DBCooper

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.

Until then you will need to use a work around. I like to remove the toe kick from the cabinets and use a molding polyline for situations like this. CA-001 set to 3/4" thick and 4" high works out pretty good and you can make it any shape you want.

Did you see this article? https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-01069/designing-a-traditional-pole-barn-structure.html If that doesn't help, then you need to ask more specific questions about what you are having problems with. BTW, I think this would be much easier in X14 than in X12 because of the new framing tools they have added since then.

You can only move the stairs on the floor you drew them on. If you have an open below room to make the stairwell opening, you need to move the railings or walls you created it with to change the shape of it. If you have a railing with an automatic opening at the top of the stair, you will usually get the opening when you click on it but you can get the railing by using the tab key. Another thing you can do is delete all of the railings on the upper floor and then just use the "auto stairwell" tool to generate new ones. If none of this helps, then you should post the plan.

Saved plan views keep track of the "layer set". They don't keep track of any individual layer settings. So in Eric's video, you can see how "never save" will not prompt you or save the layer set change he made. My guess is that you are turning individual layers on/off and expecting this to be temporary. The program doesn't work that way. I think what you want is maybe something more like this: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/topic/25960-extend-new-saved-plan-view-save-options-funcionality-to-layer-sets/

Actually, I think chieftalk does a pretty good job of keeping spam off the forum. The spam you saw this morning was already gone by the time I read this which was only an hour later. And if they are going to remove posts with certain words in them, my first vote is for "golf".

Chief Architect Support: 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM Pacific Tech support should already be open, you should call them.

use open symbol under options, turn off flush mounted of course the base might still look a little funny

Did you try the "check knowledge base" button? My guess is it is a video card or driver problem. I would check out this tech article: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00106/troubleshooting-3d-camera-view-display-problems-in-chief-architect.html

Pro is more like "Chief lite" and there are a lot of differences: https://cloud-hd.chiefarchitect.com/1/pdf//product-info/compare-chief-architect-to-home-designer-pro.pdf The other thing you can do is download the trial version and try it yourself.

So it really depends on the type of object you are trying to rotate. You can rotate some things, like symbols and primitives, but you can't rotate most other objects. So if you need more help, I would try and give some more information and less attitude. Oh, and by the way, Bela Lugosi's dead.

Posting a picture would be good, but a plan would be even better. Maybe your dormer is too high up on the roof? Maybe your ceiling heights are messed up? Don't really know for sure because I'm not sure if I have seen "horns" although I have seen some pretty messed up side walls. The only other thing I can suggest is to send it to tech support. I don't think dormers should build with "horns" regardless of what you have done.

Are you using a fixed door or a window for the side lite? I find that the fixed door generally behaves better than a window. Either way, I don't think you can control the threshold or extra piece of jamb separate from the trim material.