HumbleChief

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Everything posted by HumbleChief

  1. Thought so - Thanks Joey. Tedious but doable.
  2. Is there a way to 'notch' stairs around walls? I'm trying to get a stairway to follow some wall notches. Is there a way? Bad picture attached.
  3. The parameters for a good Chief computer rarely change and they are mainly IMO budget driven. You want fast and powerful in every component. Fastest CPU, fastest GPU (Graphics card), fastest memory, (Chief is not a memory hog 16 gb should be plenty) fastest hard drive, solid power supply, best cooling - you can afford. A good system can be custom/self built for under $2000 pretty easily. Custom built from suppliers as mentioned above, more like $2500. I lucked out and got the system in my signature for $2500.00 built by a custom shop though I usually build my own. Before you buy post the specs here in case you missed something important.
  4. You probably lost a wall connection somewhere. Drag each wall corner away from and back to each corner. It can be pretty hard to find them sometimes but it's there most likely. ...or you have a couple walls spec'd as 'no room definition' - that'll pretty much do it every time.
  5. Select directly over the item you want then hit the tab key until it is highlighted. Works for every similar operation.
  6. The only thing I would add to Nelson's critique (which is very good IMO) is to add a door from the garage through the laundry/utility room, which is too big IMO, into the kitchen - and in the master bath think about accessing the closet (to small as well) from the bathroom - clients love it. You've got an OK start but it really needs work to be more livable.
  7. Here's one way that looks like might work, but still more flaky than it should be.
  8. Multi monitors came with X6 - just sayin' and X7 was actually on the lighter side as it coinsided with the Mac release which obviously stretched their development staff a bit thin. X8 should be great.
  9. Hey Lew, Hope you're well. I think my post was a bit clearer than you're making out. There was a time when I lost 2 companies and keeping my home was not a sure thing so paying for SSA wasn't really an option (not sure a business coach would have helped then either) and I didn't really care about updates at that point and the version I had was working great so no big deal at all to skip a version. I intended to give another view of the "upgrade for sure because it's always the right thing to do" point of view because it just isn't for everyone. And X7 is so capable right now I wouldn't blame anyone if they didn't upgrade until a very compelling feature came along. And applying for the beta team is a great suggestion if your curiosity can't wait.
  10. I skipped a version a few years ago when I simply could not afford it and didn't regret that decision one bit. I paid the additional upgrade price, which was very fair IMO, and didn't regret that either. My SSA is current now and will be as long as I can afford it but no matter what version I owned I was always capable of getting work out the door. The thing I've noticed most about the upgrades was not necessarily the added features, because I simply don't find a use for most of them, but more the 'crispness' if you will, of newer versions. This is most certainly due to the work that goes on 'under the hood' with each new release. I have an associate who was using X5 for a long time and whenever I used it was just clunky and cumbersome. Not that many new features in X7 but it's just better is so many small ways. So my advice is work within your budget. Everyone felt the pain in this business a few short years ago and knows what it's like to not be able to afford even the modest SSA fees but if you can afford it the benefits of the newer versions outweigh just the simple list of added features.
  11. Here's another version with 8 ft. ceiling on the main floor bedrooms 2,3 and 9 ft. ceiling for the master. Check all the dbx's and see what makes sense and what doesn't. I also left a back clipped cross section in their to show the 2 ceiling heights. HTH. Newell Plan Revised 2.plan
  12. Newell maybe this will help. All the lower and upper floors are set to their default heights, the window is now OK, as well as that storage area. The floor overview looks OK (other than the roof cutting off the mirror and wall in the second floor bath but that's another issue). I also left the open below are with a floor for now, you can open that later if you choose. The furniture cabinets etc, are all there, just turned off. You can now start to change things and come back to this stage of the plan as a foundation. Hope that helps. Newell Plan Revised.plan
  13. This might help somewhat but it's hard to tell what the actual problem is. Good luck Newell and don't give up.
  14. Hope this helps Newell. EDIT: You can see at 2:07 where I change the ceiling finish instead of the ceiling structure - don't do that and I hope you get the idea.
  15. It's always best to wait for the smart guys/gals to post their answers but here's an exercise in one way to go about changing things. The vid starts with no sound but then kicks in. I have NO idea what caused the behavior you are about to see but then again perhaps the smart folks will chime in and help us both understand what happened and why. https://youtu.be/k9MkeWb8S8I
  16. Good tip Scott, my brain is a bit simpler but will remember if I need to set things up differently.
  17. Thanks Joe, yeah slabs relative to terrain would be nice.
  18. I'm usually a bit late to these parties so hope this isn't old news but I just tried something new with Poly Line Driveways. I've always just drawn in my concrete slabs using the slab tool and adjusting to taste. Usually 4" - 6" thick so they'll drop below any terrain, and heights at 3" - 5" below finished floor to provide for a step down from F.F. and depending on grade etc. Sometimes it takes a little fiddling to get them at the right height and if the terrain changes then the heights of each slab has to be changed. Today I drew those slabs with the poly line driveway tool and it worked great. Each slab (driveway) automatically sits about an inch above grade. The heights at the doorways can be adjusted by the terrain height. Very flexible as they are really just poly line solids that sit on the terrain. Pretty cool. They will only work for concrete slabs 'on grade' but it's fast, flexible and automatically adjust to the correct height with the terrain settings. Nice. (Side note) PLine driveways won't cut curbs in roads but straight driveways will - just an FYI)
  19. Ray, Not everyone has a problem with PDF's but I have had a lot of problems and found a solution that works for me in the thread below. I have to print to PDF because my older HP 110 doesn't have enough memory for a lot files, pics and PDF's. Not sure it will help you but might be worth a try. https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/7009-done-with-pdfs-heres-an-alternative/
  20. Been called on this code a few times, but not consistently, and not for a long time, but have definitely been called on it and have had to comply. Done a hundred remodels with a 5 foot setback with no issue nor a call to comply then one day bam someone will ask for it. Remember Scott, LOTS of new plan checkers at the City of San Diego and they're pulling up codes that a lot of the old timers have either learned to, or decided to, ignore, for better or worse.
  21. Scott the free version is a basic 'reader' the full version adds many useful features.
  22. Adobe Acrobat should be a great program especially at its cost. There are cheaper alternatives but Acrobat is the gold standard for, I hope, obvious reasons, but at a higher cost that one would expect.
  23. Not so far Scott. I thought I might be compromising the quality but it's fine and as long I can clearly read the PDF's (it's best for full page Title 24's and text heavy engineering specs) then I have no problem. I almost never buy software that can be had for free but the features in Foxit are well worth the money especially if you use PDF's heavily. It will add, delete, rearrange pages, annotate and a load of useful features. I think Joe uses one that might have more features but i'm really happy with Foxit.