wjmdes

I have created 2 symbols, one for air return and one for air supply in a commercial space with a grid ceiling.

• Had to create as an electrical symbol to get it to place on the ceiling, better way?
• Any way to get it to automatically cut a hole in the ceiling?
• Changing Origin Point:  I want the origin of this symbol to be at the corner, not center.  Changed the origin offsets, that does not do anything.
• When I created the first symbol, it allowed me to create a new custom Schedule HVAC.  When I created the second symbol, HVAC was not an option, I tried to create a new HVAC and it says it already existed.  After I place it in the plan, it then allows me to change to the HVAC schedule. (new in X12, so not high on my priority list)

The biggest issue is the type of symbol I should use when creating and the origin point for placement. This symbol will always be placed at an intersection of the ceiling grid, so the origin needs to be at x=12and y=12 because symbols will not let me use point to point and select a corner.

24x24 comm supply-rtn.plan

10 hours ago, SNestor said:

Bill...did a video for you.  Not sure I covered exactly what you are having difficulty with.  If not...maybe you can expound a bit.  Hope it helps...

Thank you Steve!  You have confirmed that I am in fact doing exactly what you are.  Next week I will be working on a few older jobs and I will try to pay more attention.

I am curious if it makes a difference as to what you import first, Default Sets or Layer Sets.

I also had an issue yesterday when recreating some of my commercial default sets (because you cannot import just one default set) that it took it a while to propagate and show up in the drop-down list or in the project browser area.  I created it in Default Sets Dialog Box and then went to create my Saved Plan View and it was not in the Drop Down, not sure what went on, but it eventually showed up.  I  have to create 3 or 4 more defaults sets and then these will all be on my template (rather than scattered between several different plan files) and I will try and document exactly what I did.

2 hours ago, MarkMc said:

Did you try closing all and re-opening?

Yes, just tried again, no luck...

On 2/3/2020 at 10:50 AM, Dermot said:

Actually, I think we should reset the system layer names automatically when you open a legacy plan.  Expecting people to remember to do this just seems like extra work regardless of where the button is.  Maybe we would need a preference though?  There is always someone that doesn't like automatic behavior.

This sounds important, can someone explain what "Reset Layer Names" does?  Or why I should do it?  Yes, I searched for it and there was only one answer, this post!!

4 minutes ago, solver said:

Can you describe the problem? What stops you?

Copy table in Excel, paste to layout as Rich Text, it pauses for less than a second like it did something and then nothing.  I've zoomed out, turned on all layers.  Nothing different than I did in X11.

It WILL let me paste to the .plan, so I have a workaround.

2 minutes ago, solver said:

What does it look like in X11? -- using same Excel

Exactly the same,  I just am unable to paste to the Layout in X12.

I was commenting that I do not believe these were pasted directly to chief via Rich Text or Text without some serious formatting in Chief that is beyond my knowledge at this point.

51 minutes ago, basketballman said:

Not having any problems here ...

27 minutes ago, basketballman said:

Not having any problems here ...

Those do not appear as they were pasted using Text or Rich Text if so I have been missing out on something for a long time and really want to know what I am doing wrong.

BTW, I am able to paste into the .plan file, just not to Layout.

Looks like this in ExceL:

These three are copied and pasted from Excel to Chief:

1. Picture
2. Rich Text
3. Text

10 minutes ago, SNestor said:

I'm just guessing...but, if you import an annoset, you may have to go to your plan views and make sure the specific "anno/default" set is specified in the plan view dialog.  See picture below.  Changing plan views changes my anno/default sets...unless I have a plan view that does not have a specific anno/default set specified

It will not let me choose any other sets until I save and reopen. (See my original post above)

Trying to paste tables from Excel onto my layout.  Tried Paste Special as both Text and Rich Text, nothing.  It always worked fine before X12.

Anyone having issues with this?

Fairly certain this problem is occurring when I import Layer and Default Sets from my new template into older drawings. It does not allow me to change the Default Set at all until I save, close and reopen.  Until then it just says Active Defaults

My engineer keeps sending me PDF's back that he has stamped and they are always about a third of the size I sent him.  So I asked how he does it.

I have Adobe Acrobat Pro DC:

File --> Save As Other-->Optimized PDF...

I did not change any of the settings, and when I hit OK, I save as the same file name. Might want to read up a bit, but I see no reduction in the visual quality and it greatly speeds up the viewing especially if I have inserted a bunch of PDF files into the layout.

This takes just about 20 seconds.

13 minutes ago, CARMELHILL said:

Movie for how I arrange my detail warehouse.

Exactly how I am setting mine up.  Thanks for showing me I am not wasting my time!

Because I worked so long on the board, I do not come across many times when I would want to change scale, so that part is not applicable to me for details, however, I use the same process to do enlarged plans and key plans.  I know from years and years that I am going to do a wall section at a 1/2", eave or foundation detail usually at 3/4", trim detail at 1 1/2" or 3".  

4 hours ago, glennw said:

The way it works is that if you select New, it makes a copy of the existing selected Default Set in the list.

So no need for a copy button - each New Default Set is a copy of an existing one.

 

And yes, the documentation needs an update. 

Thank you...  I was looking for that the other day!

9 minutes ago, robdyck said:

Problem seems to be solved.

Thanks for the response.  First of all, this is the existing building, I am not responsible for its look!

Kind of slapped myself in the head and wondered why I even spent the time to just not build the pilasters with solids.  I am working on the proposed now and the polyline solids have simplified a lot.

Just curious about the curved solid I drew at the top of the arch to fill-in material, you say to put it on the attic level.  Is there a specific reason?  I drew it in elevation view and that is just where chief put it.  I use a layer called "No See" (original right) that I put all my parts and pieces for 3D and elevations that I do not want to see on the plan and just turn that layer off.

On 1/24/2020 at 10:09 PM, johnny said:

I have a project I am working on where we've conceptualized a concrete skirt (exposed) around the perimeter of the house - its a modern design.

I have to ask, what is with the 47.80 degrees?

8 hours ago, DavidJPotter said:

DJP

This is the answer I received:

 

 

 

1

Quote

1. Your horizontal lines are due to the wall sticking out from the main building. As soon as I deleted those walls those horizontal lines went away. We couldn't get turning off room definition or anything to make it work. I might suggest turning these walls that stick out from the building into polyline solids instead.

2. Those lines are being backwards and mixed up due to the paint on those sticking out sections. You can either change those walls to the default material (or change that wall type to use the correct material and set them to use the default material). This issue would also go away with polyline solids.

So it may or may not be a bug.  In hindsight wish I had done the pilasters out of polyline solids anyway as it was much easier and I am just doing this for a "pretty picture".  It was a real pain to draw them on each floor.  

15 minutes ago, HumbleChief said:

If that .plan is 'saved as' in the job folder then it would be and remain unique to that job.

For my purposes, I would only have ONE details.plan.  If I need to revise a detail for a specific job, I would copy just that detail and create a new detail by pasting it into project.plan  Unless it was a universal change. Once a detail is done in The Warehouse, it's done.

18 minutes ago, HumbleChief said:

I was always working on 4 or 5 plans and the Save As Method just got too confusing for me

I have wasted so much time myself using the save as method, that I had NO consistency and different parts, pieces, layer sets all over the place.

I am slowly remedying this.  I have created a wjm-template.plan where I spent a week cleaning it up, creating my layer and anno sets and setting defaults. I have exported layer sets and anno sets.  Each job I have active I am importing all that and defaults and hopefully it matches my template.  On occasion, it may take a bit of time to tweak a few things.  Hopefully, my active plan now matches my template.  To keep my current template accurate and up to date as I come across issues, I will either import the days settings back into the master template or for small changes, I keep it open in the background to change minor things quickly.

When I say template, it is not an actual template, just a .plan file.  This process will probably take some time, but I am finally having some consistency and letting Chief do more of the work.

6 minutes ago, DavidJPotter said:

Elevations sent to layout can be completed edited to anyone's satisfaction using the "Edit Layout Line" tool before printing,

I do not believe this can be done in "Live View".

This seems to be a continued issue for me.  Solved the issue one time because brick was not lining up vertically because Chief Wrap is in fact not 0" and I was not taking that into account with the CMU wall with brick below.  On the same project, I had the drywall sticking out to the face of the brick veneer and support had to give me a workaround.

On this, I am messing around with an apartment exterior renovation and have just been using my painter to change materials.  On the original as-built, I just used a wall with siding and then "painted" stucco.  Shortly after, I noticed the issue and spent several hours last night trying to figure it out.  I was hoping today when I copied the file and just changed it "ALL" to new material it would go away.

It did not:

The elevation also shows the pilaster with different line weights on each side which does not make sense and may be part of the issue:

Cutting a section, some floors have this break in material at the rough ceiling, other areas don't:

It's probably a "duh" moment, but after several hours I am at a loss and these elevations look bad....

19-1104 Brookstone.zip

8 minutes ago, HumbleChief said:

Quick question for you Bill. If you need to modify a detail from your .plan file (which I seem to need to on a fairly constant basis) do you double click that detail box and make changes? Re-save or just remember that detail was modified?

Depends on the change, but if the layout box is on my screen I would double click to open that .plan file, which I can do from either project.plan or detail.plan

If I was making a change to a detail, like maybe the new code requires R-15 insulation versus R-13, I would change it so it had a "global" effect or I saw an error or wanted to add another note.

The other case would be a job-specific edit and I see 2 scenarios:

1. I have an Eave Detail with siding but need one with brick veneer, I would copy that detail in "My Warehouse" and edit to create a new detail because that would be useful down the road.
2. I have a crazy design on an eave that I will never do again, so I would copy the detail into my project.plan and edit it there.

I, however, find most of the details I do are useful for the future and just may put all those in a separate.plan file and send to my detail.layout

This detail.layout is also going to allow me to print out a detailed book (which I just thought of) so I am going to add a layer I can turn on/off and lock, so when I print each detail will have a name like D1...  so when I mark up plans for my son, I can just write the detail number on the check set and he will insert, but will not copy to project.plan

OK, some of this is theoretical and not put in practice....YET!

1 hour ago, Alaskan_Son said:

The whole point is that the view is sized, cropped, scaled, labeled, etc. exactly like we want it. 

I have been copying layout boxes from one layout to another since X7? and NEVER recall having an issue, just that before this release, I had to open, copy, close open paste.

1 hour ago, Richard_Morrison said:

I don't know that there is a distinction, but opening and resending isn't much more difficult than copy/pasting, so I didn't press the issue.

I can fit 9 details on a page, so technically I can copy 9 details at once and paste and only have to move the layout box.

21 minutes ago, Alaskan_Son said:

Is it though? 

Yes, in my world!  I started on the board and that is just ingrained in my head.  The days when we had to think ahead,  I am sure I have erased a detail or two because the scale was not large enough.

I can see, and used to do this in AutoCAD, where I would draw a full wall section at maybe a 1/2" scale and then do enlarged views of say the top and bottom of the wall and use with different scales and layer controls.  I actually need to consider that for job-specific details.

This what I have decided to do regarding detail/warehouse and curious if anyone saw any potential issues and/or problems before I go too far.

I have a folder in my project directory called Details.

In that folder I have 2 files:

• 2020 Details.plan
• 2020 Details.layout

In the .plan file, I have created several CadDetails under Project Browser to categorize my details, such as Roof Framing, Foundation, etc.  I have created a block where I will put/draw the details, this block is the same size as the block I use on my detail sheets in the set of plans:

I am sending these to the 2020 Details.layout, which will also be organized by sheet, i.e. Eave Details, Foundation Details, etc, to the correct scale and adjust the layout box to fit my "Detail Square".  On the layout, I have added the macro to read the sheet label and the detail number, at this point, just a place holder "X":

Now that I can have 2 layouts open, I can just marquee the selected detail, copy and paste.  My layout box is already the right size, so I can point top point move, edit the number and done.

Does anyone see any breakdowns in this process?

6 minutes ago, glennw said:

Draw Order Edit Tools on the Edit toolbar

Thank you, never noticed that one!

2 hours ago, DzinEye said:

Podium Browser

Yes, I personally wish chief would add some more for light commercial, this program is more than capable of doing it.  I have modeled entire shopping centers and restaurants with no major issues.