ADallas

I ran into some weird problems a week ago, and with help from experts here, I figured out my problem: Importing DWG elevation data is hit or miss--if it wasn't set up for a logical terrain perimeter, or some elements of the terrain elevation layer are 0, it will totally mess up the Terrain Build in Chief. Import survey data to a neutral layer (that is, don't map to elevation data), or just import a PDF file for tracing. Experts warn against using elevation points, and the tutorial videos make elevation lines seem like the obvious choice for creating fairly simple slopes. In my case, I modeled an entire neighborhood by tracing ~40 contour lines. Chief warned that building terrain with 2000+ interpolation points in non-Linear mode might take too long, but it finished in a few minutes. Avoid these pitfalls: Make sure the elevation splines start and end outside the Terrain Perimeter Don't let contour lines cross (thanks, @glennw!) Make sure that each elevation spline is continuous--I kept missing by a few pixels when I zoomed in, meaning that most of the spline was at the elevation I set and part of it was at 0. Move the ends near each other and Chief makes it just one spline. Double-check each spline's elevation--if just one is 0, your terrain will be messed up. Good news, though--fix it, re-build, and you're good My smaller tests were successful, so I went for the whole 11-acre neighborhood--27 lots. My Terrain Perimeter is 892' x 550'. Note: I didn't have to trace anywhere near the number of contour lines you see. I traced a plan with a 5' interval, and Chief interpolated to a 2' interval. Actually, I skipped some contours that added no value, but of course, Chief didn't. Thanks to @glennw, @Renerabbitt, @Kbird1, @Chopsaw and--from a 15-month-old post-- @DavidJPotter

Thanks, everyone, for your help. I think I have a handle on it now--I can provide additional elevation data, as @Renerabbitt suggested. I blasted some flat regions on top of the pit and the peaks and also turned down the granularity in the Terrain Specification (Low seems to work). @Kbird1, thanks for looking, but I was careful to check each spline's elevation. Thank you, also, @Renerabbitt, for your interpolation diagram. I can almost see what confused the algorithm. (But I'm still confused.) I think I'll follow @DavidJPotter's advice from 15 months ago and import the survey data as lines that I can trace myself. When in doubt, do it yourself.

For the record, this was discussed here 15 months ago:

Thanks for replying, but that makes no sense to me--I posted here what I provided, and it shows no peaks or pits. They came out of nothing. I'll try adding extra terrain contours, but it's not "simple"--should I use points, lines, splines? Is it okay to cross contour lines?

Kbird1: The DWG file could well contain messed up elevation data, but it is recent. When I had trouble with the import, I reproduced it without importing and posted here. My question is: How can I tell that imported (or manually-entered) elevation data is going to mess up Build Terrain? If I could see the erroneous data, I could correct or delete it before clicking Build Terrain. Alternatively, is there any way to edit the result of Build Terrain to fill in the pit and sand down the peaks? I can add more elevation data, but what are the rules?

Here's the actual plan file, as Chopsaw suggested. It is nothing more than an imported surveyor's DWG file. For some reason, Build Terrain invents a pit and two peaks. These are the two imported layers: TE-CONT-MAJR (blue) and TE-CONT-MINR (green). I told the import wizard to map both of them to elevation data. The problem is along the middle right--it's a cliff from ~262' to ~272'. There's no depression, nor are there peaks, but Build Terrain adds them: Following glennw's suggestion, when I turn off the layers for my imported contours (TE-CONT-MAJR, TE-CONT-MINR) as well as the Terrain, Primary Contours and Terrain, Secondary Contours, there is nothing to show. The Layer dialog shows that Terrain, Elevation Data is not used. It should be a 10' cliff from two roughly level building pads, but Chief adds unnecessary drama: Notice that it does the right thing in the contour-free lower left--it just continues the slope. The surveyor interrupted the contour lines for his elevation labels, but that doesn't faze Chief. Likewise, the upper left looks right--it's roughly level. Where did the pit and the peaks come from? And how can I get rid of them? TH-4th import.plan

Clearly, I'm not thinking about this correctly. On a new plan, create a default terrain perimeter. I drew 8 elevation splines, careful to start and end them outside the terrain perimeter. I opened each spline in turn and set the elevation to 92', 94', 96'...up to 106' in the upper right. Zooming in, the splines are labeled, showing that the lines are around 100'. Each spline started at the default elevation 0', but I manually set other values. There are no other objects on the plan that could suggest anything but 92' to 106'. I checked--Terrain Perimeters don't have an elevation. So, imagine my surprise when I built the terrain and got this: This can only be caused by my utter misunderstanding of how elevation splines are meant to translate to contour lines. Help! Alastair Dallas I'm running Chief X13, Build 23.3.0.81x64 on a Dell running Windows 10.

I've seen this bug report a few times. I bought a new AMD graphics card to be able to run X13. Knock on wood, X13 has never crashed on me (in the whole month I've had it).

Actually, it turns out that I didn't want a loft--a floor level above the main floor but under the same roof. I wanted a "shelf ceiling"--a ceiling under the main room's plate line, like a plant shelf over a closet. A shelf ceiling is described here: Creating a Room with a Short Ceiling or Plant Shelf Closet Effect (chiefarchitect.com)

I have a model of a basic 20 x 20 garage on a slab with a hip roof. I was able to get the plate at 9' 4" by saying that's where I wanted the ceiling that I then said I didn't want. So far, so good. I can't seem to make the right set of incantations to create a loft space. The loft is framed with 2x6 at 16", plywood above, gyp. bd. ceiling below. The ceiling is 7' 4" from the ground. I used a basic interior wall to create the loft, planning to make the wall invisible later. The Loft "room" has a ceiling height of 7'4", and Roof Over This Room and Flat Ceiling Over This Room are checked. The wall's Ceiling Platform is set to Automatic. This is what happens when I uncheck "Roof Over This Room." It automatically unchecks "Flat Ceiling Over This Room." If I leave "Roof Over This Room" checked, but uncheck "Flat Ceiling Over This Room," I get a similar effect, except that the curtain above the plate line doesn't have gyp. bd. on both sides. I am able to make the wall invisible and insert a 4x6 post, but I still have the weird curtain above. My next run at this problem will be to create a second floor level with some odd wall heights. I'll post a reply if that gets somewhere. Any help from the experts would be greatly appreciated.

I'll be curious what you find out. I'm using a Bosch laser measure, and I understand that the same companies (Bosch, Leica) offer $1500+ models that collect data points as they spin. I'm also familiar with Matterport, which supports virtual walk-throughs. I haven't heard of LIDAR with an iPad, but I'm curious.

Problem solved. I started with Dell Inspiron 3847 (Intel 4 Core i5-4460 @3.20GHz), 16GB RAM. I refuse to consider that an antique. I tried a number of graphics cards (thanks, Amazon return policy) and ended with AMD RX 560D-4G D5 from Yeston. 4GB GDDR5 128bit Gaming Video Card, PCI Express 3.0 x 8, DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.5, Desktop Computer Low Profile GPU with VGA/DVI-D/HDMI Tri-Ports $260 from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097P3YP4G/ The MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X Overclocked Graphics Card 12GB GDDR6 PCIe 4.0 Dual-Fan Afterburner Overclocking Utility, at $950, was more intense than my computer. CA X13 looks great. I'm sure serious ray tracing projects would go much faster with a "modern" workstation, but I'll stick with my Dell for now.

I installed a basic Nvidia GeForce GT 710 and I get the same error. My current specs are: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB of RAM (16 GB, actually) Video Card - Nvidia GeForce GT 710 2 GB of RAM DirectX 12 If that looks familiar, it's from the CA web site: System Requirements | Chief Architect

I installed X13 just now, and it tells me that my integrated Intel graphics aren't good enough. (It was good enough for X12.) Specifically, all 3D views are turned off. I'm on a Dell desktop, so I can install a graphics card. What would Chief and Chief Users recommend? Dell Inspiron 3847 (Intel 4 Core i5-4460 @3.20GHz), 16GB RAM Intel HD Graphics 4600, 1GB RAM

First day with Chief Architect, so this is a newbie tip for sure. I came across Edit > Preferences > CAD. In the Sun Angle section, you want to set your project's latitude and longitude. The default is Blanchard, Idaho. You don't have to change it for every project in the same region, but if you're in Texas, it will likely make a difference. My tip is how to find your latitude and longitude. Go to https://www.google.com/maps. Search for a specific address, or your town, and look at the URL in the address bar: The URL will start something like this: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Galveston+Island/@29.2147787,-95.0591303,11z/ The first number after the @ sign is the latitude. Select North if the number is positive, South if it's negative. The second number is the longitude. Select West if the number is negative (as in, the western hemisphere) or East if the number is positive (such as most of Europe and Asia). Hope it helps.

Thanks, lbuttery and Kbird1. I confirmed what you said with CA Sales just now. An additional license is, to some extent, a second-class citizen. It is "locked" to the primary, which can be awkward when partners split up. It's worth the extra money to avoid that, so my partner, who is 1,000 miles away, bought her own first-class license, as did I. I'm excited to join the CA family--it's too hard to make Revit work for simple Type V residential. /alastair/

If my architectural partner and I buy a full license and an additional license, will we have problems down the road? What if one of us wants to buy SSA? Do we have to manage both licenses in lock step, or can they diverge over time? Will ChiefArchitect contact only one of us with notices and upgrades?