Alaskan_Son

Yes. Explore the accessories tab of the cabinet dbx.

Dave, I'm not so sure this is necessary. With each successive release we've been able to open and utilize newer SKP versions. I think everything up through version 2015 works with X8.

This is absolutely true. The reason I think that there are so many "workarounds" isn't because we need workarounds, its because people never take the time to fully grasp all the little details and how things work (and I think we've all been guilty at times). We mess around till it looks right without figuring out how or why. When we take time to figure out the how and why, not only are we unlikely to ever make the same mistake again, it can open up all sorts of new possibilities and often starts to solve what may have previously seemed like unrelated issues.

Create another backdrop for behind the camera using Build>Image maybe. If you like the sky in front of the camera though I'm not sure why you wouldn't want it reflecting in the windows.

I use an older model made by the same company and I love it. They've changed the design a bit, but I think the overall function is just about the same. Definitely worth a look... http://www.stanleytools.com/en-us/products/hand-tools/measuring-layout/fatmax-tape-measure

I suspect the real reason Chief doesn't recommend using the SAM has to do with the potential problems that could arise for less experienced and less knowledgeable users. If you don't know how to properly control your layer sets, plan materials, etc. and truly strip that plan back down you can easily make a mess pretty fast.

I'm curious if I'm missing something...How is that different than the SAM? It really all seems like semantics to me. Even Chiefs recommended template method is essentially the same as the SAM except that you do the save as to your profile plan rather than simply changing the name and using for a new job.I understand there are a few differences, but at their cores they all seem essentially the same to me.

I think once you get a handle on the way Chief works, you'll find very little reason to need any other software. Only thing I've found really difficult to create in Chief are free form shapes. Other than that, I personally prefer Chief over Sketchup for primitive modeling. Could Chief improve...sure, but it's a pretty stinkin' capable program.

You are using point to point dimensions. They create a "point" at each end of the dimension string. You can do one of three things… A. Use a different dimension tool B. Open each point individually and change the marker radius to zero C. Edit the default settings for point markers to make the radius zero

You definitely have something else going on. It only takes me seconds to save plans no matter how big they are. You should probably contact tech-support.

CPU for ray traces and mostly GPU for the rest.

Or download the free version of Sketchup and just do it in there.

Did you try clicking on the picture to enlarge it? Anyway, if by"page box", you are referring to this... Then all you need to do is as Joe suggested...enter P-# into the label field here... If you go to page zero of Chief's OOB (out of box) layout template and click in that area, you'll see they've already entered one of the macros I've mentioned above.

What do you mean by "page box"? Can you maybe attach a screenshot or describe what you are trying to accomplish in a little more detail?

I'm not exactly certain what you're trying to do, but if you're trying to display individual page numbers on the sheets (page 1, page 2, page 3, etc.), go to page zero, create a text box, and then go here and insert the highlighted macro... Or... If you want to display whatever you enter into the label field for any given layout page (through Edit Page Information), go to layout page zero, create a text box, and insert this macro...

I believe it represents "exclusive or".

They actually have some relatively plain English in the help files... "• Use XOR Drawing changes the color of lines in the Reference Floor that are drawn on top of one another. Lines with identical properties do not display." That didn't help me any though when I read it as it doesn't seem to do any of the above...go figure. I've just done the same as you in the past...If something isn't working, toggle XOR on and off to see if you get what you want. I usually like to figure out exactly how things work and to understand why things do what they do, but in this particular instance I've currently just given up.

That's where your floor framing will build to. As you had your walls defined, the framing would have built to the exterior surface of your siding.

Can you possibly attach the plan here? I'm suspecting you might have some issues with your wall definitions...zero thickness materials maybe?

Thats pretty cool stuff Johnny. What did you render all those with? And just a side note...those people really don't seem very social

That video actually got me to thinking... That technique could potentially allow for some pretty complex railing designs too.

That was a very informative video Yusef. Thank you. That's actually the first technique I tried but it wasn't working for me for some reason. I couldn't get the second set of stairs to be any narrower than 3" I think. Anyway, I can see that it's obviously possible and I just didn't try hard enough. Nicely done

Hmmm... I'm going to go ahead and call BS on that list. It's missing 25% screwing around on Chieftalk 25% time spent figuring out how to do that one thing you've never done before (it seems like every job has at least one of these items) 25% time spent searching all over the place for those special symbols you don't have in your library 5% time it takes to just model those symbols yourself because you can't find them anywhere 10% getting sidetracked and surfing the web for totally unrelated reasons. That leaves 10% for time we spend actually getting work done. That means we only probably spent 1/10 of 1% dealing with the most important things in life (talking with our wives on the phone). I think I'm going to have to revisit my priorities.

Welcome to the family!!!

That's funny. I think I remember briefly reading about the tool back when I first started using X3 but never used it and totally forgot about it. Fast forward a few years...I was using a plant to try and get an image to always face the camera and I thought to myself..."This is stupid, how did Chief make these plants and why wouldn't they give us a way to make our own or to make 2D people images?" So I started scouring all the tools and reading the help files...and eventually stumbled on the Build Image tools.