Alaskan_Son

,:-/ For some reason I'm having a hard time believing that : )

You have to uncheck Blend Colors With Materials (the little paint roller icon). I recommend unchecking this in your profile plan and leaving it unchecked except in very rare circumstances.

You can always send to layout and just annotate there (which is pretty much what it looks like Nick did in those particular examples). And FYI, the stuff I posted above wasn't really to directly address your question per se. It was just showing a way to specifically get decent looking dimension lines into 3D views.

Yep. Nice job Alan, that's how I would normally handle details like that as well. Having said that...Cheater cheater pumpkin eater!! Those dims are all in 2D views. I do think that's probably where they SHOULD be though. Dimensions in 3D might look cool but they can pretty easily get confusing. It's not uncommon to see dimensions in 3D where you can't quite tell what it's dimensioning.

Here's a quick example... And the plan to play with if you want to...3D Dim test.plan And the small library of symbols I used...3D dim tools.calibz The symbols should show up in your library in a folder titled 3D dim tools. Its just horizontal and vertical 3D dim lines and 3D extensions. Drop them into the plan in plan view and then rotate and resize as necessary in any view. I have the stretch planes set up so they shouldn't distort so long as you use the appropriately oriented symbol. Again, you'll have to add/modify the text manually, but you can actually select the symbol and open it to get the length if you want. Anyway, dimensioning in 3D isn't really something I've found myself needing to do, but despite its clunkiness this is probably the most elegant solution I've found in Chief. Have fun, and have a nice weekend everyone!

I'm away from my computer right now so I can't post any examples, but I think the most efffective and best looking way to do this in Chief right now is using molding polylines with very thin molding profiles. Doing it this way, the representation in 3D is correct and any changes to the camera position don't require redoing anything except the text. I should probably make a video about this at some point but it's funny, I think Chief is EXTREMELY close to having this capability already and they may not even realize it. Try this quick experiment. Draw a line in plan view, include an arrow on both ends, set the arrow to maybe 9", and check Show Line Length. Now click the Convert Polyline tool, convert it to a molding polyline, and assign a narrow molding profile. Now go into a 3D view and select that molding polyline. While the line is selected you should notice 2 things... 1. The arrows on either end of the line are displayed WHILE IN 3D. 2. As long as your minimum display size is set high enough, the line length will also display WHILE IN 3D. Besides this, we also have temporary dimensions and dimensions lines that show up in 3D (when you select a cabinet for example). Anyway, there's not much you can do with it but it goes to show Chief is pretty stinking close. In the meantime, try using molding polylines drawn in 2D views. You'll have to draw the arrows manually but once you draw a couple all you have to do is copy and paste as necessary and they look pretty shnazzy in 3D. Of course you'll have to add the text manually.

What you are seeing is what I would call orphaned symbols. I'm not sure how, but their respective cad blocks have been deleted somehow. That box with a diamond in it is what you get when an object has no cad block assigned to it. I would send that into tech-support. If you post the plan maybe one of us can take a look too.

Yep. Either Point To Point Move or one of the 2 Align/Distribute tools. If you have a line to snap to you call also use your center mouse button to grab and move the object by one of the edge or corner handles. This way you can use snap indicators to position the object where you want it.

At least 2 ways...

You already mentioned this method Scott, remember... "...Boolean operation. (Yech)..."

Glenn's video can be found in this thread (which might hold some other valuable information as well)... https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/9422-primitive-modeling/?fromsearch=1

I don't think I would use a bay window at all. Just use normal walls and modify the foundation placement as necessary.

I think what you're probably looking for is found under the roof tab for the offending wall...Lower Wall Type if Split by Butting Roof.

Yep. That's another good reason to do things that way.

Hey Johnny, I just tested out another method that looks like it might work for you. We no longer have Sketchup Pro so I couldn't actually test this with the .layout extension but I did test this using a normal .skp file... It appears as if though Sketchup will recognize and open any file extension so long as the actual file is readable, so...if you get into the habit of naming your Sketchup layout files with a different extension such as .skplayout, and then set Sketchup as the default app for the .skplayout extension, then you can use Chief as the default for the .layout extension and you will have no conflicts. Its just a matter of doing 2 things... 1. Displaying file name extensions in Windows Explorer 2. Remembering to manually change the extension when naming your Sketchup file. NOTE: You don't actually have to display file name extensions but the problem is that if you don't you won't have the option of manually modifying the extension name when saving your file in Sketchup...it would have to be done after the fact which could get rather confusing and messy. Unfortunately Chief WILL NOT allow you to save with any extensions other than .layout...although it will open the file if you use .la1 as the extension for your layout file. You would have to manually modify the extensions from Windows Explorer though. Just seems easier to make the change as I suggested in Sketchup instead. Not sure if that is any easier than just using Open With, but it gives you another option.

Ya, I think the best solution is to simply set whichever program you use most often as the default and then right click and use Open With> if you decided to use the other program.

Unfortunately, I think the only way you'll be able to get this to happen would be if you know someone with a copy of Revit who would be willing to download the files and then export as a 3D DWG, DXF, or some other file type that Chief can import. Have you checked the Sketchup Warehouse or the bonus catalogs?

You have to either check "Include Type" in the label tab of the schedule dbx or add the "Hinge Side" column to keep differing swings from grouping together.

This particular statement isn't totally true. As a simple example, you could add a $toggle macro to a plain polyline label that recognizes the line weight and place that object on a special "Toggle" layer. You can adjust that line weight differently in any given layer set. The resulting value can tell your label how to behave in that particular layer set. In other words, changing the line weight for your Toggle layer will change your labels for other objects with the main label macro.

I definitely agree with your statement re: the switch and toggle method being a bit of a kludge but to some extent it's all that we have so until we get something better I'm rolling with it.

It can also be done with "switches" or "toggles" that are set via the layer name or by using another object containing a global ($name) macro that acts as the switch (using line weight, true/false, etc). As you well know though...it really all depends on exactly what you're after and what level of control and flexibility you want.

This can only be done with some custom macros. It's an ability that has been requested by myself and I'm sure others. Wouldn't hurt for you to request it again.

I was only offering a side note because I've experienced problems in the past although I can't exactly place my finger on when and how those problems did or might manifest themselves. At the very least it can be annoying if you have multiple viewports open and changing the layer set in one view (plan maybe) affects what you see in the other view (layout maybe). Sure the problem will likely correct itself but its annoying nonetheless. Anyway, having said all that, I still really like your idea and think it has quite a bit of potential. I've been using a similar technique to toggle labels using layer names that are not the same in all layer sets...a feature Chief has stated that are doing away with. I'm thinking that the method you've brought up may help replace at least some of what I am doing with that method now. I am thinking I would do things slightly differently than you are though. Namely, I personally find it easier and a little more intuitive to just toggle the various label display options by placing a single toggle control into a polyline label and then using the line weight for that polyline as the toggle (0 = no label, 1 = automatic label, 2 = header, 3 = schedule number, or whatever). The line weight could easily be changed on a layer set by layer set basis. You could even block a Rich Text box with that polyline that may include not only all the necessary macros but also a description of which numbers mean what and they could even be made to display which label type is currently active in that view. Not the same thing exactly but the box could have a reactive display like I did with this Kitchen Triangle tool I made a little while back... https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/10386-kitchen-work-triangle/ At any rate, I really appreciate you sharing, its a technique that seems worth exploring further. P.S. I sent you a PM

BT, Haven't spent a lot of time on it and I'm probably done playing around with this for today, but just a little side note for whatever it might be worth to you. I remember now why I stopped using global ($) macros as any sort of toggle...it can be very finicky. Macros will execute in unwanted fashions simply by opening or closing text macro management, and switching a layer set in plan can affect the view in layout even if the view in layout hasn't changed layer sets. Anyway, you have to be EXTREMELY careful with the way you set up and execute your global macros to avoid unwanted results. It can be more of a hassle than its worth in many situations.

I haven't really studied your macros but I have accomplished this type of thing in at least a couple different ways... 1. Place the necessary macros into the object's label and if necessary simply set one or more to .clear or to return "". 2. Place the macros into one or more text boxes, block it/them, and add to the library. Again, you can set one or more macros to return "" or to .clear if necessary, OR you can set the text color to white or the text height to zero so the macro doesn't even show (if necessary). It totally depends on exactly what you're trying to accomplish but hopefully one of those will work for you. NOTE: You can actually even simply use a place holder object. A cabinet for example with the macros in the label. Add the cabinet to your plan and then simply delete it and the macros will load. Same thing with a text box or anything else for that matter. Also, you can right click on any symbol or architectural block that's already in the library and then click on text macro management to either write or import any macro you want. Any and all macros you add will automatically load with that object whether they're actually being used with that object or not.