DBCooper

@scottharris I think they are trying to stitch together 4 different elevations at 4 different directions (like N, S, E, W) into one view. Kind of like a panorama view? If you look at the picture, it has a dead on view of the couch and the desk even though they are on opposite walls. No way that I know of to do that with one camera in Chief. I think the best thing to do is send the 4 views to layout and then just line up the layout boxes.

Probably because we don't have "roof plane" defaults. The roof defaults we have are basically the same thing as the "build roofs" dialog and you don't have all of the settings that are in the roof plane dialog (for things like fill style, line style, labels, and what not). So yeah, it sounds like you need to make a suggestion.

I guess the real question is, does this happen in all plans or just with one particular one? I think that if it happens in all plans, then it is probably a vide card problem. If it happens with just one plan, then it is probably something in the plan.

Where are you trying to show the roof materials? If you are talking about a camera view, then it should show up automatically in any view that will show patterns, including elevations. If you are talking about plan views, then no, there is no automatic way to show the material as a fill in a plan view. You can set your own fill style though and the easiest way to do this is use the "edit all roof planes" tool. Doing this turns off auto rebuild though.

Way back in the old days, and I am talking way back, the default line weight in Chief was 1:600 in. If I can remember right, they changed it to 1:100 mm at some point to be more consistent with other cad standards at the time. You used to see old plans with it still set to 1:600 every once in a while but I haven't seen one in years. Never saw one at 1:700 though. Since most people are probably using 1:100 mm, you might have some conversion issues if you download someone's cad details and want to use them in your plans.

The dimensions that show when you click on something are just temp dimensions and are only there to make editing the object easier. If you want dimensions to show up and be part of your construction docs, you need to add them. You can use the manual or automatic dimension tools but you may need to set them up to locate your fixtures/electrical.

They completely replaced their old render engine that used OpenGL with a new one in X13 so a machine that could run X12 just fine might not be able to run any of the newer versions. As far as I can tell, if you could run X14 fine than X15 should run as well. You should verify that it meets the system requirements: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/products/sysreq.html

That looks like a video card issue. I would try this tech article first: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00106/troubleshooting-3d-camera-view-display-problems-in-chief-architect.html If that doesn't help you solve your problems, then I would call tech support and ask for help.

I think if you wanted to do this in X14, you could place the light into a blank plan, open a camera view, and use the "adjust lights" tool. Then you would have to save the light back to the library. I did not actually try this but it should work and obviously it would be easier with the improved light dialog in X15.

I think Rob is showing the X14 and older dialog and Robert is showing the new X15 one.

Normally they will, unless you do something to make it so they don't. For example, you can offset the 3D data in any direction so that it appears in a totally different place than the 2D cad block. You can also change the draw order of the cad block so that one thing looks like it is on top of another thing even though it is below it in a camera view. In this case, there is furniture that was placed on both the first floor and on the attic. Both sets of furniture were moved down so that they look like they appear on the floor below in camera views. The cad block will always display on the floor the furniture was placed on, regardless of the height of the actual object. Not really sure how you got into this state but I can see how it was confusing until you figured out what was going on.

The short answer is no. If you change the line style and color for the "door" layer it will change the swing indicator but it will also change the door and the jamb lines. You might want to submit a feature request for that.

I don't think the "gable over door" tool will work when the wall is already a gable wall. I think all it does is build a "gable line" for you automatically and the gable line won't make a gable on a gable wall. You could create a "porch" room using invisible walls or railings and then tell the program to make a gable roof over it. This will give you a slab floor and allow you to control things more automatically through the walls/room definition. You could also just create the gable using two manual roof planes.

You could try building the stone sections out of thick walls instead of solids. You won't be able to get the rounded corners doing this though, at least not easily. There may also be ways to solve the problems with the wall layers when using invisible walls, but you would have to post a plan/picture showing the problem. You might be able to get the look you want using doorways and then placing the blocks into them.

If you are trying to send a camera view to layout, then try switching to a vector view. "Plot lines" is greyed out when you are sending a plan view or when you are in a standard render/PBR camera view. Also, the reason that when you change the layers in your plans that it changes the layout is because they are using the same layer set. I recommend checking our the training videos related to layer sets and saved plan views.

Yes, it seems to depend on the object types. Just like using "open object" on objects selected in a plan. Some things can be opened together and some can't. They don't always need to be the exact same type though. For example, I can select a hinge, a chair, and a dishwasher and I can still use open object. If I include an electrical object with them, then I can't. But if they are all electrical objects, even if one is a switch and another is a light, I can open them. I can also select a "garage door" and a "doorway" as long as they are both door objects or both door panel symbols but not if you mix them together. Clear as mud?

#1. This might depend on which dimension you are trying to change for a given wall configuration and how you have selected the wall. Show us an example of a config and what you are trying to change and I might have some better advice. #2. The reference floor will be displayed using a layer set and you can use any layer set you want. Just make sure the objects you want to see are turned on in the layer set you are using for your reference display. So basically, you can control what shows up in your reference display just like you can control what shows up in your floor plan.

I think the "line separation" under the "general" page only affects the baseline dimensions. You have to change it in "setup automatic" if you want to change it for your automatic dimensions. I don't think these settings have any affect on manual dimensions though (so I have to agree with Kenoeightspot that you could use your grid spacing to help with this). At least, I have never figured out how to make them work for manual dimensions so maybe there is a good feature request here somewhere.

Have any of you guys tried it? Seems to work for me.

Are you sure you want to lock the "focal point" (or "target") because it sounds like you really just want to lock the "focal distance"? I don't think you can "lock" either per se, but if you use the right camera tools, it won't move (or it will move the way you want it to). For example, if you move the camera in or out using "i" and "o" hotkeys, you will move the camera closer to or farther from the focal point without moving its location. If you move the camera forward or backward using "f" and "b", you will move both the camera and target along a line and keep the focal distance the same. None of the camera orbit tools will move either the focal point or focal distance. They will just rotate the camera around the focal point. The pan camera tools will keep the same focal distance but they will move the focal point sideways (or up/down) the same amount as the camera. The tilt camera tools do basically the opposite of the orbit tools but they will also keep the same focal distance.

My "palette options" has a "fit palette" as well as the option to change the display from "grid view" to "list view". Maybe it looks different depending on how you have the palette setup? The "gear" button actually appears in several other places, like in the ALDO and the library browser. It usually has settings that are relevant to the window that is in. Hovering over it should also give you a better description of what it does. Once you get used to it being there, you might find it kind of handy to know where to go to change your settings.

I think Joe means you could use a "polyline distribution region" because I don't think you can use a "material region" on a roof.

Try making a copy of the plan and deleting everything that is not relevant to the walls (such as fixtures, furniture, cabinets, saved cameras, cad details, framing, etc.) You can use the "delete objects" tool to do this very quickly. You might not need to use "backup entire plan" unless you are using custom textures on your walls.

I am no macro expert... but have you tried just using the built in macro ".to_ft" and ".round"?

The ones in the Chief library all seem to stretch just fine without any stretch planes. They stretch uniformly though which may not give you a very accurate representation of the actual pullout you will use (or one you can actually buy). My guess is that you have done something wrong setting up the symbol you imported. I would compare the settings with one of Chief's to see what is different. Or, if you want someone to be able to help more, you will probably need to post a plan.