RobDesLLC

Thank you! I like your method.

Yes. I have both. I use Lumion far more often for rendering images and videos, but I like the VR capability of TwinMotion, which Lumion lacks.

The first image is a 3D perspective in Chief Architect. The second is a rendering in Lumion.

I converted a wall cabinet into a batten. I created a wall type where the sheathing is a 1/4" sheet that represents a fibercement sheet product. The batten then snaps to the wall, and I adjust the height and positioning in an elevation view. I use the multiple copy tool to distribute battens across the wall, adjusting for windows and doors as needed. This results in battens with proper shadows in renderings, and I can estimate the material used for the battens as well. I have 2 example images below to illustrate it.

I've created custom gates using various polyline solids, which I then added to my library as symbols and then dropped into my plans (as doors) in fences (which are walls).

I've had great success using Canvas for as-builts. I offer the following insights that have helped me integrate Canvas into my workflow: Take your time doing the scans. Go room by room, starting at the doorway and moving clockwise around the room and back to the door. Slow and steady is the key. After completing the scans, thoroughly photo document the entire house in the same order as the scans were performed. Measure key dimensions for reference, preferably longer dimensions. Allow 16-24 hours of your time to refine the Chief Architect plan sent from Canvas into an accurate model - materials, layers/layer sets, foundation, decks, etc. - using the photos taken on site for reference. Map out the electrical circuits and add them to your as-built model. I prefer to take a copy of the as-built plan file on a Windows tablet to the site and draw in electrical connections there. Convert the as-built survey into a site model in your as-built plan, and you now have a complete as-built of the house and property. To help illustrate design constraints, I place color-coded disks on the terrain to represent the trees around the house, and I have created color-coded, translucent moldings to represent property boundaries, setbacks, adjacent use/adjacent street buffers, easements, and wetland buffers. This is particularly useful when dealing with additions.

Jog the retaining wall into a "U", then drop a stair into the "U".

This is very good advice. I too have found that the importation of PDF's bogs Chief down tremendously. Avoid this as much as possible.

After the common practices of disk cleanup, I suggest you monitor your system performance in Task Manager. Is your CPU too heavily loaded, particularly when generating 3D views? How much memory are you using during a typical Chief Architect session? What do your read/write speeds look like to your storage device(s)? My approach is to employ a 2TB NVME drive for Windows 11 and my apps, and another for storing my files. I have a third 2TB SSD (2.5") that is a mirrored copy of my storage drive. I have a 5950X processor with an AIO and 128GB of RAM. At my busiest, the CPU hovers around 30%, and memory usage is around 52GB. Typical boot time is 8 seconds. I try not to keep many browser windows open, as that tends to use up memory and slow things down. As a general practice, I find it's best not to leave apps running if they aren't in use.

I will share DWG's with engineers. That is it.

Its referred to as a "TBM" for "temporary benchmark". It may be used as an elevation reference point for surveying before, during, and after construction, as well as for the builder to reference during construction. After that, it's pretty much irrelevant.

I've never entered one of these contests, and I have a question. The rules state, "The submission must include at least one rendering modeled in a Chief Architect or Home Designer software product." Does that mean I can submit a rendering generated in Lumion using a model I created in Chief Architect, or that the rendering and the model must be created in Chief Architect?

When I make a virtual representation of a specific slab for a client, I go to the yard and take a high resolution photo of their selected slab, with the camera perpendicular to the slab and no bright lights reflecting off of it (as Eric suggested above). When I convert that image into a texture, I make sure to scale the selected area properly, in order to virtually simulate the real-world effect of templating the desired portion of the slab, rather than trying to convert the slab into a seamless texture.

Rene has a video on this, and I think he has the best method for adding the arched brick lintel.

I would save an image or text box directly in the layout file, adjust color and transparency, and set it to it's own layer, allowing you to easily turn it on/off.