DefinedDesign

On 5/15/2023 at 10:03 PM, SHCanada2 said:

maybe post a video.

 

as well make sure your active defaults show the new default: (on the right below)

 

How does one go about showing the active defaults on the right?  This is what my toolbar looks like out of the box from CA:

Any thoughts from anyone on how to create and show a 6 gang switch in plan and on the electrical schedule?

Adding 6 single pole switches is incredibly messy on the electrical plan and visually in 3D views, and it doesn't communicate well to the electrician in the electrical schedule.

Just now, DrawingABlank said:

What kind of object is it?

4 minutes ago, DrawingABlank said:

You can change the component description formula to whatever you would like. In the attached the description is changed from "=description" to "Test this"

Unfortunately - I can't click in the formula column and description row to change what is in that cell.

For some reason I can't change the name of the component description.  Is there something I need to turn on or off in order to be able to edit the description of an object?

I don't want to edit the label.  I want to edit the component description so it reflects an accurate description in the schedule.

4 hours ago, SHCanada2 said:

 

it sounds like you only have one dimension default and you are changing it, and both plan views are using the same one

if that is the case you should probably create a new dimension default set and save it to your new view.

 

my roof view:

 

 

my floor view

 

 

Thanks Jason, I tried creating a copy of the 1/4" default set and renamed it, but this caused even more issues.  I couldn't get the default set to stick to either view, it would always change to whatever default dimension set I selected to both views.  

I duplicated my Floor Plan View and Titled it 'Floor Plan View Rough Opening'.  In the 'Floor Plan View' I added auto exterior dimensions centered on openings and walls and sent it to layout.  My problem occurs when I open the 'Floor Plan View Rough Opening' and I change the defaults to find the rough openings it is changing my auto exterior dimensions in the layout for the 'Floor Plan View Rough Opening'.  

I want to be able to send both dimensioned Views to the same layout page.  My plan is tiny and having centered and rough opening dimensions all in one plan view creates a jumbled mess.  My solution (so I thought) would be to create two plan views and have one auto dimension to centers and the other to rough openings and surfaces.  

Any thoughts on how to do this correctly?


Also just discovered when I'm in 'Floor Plan View Shell' and remove the Center Line dimensions I created it is removing them from the Layout created from the 'Floor Plan View'

It seems like all my plan view dimensions are related no matter what View they come from, is this the case?  If yes, is there a creative way to dimension my views differently?

1 minute ago, Chopsaw said:

Yes,  Always print to PDF to review before printing.  PDF viewers should give you a magnification level setting...  ie 100%

 

Then print from the PDF for most predictable results.

Thank you!  I did not think of this.  It would be wonderful if CA would have a way to click a button in layout and just view that page, rather than having to go through the steps of creating a PDF.  

Are there any options available for viewing my layout pages at the actual size of the 12" x 18" ARCH C drawing sheet? I would like to be able to assess how the dimensions, callouts, text, and other elements appear at the printed size to avoid any issues with overcrowding or jumbled content and fix these prior to sending off to the printer.

I hope this make sense, if not let me know and I'll try to clarify.

Thanks @Chopsaw and @SusanC both these solved the problem!  Many thanks to both of you!!! 

1 hour ago, Chopsaw said:

That is a preference setting.      Appearance > Display > Images and Pictures: > "Display in Color when Possible"

Thanks so much, unfortunately I don't have Display under Appearance.  I wonder if this a Mac issue?   

49 minutes ago, DBCooper said:

Layout boxes and other polyline things have the "fillet lines" tool on the edit toolbar.  A handy little tool that let's you set the fillet radius and either fillet a single corner or all the corners at one time.  

 

Images (AKA "picture file boxes") don't have that tool (not sure why), but you can still fillet them by holding down the "F" key while dragging a corner.  I don't know if there is a way to set the exact radius though and it only fillets all corners..  Must be something with the way images work that is different then polys because you can't make the image box any shape you want either.

 

I think this works the same in X15 as it did back in X12 although I did not notice if it had been broken at some time along the way.

 

I wasn't sure if @DefinedDesignwas using actual images or sending a view to a layout so I was covering both bases by suggesting to hold down the "F" key.

 

BTW, if you want to create an arbitrary shape for an image on a layout, you could always put it into a cad detail first, and then send the detail to the layout, and then edit the shape of the layout box.  Boom, best of both worlds.

 

Thanks so much!!!

Hi there! Could you kindly help me out with something? I have a page layout with a 1/8=1' scale floor plan, an imported image, and some Rich Text. However, when I export the page to Chief Architect Save As PDF, I can't seem to find the option to make the image color. Do you happen to know how I can do this? I would really appreciate your support. Thanks a lot!

Is there a round to round the corners of an image while in layout using X12?

13 hours ago, SNestor said:

Lisa - lots of little things going on in your plan. The dormer fix is very simple. Watch the video...should answer most of your questions.

Wow, thank you so much for sharing this video with me! I just finished watching it once, and now I'm going to go back and follow your instructions step by step. It usually takes me a little longer to process things than most people, but I'm excited to see what happens once I've gone through everything.

I really appreciate your help, and I'll definitely report back to you once I've had a chance to try everything out. Thanks again!

9 hours ago, Alaskan_Son said:

 

This simply isn't always possible.  The software is imperfect.  Sometimes you just need to do the best you can (or the best the software can) and move on. 

 

It should also be noted that covering the "error" up isn't necessarily wrong.  You're just having to use a different tool or approach than expected.  I can for example cover an errant hole in a wall by completely removing the drywall layer from the wall definition, covering it with a solid, and then adding a component to that solid (or even to the wall for that matter) to get materials to accurately report to the materials list.  I've also done things like stacking multiple walls side by side (one for the framing layer and another for the drywall layer, etc.) which ultimately report completely fine to the materials list without any component modification.

 

Or maybe the material list isn't even wrong and its only the 3D view.  If its not actually visible in any of your rendering or documents, does it really matter?  Or if you can patch it with a mask of some sort in 5 minutes, is it really worth spending several hours figuring out a way to make it work "correctly"? 

Thank you so much for sharing your perspective! I completely agree that software can be imperfect, we often have to make do with the tools we have, and we don't always need to spend hours fixing something that may not even be noticeable in the end.  However, when I see CA videos of complicated designs with seemingly no issues, I think that I should be able to do the same. 

Personally, I love a challenge when it comes to solving a problem, and I approach things in a similar way to Edison and Einstein. I believe that there must be a solution and that the time and effort I put into finding it is worth it in the end. Even if I'm the only one who benefits from it, I enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that I can use the software more effectively going forward.
 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate you! 

Well, this is such a difficult thing to overcome.   It's important for me to understand why this is happening so I won't repeat the error.  It's also important that Chief generates everything correctly without me drawing in something to cover up the error, so the materials to calculate correctly.  To spend so much money on this software and spend days working on this by watching all the CA Tutorials, reading all the KB articles, Posting in ChiefTalk.  It's a tad frustrating to not figure this out.  Admittedly, I won't surrender until I it's fixed.

11 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

 

Sorry didn't see you reply earlier today about Following the link above, I have updated the Post and the PDF to include the Fix as well now,  I thought it was in there so I didn't need to retype it......

 

I am not sure what is up with your other issues as it didn't happen here, there was a gap on the Triangle side but I just pulled the top of the wall up a couple of inches to fix it , I wouldn't recommend that in most cases but occasionally it is needed especially if Balloon Through Ceiling doesn't work  ( in the Wall's Structure Tab) and it didn't in this case.....

 

I am not sure why your plan was so big previously ( 91mb ) but after purging Materials and resaving it the Plan file is only 9mb - unzipped.... attached below....

 

M.

Mick, I appreciate your help, - a tutorial on how to purge materials would be awesome.   

I think the issue is with the dividing wall between the rooms being inside the house and over the deck - I have not found any tutorials on how to accomplish this.  I also think my Macbook does the best it can but it's always had issues with Chief Architect - always since 2013.  Since the Macbook works great with all the other software I put on it, I can only conclude it doesn't get along with Chief Architect software very well - it's much better than it used to be.  

I will reach out to the help desk and see if they can help me troubleshoot.

Very grateful for you and your kindness in helping me get this far!

58 minutes ago, Kbird1 said:

 

Follow the link above , I even posted a PDF for it....

 

M.

Followed the link and read the pdf my brain did not read an answer as to how to set the Materials back to the defaults.  A couple hours of searching and I discovered:

>In plan view open up the wall dialog
>go to materials
>In the component box select the exterior wall surface
>Now hit the 'Select Material' button to the right

>In the Select Material dialogue check the box to 'Use default material' and select OK

>

After doing this for all the exterior walls I still had that little triangle piece showing up as drywall.  

I split the wall into a 6" exterior and a 6" interior which took care of the issue on the outside, everything looks great.  However, the inside is a mess.  When I try to make changes to the wall I get this new error message:

Here are the two rooms that the manual dormer is over:

11 minutes ago, Kbird1 said:

 

all I did here was set the Walls back to Siding 6 and the Material's back to default....  other than that you have it good  

 

Apologies in advanced for my ignorance but how would I set the Materials back to default?  

22 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

 

Upload to your cloud account and then post the download link or create a stripped down version of the file without fixtures and furnishings etc.

Zipped Plan File - Put the zip file into Dropbox and copied the link.

9 minutes ago, Kbird1 said:

 

your on a mac it appears and you have iCloud , is it full ? 22mb is pretty small, it is unfortunate CA lowered the limit to 14mb ( used to be 25mb) during Covid as a cost cutting measure. I thought Mac's came with Dropbox too which is a free 2GB....

 

M.

 

Zipped Plan File - Put the zip file into Dropbox and copied the link.

2 minutes ago, Kbird1 said:

 

The missing part of the side wall is common , depends on a number of factors but generally you can select it while in 3D and pull it across manually to fill in the Hole.

 

Mick.

Thanks Mick - unfortunately if I try to pull it across manually, the wall completely disappears.  

4 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

 

Upload to your cloud account and then post the download link or create a stripped down version of the file without fixtures and furnishings etc.

@Chopsaw I don't have any cloud accounts that will hold a file that large.  The zipped file does have all the interior gutted.  

Would welcome any insight on what I'm doing incorrectly.  I manually drew this dormer because Auto Dormer would not work - I got all the standard CA error messages with Auto Dormers.  Many many hours into this and it's almost there, but not...   (Please advise how I can attach the plan, ChiefTalk gives me a message it will only load 14 MB, my zipped plan is 22.3 MB)