VisualDandD

Great! At least I know I am not crazy when I thought this would be a good idea. At first, no one seemed to respond to the idea so I was wondering if I was the only one that saw value in it. To me, it really does a good job of presenting information in a way we actually use it in the "real world" As for the pic you posted, would you mind sharing how you did that? Is that an automatic macro or did you manually create it? It would be awesome if you could have a table like that which was automatically populated from the roof plan in plan view.

Thanks Joe. Your help got me pushed in the right direction. I have never used them, but now will be searching for other ways to use them for productivity as well as expanding the information I can make available to clients. As a framer, it would be nice to see if I can create macros to either give me the plate bearing heights (factoring certain birds mouth cuts knowing different size rafters have different 'stand heights'.) Another one that would probably be easy is ridge heights...etc.

I have not used it, but you can time track in chief....or use any number of apps from the chrome web store that will run nicely and track jobs and use a button on your desk. Then you can use "wave" accounting (which also has a chrome app). It is free and does everything quick books pro will do and also integrates with credit card payments. Generating invoices is very easy and you set up to bill hourly at certain rate. You would have to enter the hours and it will create even email and allow customers to pay via cc or even paypal (just looked it up and they have a Paypal 'direct connect' https://www.waveapps.com/blog/PayPal-integration/

Go to the create text macro and copy and paste in the formula as I show. Then what I do is turn off everything except the rafters and group select them. Under the DBX I select "label" and pick the "user defined" macro I created. It is that easy. Let me know if you cant figure it out, I can make a quick screen cap vid. Frankly I am surprised more dont see the use in this. I have almost 20 years of field experience and over 10 framing. I have also done a good amount of general contracting...etc besides desgin. Tools like this really translate across a lot of areas / trades and the use for potential customers is great. I know the people that I do work for will be VERY happy with this addition to their plans.

WOW!!! Got it figured out. I had PM's Joe Carrick for some Ruby help and he pushed me in the right direction, but it was not exactly what I needed. His solution of script went like this: x = ((length/24).round(0) + 1)*24 if x == length+24 x = length end x This worked about 75% for my cases. The problem was rafters that were say 111" would get div/24 and yeild 4.6 then rounded to 5 then adding "1" and multiplying back by 24 gives you a 12' rafter rather than a 10'. I searched for a different ruby function other than "round" and found "ceil" which takes any number and rounds to next positive integer regardless. My formula for the framing labels now is: inches = (((length/24).ceil)*24)/12 This takes the length of any member, divides it by 24 inches. It then rounds up to the next 24" increment and converts back into feet. This give you the ability to take-off and order material based upon nearest 2' increment....and never too short! I am now going to produce 'cut sheets' for our framers and include beam labels...etc and this will not only help with take-offs but proper material usage. I thought this was pretty cool. Here is a screen cap of a complicated roof I tried it on and it worked like a charm! I can add to my text macros to label member type (if I feel like modeling it that accurate). May just be easier to transpose engineers notes and manually label LVL ridges and valleys as he has spec'd them. I dont know about you guys....but I have 15+ years of framing experience too and I think this is VERY valuable. I showed it to some builders I now design for and they flipped out at how much easier it will be to verify their take-off's AND know if their framers are using lumber properly. Here is a quick screen cap

Here you go....not sure exactly what you are looking for, but this should give you something to start with. I tried to keep a standard header height on bonus room and put a 48" window there (which can meet egress if you use a casement). To go up to a 5-0 for a DH vinyl egress would have to pull the dormer further forward or make the header a lot taller and possibly be taller than a 8' 1 1/2 clg ht. You also had some funky roof planes in the front I cleaned up for you. I moved some stuff around but think I put is all back. (I like to bring my roof planes up to another level to work on them). Hollar at me in the AM. Be nice to have another local guy who is a chief user. Nice to meet you in the google earth workshop we did. Justin Kevin Amaro added dormer.zip

Doing it right now for you. If you want hollar at me in the AM. I'll PM you. Justin

That is what devices like this are for: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055MBQOW/ref=gb1h_tit_c-2_0842_e789aaa4?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_s=center-new-2&pf_rd_r=0R0PTGWM8EV4XBGWWYS5&pf_rd_i=20&pf_rd_p=2072380842 Usually used by professional graphic designers, photogs. You cant just set your monitor once.....they calibrate them and then monitor ambient light and adjust depending on viewing conditions at the monitor throughout the day.

This can be a big issue on houses with angled wings or walls. You can try all you want but you get lots of 1/16" dimensions. What I do is get them as close as I can to cleaner dimensions. I will do the foundation plan with 1/16 ths and then on the floor plan I clean them up a little. Most times setting min dimension to 1/4. (and I really dont like having 1/4" in plans...but it is a compromise) As a habit, most of the surveyors will take a direct export of a DWG so I know the foundation points will get to them with good accuracy to be entered into their site plans and following footings. The 1/16ths.....will work their way out from there.

Looks great! I played with exporting from chief to the unreal engine, and did not have much luck. My model export came in all wacky. Looks like you really have some good techniques down. Care to share any tips? The animations are great btw. Really nice work.

Never played with that function. Just looked it up and it looks neat....but I am not sure I like "blindly" trusting the take-off list. I framed for many years so doing take-offs from plans is pretty natural for me. I like being able to reference where the material is going and I am not sure I trust chief enough to just read a list. Plus, I dont have to be as accurate entering framing values in. My engineer may spec different ridge sizes...lvl's etc. I can just reference my roof framing plan to and note the length on the plan and add it to my 'list'. To be honest, I am not 100% sure of the easy way to do all this . I never really used chiefs material take-offs for much, but looking to see if I can use it to save me some time. To really see how it works, I made a simple plan and am playing with it to see how the list is generated. If anyone would like to share any techniques on how to use the list (or portions of it) feel free! Thanks for the push in a new direction of the software I never really used!

OK....I used one of the other macros to get a fractional output. Now I have to see if I can get ft-in

Hey guys. I have a pretty complex roof of a house I drew that I am helping with the take-off on. I have noticed that I can select rafters and set label value to %length% and it nicely gives me the length in inches. I cant seem to find a way to assign this globally unless I turn off all layer and only show roof framing and then group select. (which I guess works) Second question. It gives value in decimal inches. Any way to change format. I tried inserting things like "nearest inch"...etc and other commands from other labels, but it did not work. Any ideas? Thanks!

I draw basements on level "0" as well FWIW..... Lots of different ways to skin cats.

Example of a topo import I did out of google earth for a lake house. I will then do the house and use different things to bring the topo into 3d including pl solids...etc. Works really nice. topo example.zip

Are you running google earth "pro". They were giving away free licenses for a while. I find it pretty awesome some of the things you can do. On lots with aggressive TOPO (say on a lake), I import the terrain to do lot studies. Sure not as accurate as a field measure, but it can get you started for sure.

No problems here either since switching back to an Nvidia card. How people actually live with that is beyond me. I had the card lying around so I tried it in a new build, but as soon as I saw that, it took me about 3 min to realize I cant live with it. Ordered new card that day.

I would not run a small <37" 4k monitor. I have a 27" Dell 2560x1440 and even with text scaling...etc, it can be tough to use at times. (and I have 20/15 vision). So a 4k under 37" is about the same pixels per inch and that is how I arrived at that number. I had thought of upgrading to one, but really there is not much point in it. For just over 600 you can get the dell I am using. It is a VERY nice monitor with a great adjustable stand with swivel if you want it. It is a Dell U2713hm. I think it is a great monitor and I have 2-24" 1080p's on either side and the dell is so much easier on the eyes. Whites look nice and white without the need to be overly bright. Lines are super crisp and defined. Really I dont think it could get much nicer.....

I am running a 4790k @4.4 on SSID's and 24gb mem and a gtx 970 overclocked. Processing power or graphics card dont seem to be the issue with. I cant tell the difference between using it on this system or a slower I7 @3.0 and an older GTX 660.....

Sorry about wrong term! I know better Anyway....as Kevin said, it is not a repeatable event. It is doing it sometime and not others..... Just opened up and it is working fine now. I did not think back clipping had any effect on elevation cameras?... Just experimented with it on another plan and set the cross ection camera a few inches from a wall, and then started messing with settings. None had any effect.

I used to use roofs, but now find that p-line solids are easier to deal with. (especially when you want them to render properly.)

Yea.....this is the first time I have seen it act like this and have been using X7 all through the beta. I am guessing that it might have something to do with the fact this plan has walls at a 45deg angle in it. It seems in elevation, I am getting quirky things going on. Some times, no textures at all....some times just textures on one plane and not the other...etc. Layout seems to be updating correctly though..... Not sure what the deal is. I have to jump off that plan but will be revisiting it in a few days.

Anyone else experience issues with toggling textures not working properly in X7? I have been working through a set of drawings and I normally make notes with textures off (for less screen clutter). It has starting acting all weird through. Either it is totally unresponsive, or only 1/2 the walls will texture....etc. No rhyme or reason. When you update layout, it at least seems (for the most part) to update layout with the selections you have input ed (even if it is not showing you that on the screen) Never had anything like this happen before..... Here is a little vid of it in action. Dont mind the stuffy nose....got a cold

Thanks man! Not that many people 'get it', but there are those that do. Most guys my age, reflect back on their glory years. Truth is, I am better at 42 than I ever was in my 20's. (and I was a collegiate athlete at a pretty high level) My goal is to keep this lifestyle as I age. I do understand that at some point age will start to impact, but I will not go down easily! As for computer parts.... I did a bunch of research, and all the parts I used were very good 'bang for the buck'. I could have gone a little higher on some stuff....but I know this new build will be good for the next 4-5 years. I kept my old one that long. I did the same thing when I built it. I did not go top end, but just under. It was an I7 950 @ 3 ghz overclocked to 3.3 with a GTX660. Still runs great today. Sold it for $600 and this new build was under $700 if I factor selling my old one in. Seemed like a solid investment.

I ordered the GTX970 'OC' edition. It was $335 I think from Newegg.com with a $10 rebate. For mother board, I went with a MSI z97-gaming 5 motherboard. ($150). It is a no brainer for overclocking. With the i7 4790k, (using just the 'overclock genie' which automatically detects all your hardware and sets up your OC), I went from 4.0 to 4.4. I could manually adjust things and ramp up more....but it is not necessary. It might as well be at stock speeds. The 4790k is made to overclock and is 100% stable here. I did not want to liquid cool this rig so I just bought a cooler master 212 EVO air cooler/rad setup. Quiet and keeps temps in the low 80's even at 100% cpu benchmarking. All in all....this is a demonstration of a fast rig that can be built fairly cheap. This hot swap on the front is AWESOME Also went with a cool case design. Corsair Air 540. Makes for a real neat install with PS being separated from other components. Also gives great cross cooling and a nice washable filter on the front fans.