Ridge_Runner

I have done this for several jobs. Works pretty good and does have the benefit of showing correctly in 3D views and cross sections. If design changes, these have to be reworked also. Not too much trouble but does take time. Then again, changes don't happen very often, right?

That's what I do, basically, for much of the framing I don't want to see. Most of my layout editing involves lines that don't come in at the correct line weight - usually in perspective views and some elevations I send to layout. CA always seems to break the linework into multiple sections with different weights on the same line (usually pattern vs. edge and sometimes missing). I add CAD lines when I notice lines are missing in the views; that way I don't have to add them in layout. It's been a long day, Michael. I think I know what you are doing here. I set my cad mask to white (I use a dark gray background color in my planviews) and the line color to white so I can see them good. I also print in black and white so they don't show in the PDF when printed. Is that close to what you were talking about? Thanks, Mike

That's what I have been doing for years. There is always some "clean-up" (editing stray lines in layout) but CA has done a pretty good job over the last few versions to make this less time consuming. If I have my model good I don't have to do too much in elevations. Sections are still a problem sometimes because CA wants to frame differently than I want it to.

This ALDO thing has gone crazy. Now if I turn on the reference display in my "basement work" planview, align a CAD item with the floor above, and then turn the reference display off, I can't select some of my text nor manual dimensions. I can select the dimensions created by the Auto Dimension tool but not the manual. I found that if I change to another planview and then change right back to the "basement work" planview everything seems to reset and I can choose the text again and the manual dimensions. So, I just turned ALDO off and pull it up when I need it. Too bad because I like the functionality of having it on all of the time. Maybe in X11! I have been working with Chopsaw to see if he could duplicate what is happening. He didn't at first but the plan I sent him (very large) finally "broke" for him also. He sent it in so they would at least have a log of the problem. Thanks, Chopsaw.

Mine does the same and I am using the MrHand font.

Well, that doesn't work consistently. May have been just a fluke.

I did notice if I hit the save button (which I do quite often) it seems to cause ALDO to work correctly again. I don't have a clue why that would happen.

1. It came back in just a few minutes, right after I made a change in the layerset. 2. It was OK until I changed the layerset. 3. Didn't use undo. 4. It is a pretty large file - 3-levels with some rock details - about 40Mb at this point; will be more with all of the textures included.

I switched to the OOB Kitchen and Bath layerset. I could not select the roof planes that I was able to select in my custom layerset. I then switched back to my custom layerset and I could no longer select the roof planes in it. I changed one layer from off to on in my custom layerset and I could select all of the "off" items I could select before. I went back to the OOB Kitchen and Bath layerset, turned a layer off, and I could select the same "off" items as my custom layerset. It appears that any change in a layer display contributes to problem. I went to the OOB HVAC layerset; couldn't select the invisible items. Turned a layer off, I could select all of the off items. Went to the OOB Grading Plan layerset; I couldn't select any "off" items. I only changed the color of a layer in that layerset and I could then select all of the "off" items. Apparently any change in the ALDO triggers the problem.

Forgot to mention, this is a plan brought forward from X9 - that may have some bearing.

No, but I am trying different things as I go to see if there is a pattern. It does appear, at this point, that changing the on/off state of a layer in the current layerset "confuses" the ALDO to where it doesn't know what layers are on or off. I just got this new machine up and running and I "float" the ALDO off to the side, but on the same monitor. I don't know if that has a connection or not.

It came back. If I make any change in the current ALDO layerset I get the "broken" behavior. I wonder if it has anything to do with it being open all the time? I leave it open, that's the way I like to work.

Closed ALDO and reopened - same results. Saved plan and shut down Chief. Reopened and seems to be working normal. Will see if the odd behavior comes back.

Bump. This is starting to happen to me on X10, current version. Trying to finish dimensioning a plan and I go to select something visible in the plan and pick up items that are "off" in the ALDO. Items vary - roof planes, sub-fascia, rafters, cameras, CAD lines - and the list goes on. Was this ever supposedly fixed?

I hope I didn't come across as terse - that was not the intent; just passing some information. I remember the topic being discussed. I think one of the problems at that time was the wall thickness not printing correctly; I don't know how far back the discussion was. It may have been a separate topic or a rabbit trail - who knows.

What, I get a negative point for a suggestion? My suggestion was intended to point the OP in the right direction. Geez!

Love the cabinet schedule with the instructions Mark.

Do a forum search. There was some chatter sometime back on this topic.

Sounds like the voice of experience to me.

Nice work, guys.

What Mark said. You can vary the wire mesh scaling for different looks (opening sizes) but the wire size will increase accordingly. I did this on a plan recently for a similar railing. I was fortunate that the wire size increased close enough to look like what the client actually wanted.

Too funny!

We've been down this road before. For some reason, some of us (me included) get much larger PDF's using Chief's integrated driver. I have gone to Bullzip (like Mick and others recommended) and have reduced my PDF sizes considerably. Often times a Bullzip file will be around 5-10 Mb when the same file using CA's driver will come out at 50-100Mb. If I have many textures and fills included they seem to drive CA's file size larger. I experimented with several different ones, free and "trial-to-purchase," and CA's always created the largest files. Never figured out why. Having said that, Chief's integrated driver doesn't give me the "light" tiling effect in parts of the layout pages as Bullzip and others do in the PDF. Chief's PDF's also seem to have darker/thicker lines than some of the others. Just my 2 cents.

Ours aren't installed that way!

On a lighter note - is that really an outhouse out by the small storage buildings? Where I'm from that would be common, but in California in Silicon Valley? Nice work, BTW, especially if you are using X5 as your signature says.