Alaskan_Son

That's one way I use them for sure. You are correct Joe, and I finally got back to the office and had a chance to work with this a little further. I figured out what the problem was: There seem to be some sort of bug (or inconsistencies at least) with the way OPEN polylines behave The referenced macro will not work on an open polyline in elevation view UNTIL the polyline is closed. Once the polyline is closed, I can then put a complete break in it and then do with it as I wish and the referenced macro will continue to work. Until the polyline is closed I get an evaluation error though. Open polylines work just fine in plan view though.

I haven't messed with it a whole lot but I'm actually only trying to connect to other CAD based objects. I'm away from the office now but it sounds like what you are saying is that they work for you? Maybe I just wasn't snapping correctly. Actually, now that I think about it… I believe the macro probably had another global value in the calculation. Maybe what I needed to do was call the macro a "none" context and then used ".referenced" instead of calling it a referenced macro. I'll have to check it out when I get back to the office. I just haven't used referenced macros in elevations as far as I can remember and it didn't seem to be working. I didn't mess with it all that much though.

Never noticed this until just recently but for some reason referenced macros don't seem to work in elevation views. Does anybody know why this is so? Or does anybody know how to make them work? I was thinking of submitting this to tech-support but I thought I'd ask here first. It's strange because the referenced macros work just fine with the text box selected while Text Macro Management is open but they always results in an evaluation error once Text Macro Management is closed.

This is not a feature we currently have and it has been requested in the past. For now, I think your best bet is to double click the revision cloud tool on your toolbar which should take you to your revision cloud defaults and change the layer there before you draw them.

I think its possible the setting you guys are after is Perspective Crop Mode (P) found under 3D>Camera View Options. This will stop the camera from traveling through walls.

Hey Joe, There are a couple methods that I utilize to get otherwise unattainable attributes and automation. There are several variations of both of these methods but in short… 1. Draw a line, assign arrows to both ends, convert that to a polyline by adding a node, delete that extra node, and then utilize the label. 2. Do the same thing but instead of converting to a polyline, convert to a molding polyline. You can use this method with or without arrows, but the beauty of arrows is that if you drag the arrow and snap it to an object you can get it to "stick". When you move the object, the end of your line will move with it. You cannot use the molding method in elevation views, only in plan views. The beauty of using a molding polyline is that it can be added to ARCHITECTURAL blocks. There are a good handful of related tricks beyond that that you can use in conjunction with this method, but essentially what you can end up with are dimension lines whose values can be used in macros. To see one example, go ahead and reverse engineer the "Kitchen Work Triangle" in this thread... https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/11669-michaels-custom-macros-tools-symbols-and-training-services/?view=getnewpost

Here's a quick video with a couple tips (mostly stuff Glenn, Dermot and Joe already mentioned) and a quick demo to show that what you're looking for can be done with macros too...

Here you go Cory. Thanks for donating to the cause : ) Masonite 5-Panel Door.calibz

Agreed. Here's another little trick though... You can put all those lines on their own floor and use your reference display to utilize those lines. This way your lines won't actually live on any of your normal layer sets...only when you have that "Guideline Floor" set as your reference display.

Have you tried using 3D molding polylines, faces, or zero thickness polyline solids? They work decently well. Not great, but they work.

We don't have guidelines but there are a handful of things you can do to replace their functionality. I just use CAD lines most of the time but you can also use molding polylines, faces, and zero thickness polyline solids if you need them in 3D. For your CAD lines, create a layer called "Guidelines". Set that to be your Current CAD layer when drawing them. You can simply toggle that layer on and off as necessary, and you can easily group select and delete using Match Properties.

This is what he's talking about...

I believe I have reported this issue to tech support. I think you should report it as well. Each piece of Chief's automatic room labels individually rotate around their own center points instead of rotating around the center point of the group (as they should). Your best bet is to simply create your own room label using a text box or a rich text box along with the appropriate macros. There have been many threads on this, but if all you want is the standard label, simply enter %room.name%, %room.dimensions%, %room.area.internal%, and/or %room.area.standard%. Just set it all up like you want it, block it, and add it to your library for future use.

Scott is right on the money. Start by going to Tools>Reference Floors>Change Floor/Reference (Control+Shift+G). There you can choose ANY layer set to be your Reference Floor Layer Set. You can click Define and adjust that layer set's settings or even copy/create a new layer set. Anyway, that's where it is...go crazy.

My mistake. I had 2 views overlapped and it was the view sent to layout that appeared to have the transparent background. The exported image was in the background. Sorry for the confusion but here are my conclusions... -Images exported from 3D views will not have a transparent background no matter what you do in Chief. -Images exported from plan views will have a proper transparent background as long as you put a check in the box. -You CAN get a transparent background for 3D views in layout but NOT using the export tools. To get a transparent background simply send a 3D view to layout with the background turned off.

So, this is rather annoying. The background transparency for pictures exported from 3D views works in LAYOUT but not in any other apps I tested it in. Transparent background for pictures exported from plan views works just fine in all apps.

Scott, I tested this out and thought at first that I couldn't get a transparent background to work for 3D views but I was mistaken. If you remove the backdrop and check Transparent Background during the export it works just fine. I was originally testing with an app that wasn't properly handling the transparent background. I tested again in layout and it works perfectly.

Without seeing your plan this is just a guess, but try this… Those layers might be used in some of your CAD Blocks. Try going into CAD Block Management and checking "Automatically Purge CAD Blocks". Then see if you can delete those layers.

Yes I did. I do have an SSD that really speeds things up for me, but not so sure that would have any affect on this particular situation though.

I didn't do anything. Just opened the plan, copied the texture to a non-zipped folder, created a 3D view, reassigned the material, and that's what I got. Maybe the image was downsized during the zipping process? Here's what I get for the image properties...

Hey Chop. It seems to be working just fine for me...

I like it because my layout requirements are typically not very consistent from one to the next and neither are the views I send there. Create copy allows me to quickly and easily modify layer display on-the-fly on a view by view basis without having to keep track of how it will affect other views. If I want a handful of views to use the same layer set it's easy enough to change the name of one of the copies and use that instead either when sending to layout or by simply switching the layer set of any given view. I guess I just like the freedom. My style of drawing is just a lot more freestyle because my layout needs vary greatly from one job or task to the next. If you're making heavy use of the S.A.M. or a template method that re-uses both a plan and layout than Make Copy may not be quite as useful. I think it's real strengths come into play when creating layouts as you go...or maybe if you're using only the layout or only the plan as a template, but probably not both.

When you click Send To Layout there is an option to "Make Copy Of Active Layer Set". Uncheck that option. I personally like the feature but a lot of people don't.

Ya, I wish we would give more credit where credit was due. France (arguably the most powerful military in the world at the time) is a mere side note to our defeat of the mighty British army. Seriously...they may have had their own interest at heart; but nevertheless, to those Frenchmen of years past...thank you.

You can always put just the ceiling height in the room label and the rest in a Rich Text box. You would just have to manually align the 2 labels.