WendyatArtform

Also - in X12, I'm having a problem saving to my network drive, and I notice your drive is D, not C. I'm still researching my issue, but have confirmed that I can save on my C drive, but get the error on my network. Below is an excerpt from my tech support ticket - in case it helps you: "It is really hard to give a definitive answer to why that would be occurring. For some reason though that file is locked by the operating system. The most likely and most common reason we have seen this recently is due to backup or cloud storage services running on the directory where the file is saved. Most of the time these services do a good job of not locking the file when it is in use, but we have seen cases where it can still happen. "

The length is not just your file name, but includes the entire path. In this case, it will also include the additional digits added by Chief for the archive

Why thank you dahlink. yeah, I've become less of an innerweb person, started painting etc. But every once in awhile somebody pokes me and I come back here for a bit. Then I see squirrels and shiny things and wander off again.

I made you a video. I hit Jing's 5 minute limit and I have a meeting coming in, so please forgive it being cut off at the end. I think I got the important stuff in. roof_video.zip

What do you want it to do relative to the post you place? Unfortunately, Chief does not adjust the repetitive wall framing around added posts, nor does it show the manually placed post in the framing detail of the wall. Send them a Feature Request! We don't often use wall framing, and we don't do material takeoffs. But if you do, I can see why this would matter. How to submit a Feature Request? I believe you just write to Tech Support the same way you would report a bug or other issue. Maybe one of the Chief Dudes will correct me if I'm wrong about the procedure.

I've found only one way works smoothly for terrain: Make a note of your terrain "building pad" elevation. Modify your layerset so that everything is locked except terrain related item. Terrain related items should be both displayed and unlocked. Those will be: Terrain perimeter, regions etc Plants Roads, drives, sidewalks, Use Marquee select to grab all of those, Ctrl-X to put on your clipboard Go to the other level. Ctrl-Alt-V to paste-hold. It will not paste your terrain itself. (Terrain Perimeter). Make a new one and assign it that Building Pad elevation that you wrote down in step 1. We do this move quite often, usually when moving it to basement so retaining walls that attach to the house foundation don't look stupid in plan view. For polyline solids and such - cut and paste-hold. There is no "display on floor above/below" like with roofs. They do hold their vertical position nicely - no need to fuss there.

Me too - sometimes bump correctly, sometimes not - particularly after a copy - paste.

From the department of ridiculous redundancy - "what they said". That standard stud at 92 5/8" is called the "KD Stud for an 8 foot ceiling". http://forums.finehomebuilding.com/breaktime/general-discussion/framing-lumber-kd-or-not And, even though technically the term means Kiln Dried (which has nothing to do with length), if you order KD Studs, you're going to get them precut to this 92 5/8", developed as an industry standard to fit the drywall and so every carpenter doesn't have to cut every stud in the field.

I concur. Way to much money for the task, and way too much to invest in a computer that age. For very little more - new system with a nice new system warranty!

We get this request. Here's what we do: 1 - Put a fill in the room - with a 12" cross hatch grey grid. But that will sometimes obscure things, so next option is... 2 - Make Room Polyline, with exterior room - gives you a closed polyline. Put 12" cross hatch grey grid on that, move to back group. 1 is mostly what Richard describes, except you don't have to change floor material. 2 is mostly what Charles describes - quite possibly entirely what he says!!!

I rarely fuss with it, so I can't give you exact instructions. But - there are Line Weights in both Plan and Layout, and they effect how the spacing looks in dashed line types, as well as line thickness. Try getting it the way you like it in plan (with Show Lineweights on) and setting to same in layout. And/or read up on this topic in help etc.

There's yet another way using Reference Layer - where you can show things from a different level (like roofs on Level 2) on the level you have your site on (like Level 1). I don't do it, so I won't try to describe. Maybe somebody else can. It can avoid the cad vs. roof on first dilemma.

Ah yes - very true. Definitely need to understand Edit Area and use correct mode. For a whole house reversal, we use Edit Area (All Floors). I put any terrain info I don't want affected on my windows clipboard first (like elevation data). Then reverse. Then copy/paste-hold to put it back. That way I get everything I do want (like driveways, plants, plant beds...) to reverse, while not altering the nature of the planet.

I do cad lines because I don't want to be forced to keep my roofs on the same level as my site plan. But yes, - then gotta manage them.

REally? Hmmm - I thought not. Now I gotta go try that. (music from Jeopardy...) Son of a gun - you can put it on the second floor. But for most projects, first or basement makes more sense.

We use the beam method when the "header" spans several windows or doors, like at a pair of garage doors when doing a portal frame - both those are not mulled, giving the Chief system no reason to think the headers should be combined. And we like the way it can show in our framing plan with the same graphics (two line, filled) as our other "beams". And we use the header in the wall system other times. And - we don't do materials list. The beam-in-wall-header does not displace any wall framing, not the way a beam will influence newly generated floor framing.

And btw - two more things: 1 - what's your name? 2 - good for you for watching some videos and coming here having tried first. keep learning, keep asking! W

And - you have to be on first floor or basement (level 0) to generate a terrain perimeter. You can't do it from a cad detail, or any upper floors.

OK - a couple of tips: 1 - To show your site plan in the plan view: once you have your plot plan drawn in a cad detail: Select everything, Ctrl-C to put it on your windows clipboard, change to floor plan view, Ctrl-V to paste. While it's still selected, you can move it around to have the correct relationship to your structure. We never move the building, we move (rotate, etc) the site around the building. 2 - To show roof plan in same view: Start with learning to do a new Layerset. I love anno sets, but that can come later. Start with Chief's Plot Plan layerset - (copy it or use it) and edit which layers show, their colors and line weights etc to suit your needs. For instance, roof edge lines are dashed, probably want solid. Walls show as just two lines - no fill or other lines. Move your roof planes to your first floor level. (Um - only do this if no framing yet - it'll screw you up). To do this, go to whatever level your roofs are on. Select roof tool. Put a box around everything - it should select only roof planes. If only roofs selected, there's a tool at the bottom to move them up or down a level. Then, if you want just single lines for the perimeter of the house, use cad to trace that exterior line. After you do that, use layer controls to turn off all layers called "Wall...." in that Plot Plan layerset. If you're going to need your roofs to be on an upper floor long term, trace the roofs also.

I've found very little difference between Reverse Plan tool and using Edit Area. I think they do the exact same thing, except Reverse Plan is picking a reversal line that's center of what's drawn, and not necessarily an exact Y coordinate. So I like Edit Area because I can control center of reversal - nothing ends up at an X coordinate with 8 decimal places. The things that get lost in translation seem to be to be equally fubar either method.

Ok - I'm going to be a tad ornery. So don't read this if you're not in the mood!!! SAM is not so much "advanced" as it is common sense. Doing a SaveAs to generate a new project based on an old one is no different than doing a SaveAs to show a client a design variation. To me, it's common sense, standard operating procedure! Editing and variations are as much a part of design and my elbow is a part of my arm. So, while Scott has done a great job in 'splainin' the process and benefits, this should not be viewed as somehow exotic. imnsho. ;-) So - I'm calling a bug a bug. Oops. She said that out loud. Michael - good tip on the Fonzy move to correct this.

We do occasionally do floor beams that we move, exactly as you describe, for exactly the same reasons.

Silly me, I saw "supplies" and "interior accessories" with an interior picture and saw no reason to think what I needed would be here - a generator, which is exterior electrical equipment. I also searched library and library download area for "generator" - nada. So.... not so sure this library is packaged/labeled to indicate what it really is?

With raytrace going or done - Image Properties - if "use tone mapping" is checked, an exterior can appear hazed in. We always check interior (otherwise will look harsh), and always uncheck exterior (otherwise appear flat/hazy). This may or may not be your issue, but worth checking and certainly worth understanding. Tone Mapping applies some algorithmy stuff that changes your image by trying to do what it thinks is balancing. Somebody at Chief can 'splain it better. But if you look at these images, you'll see that it makes a clear difference.

I did finally find one at 3D Warehouse. Had trouble at first finding words to search that gave me what I needed! thanks all.