Dermot

Chief Architect Moderators
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Posts posted by Dermot

  1. Unfortunately, installation problems are usually not the kind of thing that can be easily solved on a user forum like this.

     

    Fortunately, they are the kind of thing that can almost always be solved by our tech support team:

    https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/

     

    Or if you prefer to try and solve this problem on your own (or you are trying to do this when tech support is not available), I would start with this tech article:

    https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00214/troubleshooting-installation-problems.html

     

    • Upvote 1
  2. Quote

    My X14 is constantly freezing and I'm at a loss as to why.

     

    Freezing how?  Is it a temporary thing or is the program completely locked up?

     

    Freezing where?  Are you in a camera view or are you working in some other view?

     

    Freezing when?  What are you doing when you see this behavior?

     

    Quote

    Does anyone have any suggestions to the cause or tips for maybe fixing it?

     

    Yes, provide some more information and people might be able to offer better responses.  

     

    Also, since X14 is still in beta you should absolutely report any problems you are having to our tech support team.  

     

    https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/

     

     

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  3. So my solution would work great for the second picture but maybe not so great with the first.  You guys are so picky.

     

    I would probably also use the transform replicate dialog in this case.  Although I can think of a number of other methods that would also rotate both the north pointer and the cad.

     

  4. Quote

     

    The Dutch Gable roof setting is buggy and won't work for the garage so it will need to be done manually.

     

     

    As far as I know, neither of these statements are true.  If you know of any problems with dutch gable roofs, please report them to our tech support team.

     

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  5. I am going to assume that the person that gave you a downvote did so because you attached a layout instead of a plan file.

     

    Regardless, what would be even more helpful than the plan is a picture of what you want the steps to look like.  My best guess is that you can create them using landings because a landing can be made almost any shape you want.  A railing that matches what you want can be a bit more tricky.

     

    starter treads using landings.png

  6. As far as I know, the program has always copied the designer info from preferences and cleared out the client info when you start a new plan/layout. 

     

    It does this regardless of whether you have filled out any of the info in the preferences or not.  It does this regardless of whether or not you use "New Plan/Layout" or "New Plan/Layout From Template".  It does this regardless of how the template was created so it doesn't matter if you cleared it using the "Save As Template" tool.

     

    I am not aware of any changes in X14.  If you find a difference between the behavior in X14 and prior versions then please report this to our tech support team and I will be happy to look into this more.

     

    A couple of other comments I would like to add:

     - it seems like the ability to clear the client info when you use "Save As Template" is pretty useless right now

     - it seems like this behavior should be controllable by the user and currently it is not

     - it seems like this behavior is pretty confusing but in 20+ years I could only find one report about the designer info and a different one about the client info.

     - if you had reported this issue 3 years ago instead of just posting on the forum, you might not still be having this problem

     

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  7. Please reread my post above.  What you are showing in your video is exactly what I expect it to do. 

     

    Look at your preferences.  If you have not filled out the designer info in your preferences, then it will be blank when you start a new plan or layout.  If you fill in the designer information in your preferences, this is what you will get when you start a new plan or layout.  It doesn't matter what the designer info was that was previously in the template plan or layout.  When you start a new plan or layout, we simply copy the info from the preferences and overwrite what ever was already in the plan or layout.

     

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  8. Did you ever contact tech support and what did they tell you?

     

    As far as I know, the way the program works with regards to the designer information has not changed in many years.  When you start a new plan from a template, the program will copy the designer information from your preferences and replace what ever was already in the template plan.  This was done on purpose so that multiple designers could all share the same default templates.  Each designer can setup their preferences to have the correct info and it will automatically populate the new plan.

     

    You can modify this information under Preferences/Appearance/Text using the Define button for the Default Designer Information.  See picture below.

     

    I don't believe the names or versions of your template files have anything to do with this.

     

     

    designer info.png

    • Upvote 1
  9. Quote

     

    I am not sure why Chief can't export the Total Hours though , or export the Duration Hours in a format Excel understands without jumping through Hoops to get the Total......

     

     

    It's because no one has ever asked us to.

     

  10. Quote

     

    The export to csv is not working for you?

     

    The formatting is almost impossible to work with.

     

     

    Please note that this is an old post.  For what it's worth, the export format was fixed in X13.

     

  11. You might want to take a look in the core libraries at the metal sidings that already ship with the program.  If one of these is close enough, then I would just use it. 

     

    There are also some other sidings available for download in the 3D Library (although I don't know if there are any more metal sidings).  You can look for them here:

    https://www.chiefarchitect.com/3d-library/

     

    If you can't find one that is close enough, then I would start with something from the core libraries that is at least somewhat close and then copy it to your user library (instead of starting from scratch). 

     

    Here is a tech article with some general information to help get you started:

    https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-01006/customizing-a-library-material.html

     

    There are bunch of other articles and videos related to customizing materials as well.  If you run into a specific problem, you might want to post back with more details and someone might be able to help.  If all else fails, you might also one to contact tech support.

     

  12. I would probably just use a 3D molding polyline (as suggested by Ryan) with a round molding profile set to the size of the pipe. 

     

    I think it will give you a much more realistic model and it will allow you to more easily do things like accurately design the vent with the proper slope to meet code.  Plus learning how to use the 3D molding polyline might come in very handy for other situations, like with other HVAC or plumbing.

     

    exhaust vent.png

  13. Quote

     

    Don't know what to do!

     

     

    Please remember that X14 is currently available as a beta version.  This means that you may find some problems that were not in prior versions.  Please report all of these problems directly to our tech support team so that we can try to correct them prior to the actual release. 

     

    Please remember that posting on Chieftalk is not the same as reporting problems to us.  Although Chieftalk is moderated by Chief Architect, it is really just a user forum where the majority of the content here comes directly from users.  While some employees may read and even comment on some posts, there is no guarantee that any given post will be looked at by an employee.

     

    You can find out how to contact support here:

    https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/

     

    • Upvote 1