Alaskan_Son

Like California, the State of Alaska also has its own program (software). We can't export from Chief model, but I also might note that we can't export from any other program either.

I'll throw another vote out there for ASUS as well. I love my G751. I had a higher end MSI gaming laptop get stolen and my wife bought me the ASUS for Christmas as a replacement. It was notably cheaper than the MSI but was the best one available locally, and as it turns out I couldn't be happier with it.

You'll need to enter a lot of numbers.

mckennedy, It might help if you were to attach a plan. From what you describe it sounds like your complaining about having to build things that you SHOULD be building. Don't you need a chimney chase (or a room...obviously with a ceiling definition) and a roof or chimney cap (or a roof of one type or another), and what makes the overhang for a fireplace roof any different than a normal roof (in other words, do you have this much trouble with all your roofs)? I guess I don't see where all the trouble is. Either build a room with a pass-through for fireplace insert (just like you would in the real world), or build it with primitive solids and cut an opening...again, just like you would in the real world. How on earth is Chief supposed to know the footprint and opening dimensions for your existing fireplace or new chase, and how is it supposed to know how tall to make that chase and what kind of cap or roof it's going to get, or what the walls are constructed of? What about the shape of the chimney itself? List could go on. Point is I'm not sure what you expect and without a plan or at least a screenshot it's impossible to help you.

Not too complicated in my opinion. Might get easier though if the kind folks at Chief will ever implement the ability for a symbol to truly insert "into" a wall (i.e. cut a hole AND slide into position cutting ONLY the affected wall layers.

If you've already tried deleting them and can't, the layer might be locked.

Have you tried it yet (specifically with auto roofs to see where Chief places them)? I seem to recall having done that style of roof with auto roofs turned on...easy peasy as I recall but I don't remember which floor the roofs were created on. Away from my computer or I would test it.

Those are controlled via the "Windows, Labels" and "Doors, Labels" Text Style layer settings. Go to those layers and change the text styles and the labels will change accordingly.

I've had nowhere near 100 of these, but definitely a handful. A recent example... I did designs for "Remodel Project A" and owners (let's call them the Smiths) decided to buy a different house (we'll call it "New House B") and called the whole thing off. Smiths hired us to finish the basement in the New House B instead, so I drew up an As-Built for the new basement finishing project and we completed that job. In the meantime the new owners of "Remodel Project A" called us to remodel that house, and so we did. And now we're back to "New House B" again for a second phase. Point is that those As-Builts as Perry suggested can most certainly come in handy.

A CAD mask seems to be the most popular method and makes a lot of sense, but I also use multiple plans. An As-Built plan first, then I do a Save As of that plan and make a Demo plan, then I do a Save As of the Demo plan and make a Proposed plan. You can use the same steps and just use the As Built plan for a CAD mask under the proposed and/or demo plans, but by having the 3 separate plans you can keep better records of what is what, and if necessary you can always go back to a starting point. Just a few things to consider.

Nice post Graham.

This makes sense if a person is doing full construction plans on a regular basis where the basic layout doesn't vary a whole lot. I personally do mostly kitchens, bathrooms, and remodels, and every one of those varies wildly with regard to what views I need to send to layout and what details I might need to draw up, and most of the plans I draw up are cabinetry plans which can be anywhere from 2 to 40 pages long and contain the same number of views. I've only efficiently been able to use the SAM or standard template methods with a small number of projects.

Just overlay a text box on top of the dimension...coupled with possibly making the dimensions text height super small so you never see it.

This is pretty much the method I had previously described above. When I made that post I was away from my computer so I was just going off memory. I went back and checked what I've done in the past though... In my particular instance, I just left the ceiling plane in place and checked "Use Room Ceiling Finish". It seems you would need a ceiling plane anyway for the roof in question. Or you could create a second ceiling plane and just give it a finish with no material. There are a number of other variations you can utilize and settings you could play with, but that's what worked for me.

Unfortunately, I don't believe that its currently possible (aside from a workaround). Maybe add your vote of approval to this suggestion... https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/6426-rotate-dimension-text/?hl=%2Brotate+%2Bdimensions#entry58335

Not me.

That stinks for you then. I guess you'll just have to figure which one of your many settings is the culprit. Even when I place a mask after the fact all my dimensions stay on top of it.

This opinion seems to be the consensus amongst the most vocal users here, but I have to totally disagree. I love "Make Copy Of Active Layerset". Having a different layerset for every view sent to layout makes controlling what displays for any given view a breeze without worrying about how it will affect other views. Only caveat is that when you have a ton of these copies it becomes best to just access the plan through the layout (a good practice in my opinion anyway because then you know for certain what view you are affecting).

I for one still don't understand what the problem is. I don't see why you can't make dimensions behave properly. I use CAD masks like what you're describing quite often without any problems. Dimensions always stay on top of the mask and if there are dimensions you don't want to show, just put them on their own layer. Or...attach a screenshot and/or plan for a better answer.

Sounds confusing to me. Can you attach a screenshot showing what you're trying to accomplish and attach the plan as well.

Try checking Tools> Time Tracker and see if you can glean any information from that, OR maybe try checking Tools>Project Information.

You betcha!

Its right here...

As usual. Once plan is posted, just a few minutes for an answer. Nice catch Scott.

Post your plan...or check your wall definition. In my experience (and in this thread too if you read the "best answer"), these problems usually have to do with the way your wall layers are set up.