Thewoodmaster

When I use Sketchup to do models, there is a window that displays object properties when selected. Is there any similar such thing in Chief. What I'm trying to do is material take offs for siding, trim, paint, landscaping, concrete, etc. so total area and or volume would be helpful. Is there some way to do this?

I have a question about custom materials. I use chief on my desktop for design work, and then I open those files with my laptop to collaborate with clients at their homes when I meet with them. I keep the files saved to a dropbox location so they are available from either device. Is there a way to save custom items I add to my user catalog so they are automatically available regardless of which computer I open them with, like forcing Chief to save materials with the plan file? I know how to do this for sketchup, but can't find a way to do it for Chief, sometimes when I open the files with my laptop it says it cant find the files associated with custom library materials. Matt

So initially when I tried your trick, Joe, it wanted to snap the railings to everything around it, so what I ended up doing is setting the 2nd set of railings close enough to the originals to be able to line up the ends with the inside edge of the posts, but far enough away that it was out of "snap" range. Then I converted them to symbols and moved them where they needed to go. That allowed me to use the railing tool's ability to auto-space the balusters, and pick the newels/balusters I wanted- and not have the irritating snap function muck it back up, or have it try to stick extra newel posts where they weren't wanted. Thanks everyone for the insight. Matt

thanks, Joe So I'm not missing anything- there isn't a way to do it with the railing tool itself? It seems like there should be, but I have found the railing tools to be the least user friendly thing in this program.

Treating me like I'm an idiot with the "watch, listen, learn" comment is unnecessary, demeaning, and petty. It's also a good way to get people to not use this forum. That video is the absolute basics of railings, I watched it again like you suggested- there is absolutely nothing in the video that shows me how to do what I asked. If you have no idea how to do what I asked, then I will wait for someone that does. Matt

i need to put a newel post halfway between the full height posts what I need to do is put a newel post halfway between all of the full height posts, like most porches, because the full height posts are too far apart to not have an intermediate newel, and nobody wants full size posts every 6 feet. Similar to the attached photo. Right now what i have is 4 sections of railing with a room divider in the middle where the steps will go, and the room is labeled a deck. Is there no simple way to do this? I figured I have been missing something. I get that I can manually place posts, which is fine if everything is square or round, but that doesn't help if i want them to look like an actual newel post.

then how do i make it into a newel post

What's the easiest way to add newel posts between post to beam posts on a railing. I need to do a single intermediate newel post between the full height posts. Thanks, Matt

lol i didn't even know that was a thing.

My reference display layers are all black instead of red. All of the colors on the reference display layers are in red, but they don't show in red, even on new plans. I honestly can't figure out what i did. Untitled 1.plan Untitled 1.plan

Thanks Eric, I will watch your videos on YouTube, I haven't really utilized that for instruction, but it seems like that is where I need to start going. Matt

Thanks Eric, I've watched just about every video, many several times. I just didn't see you click the join roof planes button, so i thought there was a hot key you were using. I was not however aware that drawing a wall over the top of another wall replaced it. Thanks for the tip on selecting the roof plane to get to the settings. I notice you do a fair amount of your work in the 3d views, and there isn't much of that instruction-wise in the training videos. Once again, I really appreciate the help. Matt

What key are you holding to drag those walls to make the formatting transfer to the side walls, also what key are you holding to snap those roof lines together? Thanks, Matt

So is there a way to do a boxed eave on the house and an old style conventional eave on the porch?

Thanks for all the help, this program is great, but can be infuriating sometimes. This forum and all the people that help make it a much better experience. Here is a screen shot of the roof tab on the outside wall of the porch, I don't see an eave tab anywhere, am I missing something?