Dermot

Chief Architect Moderators
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Everything posted by Dermot

  1. The Object Layer Properties tool is probably used less often now that we have the Active Layer Display Options (ALDO) dialog. The ALDO is basically a combination of the Layer Display Options dialog and the Object Layer Properties dialog that you can keep docked on your screen while you work. When you have an object selected, it will only show you the relevant layers and when nothing is selected, it will show you all layers. Unfortunately, Interiors X11 does not have the ALDO but the newer Interiors X12 does. If you are using Interiors X11 and your SSA is still active, you can get Interiors X12 now.
  2. When you select an object, the layer that it is on will appear in the status bar. If you select the Object Layer Properties tool that appears on the Edit toolbar or in the right-click context menu, you can open a dialog that will show you the layer properties for all of the layers associated with the selected object(s). From there, you can modify the display properties or even turn off the layer. There is a lot more information about layers and layer sets in the training videos. I highly recommend you search for videos related to them and review them. It should help you to become more efficient when working with Chief. These might be a good starting point: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/4/understanding-layers.html?playlist=100 https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/5483/understanding-layer-sets.html?playlist=100
  3. The label position can be specified on the label panel of the specification dialog. This can be setup in the default dialogs but the default values are not dynamic. This means that if you already have objects in the plan, changing the default won't affect them. You would need to group select them and change them instead. You can not specify that the position of the label is relative to the door swing though. The position is always relative to the wall direction. In the attached image, the -12 Y Offset is above the door because the wall is going left to right.
  4. Chief Architect Premier will not run on Chrome. For more information about system requirements please see this page: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/products/sysreq.html
  5. I believe the rule is that cameras will only display on a layout page if they are using a callout symbol (and if the layer is turned on of course).
  6. There appears to be a problem with your product registration. Please contact our technical support department for further assistance.
  7. Just to clarify, that symbol means that something that affects your terrain model has been changed and the terrain needs to be rebuilt. For example, if you add or modify an elevation line, your terrain model would then need to be rebuilt. You can do one of the following: - Manually rebuild your terrain any time it appears. This will cause the symbol to go away until you change something else that affects your terrain. - Turn on Auto Rebuild Terrain. This will cause the terrain to get rebuilt any time you change something that affects your terrain. With complex models, this may cause a performance hit which is why we give you the option of turning it off and rebuilding manually. - You can turn off all of the symbols that can appear and follow your cursor. I actually think this is a horrible idea so I won't even tell you how to do this. Someone else might though so please be aware that this will also turn off the indicators that tell you things like that you have accidentally turned off angle snaps or auto rebuild floors and ceilings.
  8. This looks like a video card or driver issue. See if this tech article helps: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00106/troubleshooting-3d-camera-view-display-problems-in-chief-architect.html If all else fails, then contact our technical support department during our normal business hours.
  9. Regarding migration guidance, we do provide some very detailed information: https://cloud.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf/documentation/chief-architect-x12-migration-guide.pdf More specifically, regarding migrating pre-version 10 plan and layout files, please review this technical article (it also includes a link to the X8 Desktop Viewer that can be used as a conversion tool): https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00279/opening-legacy-files.html If you have any additional questions, please contact our technical support department for further assistance.
  10. The program is working the way it was designed to and it's not really random. By default, the automatic lighting is done on a per room basis. When the camera changes from one room to another the program will turn on the lights in the new room and turn off the lights in the old room. The catch is that the program will only actually update the lighting when something (other than moving the camera) is changed to force it to update. In your video, you very clearly moved the camera through your rooms but the lighting did not update until you painted a surface which forced the update. If you want to manually force the update, just hit F5. If you don't want the program to automatically update the lighting per room, then you need to learn how to use lighting sets.
  11. Rene is correct. For more information about what's new and different in X12, you might want to also check out this document: https://cloud.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf/documentation/chief-architect-x12-migration-guide.pdf
  12. Chris' answer is correct. For more information about what's new and different in X12, you might want to check out this document: https://cloud.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf/documentation/chief-architect-x12-migration-guide.pdf
  13. It was just an old image I had and I don't think these features had any changes for X12. What you should be asking is "why is there a mystery hole in the living area polyline?" I was going to update the image but I wanted to see if anyone noticed it. I actually captured that image when I was trying to diagnose an obscure problem in the living area calculations. Turns out that particular plan had some funky walls and room areas which caused that little hole throwing off the totals. So the real lesson here is that if your living area seems odd you might want to check them by creating a living area poly and making sure it's exactly what you expect. And if you ever do find a problem, please report this to our tech support team so we can look into it more.
  14. It works for me. You will need to either post a plan or contact technical support.
  15. In addition, if you ever wonder how Chief is calculating the living area for a particular building, all you need to do is select the Exterior Room and use the Make Living Area Polyline tool.
  16. Just to clarify Eric's post, you can already control whether or not the living area is calculated based on the wall's main layer or the wall's surface layer in the General Plan Defaults:
  17. "Tools>Active View>Save Active View" and "Tools>Active View>Save Active View As..." should do what you want. If you are using the installed toolbars, they should already appear on your toolbar. If you migrated legacy toolbars forward, they may or may not already be on your toolbar but you can always add them using Customize Toolbars if you need to add them. For more information about what's new and different in X12, you might want to check out this document: https://cloud.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf/documentation/chief-architect-x12-migration-guide.pdf
  18. Just as an FYI, you can add as many appliances to a cabinet face as you like. You can't just drop them on the face from the library browser though. In the cabinet specification dialog, you have to select the face item, change it into an appliance section, and then choose the "Specify..." button next to the Appliance/Door/Drawer label.
  19. If you already have SSA, you should find X12 in your digital locker. If you don't have SSA, the cost to upgrade from X11 is $695 right now:
  20. "How can FORCE Chief to use more of my computers resources to speed it up?" Your problem probably has nothing to do with how many resources you are using. The program will only use as many resources as it needs and you can't really can't force it to use more without actually slowing it down. If you are not using all of your memory then adding more memory will not speed anything up. If you are not using all of your cores, then adding more cores will not speed anything up. The real problem is that the program is slow for you. The solution to your problem is to figure out what is causing the program to be slow. Assuming that you don't have any hardware or system problems, then problem is probably related to what is in your plan and what you are doing when it is slow. If the program is slow when you are changing pages in layout, then posting the plan file will probably not help any one to figure out why it is slow. You need to post the layout, all referenced plans, and any other referenced files (like imported pictures or pdfs). My best guess based on the very limited information that you have posted is that the main problem is your use of pdf files. If for example, you have imported a 25 page pdf file into the program and need to display just one page of it, the program still has to keep all 25 pages in memory and process all 25 pages every time you need to draw it. If you need to display all 25 pages and you import the 25 page document 25 times, the program then needs to process all the data 625 times. This is probably going to give you a huge performance hit. If you were to split up the pdf document into 25 separate documents, one for each page, you would probably see a big improvement. If your imported pdf only has images, rather than actual text or vector graphics, then the pdf will cause a performance hit because it does far more processing than just displaying the image directly. You should be able to convert your pdf into an image, with no loss of resolution, and see a large performance benefit. Keep in mind that my comments are only based on a guess. There are lots of other things that you could be doing that might also cause performance problems. If all else fails, you might want to contact our technical support department for additional help.
  21. If you want to turn off all patterns for the view, you turn off the layer. If you just want to turn off the pattern for the roof, you need to edit the roof material. Unfortunately, if you modify the roof material, then all camera views will be affected. I don't know of a way to turn off just the roof pattern for just one view but maybe someone else knows a trick.
  22. Since it looks like you are going from X10 to X12, you might want to review both of these migration guides: 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
  23. Try unchecking the Newel/Posts box:
  24. From your description it sounds like you are sending views to layout that are linked to a Saved Plan View. If you change anything associated with the Saved Plan View, such as the active layer set or the current floor, then this can affect your layout views. If you send multiple views to layout all linked to the same Saved Plan View, then they will all update any time you change something. Here are some ways to solve your problems: - You can stop using saved plan views by switching your Saved Plan View Control that appears in the default toolbar to "None". You can also do this in your default template so that new plans won't start in a saved plan view. - If you are using X12, you can decide whether or not you want your layout box linked to a Saved Plan View in the Send to Layout dialog box. Just make sure the "Link Saved Plan View (name)" box is unchecked when you are sending. - You can unlink a layout box from a saved plan view by opening the Layout Box Specification dialog and setting the Linked Saved Plan View combo box to "None". There is also an edit toolbar button that will allow you to link or unlink a layout box from a saved plan view. - You can learn how to use Saved Plan Views. If you use a different saved plan view for each layout view, you won't have to worry about accidentally changing them. Saved Plan Views can greatly improve your productivity so that you can just switch views instead of having to change lots of settings all the time. More information about Saved Plan Views can be found in the reference manual or in this video: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/2421/saved-plan-views.html?playlist=100
  25. I would highly recommend that if you purchase an older version from a private party that you first verify the version you are buying is a legal version and that the license can be transferred. You might also consider on of the monthly rental options available. For more information, contact our sales department during normal business hours.