Builder921

JT, Thanks for the welcome and info. I'd be glad to share the difference between "Design" with CA and "Engineering" with Structure. Are you thinking here or a general forum post? I've tried to respond several times over the course of days but repeated problems with the forum accepting / responding. Common issue?? Will message you me email for follow up.

Part of the issue I'm having with CA is a level of precision and context built into the program. I'm expecting something that's not there and probably not needed. Using Mitek Structure my designs once completed, went into the production department where they feed lumber into one end of the saws and truss parts come out the other......so attention to detail and exacting tolerances were required. CA is more of a concept / design program with matching tools. The instructional videos are Lacking a lot of info and context! MiTek's library is well over 2,000 training vids. You can watch them 8 hours a day for a month and not make it through the library. Also have both email and phone tech support....that appears an extra cost with CA. So I've found the vids put out by users / on YouTube mostly of better quality and relevance then what's on CA's site. Thanks to all who responded and tried to point me in the right direction.....sure I'll be back with other questions and someday can be as helpful to new users as you've been to me.

Thanks! Have watched more since initial post and will be watching them all over time.

@GeneDavis Thanks. I did watch that one BEFORE trying to drop the floor....but watched again anyway.

@DBCooper Thanks!

Never did figure out what was turned on, turned off, or broken with the first drawing model. No matter what I did could not get the relationship between the buildings correct.....started over with a better understanding of the floor elevation dynamic and eventually have a model / drawing that works. Beamed breezeway was part of the issue in needing the foundation heights accurate but most of it came into play with the rafter systems and over framing. What the inspector wanted to see for permitting and the framers needed to know for bidding and doing the project. Breezeway roof has to be framed first with most of it on house walls and one hip. Then over frame the rest of the house roof plains to complete the hips. Was a little challenging to get CA to leave the existing rafters and show 2 sets of over framing. Still not 100% as it's missing some 2x10 plates and has a couple of artifacts I can't seem to remove. But it'll work for now.

Thanks.....Other forums I've used had a reply link in each members post that did not include "quoting" there text. Getting the hang of this one.

Thanks for the insight. Keeping in mind the relationship between structures all from a central date point does help. One mistake I was making (of several) was treating the floors as separate systems / objects.

Thanks. Not my first forum but 1st time I haven't seen a simple "reply" or similar. Feels like a Dumb questions but how do you respond without using the quote button????

Appears the only way to respond is using the "quote" button??? Don't want to include the entire post.....just respond to specifics.

X16 on Win10 Pro, 3x monitor work station, 32Gbs I've wasted hours trying to set the 2 floors at the correct heights. Floor on right needs to be sunk to have the joist tops flush with the sill plates on the 8" CMU's. Will be adding a beam hallway to join the 2 structures and there is a difference in t.o.w. based on the floor heights. (Both 8' walls). Included are the settings for floors. Cannot show accurately how the house / hallway roof will tie in on top of / above the fascia line of the garage conversion without the difference in floor heights. Background and Rant: Have been using CAD since I upgraded from Win3.11 to Win95 and installed "Data Cad". Came on 30+ diskettes and ran in DOS. Builder w/ 30yrs experience w/ everything from site survey to nailing on the ridge cap. Have performed every trade required to build a house. Left a position couple years ago as a truss designer / engineer running MiTek Structure, both 20/20 and SE. Have spent at least 16 hours watching Chief training vids and for the most part they are not very useful. Many of the menus & tools shown are different or missing options shown in the vids. A lot of the vids are so old they show X9 across the top. So far Chief feels like something I'd pickup at Best Buy for $99.95. Far to many interconnected settings that should NOT be. Unnecessary complications and un-explained features / settings. Could have drawn this entire project, including rafter over-framing, in Structure in about 20 minutes. Yes, I would not get the pretty colored elevations but I'd have a complete, workable, structural drawing. Very Frustrated at this point. Read a post as to how Chief is set to build from the top down....Really? Was this code written by a troop of Monkeys on Crack??? Any guidance on what I'm missing or doing wrong will be appreciated! Also any suggestions on tools, sources, etc to learn this software would also be appreciated. The Chief site has a lot of out dated or inaccurate video's.