Alaskan_Son

If I could "quickly" elaborate or direct you to a specific language I would. I don't have anything off the top though. I just know I've read and heard many times from Chief that they don't recommend the conventional "Save As Method" many of us are accustomed to where we just keep reusing the same file and just deleting what we don't need. It quickly becomes bloated and error filled, carrying problems forward from one plan and version to the next. I guess the better answer I could give is this... Where in the documentation is the Save As Method recommended? Answer: It's not.

Also, just a side note... Get in the habit of actually reading the dialog boxes that pop-up. If you try to edit an automatically generated attic wall in any way you should get a pop-up that says... "This operation modifies one or more automatically generated walls. The walls(s) will be retained and will not regenerate automatically. Would you like to continue with the operation?" All you have to do is open the dialog box and click Okay and you'll get the message. If you click Yes, then you've just created yourself a supposedly errant, "stray" attic wall.

There are a lot of really good reasons Chief doesn't recommend using the Save As method guys. Not saying it can't be an effective method but it can result in all sorts of problems.

Sorry, you didn't reproduce anything. All you've proved is that you futzed with attic walls in your template plan too.

Could it be possible that you're privy to a lot more plans in X11 and X12 than you were before? And might it be possible that you understand attic walls better now than you did prior to X11? I just don't think it's very productive issuing a diagnosis that you don't have any direct evidence for. It's a lot easier for people to swallow when they think it's Chief's fault so they assume it is and learn nothing from their mistakes. No, until I see some evidence, I'm not buying it. I don't have these stray attic walls in my plans.

The only garage elevation related code I know of is with regard to ignition sources within 18" of the garage floor.

I'd be curious to see if you could actually demonstrate this taking place or if its just your own supposition. I'm not sure I've ever seen this happen unless the attic walls have been fiddled with.

See if this helps you at all...

This is a simple example of getting involved when you didn't need to. You placed a wall on the attic level that shouldn't be there. In addition, your attic walls are super difficult to troubleshoot because you're not using the default layer for your exterior walls. You're just fighting the program.

Not sure I understand what you're after, so this may not apply, but the ceiling shouldn't be a necessity. All you should need to do is set the truss to Sloping Flat Truss.

While dragging, hit tab.

You shouldn't have any problem moving your dimension lines to snap to the center of those walls without using any workarounds other than actually moving the node...

Wait for it... ...wait for it....

This is an inherent problem with all tutorial videos and support articles and the main reason I tend to think they're a pretty stinky and inefficient primary learning source.. They can't possibly be sorted through, reorganized, and/or rewritten for every version, especially considering that they may or may not apply to multiple versions and that users of those older version are still out there. People just need to take them with a grain of salt.

This article no longer applies. Those settings don't actually exist in the Symbol Specification anymore. They actually live in the Fixture/Furniture Specification dialog where we just use the Elevation Reference now. Depends on how accurate you need your model to be. The problem is that although the tilt gets adjusted beautifully, Chief doesn't create an accurate 2D Block when an object is set to reference the roof. The quickest thing in my opinion is probably to make a single symbol that is set to Reference Roof, Flush Mounted, place it, select it, and then click Convert Selected to Symbol. That new symbol will have the correct tilt and 2D Block. the height just might need a little adjustment.

In my opinion, Launch Help is hands down the best and most underutilized learning resource at our disposal. It can be accessed via Help>Launch Help, by clicking on the little blue question mark at the top of your screen, or by hitting the F1 key. It can also be accessed from every single dialog box that I know of by clicking on the little "Help" button down in the lower right corner (lower left if you're using a Mac). If you access it through the dialog box, it will take you straight to the section covering the use of that specific dialog and all it's related settings. In addition, Launch Help can be utilized in 3 other basic ways... 1. If you click Launch Help while a tool is activated but nothing is selected, you will be taken straight to the section covering that particular object type or tool. 2. If you click Launch Help while an object is selected, you will typically be taken straight to the section covering how to edit that particular object type. 3. By simply opening it and searching through it the old fashioned way using Search, Contents, by following links, etc. Re: learning Chief in general via the documentation and various resources that Chief provides us without charge, it is my general recommendation that people start with the Tutorial Guide if they have the time to do so. It does a good job covering all the basics from start to finish and does so in such a way that helps you understand how the tools were intended to be used. During that tutorial, you'll be actually following along and using all the tools so it's great practice as well. After that I recommend always going to the Help files first (the Help files are basically the User Manual). Make sure to read carefully. Chief generally doesn't include all the extra fluff and misinformation you have to slog through like you do in places like this forum, and follow links where necessary to read up on other applicable areas. The videos are okay, but I've never seen anybody make nearly as much progress or learn the program nearly as well or as quickly as they can by simply reading the documentation. You can glean a lot of accurate and pointed information in a half hour by reading the documentation sent with the current version or you can spend that half hour watching a video that may or may not be using a current version, that may or may not be using the best method available in the current version, that may or may not apply due to some intricacy about your specific plan and situation that sets it apart, or that may or may not even cover the detail you were hoping to learn. It's really a crap-shoot. The absolute LAST place I recommend people go to learn the basics is this forum. It is one of the best and absolute worst things about Chief in my opinion. Its fabulous for peer to peer tips and clarifications and is a great place to learn hacks and tricks that aren't covered in the documentation or videos, but it has to be the least effective way of learning the basics and is terrible as a primary learning tool. In comparison to the aforementioned resources, it's a jumbled mess of disorganized, conflicting, and oftentimes downright inaccurate information and new users are easily the least qualified people to be filtering through that mess. Anyway, don't get me wrong, the forum is a useful tool but it should be pretty far down your list of places to go and helps foster some really bad and inefficient learning habits. When I personally forget something or when I don't know what a tool or setting does, the first place I go still is to the Help files and do so on a very regular basis. If I can't find what I want after a few minutes of searching there, then I might go search the forum, but I very very rarely find answers on the forum. It really serves as more of a distraction and time sink than anything.

Edit>Reset To Defaults>Roof Directives In Walls

Ya. It's not gonna do everything. It gets you partway there though. Really depends what you're after I suppose. If for example you want to create a mono slab underneath you can still do that without turning auto foundations off.

Not sure you're fully understanding. No need to turn Automatically Rebuild Foundation off. Simply open the walls defining the porch and set them to Create Wall/Footing Below...

You bet. Glad I could help.

Are you displaying the Date Modified or Date Created?

I hope you're using some custom macros for those.

The Note method is really all we have right now and its really not a bad solution. It can all pretty easily be set up with custom macros to be fully automated so all you have to do is copy and paste the note from room to room as you go.

Not if they don't read the documentation anyway... Easy to find by simply searching the Help files.