WesternDesign

3 hours ago, Michael_Gia said:

For the lazy, if you click the link, Chief has plastered the page with this... "*Chief Architect X11 release scheduled for Q1 2019"

 

I personally get the feeling it's going to be a pretty big upgrade along with an interface overhaul to hopefully get away from the early 2000's cartoonish look we're sporting now.

 

(just my spider senses tingling, that is)

We can hope.

+1

We certainly need more control on ALL of the roof functions.  At this point I would settle for a completely manual option such as creating a truss or rafter profile that Chief would use for a selected roof plane or partial plane.

I love Chief's auto functions but we also need the option to modify or manually build items since we don't ONLY design boxes.

2 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

To be even more specific, I would like to center on the main layers exterior-side line

That would be helpful.

BIG +1

Similar items have been requested before.

We use a similar method as Nick

Pocket Deck Details

+1

We use the Leica DISTO S910 and have never looked back

example:

https://youtu.be/n9wPoxXUdJE?t=17

+1

YES.

We need more control over headers and an option for plates above and or below the header.

Wish we had more control over the schedules.

13 minutes ago, Joe_Carrick said:

I am now using Wall Material Regions (3/4" thick, 2" wide, full height) and multi-copy at the desired spacing.  This skips all openings and I use the exterior Room Polyline to create the horizontal bands as needed.

 

It's full 3D with proper shadows and very easy to edit.

 

ps:  Window and Door Trim + Corner Boards provide the rest of the job.

Thanks Joe.  I will give it a try.

+1

If we had a tool (similar to the corner board tool), it would be great.  We need control over the batten sizes and spacing as we do many variations.  We also do a great deal of board on board which could be faked by adjusting the batten size and spacing again.  (And like the framing, if we adjust the start location or want to move a single item, it would stick)

If I were to ask for the moon, then both the boards and battens could be added instead of placing two layers of sheeting then battens.  This would also be very helpful for material take-offs.

4 hours ago, Greg_NY61 said:

In 2015 IRC they have a table for number studs needed.

 

Good reference

It is important to note that this is for the minimum required by code stud size & spacing, not what you are actually using.  If the code allows you to use 24" o.c. then you use that column for the # of trimmers, even if you are using 16" o.c.

This may help

https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/public/chapter/content/10133/

scroll down to pg 12 for the start of the details.

It is not a cad file, but maybe it will get you on your way.

+1

We need this.

On 5/14/2018 at 1:38 PM, 2wheeltodd said:

  Sec. 110-26 of the National Electrical Code (NEC): 1) at least a 3-ft clearance in front of all electrical equipment; 2) a 30 in.-wide working space in front of equipment operating at 600V or less; and 3) minimum headroom clearance of 6 ft or the height of the equipment, whichever is greater.

At least here, it is good to know that the 30" wide space need not be centered on the panel, but the the panel must be within the 30".

Our method is very similar to the video.

The way we do as builts is...

Draw the as built plan using all "Existing" wall types (change the fill on these to show as existing) which are just a copy of our new wall types.

-- Take your time and set up everything you can now (example: we open every window, door cabinet etc and modify it's label as (E) then the appropriate macro and also turn off "show in schedule") 

Side note: Our builders like having door and window schedules but don't love having to flip to it every time they need to see the size and type of unit it is so we use the following for our window label, as an example

(E) %schedule_number% %egress_name%

%WxH in Feet%

%type_name%

%tempered_name%

Nothing will print if the window is not Egress or Tempered.  So far the builders like this.

Make sure you have everything done before moving on and you will save many steps later.

Follow the instructions in the video for making an as built cad block, making everything in our block show as "DEMO" dashed lines.  (We do not use this as our existing plan, but I guess you could.)

Save this entire file as job number- "As-Built"

Then "save as" job number "Remodel"-version__

Note: We never work again in the As Built drawings, but we can and do send them to layout.  Because we want to protect this file, we go back and lock every layer making sure we select "Modify All Layer Sets".  (we also make a backup of this master file)

The next thing we do (in the Remodel file) is to change our defaults to use the regular wall types instead of the exiting wall types. 

Now we put the as built DEMO cad block on the drawing in the back group and lock the layer (so it doesn't select every time we click on something).

We often move all the existing items to existing layers that can be locked and we can turn off the materials if we want material lists.  (mostly on larger remodels)

Result:

Any new wall shows up as new.  Any existing wall shows up as existing.  If you remove any existing wall, then the DEMO shows through. if we need to modify something existing, such as a door or a window then we can change just that item's label & style without trying to fix it in a cad block. (Example: to replace an existing door with a new one having the same rough opening but a different look and maybe a different swing direction)

Anyway, that is basically how we have been doing remodels.

I was surprised with Dan's comment as well.

It is one of my favorite features in X10 and one of the most used features for me.

On 6/8/2018 at 10:38 AM, DRAWZILLA said:

I like saved plan views, didn't at first but learned as I went along during early phase testing. The only problem I have is I'm changing the view accidently , then go to the layout and find the 2nd floor showing on the 1st floor plan. I wish there was a pop up stating that I changed the plan view so I could answer no I don't want to change the plan view on the layout. Other than that it's great for me.

I may be doing it wrong but I made additional "working" plan views so I wouldn't mess up the plan views I use to send to layout. (Tied to "working" layer sets).  I only do this for the views I am in and out of all the time while "designing".  I don't seem to have the same problem as we near the end of the CD's.

As you know, I am still fairly new to Chief so this may not be the best approach.  Always open to suggestions.

I just started using a 3rd monitor.  love it. 

Over all the full width as shown is 5'-6" but it feels fine.

(2) 27" and one 34" 4k ultra-wide curved monitor - all Samsung

Shown on my motorized drafting table (works for sit-stand), so I guess I can say that I am still drawing on the board.

Never compete on price!

Good points from everyone.

On 6/3/2018 at 3:20 PM, HumbleChief said:

Also remember that growing has its own risks and growing too fast can be fatal for your reputation.

So true!

Never become a commodity that can be found anywhere.  If you do, you will always be competing on price.

It can be hard at first, but find a niche and become the absolute go-to authority in that niche.

Educate your prospect (in your marketing) to a point that they say to themselves, "I would have to be and absolute fool to work with anyone else but you!)

Need more help?  Check out all the free content on https://archmarketing.org/

I have no ties to their company, but I know each one of these guys and their systems absolutely work. 

I have retired from marketing, but if you would like to listen to our 2.5 hour, (which sold for $200), audio program on "marketing that works", you can download it here. 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xkdvn3wkji4jmw0/Total Dominance Training Program - BighornMarketingAgency-com.zip?dl=0

Please do not share this outside this community (or with your competition of course ) 

This is for information only.  I do not consult or offer marketing services any longer.  The systems work and we were able to help a few startups even go international.  If there was ever a downside it was what Larry mentioned, growing too fast.  Build your business systems at the same time you build your marketing.

BTW:  At this point in time, we no longer use our own systems.  Why?  We are as big as we want to be and we are already booked out 2 years.  I did use these methods to get to this point.

I won't leave the link posted here forever.  I hope find value in the information.

3 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

It would be great if Chief would add all these to the Manufacturer's Library.

I totally agree!

Maybe we could get a refresher on how we can help to encourage manufactures to work with Chief

OR Better yet...

How can we get Chief to contact and pitch the companies we would like to see added to the library?

This is an example from 99designs we had done back in 2011.  Spent $400 on it, but really didn't see much of a difference between 99designs and spending $99 at 48 hour logo.  The key is how much feedback you give everyone and bumping up your price above the minimum to catch more designer's attention.  You can also look through past projects and see who did them and send an invite to yours (to make sure they see your offer).

You will get your files back in .ai, .eps, .png, psd, .svg, .jpg in CMYK formats so you are ready for all your printing needs. :-)

I love crowd sourcing.

They also did these

17 hours ago, wjmdes said:

Did they do you logo, yours is more complex than I require, but I like it!!

48 hours did our round logo here and the ones below.

We have also used 99designs with good success. 

We have also used 48hourslogo  several times for about $29.  I usually offer a bit more $ to get more attention.

In either case, offer lots of feedback as the design options pour in and you will get much better results.