HumbleChief

I'm interested too Curt. Thanks in advance.

Easy to do as Curt, Joe and Alan suggest. http://www.screencast.com/t/Hts8zoQvM

He does talk a little weird, but never misses a Chief fix. Scott did ask for a guru, I think Glenn fits the bill.

Weird.

Yeah, Sorry had to get rid of those, too early for my brain. I found some terrain data after deleting the elvation. Didn't seem like it belonged there. Is that normal? Or should the perimeter, without regions always be void of terrain data contour lines?

Looks like you have it solved - sort of. Did you intend for the terrain to be so low at the entry? http://www.screencast.com/t/VF0L1K55q

Yes. I was working on a plan and noticed nothing was changing in my overview as I changed elevation regions etc. Happened again while adjusting regionss right before Chief crashed. I just keep an eye on it now and if it stops redrawing I'll save, close and re-open the plan.

Really would like to see the plan - if you find the time.

They don't re-draw all the time which can be very confusing when moving data points/regions but otherwise I depend on the real gurus to get me through. Here's an idea. Post the plan.

Must be the surf pic but Glenn's not here (yet) . A transparent mask is a white filled box placed over the elevation and the transparency turned up/down to suit. http://www.screencast.com/t/LaiGGLCm99Y

that's pretty crappy...

Alan, Can you create a transparent mask to go over the top to lighten things up? Seems to work here but may not give you the flexibility you're after. One good thing is you could create various transparencies for different areas and they would be adjustable (lighter/darker) and remain with the elevation.

Nice tip Perry, I'll immediately start pretending I knew that all along

Long, long, long, overdue.

Trust me I get it Joe and have no interest in Condos or insurance. As soon as a condo project gets approved the documents for suing every sub involved come flying off the lawyers desks ready to be filed after the first rain and every window leaks. Been down that road.

Interesting Graham. As designers we can't even get any insurance like an architect or engineer can but if were licensed somehow? I wonder. I shudder to think as I carried huge liability insurance as a GC and never used the $300,000 costs for a single repair. Do NOT want to go down the insurance road again. Do they require you to carry ins. in Ottowa?

I might have mentioned a couple of nuances? Looks like Rich has it figured out. Maybe just drag walls up in 3D? Did the vid help Todd?

I always wondered why California didn't adopt the 'must be licensed' requirement for Designers etc. Maybe just a matter of time?

Designing houses and running a design business are indeed 2 very different things. Running a business requires a different skill set but those skills can be learned in the same way as any skill is learned and it sounds to me like you are doing exactly what's needed to get your business up and running. There will be some successes and some failures. You'll start out without a contract until you get burned, then you'll develop a contract that works for you. You'll under charge, you'll over charge until you figure out what's fair and what the market will bear. There's so much to learn but business is a great way to learn so much about yourself and about people. And oh yeah before long you'll have stories to tell. Ones you can't make up about clients that did things that you will never understand. Over the years you will figure it out and if you want to replace the 'yous' above with me's and I's you will have read a little of my experience already. Best of luck..

Technical degrees are great and if you feel better having one then get one, however you do not need one to start designing. You just need the gumption to start your business. There will be many replies with all the cautions you must take and there is no reason to not be prudent but if that's enough to stop you in any way, or if not having a 'degree or certification' stops you from going forward with your passion to design then find something else to do. There are risks but life is designed that way with rewards coming to those willing to risk. It's a long journey but even the longest journey begins with the first step. My advice - take that first step.

Depending on what state you live in, like here in California, you do not need licenses or special permissions or certifications to 'design' residential structures. Anyone can submit drawings to our local cities but if there is engineering required then you need to explore that option. My clients will sometimes refer to me as an architect and I correct them immediately and call myself a designer. As far as I know there's no legal requirements to being a 'designer' again here in CA.. I had absolutely no design experience when I started 'designing'. None. Zero. Zilch. I would grab plans from other Architect/Designers and try and replicate them (no not copy them for those about to chime in about copyright issues). Then I would submit them and the plan checkers would send me home with the craziest corrections because they could smell the newbie on me. But I kept at it and now almost 15 years later I still struggle but am busier than I've ever been. My advice to anyone starting out in this (or any) business is to simply start. Do you have Chief Architect? Then draw all day. Everything you can think of. Watch all the videos. Learn all you can as if you were committed to making your business thrive. I converted about a hundred details to Chief to learn the CAD tools. Pricing? There are no short cuts. You have to figure out what your time is worth and not charge people to learn Chief. Not easy and you'll get it wrong most times but overall and in due time you'll figure it out. Again no short cuts.

Same here Perry but many times as you know we're required to get R-19 or R-30 in the ceiling leaving very few options.

Even in San Diego we need to overstack or understack a roof structure or some other foam insulation strategy to get some insulation in those old roofs.

Do you have X7? Or X6 as your signature suggests? Transparency is an X7 feature.

See if this helps Todd http://www.screencast.com/t/N0yHWVVaHH