Kbird1

The Integrated or Built in PDF Printer tends to make much larger File Sizes , which may or may not be an issue ? instead of Microsoft's Print to PDF Printer I use BullZip PDF Printer ( Free Version) and have not noticed this but I may not have the fills and hatches you use either. M.

With barns there will always be Manual Framing to do too, so while you wait you can do some reading on the KB , there are couple of tuts. on it about Barn structures : https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-01069/designing-a-traditional-pole-barn-structure.html and https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00598/creating-a-post-and-beam-structure.html This Test plan of mine may help you get some ideas too... Metal Barn_X10_MHD.plan M.

Chopsaw has the Wording correct..... and you should see this.... assuming Chief Architect Premier X10

When you installed the program , did you download the Core Catalog libraries when asked? if not goto Library >Download Core Catalogs.... Mick.

Add them to the Roof Surface or if the Wall , then add them to a new Wall type as the outer Layer.... their is a selection in the Sheetmetal library.... M

It is , the images below where done by johnny from here on the Forum and are also very nice. There are Cheaper Renders around like Blender and Indigo Render ( I think Thea may have stopped development? Rene would know he uses it (used it ?). https://www.indigorenderer.com/indigo4 If like me you are limited to CA and PBR then the best thread to check out and make notes from is the Lets PBR one started by Graham (TheKitchenAdobe) who has shared his settings and discoveries through experimenting with Everyone here : https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/topic/16912-lets-pbr/?tab=comments#comment-142170 Chief made a Video using many of the settings found in Graham thread , which might be a good place to start at least , the tread has much more in depth material. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/2426/physically-based-rendering-technique.html another good thread is the PBR Goodies Thread started by Jintu: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/topic/16932-show-your-pbr-goodies/?tab=comments#comment-142321

Chiefer (Jintu) has been doing it many years and is an Expert in Rendering and also uses other Rendering Programs such as Lumion and Thea Render, most of his current X10 Work is labelled with PBR if that is how he did it , like in his Chief Album/Gallery....... M.

Graham's double Staircase Method may work ?

Those are the 3 fixes for z-fighting that I know too , setting clipping to 300' can help , but these days I have my Roofing material set at 1/4" or thicker by default too. there is a KB article which more or less says whats already written here too: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00107/troubleshooting-why-materials-appear-to-flicker-when-a-camera-view-is-rotated.html

please do your sig. as different versions need different answers , but building the Floor at 9' , then turning off Auto Roof rebuild and resetting the Ceilings to 7'6" should do it I think. Note you cannot turn Auto Roof back on with this method though...ever....

Understandable especially at this time of year , just know there are some good sales on at the moment , though I an not sure of the exact model you are getting , maybe it has one? I was just going by the 1TB HDD you noted. Some models come with an SSD or NVME SSD , so laptops come with both a SSD for speed and a HDD for Data storage,,,typically a 1TB HDD.

You may want to ask the reseller about a SSD for the new PC or add your own , it will make a difference , especially with Undo in CA. The Samsung SATA 850 or 860 Evo drives are very good and at decent prices these days, if the laptop only has one bay for a HDD the get a 500GB model at least. If the Laptop will take a NVME SSD even better as it is 4 x faster than a SATA SSD , the samsung 960 or 970 work great too. M.

Has he Paid for the Original Drawings ? If he is the Engineer of Record for the Project , then I guess you may have too depending on what has been Promised , but it isn't exactly a lot of work to export a 3D model to DWG so what to Charge extra, if anything, is a tough one. Though I'd protect myself if there was money outstanding at this stage since as you say it is work product in a use-able format.

I don't need the 2nd box checked, and IIRC, Michael put me right a while back when I accidentally checked the 2nd box and some stuff went missing....but I can't remember just now what it was Michael do you remember ?

Unfortunately this is common Practice it seems , as it's the same with my Cellphone or TV/Internet Plans...new subscribers can get a better deal than long term Customers and it certainly gives you second thoughts as too why, however, in this case it is X9 > X10, so is only one year, not 2, you only get X11 later this Quarter, as you'd have current SSA, if you went X9 > X11 after April it would cost you $1195 i think it is?...... getting SSA every year is always a slightly better deal , I have looked at it hard a few times myself, unless they have some spectacular Sale like on now but I don't remember a Sale like this one last year so it may not happen every year?.

@pgjacob just came across this Texture in another Post Melissa that I though may work for you?

Not 100% sure from you description but the Default for Surface Edge Lines in X8 maybe different than in X9 or X10 perhaps? having Layer Settings off or on causes CA to use Black lines on all edges (Or not) , so perhaps different by default in X8? needs to be on in X10 to get them for me. Defaults>3D View Defaults>3D Views> at the bottom there are two check boxes ...hit F1 to get an explanation for each. KB

If you prefer Videos there is this one below......but I think you may have missed or glossed over some of the CA "basics" along the way...... eg CA only provides about 15 Wall Types ( plus a bonus Library) so you really need to make your own in a lot of cases to suit local practices..... a 3 1/2" framed Wall is just that .....ie only framing.... https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/5454/creating-a-new-wall-type-with-a-new-material.html

Have you worked through the Tutorial Guide ? or Opened the Wall Definition Tool and hit F1 (help File-context sensitive to DBX open) You will need to make or Alter an existing wall to make your 4" Stacked Stone Wall type..... DON'T change or Alter a Chief Default Wall , always make a Copy 1st , Rename it and then modify it as needed adding the need layers and materials, eg start with Siding 4 and make a Stone 4 Wall type. The KnowledgeBase is always a good place to check for Tutorials ( and PDFs) especially for the "basics" , this one will step you through it....... https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-02944/defining-a-new-wall-type.html M.

Have a look at Jintu's Site as one example of pricing for Renders etc, (per view,not Drawing) but definitely not charging enough I'd say, but you are also learning Chief currently and depending on your market you may have to balance some of that against losing the work altogether, if they think you are charging too much. The Time log built into each drawing should give you an idea on how many hours it is taking which may help you work out a better Rate too. http://www.jintudesigns.com/3d-rendering-prices.html

I think you might be better off just using the Pine tongue and Groove in the Siding and panelling Library and darken it up with a Blend

was just going to ask the same question

On a Laptop, I have used X10 on a 1050Ti and a 1060 , both had acceptable performance to me , if looking at older laptops perhaps a 970 or GTX 980 , on a desktop I briefly used a 950 while waiting for my 1070Ti to comeback from RMA too and it was usable, I just didn't open extra 3D Windows on other monitors.

Always best to post the Plan in these situations, then people wouldn't need to guess, I am sure Graham would of looked at it for you for example.... M.

Are you talking about another Laptop, or a Desktop ? the recommendation is to get something with a gaming series Nvidia Graphics card, it is actually a fairly good time if you have to buy as prices have come down alot in the last year especially for Graphics cards. Anything in the 9 , 10 or 20 series would be best. Even if you got a new computer (boxing day sales) it should be capable of running Win7 too and perhaps even be able to use the same Win7 license , (assuming you are going to continue to use Win7 on the old one). Are you sure your old software needs Win7? M.