Joe_Carrick

FWIW, I don't understand why you aren't just using a Wall Schedule for the Walls in your model. Assuming that you have your Wall Definitions set to use the correct materials and those materials are named & sized appropriately (not Chief's standard names) then everything will be taken directly from the model and you won't need to use anything else. Note that the materials in the Wall Types for the above Schedule are not what I would normally name them - those are mostly Chief's standard materials. I do use $Global Hashes for some things - Site Area Analysis for example where I get areas directly from Closed Polylines - but otherwise I tend to avoid extra $Globals that aren't fixed data - such as structural information (standard properties, etc). IOW, things that Chief doesn't otherwise provide. It just seems to me that you're making it more complex than it needs to be. The Chief Model has an enormous amount of data available. Adding extra data entry doesn't make sense to me. I know I'll probably get slammed for this post - but so be it.

FWIW, I know some will think that my price of $200 is too much. But I can assure you if you try to replicate my setup it will cost you more in billable hours than my fee. I wouldn't do this for anyone as a custom setup for less than $2000.00 If I get 10 users to purchase it I still wouldn't recoup my costs.

In order for Elevations to update automatically they must be specified as "Live View" and "Update Automatically" in the "Send to Layout" dbx. Plot Line views will only update when specifically requested as DB indicated. It's a matter of personal preference as to how you do it. If you have a really fast computer with a good RTX GPU using "Live Views" makes sense. AFAIK there's no Preference or Default for using "Live Views". You just have to do it for each Section or Elevation you send to Layout. -or- Modify it in the Layout Box dbx.

Scott, I understand that some cities - San Diego for example - have such rules for the FAR calculations. That's not the same as "Living Area" which is used for Real Estate purposes. I had a project in the "Bird-Rock / La Jolla" area of San Diego where there was a high ceiling area which the city counted for the FAR. OTOH, as far as I know San Diego County doesn't count such areas.

Scott, I count stairs only for the floors on which they land at the bottom. IOW, the top floor which is only a stairwell doesn't count - it's just a hole in the floor. Another way to look at it is: "Tread and Landing" areas are only counted once. Elevators are only counted once. Doesn't matter which level it's stopped at, all other levels are just holes in the floor.

Assuming that Chief X14 and ChiefTalk are both to be buttons on the Default Profile: What other Buttons would you want? Apps such as WORD, ACCESS, EXCEL,....(they can have Smart Profiles assigned so that when active their Hotkey buttons would be displayed on the Stream Deck) Control Panel Task Manager Edge Email Windows Explorer are some that come to mind. I can set those up in a "Miscellaneous Buttons Profile" which can then be copy/pasted to your Default Profile. Let me know what you would want. Basically the things you use often and want quick access to from your Stream Deck Default Profile.

Yes, I've been fighting with too many toolbar items and the StreamDeck makes it infinitely easier to see.

Here's my Stream Deck XL Setup: It's taken quite a bit of time to get it setup the way I want. It includes a complete set of Hotkeys for all Basic Chief Objects and a lot of organization. Each Chief Object category is a different "Folder" so when a button is selected on the main Chief Folder, the corresponding id Folder is opened. I've also included a Custom Cabinet folder that works for Rabb's Kitchen Tools (won't work unless you have that package) and several buttons that lookup things in the Library. I need to put together a package that includes some of my user libraries (which are used by some of the buttons), the Hotkeys and a few instructions for importing the entire system. The price for this setup if you want it ---- $200 USD ---- PM me and I'll provide you with payment instructions.

Send a View from the Plan to the Layout. The Referenced File Name & Path can be retrieved from the Layout Box. That way, no manual entry is required.

That's because they are Chief Session specific, not Plan Specific.

Check the little folder icon to the right of the search window. If you have the wrong things checked it can cause some things to not be found. I prefer just "Keywords" and "Folders".

Ahhh, I see the problem. There are some symbols that need to be broken down to their component pieces. I just avoid using those. I guess it requires the "Pro" subscription to have those capabilities in Sketchup. I suppose in Chief you could delete the surfaces and then create a symbol of what's left. That's not always very easy.

Hi Gene, I don't have a subscription and just use https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/ Am I missing something?

When you copy a library object you can then paste it in your user library. There's an option at that time to "Paste Link". Keywords can help, but there are tradeoffs because you may find more objects than you actually want. Another thing that works is to begin the search with a quote mark. That will also minimize what's found

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.