snoopy1963

I would export your model to Lumion if you have the software. Lumion is the way to go if you want photo realistic renderings. It creates a great rendering. Goes well with Chief. Just export the model and import into Lumion and adjust your settings and presto! Worth the investment if you want to pair up Chief with Lumion.

Thanks David!!! I did just that and it worked like magic. Now I have all of my symbols back. You saved the day.

I installed X15 in my new lap top and upgraded to X15 from X14 on my PC and the program doesn't install my User Library.. I tried troubleshooting the problem but haven't had any success at fixing it. Every time I try to import my User Library I get this message. And, every time I try to import a 3D symbol from Sketchup it does not add it to the library. I was wondering if any users have encountered this issue. Any advice would be helpful and greatly appreciated. Sorry my profile still shows X13 in use but i have upgraded to X14 then X15 to now.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

This is awesome! I’ve always used the default layer plus I created separate layers for Lights, outlets, and switches but never as specific as yours. It gives you more control of your electrical symbols. You killed it man! That’s pretty awesome! Thanks for sharing!!!

Try Sketchup 3D warehouse. 3D Warehouse (sketchup.com) Create an account and type in "pendant light" in the search bar. A variety of pendant lights will come up. I use 3D warehouse to download 3D symbols and then import them into my CA plan file and convert symbol to anything I want. You can convert it to a light fixture and add all the bells and whistles by using the convert symbol child button I show below. Good luck!!!

I had the same problem with the ceiling finish. I lost the vaulted ceiling finish while redesigning the roof planes on my project. I spent days on end trying to figure out why I had lost my ceiling finish. I went to the Room Specification box and the ceiling there but didn't show on the camera view. Check everything possible but no ceiling. It didn't show on the camera view. After a few days I let it rest came back to check. SOLUTION: Double click on the roof plane and in the Roof Plane Specification box go to Structure. Then click Edit button next to Ceiling. The Roof Ceiling Finish Definition box appears. Check to see if you have a material listed in the material layers window. I had no material listed so that is why no ceiling was showing in the camera views. So, I inserted a material and clicked OK and viola - the ceiling material showed up. Why did it take me so long to figure this out when it was a simple fix? Honest to God I don't have an answer. But just liked the challenge of finding out after relentless trial and error.

I was using Physically Based Ray Tracing.

My plan file is bigger than 14 kb so I'll have to find a way to reduce it to be able to share it.

After some trial and error, I found out that if I toggle the Sunlight button to off and turn off any light behind the walls where the light bleeds through, it eliminates the glowing edges. Also, if when I reduce the Daylight Backdrop Intensity in Rendering Technique Options to about 500 it helps a lot to eliminate bleed. You have to Build a foundation and roof. Problem solved. Any other ideas would help too if you had this problem. This is my fixed rendering. Its look much better now.

I get glowing edges around some walls and haven't found a fix. I tried generating a foundation and a roof, but the glowing edges are still showing up in my ray trace. Any ideas on how to fix this? Thanks!

Thanks! I’m new to Lumion and it has great user-friendly platform. Easy to operate and navigate through just like Chief.

Thank you all for your solutions to my dilemma and thanks to Ryan. I created a ceiling plane and railing wall without the drywall and it worked. Thanks Ryan. Here's my final presentation rendering on Lumion with a few quirks but looks ok. I exported the Chief Architect Collada model file into Lumion and it worked like a baby. I'm just blown away what I can create on Chief and how it seamlessly integrates with other software. Pretty awesome.

I'm having a hard time fixing this soffit being cut off by an overlapping upper roof overhang. Any suggestions on how to fix this? Will greatly appreciate any help or ideas on how to fix this. Thx.

Hi Just need some recommendations for a rendering platform that is compatible with CA 13 and if I can produce high quality realistic renderings with it and your thoughts on the best rendering program out there. Also, planning on getting a new PC that will handle the software. Thanks! Roland

Color fill offsets when sending elevations to the Layout. I searched for a fix on this bug but haven't been able to get to the root of the problem. It doesn't happen to all of my elevations, maybe just one out of a bunch that I send to the layout, when I do a color filled plot line box. Could it be my graphics card or PC? Maybe it's time to get a new computer? Don't know. It's a little frustrating. I'm on CA 13. Just after posting this I went back and turned off my terrain perimeter layer in the Layout Box Layers, It fixed itself. I been trying for months to get rid of this bug and all of the sudden by turning off the terrain perimeter layer it got rid of the problem. Tried it with a couple of elevations and turned out well. Went from this: To this:

What would I do without this forum. You guys have the answer to pretty much all questions. Thanks!

Hey thanks! Yeah I'm die hard Saints all the way. But had to root for Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl because I like Tom Brady. Him and Brees are good friends and family oriented and do a lot for their communities. My brother and sister live in Tampa so a good excuse to root for the Bucs.

I'm new to X12 since Dec 2020. Been on X6 for about 6 years. It's a little different so it's taking me a bit to get used to where commands are on X12. I changed the backdrop in the 3D view defaults which was gray and added my sky backdrop and it worked. The longer I dive into X12 the more amazed I am at how many new features it has. I'm increasing my RAM to 128 to get it perform better. But X12 is pretty awesome and powerful. I work in Revit and Softplan as well but Chief tops both. It's a great software. Did these in X12. I could not have done these in X6 or Revit. I think the upgrade was a good investment. It was well worth it.

Sun setting was set to grey. Thanks for the tip!

My backdrop sky comes out gray when I render. How can I make it blue. Any suggestions why this is happening would help. Thanks. Running CA12.

Hi, I am looking for experienced help or collaboration in CA from time to time. Not everyone does CA in my neck of the woods (New Orleans - Houston) so it's hard to find someone with experience in CA. Most of the interns and architects I know all do Revit. I do Revit on some projects because my engineering consultants are on Revit so it's easier to communicate with them on that platform. I failed a couple of times with Upwork CA candidates who did not quite had the knowledge I was expecting. Anyway, from time to time I get so busy I pull my hairs to keep clients happy and keep a decent cash flow going. I do both residential and light commercial projects. Can do $45 to $55 an hour if anyone with decent CA experience is willing to help me out from time to time. If I get paid a good fee I can probably bump the hourly rate up. You guys out there know what the going hourly rate is and would welcome any suggestions. Thanks, Roland Arriaga Architect