DBCooper

After you use the "place under ceiling", you might want to lower the soffit by 3/4" otherwise it will be embedded in your ceiling which will cause missing lines. I think this only happens when you are using custom ceilings like this. You might also want to fix up the side soffit too since it is embedded into the wall. I like to do all of my modelling in vector views so that it is easier to see these kinds of problems.

I think you need to mark the soffit as "slopped". You will also have to orient it the other way to get it to match the ceiling slope.

Try turning on arc centers.

Did you take a look at this support article? https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00106/troubleshooting-3d-camera-view-display-problems-in-chief-architect.html

Because the cabinet doesn't know it is next to a range anymore? It's next to an architectural block and a block can have pretty much anything in it. The simple solution is to just open the cabinet and set the overhang to 0 for that side. Might also have to change the toe kick too. Also, you know it would probably be a bit faster if you just selected the range and hood in the camera view and blocked them rather than switch to plan view, make a copy, block them, move the block out of the way, delete the original, and then move the block back to where it was. Regardless of where you do it, it looks like the counter top doesn't update automatically when you make the block. I just opened the cabinet dialog and clicked ok to force it. This seems like a bug and you might want to report it.

XOR, according to the program help: XOR drawing changes the color of lines in the Reference Floor Display when they are drawn on top of lines on the Current Floor. If the lines have identical properties, they are not drawn at all. When this is unchecked, the Reference Display color does not change, and identical lines are not suppressed.

Try turning off the XOR option. I think your pony walls are erasing themselves.

Dan, but most people just call me DB. I don't think we've met before but you never know for sure? You get up to Oregon/Washington much? Like to skydive? Hiking in the woods? I don't get out as much these days though.

In X14, you could start with a box window and explode it. Then you can add more windows to the outside wall. In X13, you might be able to create a room for the bumpout and adjust the floor height and get better results.

Like this? Just make two walls into gable walls and rebuild the roof.

Usually a message comes up when you first launch asking you what things you want to migrate. Maybe you missed it? I know this doesn't happen if you install X14 on a different machine than X13. In any case, you can just manually migrate your user libraries and whatever else you want. The migration guide will have info about how to do this: https://cloud.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf/documentation/chief-architect-x14-migration-guide.pdf

You can have different sized deck joists for each deck in your plan. Select the deck and open the room dialog. Look at the deck page.

There is always more than one way to solve a problem. If I was designing something like a small subdivision, I would probably keep each house in a separate plan and then build symbols out of them for the main model. I would also make sure each symbol had the fewest surfaces I could get to only show the details I needed. If I was designing something like a duplex or quad, I would probably keep everything all in one plan. If I was designing something like an assisted living facility with multiple units in multiple buildings, I might use both methods. Maybe. The program will automatically create room divider walls to connect "island" rooms. If you do a search for "island room", you will find more information. Or, you can post your plan (or at least a picture of it) and you might get a better guess. If you still have SSA, you could just install X14 and try it. If you have problems, then you don't have to actually use it. Even better, if you find problems you could always report them to tech support and maybe they could even fix them in an update. Just make sure you keep a backup of the original plans because once you save a plan in a newer version you won't be able to open it back up in X12.

I think this is a problem with tray ceilings when they are next to open below rooms. I don't know if there are any other tricks to fix it so I usually just use a polyline solid to fill the gap.

Nice solution, Steve. I also like the way your picture shows what will happen when the tide comes in.

You just need two materials, one for the beams and one for the posts. Set the angle of the materials how you want them.

You could use a library symbol for your post that is rectangular. A bit of a pain to get it setup right and would be nice if you could just specify both sizes in the dialog instead.

Easy? Not necessarily. It depends on what you want to keep from the old layout and what you want from the new layout template. You can create a new layout using the new template and copy what you want out of the old layout. Assuming everything you sent to layout is using a saved view, I think it is almost as easy to just recreate your layout using the new template.

It seems like the program will already put the deck structural elements on the floor below. Not sure why you would need to use cad or reference display.

Yes. If you build a material list and use the edit active view tool, it has an "options" panel that lets you select a layer set to use (among other things). The default "material list set" has everything turned on. You can use a different layer set with only the things you want turned on.

There is no automatic way to increase the grout width since this is just part of the texture image. You could use a different texture image for the material. If you can't find one you like, you can always make one. If you know how to use photoshop, you can modify an existing texture and make the grout lines wider. There are also programs out there that will generate textures for you. You can also just use Chief. I have created my own textures by building a grid of 4 tiles and grout regions just using polyline solids. If you shape the edges of the tile and make the grout areas thinner, it can look pretty realistic. If you then create a top down orthographic view, resize your window to be something like 1024x1024, use fill screen and then export a picture you have a reasonable texture you can use. If you need the grout lines to match in a vector view, that gets a little more tricky.

I think you can do what you want in X14 using callouts that are linked to views (cameras, plans, or details). I don't think there is an easy way to do this in X12.

Seems to be working fine for me. Even copy/reflect seems to work fine.

So make an elevation view and "dummy" in the terrain and trees. The grass and sidewalk below are just poly solids drawn in an elevation view set to watercolor. I know it looks rather cartoonish but I only spent like 2 minutes on it. I would only spend as much time making it look good relative to how much your builder is willing to pay for it.

You can draw a circle and use the convert tool to make it a tray ceiling. You can also draw a square tray ceiling and make the sides curved.