Alaskan_Son

If I understand correctly. You'll need to adjust your floor heights to get what you're after.

I had tried opening your original files a while back and was able to open it n Chief without any problems per se, but there was also a lot of missing information that i could see in Draftsight and not in Chief.

I opened up your file in Draftsight myself a while back and I didn’t respond because there really wasn’t an easy answer and it seemed Alan’s conversion to PDF was probably the best solution. I guess the only thing I might add is this... You could try to export from Draftsight to PDF and then use one of the many online PDF converters to convert your PDF to DWG. Worth a shot anyway. If I was you though I might just redraw from scratch using the PDF and/or DWG as a guide.

See if this thread helps you out at all… In addition to my post, check out Glenn’s suggestion in post number two.

Hole in Ceiling Platform

This question really belongs in the Q&A section but I'll answer your query anyway. There are a few ways of dealing with that. Me personally? I usually handle with a note in one of the views but you can also use lines like these... ...I just drew them into the view manually.

FWIW, I personally handle those things one of 2 ways myself (and I’m talking about onsite, not in Chief)... 1. I adjust layout to avoid the rips. Sometimes even the tiniest adjustment is all it takes. 2. Even easier...I rip the last piece down and router (and possibly stain) the inside edge so it blends right in. If the rip is looking to be too small I’ll get the next largest width of material and rip that down instead. If It seems like that might be too big, both of the last pieces can even be ripped down to split the difference and make it much less noticeable. Ripping the last piece down out of wider stock is almost a necessity when installing diagonal decking. That last little triangle piece just always ends up too small it seems.

Hey, thanks Mick, I really appreciate that : ) I've seen that font a few times over the years while flipping through fonts but I guess I never noticed quite how much I like it.. It seems like it was aptly named as well. It has a sort of childlike or unpretentious feel to it, and since we all know girls tend to have better handwriting than boys, "Daughter" would be the obvious choice...Had it been "Architect's Son", the font would have to be largely illegible.

If you don't want any line weights that thin, your safest bet might just be to change your line weights a bit and use the Advanced Line Weight Options in your Drawing Sheet Setup. That way, even a line weight of 1 will print just fine for you. Bad part is that you'll have to tweak all your line weights to accommodate the change, but the good thing is that you'll never have those thin lines that don't print again.

You can get the view name to appear in the callout even if you place the callout in layout. It just requires a referenced context macro and an arrow connecting the callout to your layout box. The layout box's automatic_label attribute is the view name.

Hey Mick, what font are you using in those screenshots? I like it.

As you double click items in the list on the left or click the Add => button, they are removed from the list om the left and added to the list on the right. Anything in that Marks To Include list is automatically included on the inner dimension line. Only items with check marks are included on the outer dimensions line. And Perry is right...its hard to tell what you have going on because it looks like you renamed some of your stuff. To reset the names either select the names one by one from the list on the right and click Reset; or move them all over into your list on the left, click Okay, and then open the dialog vox back up.

There's nothing wrong with the Room Divider. It was made for a specific purpose. The problem is that people are trying to use it for different purposes. If anything I guess the tool could be renamed "Room Finish Divider" and a new "Room Structural Divider" could be added. It really just comes down to understanding wall definitions though. None of them are really unique tools. Chief just gives us a few pre-configured options is all.

Hey Neil, As Glenn and Chop pointed out above, we really need more details if you want a usable answer. There are probably 100 different methods that could be utilized and the best approach really depends on the finer details of what you're trying to accomplish and why. A few pictures of something that looks similar to what you're trying to do might help. It's also important to try and use the correct terminology so that we're all on the same page. For example, here are a few of the Chief terms that might come into play here, some of which you haven't been using quite right which only increases our uncertainty as to what answer(s) to give you: Polyline: This is the basis for many objects in Chief and is really just a group of 1 or more connected line segments. There are open polylines and closed polylines. A closed polyline can be converted to a solid object such as a polyline solid... Polyline Solid: This is a closed polyline that has essentially been simultaneously converted to a Face (see below) and then extruded along either the X, Y, or Z axis (depending on where you drew it). It is essentially just extruded perpendicular to your viewpoint. Since it's just s simple extrusion, only the depth of that extrusion and the original extrusion profile can be edited. For example, an extrusion drawn in a right side elevation view can be extended/shortened left to right in plan view, can be extended/shortened in a front side or back side elevation view, but its profile can only be manipulated from one of the 2 "ends"...either from a right side or left side elevation view. It CAN be further manipulated from any view though if you convert it to a Solid (see below). Solid: This type of object can be manipulated from any direction but is no longer an extrusion so changing its shape can be a bit trickier. It's probably one of the single most powerful tools at your disposal though once you learn to use it. It can also be exploded into individual Faces... Face: This can be used in a general sense to describe a facet of any given object or part thereof, but its also a very specific (and unique) tool in Chief that can be used to draw a zero thickness face. It snaps to a number of objects in 3D space, and can be further extruded and revolved to form a solid. Symbol: Any object or group of objects in Chief can be converted to a Symbol. Doing so creates a whole new object with certain "intelligent" behaviors but it also essentially freezes the geometry so that it can no longer be manipulated except for stretching and resizing. Anyway, that's just a very brief primer.

You're welcome guys. That wall type is actually one of my most oft used little tricks in Chief. It's one of the items I've added to my toolbar even. Just create the wall type, add it to your user catalog, add a Place Library Object button to your toolbar, and then assign your new wall type and a decent icon. My icon just looks like a line and I placed the button up by my wall tools.

Sorry, I don't have a Mac so I can't answer with authority on the subject, but I believe with a Mac, you just delete the program file from your Applications folder.

For what? For a washing machine? A door symbol, a light fixture that the clients are about to spend $10,000 on? The entire model? A 1,000 sq. ft., builder grade starter home, a 20,000 sq. foot luxury townhome? A carport? A landscape design? TOTALLY depends. If I’m drawing up a $10,000 fixture for a tiny bathroom remodel where accuracy is an absolute must, 1,000,000 faces might be acceptable. If I’m drawing up a 4,000 sq. ft. 8-plex for the local slum lord then shoot...1/4 of that might be too much.

They do that whenever there is a structural change between rooms. To address this problem I recommend one of 2 things... 1. Change the default setup for your room divider to make it .01" thick (either in the general tab or in the wall definition itself). 2. Make yourself your own custom room divider wall type that is a single layer Insulation/Air Gap...that is also .01" thick. I use this type of wall more often than I use the true 0" thick room divider. Its far more useful for all sorts of things. The 0" room divider still has its place though.

Really not sure what your goal here is, but you can always temporarily change your material definitions, get the views you want, and then change them back. Just select your finish materials one by one and on the General tab of the Define Material dbx, change the Material Type to "Gap". When you're finished getting the views you need, change them back. You can also optionally just create copies of the materials to speed up the changing back and forth process.

I'm really not sure, but it looks to me like you have 2 potential issues...your graphics card and your memory...both of which are at or below the absolute minimum required to run Chief. Your video card is at the absolute minimum except for the Open GL version which is actually below the minimum. Your memory is also at the absolute minimum as well. Just to give you an idea of what we're talking about here, I have 16 GB installed on my system and at any given moment I'm typically using 5GB of that memory without doing much of anything at all. I don't even have Chief open and my system is using 33% or 5.3GB of that available memory...and all you have is 4GB. Bear in mind we're talking about minimums here. You're not anywhere even remotely close to the recommended specs for running Chief. If you do this for a living, I would really suggest you look at a new system.

I personally think most non-organic/free-form shapes are actually pretty easy to model in Chief once you're familiar with available tools and methods. As Graham said though, it would help to see an example of what you're trying to accomplish. It would also help to know a little more specifically what you're currently having a problem with. In addition, it would be good to know how you plan on using the object(s) in your design.

I really dislike that saying. By all means...ask the question, but that doesn't necessarily mean its a good question. It might very well be dumb. Anyone who claims that there are no dumb questions must have never had someone ask for an answer you just gave them...usually because they were too lazy to listen or comprehend. Those questions ARE dumb. Anyway, If its dumb, so be it. You're better off asking a dumb question than not asking at all. On a side note though, these questions we're talking about don't quite qualify as dumb but they're very poorly presented. We're not doing anyone any favors by not pointing it out. A little off subject, but I'm curious Michael, how do you handle your wall angles and text?

Either Uncheck "Use Default Formatting" or remove the extra inch marks you added to your label.

Absolutely agree. Please don't take any of this the wrong way either Krissy. Mick's only trying to help ("tough love" if you will). You're just unlikely to get out any more than what you put in, and if your last 2 queries are the best you can do, then I would suggest you should probably just give up now. BUT, if you can take the constructive criticism and give us a bit more to work with than maybe...just maybe...you'll get the answers you're looking for.