HumbleChief

What did your call to tech support yield?

Want to thank you again for the effort Graham, it will help in the future when choosing a new system...

...and spend LOTS of money on the fastest video card gaining very little to no performance? Which is your point above I believe, but how do we NOT buy the fastest video card we can afford? At what point does the speed of the card simply not matter to Chief's overall performance? Is a 1080 good enough and any upgrade from that simply will have no performance effect? 1070? 1060? How can we possibly know, as our models begins to slow down, which it will as it gets larger, if we have enough video card? Better upgrade. Whoops no performance gain, throw more money, no performance gain. Sigh... The GPU data you posted might be the most important piece of the puzzle but still very confusing when it come time to spend more video card money on performance that just may not materialize.

Very nice write up Graham. On some level I knew that the 3D rebuild was the slow down culprit but only anecdotally as my ability to perform any kind of meaningful testing is pretty much zero. Surprised at how little lifting the GPU is doing and I think it is a current trend to off load some CPU operations to the GPU since they are so capable these days and I wonder of that's a programming train that Chief is currently not on board with? My assumption could also be incorrect. I have a model that I'm no longer working on that took 3 - 5 seconds to rebuild each change to a roof plane. I upgraded the GPU and both CPU's and saw absolutely no change in performance. I guess you see what I mean by anecdotally, and not sure there's a point here but it was then that I decided not throw money at Chief's slow performance, at least on my machine. Still a bit surprised at the performance via CPU versus GPU but very valuable information and appreciate your post.

I'm a very long time Chief user and have seen much more bizarre behavior than that. Someone will understand the behavior, I, after about 20 years of Chief, simply never will. Sometimes the solution is as you've experienced, just keep thrashing until it comes around but that dialog box has kicked my a$$ for many, many years... Glad you got it figured out..

Not sure why I find these (OP) posts so easy to ignore since I don't want to add any helpful advice and others feel compelled to respond....Oh wait...I guess I too was compelled to respond, oh well

Really Joe? You wouldn't want to retrieve a corrupted file? Sorry if it seemed like I might have suggested such a stupid thing. I'm not suggesting you get a back up program and if you're happy with DropBox alone then so be it. Like I said I only needed a backup twice, and I, of course, did not retrieve a corrupted file, and it was good for me, if it's not good for then don't use a backup program.. Only a suggestion for the OP and others who might be contemplating such a strategy.

Unless you imagine a corrupted Chief file that you simply CANNOT get open, tech support cannot open it, DropBox can't retrieve it, it is simply trashed for whatever reason. Super rare with Chief but then what? Rebuild the file from scratch? Not the worst option, and only costs hours of your valuable time, but a back up program simply restores the file and you're on your way. I wouldn't suggest someone not use what they are comfortable with but it only takes one corrupted file before the cheap and easy back up options start to look pretty good.

No doubt DropBox is great for accessing files from a variety of sources but am curious, do you use a dedicated back up program as well as DropBox? Or just DropBox?

Didn't know this about DropBox...and of course too late to recover a lost folder, which would drive me crazy, but a nice feature none the less. https://help.dropbox.com/security/recover-deleted-files-folders How to recover deleted files in Dropbox Restoring a deleted file or folder Sign in to dropbox.com. Click Files in the left sidebar. Click Deleted files in the left sidebar. Locate the deleted file or folder you want to recover, and click on the name. Click Restore. You can restore files that you had edit access to. Files that you have view-only access to are visible on the Deleted files page, but you can't restore them. If you have a Dropbox Basic (free) or Plus account, you can recover any file or folder deleted in the last 30 days. If you have a Dropbox Professional or Business account, you have 120 days to recover deleted files.

https://help.dropbox.com/security/version-history-overview File version history The amount of time Dropbox stores previous versions of your files depends on the plan you have: Basic (free): 30 days Plus: 30 days Professional: 120 days Business (Standard, Advanced, Enterprise, or Education): 120 days

Dunno. Was surprised to see it but would not trust it as true backup software, but rather as a first resort. The feature is not that obvious and hidden in a 'more' type drop down menu. I did find plan file that are a month old in this version history so not sure what algorithm it uses to create those versions but could be a decent start when a file gets lost/corrupted...

I use DropBox too but don't consider it a 'BackUp' program. Carbonite, as a back up program, has saved my bacon those 2 times and the shear relief from not having to recreate a set of plans is awesome. Can't imagine being without a back up of some kind... There is a feature in DropBox that allows it to function close to a back up program and that's their 'Version History' feature. I over wrote a file the other day and went to that Version History and was able to retrieve it - nice. Would it save a corrupted Chief file? Dunno, don't want to find out.

Same here. Have had it for years, used it twice to recover corrupted plans. MORE than paid for itself with those 2 plan files...

Yeah, as I've said before, they took the most common of fill patterns off of the simple drop down menu and put them a couple clicks away, either in a library or a now 2 step process to get to those simple, most used fills. There are forum members who seem to either prefer or excuse the additional steps, I am NOT among them. It took many years to be able to edit the line styles so I wouldn't hold my breath.

NICE....

Exactly...

Thanks Mick, yeah that interior wall was in 3 sections which was producing that framing in the window and that siding was from the dummy 2nd floor. I remember now that I just ran out of brain steam and quit after I got the general look I wanted but thanks for getting me back on track and looking through different eyes.

Yeah will probably just use a simpler fascia/sub fascia combo to get that structure and look.

That was my first instinct but didn't see how I could have 2 x 10 rafter/joists and only a 1 1/2" fascia with starter board and the look I was after. It would end up like the section above. Did I miss a trick there? For some reason I can't think of now I didn't simply use a 1 1/2" sub fascia/fascia combo but may have over thunk it. So I made the room taller, dropped the framing in a ceiling plane, then placed the roof over that with only that 2 x T&G and a roof surface to create the 1 1/2" fascia. We'll see if the builder wants to go that route or plan 'B' which we don't have at this moment. I am presenting tomorrow but only for further refinement as the builder and I make a lot of design and structural decisions together so we'll begin that process tomorrow. The floaters are OK for that process but I could not for the life of me figure out where that 4 x came from that shows up in that window. Just wasn't any wall that it related to so will turn off framing, wall for that 3D views. ALWAYS stumped by something...

Wow, thanks Mick. Didn't think of a hole in the second floor roof so I removed it and replaced it with an interior ceiling plane, and in this case there is no original framing other that the 2 x T&G roofing over 4 x 8 beams so when cut back to the framing the ceiling plane allows that ceiling material to remain. The top floor was trickier because it does need framing but the framing needs to sit below the roof plane so it can match the existing eave overhang. I created a ceiling plane, framed it, placed it just under the roof plane which has the same 2 x T&G roofing so I get new framing for insulation and the slim line eave look as the existing. There were some really weird stray attic walls that gave the plan fits and if you can believe this the original plan had no 'windows'. Everything was a p-solid to create windows but no actual windows. That was a piece of work. Lots of other tricky areas around the stairs etc. and I'll present the current progress to the builder tomorrow and we'll wrap up the design. Thanks so much again for taking the time to play around. Check the current plan out and see what I came up with. Still details missing at least it represent the current design intent. SECOND_FLOOR_FRAMING_2.plan

That's the darndest thing. Line styles can be manged in the User Library, maybe if they are saved to the Library they can be accessed from another file? Super curious behavior.....

Do you have a picture of the sign? If so do what Eric suggests above. If not, find something close, and repeat...If you need actual 3D text, which is not what I'm reading then go with plan 'B'.

VERY funny....