VisualDandD

Had a similar problem when I upgraded to win 10. Went round and round. It was hit or miss, but whenever I tried to export or "save as", Chief would crash. I tried many things.....eventually I made a new user account (new desktop) and copied all my stuff over. That solved my issues.

No bumps in that render. I think if one were added, it would improve greatly. I did that a few years back. I probably tweaked the material. It was a few years back. I will try to pull it up and will share it when I get a chance.

"Real" stainless is quite reflective. When I was looking to improve my renderings, I actually took the time to take a close look (in real life) how it behaves. I was surprised at just how reflective it is. The grainy thing is difficult to achieve. I dont shoot for doing many "photo realistic" renderings and do most in just watercolor/line. But this is from X6 I think where I was playing around. If I spent more time on it, I think I could improve it some from here with a good bump map. I have started doing more stuff in Lumion and still playing with making my SS better. It takes some work, but this is where I left off. The difficulty is real SS has some minor distortions in it. Our CAD models want things in perfect planes. Places where handles attach to faces, distort the material slightly and give distorted reflections. At some point, I may attempt to tackle this with an alteration to bump maps....but as I said, I dont worry too much about trying for perfect realism.

Hmmmmm... I just closed X8 and rebooted and then opened it again. Now it worked?! Ha....never know sometimes. Never hurts to re-boot when having an issue and see if it goes away. Thanks!

OK....I repeated it real quick Blank plan. Imported two layers to copy an old plan. SPWALL_OUTLINE SPWALL_TEXTURE. I then just closed a box in the plan to define a room. Now turn "all off" on the layers and just select SPWALL_OUTLINE SPWALL_TEXTURE. to show on drawing. Group select and delete all those objects from plan. Now open Layers up and confirm that those layers are not used. Now try to delete those unused layers. I cant do it.... Maybe I am missing something?.... Running X8 layer exp.plan

I am sorry.... I meant individual layers. I fixed it but in a draconian way. I just copied everything (leaving those two created Import layers off) and pasted into my "save as" template. I already deleted the old file. I am working on sprucing up my "save as" template and did not want to clog it up with any unnecessary layers that I could not get rid of for whatever reason. I can try to reproduce and also try to do it in X7 and see if it does same thing. Have to make a note to do it... [edit] plan example attached below.

I impoted a DWG with two layersets. I have since deleted all remnants of them. They do not show as used in my dialogue, but it wont let me delete them.... They are not mapped to any specific "Chief" layers that can not be deleted. I can delete other unused layers have created....just not those two that came in as an import. Could this be a X8 bug? Anyone run into anything similar?

Ahhh! With the new ability to control roof "platform" type, I guess it moved. Wonder if it changes globally? (Like you could under "edit all planes) Have to try it out. THANK YOU!!!

Ran into this today. Needs fixed ASAP. Really a tough one as I have "Wall"X" copy" building up in my plans.....

OK...am I going crazy? The roof plane material is missing from the roof plane DBX. Tried "edit all roof planes" and individually selecting them. Guess I can "paint" them, but that is not really the way I like to handle it.

It is always good to see the way others work. I am thinking for me, live details would me re-doing sections every plan. I have a ton of "standard" ones I use and usually only have to do a few job specific ones for each new plan. Sometimes only a stair sect. Been a while since I tried to work "live". Back in the day, it was more trouble than it was worth trying to get it to generate right. Might be better now. Always worth evaluating! I might try in out again. Thanks for sharing.

Problem with post to beam is siding is not right (depending on actual offsets and plate heights). For me getting my elevations to display right as well as floor plans are a priority. If I happen to have a section that passes through that area, it is easy enough to manually detail it out. In fact, I almost never take the time to actually "Frame" the house in 3d. Sections I dont already have, I can manually detail MUCH quicker that the amount of time it takes to get all the 3d framing correct. Yes I could do it, but I also framed for almost 15 years. Had 60+ men at my biggest and built everything from large customs to mixed use and multifamily. (besides GC work I have done) Building the framing is not necessary for me to picture how it will go together. In my area plans only require a few typical sections. I could do the extra work, but it would not be something that anyone is willing to pay.... Engineer notes are usually done all in 2d notations on top of plans, and any sections they might add are typical as well. Guess my workflow has as much to do with the requirements of my locality. Floor plans and elevations drive my choices.

Not sure what you mean? Are you speaking of 3d framing? Obviously I did not put cols in there as it had nothing to do with the question of the op. As for header.....also not sure what you mean. Would it not be flush in said condition? You can use moulding poly line if you want to wrap with trim or a soffit and adjust poNY wall ht. Not sure if that is what you are asking?

Gotcha! I know the feeling. Been messing with this stuff since V6 (not x6). Funny I still see new ways to get things done! I like using selective CAD layers as it gives me some flexibility. Sometimes I just know a "beam" needs to go certain places, and a 2D representation is all I need. While I do go into 3D for structure at times (to make sure of beam, rafter, joist clearance), I dont fully detail plans in 3d. I just use it as a tool to make sure all the elevation info, wall plate info..etc will work out in the field if executed right. I use 3d to communicate with clients but dont translate any of it into working drawings. (except for the pretty picture on cover page )

Do you turn off those walls (over the porch) in floor plan view and manually draw in CAD?. My method is based on getting the working drawings as the most important. The 3d is less important to me. I do a lot of 3d in the drawing process but am not willing to compromise my working drawings to get a better look 3d. (boy...you should see what I have to go through modeling custom ceilings )

No egos at all! I appreciate it. I too want to do things the easiest way. Been a while since I messed with this, so I am glad it came up. I like your idea from a 3d point of view, but it does not look how I want it on floor plans. Here is what I did, a little better explained this time. I fixed the wall line definition so it displays the porch perimeter properly in plan view. I fixed the siding issue (on right side for illustrative purposes) using the wall break tool and then used the edit intersection tool to make sure the siding went through as I wanted it. (You break it at the "T" intersection) d d porch with pony reverse and arches ver2.plan

I like to do most of my work in 2d but you are right. One thing that I need to change is the line properties of the lower layer called "no wall" so it only has a single line at the outer perimeter. That way it will display better on floor plans. I am thinking this ponywall method is an advantage in that way as well. (being able to have floor plans show porches defined by walls more accurately). I then generally go in an manually draw CAD for any beams required on a layer I create for that purpose. Depending upon the engineer I am working with, sometimes we only do "A's" and everything in on floor plans. Others like separate "S" pages. I have layer sets defined for either purpose.

I am not sure if anyone else does this....but I thought of it a few weeks ago and wondered why I never did it before. Basically a pony wall with no wall on bottom. Makes a nice tool for setting porches and getting siding right. I used to use invisible walls or railings and then detail with soffits...etc. This works much better and plays nicer with other 3d elements. (dont have to mess with as much stuff to get to show right in 3d. I use it not only for arched porches, but any porch really. porch with pony reverse.plan

If you really think you have created something that no human has ever conceived you might want to protect it. Otherwise, just post the plan. People in my opinion are silly about protecting their designs. Anyone that wants to can copy any plan very quickly with or without a file. Posting a plan helps tremendously for guys that know the ins and outs of Chief. Remember, it is YOU that is asking for help. They are not soliciting your plans.

Same thing here. Been relying on just using a click or two and then doing everything with the 3d mouse. Been using since beta so I have become used to it. (Using the 3d mouse to navigate rather than "zooming". Definitely something going on...

Running Chief as "administrator" will mess with some functions. I found this out when I was trying to track down another issue I was having with chief and was running it this way. I tried to drag and drop a .skp file into chief and it would not work. Still worked in X7. The guys at chief asked if I was running as admin as that would cause an issue. Turned out they were right!

For what you are describing, one note will work very well. There are specific programs like "Builder Trend", but that is kind of overkill for what you are looking for. If you ever look into it, one note is a very powerful bit of software. You can "print" anything to it. There is an app called "office lens" that takes pics or scans from your phone and sends it directly to there. You can organize your folders however you want. Combined with outlook, you can set reminders, deadlines.....on and on and on..... Hard to beat it. I use it with office 365 so I link my one drive account to it. (which has phone and tablet apps as well). You can also do dropbox or google drive. Since I am using Office 365 I just sync my files with one drive. With my business subscription, I have a 1tb drive size.

Here are a few more trying to tweek the stainless. This is getting closer....maybe just a little too much gloss. I have been looking at real stainless and am surprised at how reflective it actually is. I think I have good texture settings and scale. (or at least a lot better) I attached my stainless texture. The one I have had the best luck with is the one I labeled "stainless good 3". You can try others though. Firstassign a material to something then click on the "wrench" in the upper right hand corner of the black box from the material definition. Click edit and load, and add this texture file. Let me know if you come up with any good ones you would like to share! stainless good 2.zip

WOW WOW WOW!!! Thanks so much for this. Been a looooong time user of Chief and still dont know all the little bits! Thanks so much for chiming in!!! Really nice to have participation from Chief on here. Thanks!!!

Thanks....still working on it. I'll copy over the settings next time I am in there. It is at the point where it still needs a little tweaking, but i'll see what you can do with it. I noticed your last rendering of the entryway in luminon. Looked really good. I was going to suggest a touch of 'volumetric sunlight'. I have noticed at lower levels, it really improves my floor reflections. (shows off your bump maps really well).