Joe_Carrick

Not so easy to do if using a keypad like StreamDeck, etc. I'm pre-programming the searches to get items not available from Chief's Drop-down Toolbars.

Chief's Core, Bonus & Manufacturer Libraries have a lot of similar named items and when searching the list of found items can be pretty long. If you have a particular item that you use often: Copy and Place a LINK in your user Library. Rename that LINK so that it's unique ( I prefer to just put a "_" in front of the name ) Now when you search you can just type the unique name and search will only find that item. Note that the "LINK" will take very little memory since it's not a true copy of the Library Item - just a pointer to the original. Of course, if you want to make any real changes to the Library Object in order for it to be different in some way then you'll need to actually PASTE it to your User Library. In that case it will not be a LINK to Chief's original object.

Hi Rob, The NKBA dims are a fixed standard for the "National Kitchen & Bath Association". None of the settings will change those standards. As DBC suggested, you will need to use the "Elevation Dims" instead if you want anything different.

Doug, Check to see if you have any "Referenced Floors" using the secondary plan files. This could happen if you saved a plan to a new name that had "Saved Plans". If that's the case you just need to change them to the new plan.

Hi Ben, Since the Orthographic Views are just 2D CAD they are not accessible to PB. Consequently you are never going to be able to get those rendering techniques for the Orthographic Views. By definition the Perspective Views are "Perspectives" so the walls will never be vertical in the "Top View".

With my current workload, I expect this to take a couple of weeks minimum.

Hi Charles, As I noted previously, I am in the process of doing a complete setup of the StreamDeck XL-32 for Chief. It's a rather time consuming process to get all the Hotkeys and Chief Buttons organized. Once I've got it working to my satisfaction I will make it available to other users (at a cost of course).

Thanks Robert, Now I have a reason to use them. I'm going to assume that you are converting to symbols to do this sort of detailing.

Does that mean you use them?

Does anyone use these tools? I only use the Perspective Overviews. I don't like the Orthographic Overviews because they look distorted. Consequently, I wouldn't mind if they were eliminated from the Toolbar - maybe even eliminated entirely. I can see a possible use for the Orthogaphic Top Overview as a Presentation Tool for Real Estate Brochures. But even there I prefer the Perspectives. Comments?

A few years back Chief added the "Wall Break Tool" which only works on Walls but can be preselected, pinned and used on any visible unlocked Wall. That's a nice feature which saves time and mouse clicks. They kept the standard "Break Tool" which works for CAD Lines, Plines, Molding Plines, etc but only works on a single preselected object. However, when a Wall is selected the Edit Toolbar still presents the standard "Break Tool" instead of the "Wall Break Tool". It seems like this is inconsistent behavior. IMO it would be better if: The "Wall Break Tool" is presented in the Edit Toolbar when a Wall is selected. The "Break Tool" is available for other objects - not requiring an object to be selected first. IOW, make these things work the same way.

It's actually taking me back to my time at CalComp. We had a numeric keypad, a keyboard, tablet & a joystick, They functioned as follows: Numeric Keypad - 2 digit commands (0,0 - 9,9) Keyboard - Text and Numeric Values Tablet - Graphic Input (like a pencil) as well as macro selection (mapped area of tablet) Joystick - Pan and Zoom I like Chief's GUI but IMO there's just too much mouse movement outside of the drawing area. The StreamDeck eliminates most of that and functions similar to the Numeric Keypad we had at CalComp - except that instead of being limited to 100 commands it is virtually unlimited.

I don't have an X-keys so I can't tell if it's comparable. The main thing with StreamDeck is that when you select a key that's assigned as a folder you get a complete new graphic set of keys. I also think it's easier to navigate only 32 displayed keys rather than 80. My eyes don't have to scan as much to find the right key.

StreamDeck allows you to assign a Graphic to each key along with the macro functions. I'm setting mine up with several Application Profiles. Within each Profile you can have multiple pages and each key can be a folder with an additional 32 key selections. For Chief Architect Plans I will have as many as 24 folders (each will be object specific - ie: walls, doors, windows, etc) and each of those will have up to 32 distinct keys with macros. I'm basically going to use the folders as replacements for the "Object Toolbars" to save mouse clicks and screen space. IOW, I will have approximately 800 commands accessible at my fingertip and they will all be "Back-lit Graphic". That's just for Chief Plans. I'll have an additional Page for Layout Commands I will also have Profiles for NotePad++ and several other Apps. So, as you can see the StreamDeck has a lot more capabilities than the X-Keys product.

My goal is to make my Streamdeck 32 be a virtual replacement for most of the Object Toolbars and a lot more. I've got a long way to go before it's done - but I've got a pretty good start on it. I'm also planning on using it to search the Library - at least to narrow down what I'm looking for.

Clever Glenn

If you want the "Terrain" to cover a part of the roof - you'll need to model the terrain as a solid and then cut a hole in that using boolean substraction. It won't actually be Chief's Terrain - but it will allow the hole to be like a horizontal tunnel into the hillside rather than a vertical shaft. The other option would be to model the terrain above the residence as a solid. Either way, you're going to need to learn how to create and modify solids. It would really be useful to know what version of the software you're using.

Every new Chief Version I check my AV setting to make sure Chief is "EXEMPTED".

A couple other things to check: Anti-Virus excepting Chief X14 Chief using NVidea RTX

Hi Michael, Aside from entering a bunch of "Backspaces" do you know of any way to "clear" the text in the search bar?

If a Hotkey simply starts with an alpha-numeric character it can inadvertently start searching the Library (only happens if the Library has focus). In order to avoid this I use Ctrl+Alt+[ a ] as the 1st part of the Hotkey. This insures that the Plan View has focus and the action takes place there. Some of my combinations: Ctrl+Alt+S --- Stair Tools Ctrl+Alt+C --- Cabinet Tools (conflicts with COPY/PASTE but I don't use that anyway) Ctrl+Alt+D --- Door Tools Ctrl+Alt+W --- Window Tools Ctrl+W --- Wall Tools You may find that some of these will conflict with Chief's Default Hotkeys - in which case you may want to use something else - or change the one that conflicts. Generally, I only use a few standard macros ( Ctrl_C, Ctrl_V, Ctrl_X, Ctrl_P, Ctrl_S ) so I avoid creating Chief Hotkeys that conflict with those. Note that if the Library has focus (search) then using a string of characters in a Hotkey will initiate that Library feature. So far, I haven't found any Hotkeys that gives focus to the Library Browser. I am not normally an extensive user of Hotkeys because I simply can't remember very many and my fingers aren't nimble enough to press several keys simultaneously. However, I've been setting up my StreamDeck_32 so I'm having to define a lot of unique Hotkeys. That piece of hardware provides me with a visible indication of what the command to be executed is. With 32 buttons per page, unlimited folders and pages I'm able to take advantage of Hotkeys for thousands of things I used to have to do with the mouse and Chiefs dbx's.

Hi Joey, I thought you had marked it "solved". I had no idea that anyone else could do that. In fact, the only place I've been able to find that option is in this (Q&A) Forum for my own threads. Maybe it was one of the CA Moderators. If not then you must have been "Sleep Browsing" unless someone else has your ChiefTalk login info.

I stand by my original statement. There's no way to do this without jumping thru hoops. Chief should make it possible to do this just by adjusting values in the Railing Wall dbx. All this switching from a railing to a standard wall, then dragging down in 3D, fiddling with the "Generate on Low Platform", switching back to a Railing, etc is NOT wonderful.

Ryan, How did you get the posts and the glass for that matter to go below the floor? I've not been able to find anything in the railing dbx that allows that to happen.

BTW, I've seen this cabinet configuration - but IMO it's way too expensive. It's easier and far less cost to just use a narrow (about 18" wide) cabinet set at an angle of 45 degrees. Also be very careful to provide adequate clearance between the drawer fronts and the side of the cabinet so that the drawers can actually be opened without hitting the adjacent cabinet drawers. Full overlay just won't work. I typically use a 3/4" spacer panel or extended stile on the sides of adjacent cabinets.