Alaskan_Son

Super commonly I just do this kind of stuff using manually placed components, multiple copy, and then one of the Align/Distribute tools. There are a lot of productivity tools in Chief that make very quick work of manually modeling a lot of scenarios rather than having to force an automated tool to do what you want. The automated tools are great and can make quicker work of making changes, but they also only get you so far, sometimes take longer to coerce, and often only end up with an end result that's kinda right. I just prefer to skip the guesswork and experimenting a lot of the time, just do what I KNOW will work, and end up with an end result that IS right.

I hadn't been speaking to the performance degradation issue, only to the fact that there are some reasons Chief doesn't just convert the PDF to an image. They're really not the same (Imported PDF's and Picture files) and have some different capabilities...multiple pages being one of them.

Actually no. I'm referring to the fact that multi-page PDF's are imported with all pages. When we import a PDF, we're not importing a snapshot, but rather the whole document. In other words, we can display any page that we wish at any time. The whole entire file is imported and can optionally be stored with the plan.

The plan view shape can be manipulated but not the shape in elevation. For that I typically just use primitives.

Multi page capability for starters maybe?

True. If anyone is using this thread to help make a decision as to where to invest there money though, I would still definitely advise using Chief’s published guidelines (they know better than you or I what the average user is doing with the software as well as what their development plans are) AND considering not the average use case, but the worst case...It may be that the video card almost never sees any use, but if you chintz on it and then decide to upgrade to a couple big 4K monitors and/or decide to spend an hour PBRing that 100KB model with 2,000,000 faces then you’re gonna be pretty disappointed when it either doesn’t work at all or worse...Chief crashes on you. In my experience, even the most basic, inexperienced, DIY user can easily push the limits...I’d say they’re actually the user most likely to create an overly complex model loaded with symbols and then spend a bunch of time inadvertently pushing the limits of the video card toying around with the various rendering techniques. Anyway, what you’ve posted is all good info...I’m just advising people take it all with a grain of salt. The average forum user can be pretty quickly and easily influenced in my experience and super commonly doesn’t take the time to fully read and comprehend all that’s being shared and communicated. Just wouldn’t want them skimming through and recklessly deciding the video card doesn’t really matter.

I don't personally have the time or inclination to test these things myself, but just a few notes based on my own personal experience. I would suggest not downplaying the library access issue as some of us spend a lot of time sorting though and just generally accessing the libraries. In addition, a lot of people's workflow's (mine included) involve A LOT of multitasking, opening and closing lots of plans, opening and closing layouts, etc. I'm constantly opening and closing plan and layout files, searching the library, copying files from one location to another, etc. I can tell you that upgrading my disk to an SSD was the single most noticeable change I've ever made. No question about it. Also, I'm curious about a few operations that your test didn't seem to make much mention of...the things that I personally find to be amongst the slowest and most taxing operations in Chief... Importing, displaying, and editing heavy amounts of line work (CAD) Creating CAD Details From View Generating complex terrains Using imported PDF and/or image files in plan and/or elevation views Using boolean operations on large or complex groups of solids NOT using Live Views but rather using Plot Lines. I personally basically only ever use Plot Lines and typically with shadows. I'm also a little curious how much time you spent in some of the "other" rendering techniques. I personally spend most of my time in Vector View and also make a fair amount of use of some of the other rendering techniques as well. The Watercolor with Line Drawing mode is one my favorites and it also tends to be the slowest. Also, just a side note, but for whatever its worth, its really not too uncommon for me to deal with house plans that have double or even triple the number of faces you had in your "house" plan. Not sure if the effectual differences would be linear or compound.

f you want to check the AutoCAD version of any given DWG file, simply right click and Open With>Notepad. Once the file opens up, check the first few characters... ...and then reference the chart below to find the AutoCAD version. Code Version AC1032 AutoCAD 2018 AC1027 AutoCAD 2013/2014/2015/2016/2017 AC1024 AutoCAD 2010/2011/2012 AC1021 AutoCAD 2007/2008/2009 AC1018 AutoCAD 2004/2005/2006 AC1015 AutoCAD 2000/2000i/2002 AC1014 AutoCAD Release 14 AC1012 AutoCAD Release 13 I'm not sure what the AutoCAD 2019 code is, but that might be your problem. Not sure X11 was being developed in time to deal with the latest AutoCAD version or not. You could also try to post the DWG file here to see if someone can help you sort it out.

Most likely the best method would be 2 attic walls set to roof cuts wall at bottom (may or may not require adding an extra floor). A plan file woukd certainly help though.

This is correct. Insertion points don't carry over when used as the 2D Block for a symbol. Also, just a quick tip for you guys... I found a better way to offset CAD Blocks than the one I used in the video above. Use an empty text box instead. The text box can be 0"x0" even if you want, but it's really not necessary usually. The results will not print the little dot that my other method did. Used for this particular GFCI example (the CAD Block itself is the one on the upper right)...

You're welcome! And yes, I would definitely be interested and do this type of thing for a number of users. Shoot me over an email to alaskansons@gmail.com and we can discuss further. Thanks!

I really think you need to clarify what you're after. Do the shed roofs start at eve of the existing roof? At the wall? Somewhere higher up the pitch? Below the eves? Doer the gable section have a higher ceiling? Higher pitch? Lower pitch? Same pitch? Does the shed roof have a lower pitch? Does the gable section bump forward? Is there actually a gable end wall? Is the gable built on top of the shed roof or are the shed roofs truly separated? The list could go on, and the details matter because it may change the approach taken.

My day had cleared up a little bit so I figured I'd donate a little time and get some practice in. I didn't notice that you had found one till I was already finished. Oh well, some of those symbols can easily have 50,000 faces or more anyway, so if you just need a basic iteration that's not going to bog down your model so much, try this one (1,300 faces)... Carved Island Leg.calibz Either way, it was a kinda fun little exercise for the day. NOTE: This was made in X11 so if you want it in X10 someone will have to convert for you. I gotta get back to work now.

It might not exist and you may just have to make it yourself or find someone else who can. You would have to make a decision as to how accurate it needs to be though.

There is no Break Terrain tool. You can break an Elevation line, and you can use a Terrain Break. Probably best to clarify which one you're talking about or if you're talking about something else entirely. Your original post said you tried the "Break Line" tool which is a tool, but it could have been used on your Elevation Line or on your Elevation Region (closed elevation polyline). Then your last post referred to a "Break Terrain" tool which isn't a thing at all. There is a Terrain Break, but you didn't have one of those in your plan. What you did have however were some Terrain Retaining walls which have a sort of built in Terrain Break functionality.

I assume you're referring to Marquee Select Similar right? The answer seems to be no. That tool is not available for wall framing while in plan view...only in a Wall Detail. Can't tell you why though. BTW, Match Properties isn't working for those objects either. Something is broken.

For what its worth, I personally almost never use images for this sort of thing and rather I choose to re-create the object with 3D entities for a few reasons... Those images are only going to be visible in a limited number of rendering techniques. I hardly ever use the standard rendering technique for outgoing files and I'm not sure I ever use the standard rendering technique for CDs. I very commonly use Vector Views, Technical Illustrations, and Line Drawings, and images would show up in none of those. I do sometimes use PBR and Ray Traces for outgoing files, but I want something that will be visible in any rendering style. Even though the images WILL show up in standard renders, ray traces, PBR, etc. they aren't super effective and can be rather problematic in my experience if you want to use them on a transparent surface and realistically see both the front and the back of that surface. I find that objects created out of 3D components also render a lot more realistically as well. Lettering edges are sharper and can be raised or recessed without having to create complex texture maps, and there's also no pixelation or perspective skew that we often see with imported images.

See if this helps at all...

Totally good point Rich. Cleaning up bloatware and disabling various resource hogs is one of the very first things I always do and it can be pretty time consuming.

We had one around these parts a number of years ago. I pulled up behind it one day and the back end looked like one solid racing slick. Could barely make out the little differential between the 2 tires. One of the most de-moralizing little sleepers ever.

Here's the mother board you want to use...

I did a bit of research on this and one piece of information I found was this... "What about combination systems, which use an SSD as a primary “OS” drive and a larger hard drive for more dense file storage? Sorry, no. Optane’s caching system only works with the primary OS drive, and even then, only the primary partition. You can install Optane memory in a desktop that uses both SSD and hard drive storage, but it won’t improve the speed of the secondary storage drive at all. Your money would be better spent on more RAM or a larger initial SSD if you’re building from scratch." That was from an article written back in 2017. Is that no longer true?

To help clarify its function, I always tell people that this is just like rotating your drawing board so to speak. EVERYTHING gets rotated when you use that tool, the model, the text, the grid, the axis...everything. Its like taking your piece of paper and spinning it around on the table in front of you. It doesn't change a single thing about your plan or your model...only your perspective.

Hey David, It's all in there. You just need to use the appropriate methods to get to it. I took the liberty of printing it to a PDF. Rafael is a super nice guy and I would help him. I just don't have time right now. Edgemere St Plan (1).pdf

No super strong opinions one way or another but that definitely looks like a solid rig at a fair price to me.