JiAngelo

Very nice.

Draw a horizontal cad line connected to the window, connect the story pole to the cad line, then raise the cad line 1/4" - would be my trick of last resort. A marker works too.

Yes. Create a text macro called "heightadu" for example. Under Value define "d=(height + 24)" (no quotes) and set Context to "Owner Object" Next, open your marker dbx and under Text select user macro heightadu or simply type %heightadu% in the text line. These markers should now add 24" to every height reported (i.e. report 0 for -24 and if you copy the marker +10' on the z-axis it will say 120 for 96, etc.... This works for elevation views, not plan views. And if you prefer the height to be reported in decimal feet, in the macro add a second line "z=d.to_ft.round(2)" Hope this helps..

Most likely you have 2 electrical connections attached to the switch. CA automatically labels that a 3-way.

That's his actual title, Gene.

Use a regular 3D view and turn off roof planes, gutters, ridge caps, and ceiling planes.

We've used this Deer Valley sink in the past. Home Depot. <<link. Stock photo.

Thanks for the responses. I created the paint layer 1/8" thick on both sides of my interior walls and interior side of the exterior walls, using SW 7524. In my test plan I created (4) interior rooms that are 10x10 each with various windows and doors. The (4) rooms x 40lf perimeter x 9ft wall height = 1440 and the program calculates 1147.51, so Chief is subtracting the windows and doors.. But when I changed the color in each room to a different SW color, the material list remains counting only SW7524, the material list ignores the presence of SW6185 & SW9136, for example. When I open the wall specification dbx, Materials shows the correct interior color under "Materials" But the Components is still reporting the default SW7524. It occurs to me I was having this same trouble using siding layer on exterior walls, coloring it a different type of siding changes the view in 3D but didn't update the material lists correctly. I had to create duplicate wall types that had different default siding colors or styles - This wasn't that big of a deal, we generally only have two or three siding materials on a home, but on interior walls, we are coloring two sides of the same wall in different colors as it spans across multiple rooms. My problem today is I have a client that wants to use 9 colors throughout their home and my painters want a calculation by color of the amount of area they are painting to determine pricing. I also noticed the Room Specification DBX has the same problem. Materials shows the walls correct color. But the Components shows nothing regarding the walls, only the Drywall, and it shows the ceiling, which has Drywall named Color-White. Also the base molding = 40ft means it doesn't subtract for the (2) doors in this room. . I've attached the test plan file, in X16 format. PaintColors.plan

Is there a way to determine the wall areas of each room, less doors and windows, and to create a schedule that shows the total wall areas of each paint color? The material list doesn't show the paint colors. The room finish schedule shows the paint, but not the net wall surface area.

Whomever is giving you these DWG files is doing you no favors. Apparently it was created in AECCLAND130 or Civil3D. I had to download a Civil Object Enabler 2026 from Autodesk, add it to my TrueView 2026, in order to be able to even see the objects in TrueView. Below is what they looked like before installing COE2026. I used DWG Convert within TrueView to export as Autocad 2018, Autocad 2013, and Autocad 2010. Each allowed me to load the file, but all showed the Civil3D information as Blocks. In fact, this is how the import looked when selecting all. Notice the bounding box extending left and down. (red circles) I zoomed out and scrolled to the opposite end of the bounding box and found this. (red circles are bounding box lines.) NOTICE THE COORDINATES OF THIS BLOCK. And if you explode it you will see this. I deleted it, then hit zoom all, and select all. I then zoomed in on the lower left point and circled below you will find how far it was from the opposite corner.. You need to ask whomever created the DWG, to recreate it exploding all objects as plain autocad entities. They cannot have your elevation points existing inside a block of point_name, point_id, and point_elevation, along with the point itself because CA can't look inside a block to retrieve the information. Hope this helps. 1862801569_410LUNETADRIVE (1).dwg

That invisible wall is 10' tall which means the 8' porch roof is stopping automatically at the wall, butting against it, not through it. Follow @CharlesVolz Option #2 above and extend the roofline to the other side of that wall is the quickest and easiest solution. You can wait and do it last if you still need autoroof turned on to finish up other design details.

After you crop, updating the layout box should refresh the elevation view to the correct resolution. Check if your terrain is too wide to the right. The sent layout view will encompass all of it. At random times I'll have a radius drive meeting the road improperly, or two opposing roof planes intersecting improperly, causing a curb or facia to extend off to some distant point. I sometimes can't see it until the 3d view is rotated just right and it flickers into view.

My apologies, I thought the best method achievable today to manage multiple concepts was the premise of this general discussion. Your desire for "a contained or "blocked" option system" describes what every plan file actually represents. Being able to reference portions of one plan file within another plan file is the method to achieve precisely what you desire today. When you reference portions of Plan1 or Plan2 inside Plan0 they appear as a your "Group or "block" elements like walls that don't actively define a room boundary." Inside Plan1 or Plan2 is where you "edit those grouped elements without fully breaking them apart each time." Because each appears as a group when referenced inside Plan0, but exist as individual items in Plans 1 & 2. Click over to Plan2 tab, make some changes. Click back to Plan0 tab and those Plan2 changes, if they were on the referenced layer set, appear instantly in Plan0. I don't see how it gets any simpler than having a few open tabs with one click to visit the unblocked optional "contained" plan versions. Here's an example that was done in reverse. Here's the Plan 0 foundation. Here's Plan 2 option client chose Inside Plan 2 I have already referenced Plan 0 within it. Here's what happens when I turn reference layers on in plan view. Damn, I need those dimensions on the reference layer turned off. Lets redefine the reference layer (Plan0) to not show dimensions or room names. Wait a second, there was a shed we forgot to show on Plan0 behind the garage. Let's click over to Plan0 and add it. And instantly look what happens to our view in Plan2 And before i forget, Here's Plan 1 inside this addition. Compared to Plan2 (with reference Plan0 turned off) I did this in reverse because I personally wanted to make sure I didn't place new foundation over any of the other old garage walls. Then I waited until clients chose which option they want before refining the one they chose, ready for permitting. Two options plus the as-built inside one plan file introduces several problems as other users previously noted. Schedules, material lists, conflicting roof planes if you are showing two different room addition options. Ceiling heights if one option is to open the ceiling to a loft above. And there's an entire thread devoted to auto foundations. Imagine this turned on with multiple upstairs options simultaneously present - or you start switching between them??? Lastly, you need to call out the reference plan separately, or twice, one in plan view and again in 3D view. This is achievable today.

Starting with your last point first, you can already reference another plan file in the same x/y/z space. In Plan 0 you can toggle off the walls and objects you plan to change. Then Reference Plan 1 (or Plan 2, etc.) with only the changed walls and objects turned on in the referenced Plan layers etc. The blocked container version you are referring to is precisely what the option files called Plan 1, Plan 2, etc... already are. With regards to A&B, Chief defines spaces as rooms. You can't add, subtract or move "alternate" walls without redefining the rooms they contain. Imagine you wanted to shrink a 10'x10' laundry room 1' so that your 10'x10' kitchen could be 1' larger. There is no way a 10'x9' opt. laundry and 10'x11' opt. kitchen can coexist in the same plan file with the (2) 10'x10' original rooms. However they could be referenced within the plan 0 and quickly toggled on/off using layersets. Make a change in Plan 2 and the reference will update if displayed in Plan 0. And within each optional plan file you can accurately create the material list, calculate floor areas, and room volumes accurately. This is especially beneficial if you had Plan 1 showing a wall with 4 ganged windows and Plan 2 had 3 separated in the same space where Plan 0 originally had no windows at all. @SH_Canada stated it correctly. However I often use @Alaskan_Son's method in the short term when initially designing spaces and I'm trying different room layouts to see which one works best. Eventually I have to delete all those offset ideas so that my schedules are correct when sent to layout.

In elevation view you can also rotate objects on the z-axis.