well. If we don't know about the problem or if we don't have enough information to reproduce it then it makes it very difficult for us to fix it. If you don't have time to report problems, then you probably shouldn't use the beta. As for discussing problems on the forums, please feel free to do this. The beta is now public which means that any problems are as well. Just remember that discussing a problem on the forums is not the same as reporting it and you should never assume that we know about because it was discussed here. Also, please don't try to report problems to us through the suggestions forum. It really is not setup to do that and it makes the person's job to log suggestions much more difficult. More information about contacting support can be found here: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/

See if this tech article helps: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00107/troubleshooting-why-materials-appear-to-flicker-when-a-camera-view-is-rotated.html

I don't think building the framing will help. Although there may well be floor framing in the gap, it looks like the real problem is probably related to your walls and/or room structure. You may want to do as Michael has suggested and check that your walls are vertically aligned between floors and that they are using the default top and bottom heights. After that I would look at your floor structure. If this does not help you solve your problem then you should really post a trimmed down version of your plan as suggested by Jason (zip it if it is still too big) so that people don't have to try and guess. Chances are that someone will be able to quickly tell exactly what you need to do. If all else fails than you may want to contact tech support during normal business hours.

Robert, some of your information only applies to X13 as well. For example, the replace from library tool will not work the same in X12 as it does in X13 because in X12 the door type will still change based on room type but in X13 it won't.

In X12 and prior versions, a door is considered an interior or exterior door based on the room types on either side of it. If both rooms are considered interior rooms, then the door will be considered an interior door. If either room is considered an exterior room, then the door will be considered an exterior door. If you have no rooms, then the door will also be considered an interior door. So the short answer for X12 is that the door type can be changed by simply changing the room type of one of the rooms. The other thing that matters is that even though a door can change from interior to exterior (or vice versa) when you change room types, only the things that are marked as "use default" will change automatically. For example, the door width is not a dynamic default so it will not change but your door style is so it can change. So if a door changes from interior to exterior it will really be more of a mixture of interior and exterior settings. In my opinion, this is very confusing and often undesirable behavior. In X13, the door type is determined at the time that it is placed and it will not be changed later regardless of how you change room types, wall connections, or even if you copy a door from one wall to another. This also means that if you save the door in the library, that it should remain an interior/exterior door regardless of where you place it into a plan. So the real answer is that it depends on whether you are using X12 or X13. Since I know Scott is on the X13 beta team, this actually matters.

Have you tried selecting "Show Single Label for Entire Unit" in the Bay Window Specification dialog? This should give you a single entry in your window schedule instead of listing each component window separately.

"All I want is regular stucco walls and regular interior walls with drywall that are 4"" In the real world, interior walls are usually 4 1/2", assuming that you are using 2x4 framing and 1/2" drywall. By default, the program is setup to create and display models much more accurately than what it sounds like you want. The good news is that you should be able to set things up to do exactly what you want but you will first need to learn how. I highly recommend that you start by watching the training videos though. You might want to start with the Quick Start Series: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/playlists/138/quick-start-video-series.html Then I would encourage you to watch both the wall and dimension series: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/playlists/85/walls.html https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/playlists/92/dimensions.html

You are using the Perspective Floor Overview camera. The overview cameras do not show ceiling surfaces because they are intended to be used to look into the model from above. Try using the Full Camera instead.

"I can't bump windows over, doors etc., text will move however..." Try drawing a single horizontal wall all by itself and placing a window in it. If you select the window, I am guessing that it will move when you hit the left/right arrow keys. I suspect that the real problem is that you are trying to move a particular window in a situation where something is blocking it. Rather than have people try to guess what might be causing this, you should probably post the plan with an indication of which particular window won't move and I bet someone could figure it out for you very quickly. If all else fails, then you might want to contact technical support for more help.