Alaskan_Son

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.

Sounds like an awesome attitude and a great idea

That last example is way better than winders if you can make it work and if the treads are deep enough. The only reason to use winders in my opinion is when you need to because of space limitations.

On a side note here, the way Yusef drew the stairs still doesn't meet code anywhere that I know of. Its close, but the narrow part is too narrow. That being said, it is probably MUCH MUCH safer than the 2nd example in the OP. The odd, gradual change in stair shape can only be bad. In my humble opinion, 2 straight runs with a group of winders is much safer because you're not taken by surprise... the change in step profile is obvious and so a person is mentally prepared to deal with it. With the odd gradual change this simply isn't true.

I believe what I've always done in the past is... Frame a small ceiling or roof at the correct pitch (even just a small section), take one of the rafters and put it on it's own layer " decorative beams" maybe), delete what you don't need, and then adjust/copy/distribute the new rafter as necessary.

You bet.

Here's a crappy video. Not full instructions but hopefully enough to get you started. Sorry it took so long, my upload speed is WAY slow. http://screencast.com/t/GPujt2Vp

Would definitely use primitive solids. Video shortly...

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