Joe_Carrick

Doug,

Here's my situation on the Intel HD Graphics:

If I have a 3D view open and then select an opject such as a door, window, cabinet, etc and then open the dbx - Assertion Failure

If I have a 3D view open and then scroll in the Library with the selection panel displayed - Assertion Failure

This did not happen with X6.  Dermot indicated that there was some work done to speed up the Render Engine so maybe that's where the problem is.  My other systems with NVidea Graphics Cards work fine.  Let me know what other info you need and I'll try to get it for you.  Here's the Video Card Status on the system that has the problem:

Yusuf.

A curved railing wall that is assigned to follow stairs.  That's great.  Now if we could get rid of the stringers for the spiral stairs and get the outside edges of the treads to be curved as well..............

What you've shown us is that Chief has existing subroutines that could be used to enhance the Stairs Tool.  I missed this because I was looking for the true Spiral Stair, not just a Circular Stairway as your video shows.  I agree that the railing can be done using your method and applied to a Spiral but we still have the issue of stringers and the outer edges of the treads not being curved.

We really need CA to do all of this in the Stair Tool.

IAE, thanks for showing us how to do this.  Much appreciated.

Joey,

Try turning off the Selection Pane in the Library and see if that fixes the problem.  You could also check to see if there's a newer driver for your video card.  One other thing to check just to see if it's the same problem I have - select a door and open the dbx.  If that also causes the problem then it's the same as what happen with my system.  btw, I'm also running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit on the system with the problem.

Maybe we can get to the bottom of this and figure out what the real cause is.  Neither of us had any problem running Chief X6 on these computers.

Joey.

I've had a similar problem with one of my systems.  That system has an Intel HD Graphics card and the problem occurs when both a render and vector 3D view is displayed - usually a result of opening an object dbx or selecting an object from the Library.  While a new driver for the Intel HD Graphics might solve the problem, i'm going to just bite the bullet and get an NVidea graphics card.

That might not be your problem.  I don't know what your hardware configuration is but at least that's what the problem is on my system.  BTW, I have 2 other systems using NVidea Graphics with no problems.

Thanks Dermot,

Hopefully those things will make it into the final release of X7 - If not all then at least most so that there will be little or nothing to fix in this tool in the future.  Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. 

Dennis,

I have requested several times that CA add a "Heli-Coil" Solid (basically a spring that has a constant cross section perpendicular to the slope of the coil.  Maybe they'll do it for X8.  In the mean time, I use a set of 4 short tubes (7.5 degrees each) copy/repeated/rotated as Jim does to create a 30 degree section.  I then convert this to a Symbol and adjust the smoothing angle.  It's not 100% perfect but it get's close enough to appear smooth in a render or ray trace view.

Installation clearance (probably a setting in defaults) so that the window will actually fit in the RO.

Sherry,

Were you "Country - when Country wasn't cool"? 

That couldn't really be because Country was always Cool!

This only goes to show us that people will do it both ways, right or wrong really doesn't apply, so give us both ways, which I believe is what Chief did.

Perry,

I will agree to having an option to display the size either way.  But Chief didn't give us that option.

One key element that hasn't been mentioned is the maximum resolution of your video card.  If you're using a Laptop that has a video card resolution limit based on the laptop screen then any external monitor will be limited to that resolution.  My Laptop has a maximum resolution of 1900x1080 (basically 1080p) so using a 4K TV would be a waste of money.  OTOH, my Desktop System has a video card that supports much higher resolutions.

My engineer would disagree with you, for posts. He is always having me change the 4x6 to 6x4 depending on the orientation of the post.

Perhaps, but if you go to a lumber yard and order a 6x4 they'll look at you like you're an idiot.   Besides, if you look at the Plan from the side then it would be what?  Is your engineer basing that on North/South or Plan orientation? 

The standard nomenclature is what I and my engineers have always used.  Maybe you need to get another engineer.

Changed the wall layer in the wall dbx to White Brick & that solved the problem.

Thanks

 

Not sure if that changed the library wall specification too or just the one in the Drawing.

It would be changed per plan.  The best way to handle this without changing the existing Wall Type is to create a new wall type and edit that one.  It will automatically be given the same name with ", copy" added.  Just rename the new Wall Type to what you want.  If you want the new Wall Type to be available for other projects you can add it to your user library.

White Brick can be specified for that layer of the wall type by simply selecting that brick texture from the library.  If you want a colored brick that isn't in the library you can create a new texture by using Mike's method in post #2.

The following tweaks should be made before the final release of X7:

1.  Framing Layer Set should have "Framing Labels" displayed by default.

2.  The Automatic Label should be displayed in the dbx when "Automatic Labels" is selected.

3.  The "y" offset needs to be reversed (- should move the label down, not up and + should move the label up, not down.)

4.  Framing member Labels should always begin with the smaller of the 2 dimensions (standard nomenclature)

5.  Default position and angle for Post labels should be up and to the right. (just a change to the template plans)

6.  Default position for Beams, Joists, etc should be above the member, not centered. (just a change to the template plans)

7.  Rotating a Post in Plan should not rotate the Label from the angle specified.

8.  Add "Framing Label Text Styles" for each member type (posts, beams, etc.)

9.  When using the macro for length, there should be an option to use the major or minor units (ft or inches) without having to resort to a user defined macro to format.

If possible, add Labels for Rafters, Ceiling Joists, Floor Joists, Roof Trusses, etc.  All of these should be as a single Label for a set of framing members (such as a Roof or Ceiling Plane, etc and should include the spacing) and would normally be oriented perpendicular to the direction of the framing members, centered both directions.

As I said before, this is a really nice addition (one of the few Labels that can might not need multi-line display) but the above items really need to be addressed to avoid a lot of complaints.  Don't let this feature be one that adds to the "fix it list" in the future.

Dermot,

Normally, a post is annotated as 4x4, 4x6, 4x8, 6x6, 6x8, etc.    The annotation of 6x4 is not normal, regardless of the x/y orientation of the dimensions.

IOW, if dim 1 is 5.5 and dim 2 is 3.5 it should still be annotated as 4x6 Post, not 6x4 Post.  This is standard annotation of lumber and Chief should recognize that.

Also, if I set the Label default to 45 degrees and then rotate the post 90 degrees the label should not rotate.  We should be able to rotate the Post independent of the Label.  The current implementation is not correct.  It's almost universal practice to place post labels just to the right and above at a 45 degree angle towards the upper right.

The Default editing of the Labels for Posts and Beams would be much better if it was contained in the main dialog for those items rather than having to select "Edit Post Defaults", ........  Having a secondary dialog just makes for more clicks - one to open the edit dialog and another to close that dialog.

OK, so I created a new "Framing Label Text Style" with transparent fill.  That solved part of the problem. but we still need a default position and angle for each framing member type. 

So now framing members have Labels on the "Framing Labels" layer. It's a nice addition but there are a couple of problems that I've found so far:

1. The Label has a solid fill and in the case of a post obscures the view of the post until you move the Label.

2. The "y" offset seems to be reversed in direction. ie: 12" actually moves the label down instead of up on the plan.

3. There's no way to set the default offsets and angles of the labels for various framing members.

4. The "Automatic Label" seems to be blank in most cases. 

I notice in X7 that there's a "Post" in the Framing Tools (without a footing).  AFAIK, this is new in X7.

You must have a disconnect someplace in the exterior wall.

Sorry Perry,  I don't recall having drawn the pocket when I was using manual drafting. 

Joe, the plan view is just wrong , the full pocket should be shown so people don't put plumbing or electrical or med. cabs. in that wall.

Sorry Perry but I thought you were smarter than to do that. 

It seems to me that the way Chief is displaying the sliding pocket doors in plan is fine.  It's no different than we would have done manually and is as far as I can see not a problem.  I've never tried to actually show the pocket.  Does it really need to be that detailed at scale?

Todd you will be able to download both versions but will have to deactivate the one before using the other

No, you can have both X6 and X7 activated at the same time.  However, any plan you save in X7 can't be opened in X6 so you need to make sure you save to a different location (folder or file name).  I use separate folders for each version.

The Library will be migrated so everything you had in the X6 User Library will be in your X7 User Library.

Okay,  I'm on,  nobody said I had to follow directions to get on.  I wonder if they get tired of us nitwits out here.

I was talking to a couple of the CA people at IBS/KBIS in Las Vegas this morning.  I can assure you that there were som choice words used about you. 

I refuse to tell you who I was talking to or anything about Chief's development plans for the coming year.

Sit down with a Door Salesman at HD or Lowes.  It's really pretty amazing what you can get with a special order and the prices are a lot better.