Steve_Nyhof

They have some of their own, but mostly for messing with. I am not going to try and make shingles, brick or stone. The normal materials are fine for that. The roofing I have is standing seam only - no shingles. I did mess with shake siding a bit, and may mess with it more sometime, but that is another ball game. I do not use shake siding much so not really worth the trouble. But standard siding, modern with multiple moldings and the standing seam roofing are a large improvement for the model. I do Zoom calls all the time with my clients so the model with 3D profiles just look that much better when presenting the model. I will add that what I made is most likely all anyone would need for most of their plans. I did add log siding with mud joints, and corner moldings - give it a try, pretty nice if you want to make a nice looking log cabin. I will add that I was on the beta team and so tested and learned a lot of this. And I just searched Chief videos and do not see any details on the 3D Profiles. But hopefully we will get that soon so we can learn more about all the settings. There is info in the help file.

Showing the depth on the model does not change what you enter as text to spec the board sizes. If you are using Material take-offs, that is another issue.

Note that you want to play with all the thicknesses of things related. Frieze boards Corner boards Door and window trim (My casing and corner boards are 1" thick - everything else steps back from there) I also have regions I use for trim boards - I set them all up with .125 (1/8") different from each other. Note on the corner boards - X18 can be set to sheathing, but if you do, it may cut out the gable end of the attic wall overhang. I am leaving mine for now to NOT Recess to Sheathing Layer. I am hoping they come out with a fix yet before X19.

Gryffindor - I'm honored... I think

Thank you. Here is another update on the Vinyl siding. I could not walk away from the vinyl look in 3D as I draw a number of houses with vinyl siding. Plus I learned something. We can still include a radius in our molding profiles if we want something to show as smooth in 3D. However, without an edge there will be no line created in elevation or Layout. There is always a shadow, but we want the line to show up so the Layout prints are more distinct and clear. To do this, I included a small break and edge just down from the top of the radius so that the line in Elevation and Layout shows up just above the shadow. Here is an updated Library with Full (with vinyl siding profile), and Lite (simple line with radius). Add these to your 3D Siding Profiles 3D Vinyl Siding Profiles.calibz

Another update. I think I have what I need for the projects I work with. That includes Pole Barns and the Steel Siding. I messed with this until I got the 3D model to look right AND the Layout elevation lines. Pole barn Steel Siding Library Polebarn Siding.calibz Here is an update on the Standing Seam Roofing Profiles. Note that when I create the bump in the flat space, because it joins to another bump, those lines do show up here and there in Elevations in Layout. (image above). So I plan to only use the smooth Standing Seam. Maybe someone will figure it out and share it. Updated Roofing Standing Seam 3D Profiles Library (This includes smooth and bumped Standing Seam Profiles) 3D Roofing Profiles.calibz

I want to add some details here so you understand more about how the 3D Profiles work. This update is more specifically for the Modern Siding, but read the below first and download the new Library at the bottom. (UPDATE: These modern Profiles in the first post Library download. If you downloaded the Aug 18, 2026 Library you do not need the one below.) Here is an updated version of the Shiplap modern siding (new name for the old Profile: Lap Modern X-Teak X" Lite name). I have renamed it because to change it from lap to vertical you go into the profile and change the Angle Rows to 90 deg. I found that in Elevation view, the old Modern Profiles showed no lines. This was because I had a radius set on the molding profile. 3D Profiles show their lines with a sharp corner only. Also. I have changed my walls (normal and attic) in Elevation View to Line Weight 1, so the double lines show up in Layout. Note that in Elevation view, the line thickness does not seem to be effected by changing the thickness, but it does change the thickness in Layout. The shadows will still show up in Elevation and Layout views. I also played with my color to get the look I want in Layout. Also note, that you need to test the other 3D siding and roofing Profiles you use, Lap siding, B&B siding, etc. to make sure these all look good in Layout. Molding Profile note. I add an extended line to the moldings so that any recess to the molding does not make contact with the surface below (the sheathing) as that will cause z-fighting. I will be updating some of my molding profiles now that I am learning this, and also making the moldings simpler in design as more complex moldings will slow down screen generation. If you replace a molding, note that the new moldings will check the box for the Texture Up Direction... You want to uncheck this in most situation. I am including 2 color material versions of the modern siding with 4" and 6" profiles. You can change the size by changing the Height and Vertical Offset respectfully. 6" Height needs 12, 6, and 0 Vertical Offset. The materials will update properly to the new sizes. New Modern Shiplap Siding Library Only - Replaces the existing Modern Profiles in the full Library Modern Shiplap.calibz This added note is for CA: The Lap Siding profile (normal lap siding): adding a hatch Pattern in the material in the Define Material DBX, did not add the hatch to the Elevation view. However, while messing with the Modern Shiplap, the hatch pattern on this material did show up in elevation view. I could adjust the vertical height and move the hatch line up and down in the elevation. I removed the pattern so that added line did not show. I could adjust the color of the line also from the DBX. Was just strange that the hatch would show up on one Profile and not another.

Here is a library of 3D Profiles you can use in the new X18 version. (Updates below) I am also including a lattice wall as it is easy to draw a room under a deck, set the floor height and have lattice under the deck and at grade. I also have a standing seam cap that matches the sheen of the 3D profile standing seem. There are a few elaborate profiles of siding that I do not recommend using as it slows down processing (regeneration time). But they can be used for cross sections where the profile is important. There are also some teak siding where I made slight variations of the material colors and used multiple moldings to create a more random pattern. If you want to make more colors, you would duplicate the profile and the materials, bring the materials into photoshop and make more (very slight) color variations of the materials. Note, I updated ALL the vinyl siding profiles in this latest Library. Most of the siding is white as that is how I make most of my materials that are easily colored to match what you want (painted result). I updated all the Profiles in this Library so they look good in 3D and in Layout. (Aug 18, 2026) 3D Siding Profiles.calibz Also see the posts below for added information and Roofing Profiles

And to help with the trusses

Truly Amazing Work!!

AI is often going to try and make a rendering look more photorealistic. I think it looses something when it does that. Using a number of my true renderings I gave ChatGPT my style, or maybe the software rendering style so that the whole of the scene is congruent - which I bring attention to in this thread. This house you can see does not even have a driveway or sidewalk - so you will want to have that as you can see AI placed the sidewalk into the side of the porch. But this is my result

I will share this. I use a CAD Details sheet for my Area Schedules, and there are some hoops I need to jump through to make it work in X17 - mainly around the Room Types below grade and the Shared Room Types above grade. What is Heated Living space or not. These based on what Room Types I use. So has nothing to do with CA's Living Area, (Included or not). I use my living area only as a reference to what my schedules tell me. And Sq.Ft. is not always 1 to 1 - FYI. But close enough in my opinion. Some times I need to disconnect a wall and put it back together to update the sq.ft in the schedule. In my layout I have a view that looks into this Schedule Detail sheet and I drag it in layout left or right to the Schedule display that works for my drawing. The schedule could easily be adapted to Remodel plans based on what Room Type you would use. However, when I set up these Schedules (with the help of @Alaskan_Son) There was a limitation in the Schedules options, and so I put in a feature request, and that new option I can tell you will be available in the next version coming out this summer. We are currently in beta. I cannot tell you what, but it solves the issue of really making schedules work for Area that previous versions just could not do smoothly. Here are what my schedules look like in the CAD Details X17 - current Just an example of how the View is shown on the Layout - wherever you like to put it Updated. If I remember - I will update this with working samples when the new release comes out. I will also need to work on some Remodel options - I currently do that differently, but now I think it might work with the new Schedule options coming soon.

Wow!! Is that amazing or what! Beautiful

Its been a while - and I have been busy, but I finally got around to testing AI software to generate renderings. I tested a few on the market like Rerender and ArchiVinci, and they fell flat in comparison to ChatGPT. I moved to Claude for writing as ChatGPT is typically sycophantic in its approach. But I tested it for rendering with very little prompt and its output is very impressive. Exported image from Chief. Note I did not even ask it to retain the original structure, it just did. Also note that I worked with it for 8 months and it knows who I am and what I do. That could play into the short prompts working for me. Prompt: Add beautiful landscaping plants and flowers and bright morning sky with 20% clouds. Add a few kids swimming in the pool Prompt: Add beautiful landscaping plants and flowers and evening mood. sky with 20% clouds. And the front. Note the stone still shows a pattern. I tried to have it remove the pattern, and I will find a way, but I do like that ChatGPT has left my model alone.