Alaskan_Son

I noticed the pass through too. I have a feeling it was somehow just the result of the dormer window being set to frame through double walls.

Properly executed, I think all the above are equally legitimate options and could result in near identical results. Really boils down to which tools a person is most proficient at using as well as the desired end result.

Not at my computer right now, but have you tried putting a break in that adjacent wall, chmaging the wall type for half of that wall section and then dragging it over to where you want it?

I for one have always felt that way. Never noticed much difference. Never found a reason for final view either other than to quickly add shadows.

That particular instance I would probably just do with material regions, mouldings, or polyline solids. It would probably be easier than creating the texture, would be more accurate, and would look more realistic.

Unlock and display the gutters layer and then click on that segment and click "No Moulding On Selected Edge".

No picture attached

I would personally just use polyline solids. For the "dogtooth" part just use Distribute, Transform/ Replicate, or Multiple Copy.

You're very welcome!

Open your North Pointer and then in the lower left hand corner, click on Number Style. Then you can select from the various options. See attached screenshot...

In the future, maybe consider selecting the room and then clicking the Make Room Molding Polyline tool if you run into a similar circumstance. It will create that moulding around the room for you. All you have to do is click Suppress Molding On Selected Edge where you want the molding removed.

For anyone experiencing the same problem, I managed to fix it although I'm still not sure why it happened in the first place. After following Brian's instructions, I opened Task Manager and noticed that X7 was named as one of the background processes. I clicked "End Task" and restarted my machine. All has been well since.

Those moldings are a result of the invisible wall and room created by the dormer. Without spending too much time with it, I think the quickest solution is to select your kitchen room, click Make Room Molding Polyline and then suppress molding on those 2 edges.

Thank you Brian, this solves part of my problem. I still can't open X7 without holding down the control key though. It is acting as if the program is already running. I reboot every night too so rebooting doesn't fix it.

Can you attach the plan?

Thanks for attaching the plan. I think the problem now is that no one really knows what your terrain is actually supposed to look like and therefore we don't know the best advice to give in order to fix it. I tend to think the elevation data is incorrect and needs adjusting. One thing you can do to address at least part of your problem though is to uncheck and then check "Flatten Pad". You can also try to insert some terrain modifiers like Lowered Regions or Flat Regions.

I wouldn't even consider using HDP if your goal is realistic lighting design. I'm relatively certain you're going to need the ray tracing that is only offered by Interiors and Premier. Download the trial version and take it for a test drive.

I'm having the same issue. I've just gotten into the habit of holding down control while opening Chief and just clicking yes when the extra box pops up.

To fix the lighting issue, it depends on which version you're using. In X8 we have the option under 3D>Lighting>Adjust Sunlight to check "Sun Follows Camera". In previous versions I would just suggest either... a. 3D>Lighting>Adjust Lights>Default Sun and play with the Tilt Angle and Direction Angle settings b. CAD>Lines and put both a Sun Angle and North Pointer into the plan. Once you do that...Window>Tile Vertically (or Tile Horizontally), and play with the North Pointer and/or open the Sun Angle and make adjustments to the various settings. Adjustments made in the sun angle dbx. will change the 3D view even while the dbx is still open (thus the reason for my suggestion to tile your windows...so you can see the changes as you make them).

The "shiny" areas you are seeing are what we call z-fighting. Your roof sheathing is showing through the roofing material. This is usually caused by a model that is built really far from 0,0 or by some errant object really far from the origin. It can usually be fixed by either... a. moving the model closer to 0,0 b. deleting the errant objects c. increasing the thickness of the roofing material

Which version are you using?

Have you tried playing around with transform replicate much? You can get some pretty similar helical shapes by setting the number of copies to a very high number and then playing around with the move and rotate numbers. You can also get some pretty interesting results by exploding a cylinder.

Is that part of the stairs or the result of a primitive solid or moulding you created?

I would personally recommend that you seriously consider just going straight to Premier. I think its money well spent. We do mostly kitchen and bathroom remodel projects and I love using Chief for kitchens. I would however note that we use local custom cabinet shops almost exclusively so our ordering process may be different than yours. I know there are quite a few Chief users who use standard cabinet manufacturers though and they still prefer Chief over the alternatives. I think some still use 20/20 (or similar) as a supplemental program, but it seems that its becoming at least a little less necessary.

I was having problems as well.