DomaniHomeDesign

Looking to hire experienced CA user to "fix" and clean up a final floor plan for client delivery.

I've only used CA for about 6 months (been using SoftPlan for 23 years) and can't get the "hung" platform to show correctly in the cross sections as well as some other issues with the floor framing views. Clients aren't building soon, but the project "ended" about 4 months ago and I don't have time to learn what the issues are.

Diamond Final Review 6-14-21.pdf

9 hours ago, SNestor said:

@DomaniHomeDesign -

I made this video a while back but it may help you understand how you can used saved plan views to show what you want on the foundation level. The method Joe mentions above is also a possibility...and may work better depending on the site conditions. But this simple video may at least shine some light on the issue for you...

 

One note: In the plan view dialogue you can actually specify how pony walls are displayed...the PW display can be unique for each specific "plan view". There's no need to go to defaults and change the pony wall display. 

 

 

Wow, thanks for sharing this video! This video actually gets me excited to dig into understanding layers and plan sets more. It looks like something another Chief user was trying to explain, but we couldn't get to work right. Will keep playing around with these tools and techniques. Much appreciated!!

20 hours ago, joey_martin said:

Annotation Sets (now called default sets) and/or plan views (which I have not used as of yet) are going to be your best friends if you do many basements. 

These are from a walk-out set. These are completed with Anno/Layer sets. I can control all walls, notes, dimension, everything from the same plan file with a layer set for the foundation plan, and a different set for the floor plan.

Thanks for sharing examples of what you've done on a similar type project. This is helpful!

Thanks for the suggestions and different ideas here. Newbie Chief user here, so my apologies for putting this in the wrong section. 

2 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

You really should have posted this in the Q&A Forum.  Tips and Techniques is where you show your tips on how to do something.  IAE,

If you just reserve Level 0 for the Foundation and then use Level 1 for the Basement it will be a lot easier.

 

Floor Levels in Chief shouldn't be confused with Floor Names. 

 

For a Building with a Basement:

• Level 0 = Foundation Plan
• Level 1 = Basement Plan
• Level 2 = First Floor Plan or Main Floor Plan
• Level 3 = Second Floor Plan

Without a Basement

• Level 0 = Foundation Plan
• Level 1 = First Floor Plan or Main Floor Plan
• Level 2 = Second Floor Plan

The Floors can be named in the Project Browser.

This was the exact "workaround" I thought of. Will continue to explore this option as we live in the Rocky Mountain region and it seems at least 75% of our jobs have walkout (at worst) or stepped (at best) basements and we (and our builders) are used to seeing a separate plan page that is strictly the foundation walls only with no framing at all. Additionally, we often have jobs with multiple "levels" below finish grade because of the significant slope on the lot - just to get footings to virgin soil.

This is the first home my team and I have created in Chief Architect (converting from SoftPlan) and we're stuck still trying to figure out if there's a way to show a foundation only plan in the layout using the "walkout" basement, level 0. We end up with the full framed walls showing on top of the 4' stem foundation walls, no interior footings for the interior bearing walls, and a stone veneer on the framed wall above that isn't supported by the foundation wall.

If anyone can offer information on how to get just a true, basic foundation plan in our plan set/layout that would be fantastic! The (nearly complete) floor plan is zipped up and provided below.

Warnier, Adam & Diana.zip

Recently decided to switch to CA after using SP for 20 years for a number of reasons. I was constantly learning new things in SP (and LOVED when I was shown/taught their plan set feature which looks similar to CA's .layout files) and resisted switching a few years ago, deciding instead to invest in learning SP better. But the demonstration I saw at the builder's show in Vegas in Jan 2020 is what sold me. For my line of work designing custom homes (with a BS degree in Interior Design and and 2-year Architecture emphasis), the apparent ease of customization of features and the excellent rendering capabilities is what sold me (the top 2 reasons). I'm just diving into the learning part of CA and am blown away by the number of available resources and the super helpful Technical Support. That being said, I agree with the members here who also stated that most software is only as good as the person using it. I realize there were still a plethora of things I didn't know yet in SP, but just decided instead to invest the learning time into learning CA. I will keep my license for SP for as long as it benefits me in my business. After that I will decide which one meets my needs better, but right now all bets are on CA. Best of luck!!