Alaskan_Son

If you download Sketchup you can use the 3-D text tool to create a symbol and then import into chief.

You can always do something like this...

I just got back to the office and checked out your files. They're all working perfectly fine. Your problem is that you're going about some things the wrong way. The reason you can't seem to be able to select or resize your symbol is you might expect is because you changed the bounding box during the import process... You have to remember that your symbols have a certain 3D geometry and the bounding box does NOT change that geometry. All it does is tells Chief how you want to control/resize that geometry. I can see from the 3D symbols you posted that the height of that car symbol is about 36,000"W x 12,000"D x 9300"T. When you changed the bounding box dimensions to make the car 242"W x 78"D x 68"T, all you really did was tell Chief that you wanted the geometry to be represented at full size when the dimensions are set to those numbers. Again, you didn't actually change the original geometry at all. This means you would need to set the dimensions to something like 1-1/2" x 1/2" x 3/8" if you wanted to size the car all the way down to its proper size. Also, the Sketchup symbol has some extra geometry off away from the car that needs to be deleted. All the corrections can be done directly in Chief for these types of things. Here's the process I would recommend using for the SKP file... Import the model into Chief but do not add it to your library If there is any extra geometry, take a 3D view, use the Delete Surface tool to delete it all, and then Tools>Symbol>Convert To Symbol Drop the new symbol into your plan and delete the original. Repeat steps 2 and 3 if any extra geometry still remains. Once you have any extra geometry cleaned up, Open Object (not symbol) and change the size to what you want it to be. Take a 3D view, Convert To Symbol, and add to your library. You should now have a clean and properly sized symbol in your library for use. Delete any of the temporary symbols and use this one.

I’m away from my computer now. I’ll take a look when I get back to the office. I’m sure someone else will probably chime in with an answer before then. In the meantime, here’s a potential solution for you so you can keep moving forward... Drop the symbol into a blank plan, convert to symbol, drop that NEW symbol into blank plan, resize, and then optionally convert to symbol one more time and save the correctly sized version to your library.

You're going to need to give us more than that. Post a plan with one of the questionable symbols in it, post a Zip file with the Sketchup symbol, or at the very least...point us to the Sketchup Symbol.

Here's my tip for the day... You may not be able to delete all your materials, but you CAN Merge them. In doing so you are essentially deleting all the others. Also, just inspect the material settings and keep the one that is set up properly. Mirrors for example...Make sure the material class is set to Mirror with a high reflection setting and set the type and color of the material to whatever you want it to be. Its not that materials "don't work", its just that the settings need to be correct. Okay, that was 2 tips, but hopefully they help you out.

Probably goes without saying, but just in case...make sure that video card will fit and work in your current machine.

I agree that an Import/Export option for Plan Views would be good but I suspect that is far easier said than done. Plan Views remember a lot of things, amongst those things... -X/Y location and zoom settings. Importing and exporting these settings could very often result in plan views being focused on all the wrong places. Not a huge deal but something to think about. -Floor. This might be the most significant. What if the floor doesn’t exist? -Referenced Floor. Same as above. -Layer Set. What if the layer set doesn’t exist? And if the layer set DOES exist, what if it’s set up differently in the legacy plan? What to do with any layers that exist in the legacy plan but not in the new plan? What to do with the layers that exist in the new plan but not in the legacy plan? -Annotation Set. What if the Annotation Set and any/all of its defaults don’t exist? And if if you opt to import layer set and Annotation Set information, what exactly do you import/overwrite, and what other adverse affects does it have on that plan? Anyone who has dealt with trying to import/export layer sets and anno sets probably knows how potentially messy that process can get. Anyway, I’m sure an import/export process can be developed but I think it’s not an easy task.

The best method I’ve found is to send all your plan views one by one to a special layout. Then, one by one: -Open the layout box dbx, take note of the Plan View Name, set the Plan View association to “None”, relink the layout box to your legacy plan, open the relinked view, and then Save Plan View As and give it the name you took note of. Repeat as necessary for remaining views.

The reason the stairs don;t seem to work in that situation is due to the lack of a landing. Another method you can use is to draw an actual landing and then simply place that landing onto a unique layer and turn that layer off... The 2 key components are that you have a landing and that your stairs be set to winders (at least for the one side). The trickier part is how to deal with the nosing. Here I just moved the landing down 1/8" and changed the line style for the Floor Surfaces Layer to Invisible... ...and here I just used a molding polyline for the nosing...

Your problem is that you changed your Room Divider default to No Room Definition. Not sure why you did that as the whole point of the Room Divider is to define rooms. At any rate, the connecting wall for your island room needs to have that setting unchecked and then you should be good to go.

This might be true, but I have personally used the special wall type I mentioned in my post earlier for other reasons. Most notably... I hate how the wider attic walls look in plan views. Not really an ACTUAL issue...just something I don't like to see. Those attic walls are also necessary down at the eves sometimes and the framing down there is a whole nuther issue. Using a wall type with no framing layer allows for the finish material to do their job without the occasional (and incorrect) extra studs and plates being generated.

I'm not gonna get into an argument about how it SHOULD be done...frankly I don't have the time or will to do so...I was just showing a quick and incomplete example to get the general idea across.

OR you can use Rotate/Resize About Current Point (one of my personal favorite tools) along with one of these 2 methods... Multiple Copy: Just place a point at the center of your circle or arc and make sure to use the Rotate handle when dragging out your copies. Copy/Paste: Same as above except you can use the Copy/Paste tool in Sticky Mode and place the copies one at a time.

You can always set the Plan View association for your layout box to “None”. I personally see very little benefit in having a layout box linked to a plan view anyway. Layout boxes essentially are (and always have been) “plan views” in and of themselves anyway.

I could make something a lot closer for you. How long it took (and the resulting price) would depend on how perfect you need it to be as well as which parts and pieces you actually needed.

You're welcome. I wouldn't waste my time doing that. Dave is incorrect on this one. Those items DO NOT need to be on the same layer. I block things on different layers all the time, and actually, it can be extremely useful to do so.

Its because you have a normal polyline in there Bill. Change it to a molding polyline, then you can make your block.

This^^^^ I was starting to type it up but Eric saved me the time.

I think a more dependable method is to Multiple Copy Room Dividers. The CAD lines work okay up until you have a wall in the nearby vicinity. Only thing you have to watch for is when one of your wall copies might overwrite another wall. For this reason, I would also suggest that you set your room divider to No Room Definition before your multiple copy. Using Room Dividers has one other benefit too in that you can just leave them there in those instances where removing them will cause the wall break to jump to the center of an intersecting wall. Also, when selecting every other wall, there are any number of methods you can use to stop them from joining. A different Wall Type (even just in name) will do the trick, but so will: -Changing the wall thickness to make it .001" wider or narrower (a difference so slight that it should have little to no affect on almost anything anywhere). This actually just creates a new wall type automatically too. Its just slightly quicker than changing the wall type. -Checking or unchecking "Stagger Multiple Framing Layers" (something that is quite often totally inconsequential) -Putting the walls onto a different layer -Clicking "Reverse Layers" (if the wall definition is symmetrical I'm sure there are other changes to the wall definition that would probably do the trick as well. Those are just a few that I know of.

Rather bold statement. I really don’t think there’s anything to add. That should give us all a lot to think about. Well put good sir. Well put.

If you really want an answer, post the plan. I'm guessing its a wall definition problem though.

The way I have personally started handling that is by just using the delete surface tool for the necessary views.

Both my PC and my laptop are gaming systems. By the way, in his defense, as I read through you guy's advice, it doesn't actually sound like he's advising against a gaming machine... It seems like he was just encouraging a desktop over a gaming laptop. It just sounds like he thinks you're better off having a mediocre laptop AND a good desktop rather than a really good laptop...which I definitely agree with.

I'm sorry Joey, but I think you may have been given bad advice. It may be that your guy's experience is working against him. A lot of other CAD/CAM software works great in a workstation environment but Chief thrives on gaming systems. I do agree that you're better off investing in a PC than a laptop, but if I had to choose between your laptop and a gaming laptop for Chief, I'd pick the gaming system 10 times out of 10.