Joe_Carrick

Curt, You can access the individual labels of a mulled unit by tabbing.

I agree. If anyone at CA is monitoring this thread, it's something that should be investigated.

Yes, Blocking simply adds another level of complexity. Blocking sets all the sub-items location as relative to the Block's origin There is no reduction in Face Count. Rebuild has to use a transformation matrix to adjust each object's location vs the Block location. Create Symbol OTOH only saves the visible external faces of what's visible This results in many fewer faces No transformation matrix is needed since everything is located relative to the 0,0,0 coordinates The moral of the story is to create symbols (rather than blocks) unless you absolutely need to have access to the original objects. That is sometimes true but usually it isn't. Maybe CA could come up with a way of knowing what needs to be rebuilt but it might not be that easy and it could cause other problems.

You can also use a "Panel Railing Wall" with the Horizontal Mullions built into the Panel (Glass for the main part of the panel) and use the Newels as the Vertical Mullions. Set the Newels at full ceiling height. I did a video some time ago with this method but I don't know where it is - probably in the old Forums someplace. You can insert a doorway into this "Railing Wall" and change it to a "Hinged Door".

Yep, I personally decided to just keep those Ctrl_ keys. It's just too hard to give up the defaults for all the standards. We've been using Ctrl_C, Ctrl_X, Ctrl_V, Ctrl_S, Ctrl_O, Ctrl_P & Ctrl_Z for as long as I can remember in almost every App. That's just one of the nice things about Gaming Keyboards - you can assign any regular key (including Del, Home, End, etc) to any of the Gaming Keys. Even the Alt_ keystrokes (such as <Alt_248> °) can be assigned to a Gaming Key.

Larry, Assign "X" to the "Cut Tool" in Hotkeys.

I have M1 set to match the F1-F12 keys, then M2 for Cabinets, Doors and Windows, and M3 for Electrical. Some of the F keys (F5, F6, F7 & F9) are also on the M2 & M3 configurations because I use those frequently and don't want to have to reach for them.

Use of a "Gaming" Keyboard (Logitech G510s) or Keypad (Logitech G13) provides extra keys (G1-G18/G22) which can be assigned multiple keystrokes. This allows Chief Hotkeys to be 2,3 or 4 keystrokes to be executed by just hitting a single G_key. I have one Gaming Profile set to be used for Chief Architect that assigns: G1 C,B = Base Cabinet G2 C,W = Wall Cabinet G3 C,F = Full Cabinet G4 C,P = Partition G5 C,T = Custom Counter Top G6 S,H = Shelf etc. Note that the G13 Keypad has 22 G_keys + a joystick so there's a lot more that can be done. Both devices have 3 "M" button which triples the available commands. That way you can switch from Cabinets -> Framing -> Electrical while remaining in a single profile. Or, you can just have multiple profiles the you can switch between. Naturally, it can get a little complicated if you have too many options - but a printout of the buttons with named function (a PDF works well) can solve that problem.

Curt, Chief's Box and Bay Window Tools are only minimally useful for Framed Site-Built configurations. CA really should add Bay and Bow Window Symbols for the various Manufacturers (Pella and Andersen at least) and fix the "Custom Window" tool so that openings, casings, sills and lintels are properly handled. Getting the settings right is pretty difficult presently and the Plan View doesn't match the 3D View. It's been several releases since this was last addressed and it still doesn't work like it should. I have a set of Andersen 45 degree Bay Window Symbols that I created and I've offered them to CA but they need to make adjustments to the "Custom Window" tool. Currently I'm using the symbols as "Exterior Furniture" and placing them on a "Pass-Thru".

Hi Mark, I have a Logitech G13 Keypad with 20 keys that I can program with Chief's Hotkeys. I can have multiple Profiles so if I'm working on cabinets, I can use the "Cabinet Profile" and if I'm working on framing I can use the "Framing Profile", etc. By using drawings of the G13 with commands in text I should have no trouble using the correct keys.

I have a difficult time remembering the Hotkeys - other than the standards (Ctrl_C, Ctrl_X, Ctrl_V, Ctrl_P, Esc, Del, Space) and a few more. I never use the Camera Hotkeys and most of the OOB Hotkeys don't seem to make any sense to me. So I am considering eliminating the Camera Hotkeys and adding: "R, O" for "Reflect About Object" "C,B" for "Base Cabinet" "C,W" for "Wall Cabinet" "C,S" for "Soffit" "C,T" for "Tall Cabinet" etc. Does anyone else use this sort of remapping of the Hotkeys? I'm thinking it will help me use them more and provide more functionality - particularly for those things that don't have a Toolbar Button. It seems that Chief has assigned Hotkeys to a lot of things that are used only rarely and consequently probably don't need to be taking up keys that could more easily be remembered for the functionality they would provide.

Select View > Toolbars That's a toggle.

Select the stair on the 1st floor and then click the icon on the Edit Toolbar to "Create Stairwell". That will automatically create the "Open Below" area on the 2nd floor.

You should make sure you have only one of the windows specified as "Include in Schedule" and "Show Label".

Larry, Shutdown and restart might fix it. But you should call SSA Support and see what they know.

%scale% is best used in the Plan. It's useless in the Layout.

David, What does your 1" Dimension Default and 1" Annoset look like? What does each detail look like before sending to Layout?

David, When you open the different details, remember to select the correct Annoset before sending to Layout.

BTW, Annosets are extremely powerful. It will be worth your while to learn to use them.

Each Layout Box has the "Layer Set" and "Active Defaults" when the view was sent to Layout. You must have something different.

Better to use a "Graphic Scale" in the Plan - that will always be correct.

David, Use 2 different Annosets with 2 different Dimension Defaults.

Dimension Defaults are per Plan/Annoset. If you use separate Plans for Details at different Scales you can have different dimensional accuracy. The other option would be to use a Secondary Format but then you would just have 2 dimension values. But of course the real answer is Annosets.

Small flat terrain regions in place of the points would work much better, assuming you don't want to use terrain lines.

Jared, Actually when you open the Layout the Plan is automatically opened - it just doesn't show in the Project Browser until you open a view. I'm not sure why CA doesn't display the Plan in the Project Browser immediately when you open a Layout. I've asked for that for a couple of releases but they haven't done it.