Alaskan_Son

If you never had that happen before then you just got lucky and always had the sun in a better position. The fact is that unless you are using 3D plants that those plants are nothing more than 2D images that usually rotate to follow the camera (unless you specify otherwise). This means that if the sun is directly behind the camera (sun follows camera) or directly opposite the camera that you will get reasonably accurate shadows. The further you get from those 2 locations though, the less accurate the shadows will become. With the sun perfectly perpendicular with your camera direction you'll essentially end up with no shadows at all...or maybe what looks like a single line. If you want more accurate shadows you'll need to use a 3D plant.

I only looked at the plan just briefly but a couple quick observations… Running a plan check brings the label back on the first floor. The foundation though is a little unique. I'm not positive WHY but the label on that level is a little more stubborn. If you enclose a new room off to the side on that level you will get a living area level for that room however getting the living area label for the existing area back seems to be a different story. There maybe other methods that will bring it back but using Eric's suggested method seems to do the trick. No need to paste it into another plan though. You can paste it right back into that same plan and the living area label returns.

Just place a Ceiling Platform Hole and then place a attic stair symbol or model something yourself. Should be too difficult. Here's a simple set of attic stairs I got off Sketchup 3D Warehouse. File size is nice and small too... Attic Stair.calibz Depending on what you're after you may want to place the stairs on a unique layer and then build yourself a simple cover with a pull string and place that on a different layer. That way you can turn layers on or off and display either open or closed.

Just a thought here but are you sure it's a line weight issue and not a color issue? If you have lines that aren't actually black it's possible you are printing in black and white and they are printing in grayscale or in color.

Your Walls, Normal layer is just locked in your Default Set. Just unlock that layer (and maybe a few others) and you should be good to go.

Run a plan check...Tools>Checks>Plan Check. See if that brings it back.

She did upload it but it looks like she subsequently removed it.

You bet!

Go to Drawing Sheet Setup and take a look at your page margins.

Preferences>Appearance>Minimum Display Size>Labels I think that's about all the control you're going to get.

Ten four. Well, I for one will miss your knowledge and expertise. You've been an invaluable (and probably underappreciated) asset to the community here and I sincerely wish you the best with all your new endeavors.

Hey Gerry, Are you leaving us? Or do you just have an extra seat?

Absolutely agree. I noticed the same thing. The only thing I see as being truly unique and not easily reproduced with Chief about those drawings is the fills. That of course is to say nothing of some of the extra tools Vectorworks has that makes controlling and manipulating the linework, fills, and hatch patterns so much easier and more productive. I'm with you and Johnny on this...it's about time we see an improvement in some of these areas.

You actually don't even need to create the notch. All you have to do is place the necessary break(s). The key to properly using the Join Roof Planes tool that I think a lot of people initially have trouble with (myself included) is that you can't simply select the correct roof plane. You MUST select the correct EDGES.

Rest easy...me thinks it aint so. You should be able to do both of those. You just need to take the extra steps of converting the "Special Polyline" back to a "Standard Polyline" and then converting that to a Terrain Perimeter. Oh ya, one more thing...probably goes without saying, but just in case... You need to make sure you cut or copy all the elevation data along with the terrain perimeter.

Chief doesn't have X refs or anything like them. I'd say the closest thing we have is CAD Blocks and maybe layout boxes. Whoever told you that will probably need to elaborate a bit and tell you exactly what they need.

You're welcome, and I'm not really sure. I guess I could be wrong about my assumed reasoning but I do know I've heard the same thing recommended many times. Based on my personal experience it just doesn't really seem to matter though.

They plan file can be stored wherever you want as long as you tell the layout file where it's at. I think people just recommend the file remain in the same folder so that the path is less likely to change and so that people don't lose it.

Just a quick update on this issue with the file being locked up... Another user had this problem recently and since they answered Eric's question and told us they were using Internet Explorer I was very easily able to reproduce the problem. If anyone else has this same problem, simply closing down Internet Explorer seems to free the file up.

Yep. I just tried uploading a plan using Internet Explorer and I get the exact same behaviour. Simply shutting down Internet Explorer freed up the file though.

I've never had that problem but another user described the same issue recently. The file seems to be getting tied up but another program...probably your web browser. What web browser are you using? Anyway, try cutting or copying the file and pasting it to a new location and opening from there. Either that or just download your own attachment. You can also restart the machine if you want but eventually that file should get freed up. If it's your web browser you may just be able to shut that down instead of a complete restart.

Your roof is building way up there because you have assigned super high ceiling values to those top floor rooms. It looks to me like maybe you moved them way up to accommodate some vaulted ceilings? If so, that isn't the correct way to deal with those areas. You should be unchecking Ceiling Over This Room in the Room Structure Tab and either using the roof structure as your ceiling or adding a manually drawn ceiling plane.

Just copy and paste back into the plan and then rotate into position.

To expand on what Chopsaw said...Your problem is that you are trying to convert your polyline in a CAD detail. A CAD detail cannot contain anything other than CAD work so there's nothing to convert the polyline TO. In order to get the tool you're looking for you'll need to first cut or copy and paste that polyline into a normal plan view..

Yes it does make sense. Like I said...the wall is moving to accommodate your new birdsmouth cut. If you don't want the wall to move, simply uncheck Auto Birdsmouth Cut or change the setting to whatever you want it to be. Like I tried to clearly show in my second and third videos...When you check Trusses (no birdsmouth) it is doing 2 things: Telling Chief to base the roof height and structure settings on the Top Chord setting in your Framing Defaults or Build Framing dbx. The auto birdsmouth is being changed to a 0" seat cut (no birdsmouth). You can get the exact same results with Trusses (no birdsmouth) unchecked if you change the roof structure setting to match your top chord setting and change the auto birdsmouth to a 0" seat cut (no birdsmouth). Conversely...When you uncheck Trusses (no birdsmouth) it is doing 2 things: Telling Chief to base the roof height and structure settings on the Structure settings in your Build Roof dbx. The auto birdsmouth is being changed to a seat cut that matches the depth of your exterior wall's main layer. You can get the exact same results with Trusses (no birdsmouth) checked if you change the top chord setting to match your roof structure setting and change the auto birdsmouth to a seat cut that matches your exterior wall's main layer depth. Just remember what you are telling Chief when you check Trusses (no birdsmouth)... Trusses = Use truss framing settings (top chord) (no birdsmouth) = Change auto birdsmouth to no birdsmouth Also remember that your roof plane will stay put with auto rebuild toggled off and you wall height will only move to accommodate the room structure ceiling or the birdsmouth setting if you have no ceiling. With auto rebuild toggled on, the wall will stay put and the roof will move. Bottom line is that I don't believe anything is wrong with the way these settings function. You just need to get your head wrapped around what they're doing. I don't know that there's much more I can say. I would be happy to do a quick Skype session today if you have a few extra minutes though.