Joe_Carrick

I don't know of any way to do that. If HD 8.6 has an Import Symbol capability then you could export the 3D Symbol from Chief to 3DS and Import it that way.

The GLASS DOOR is really a Framed Glass Door such as you would have for an Exterior Sliding Glass Door or a French Door. It's actually pretty easy to create a Glass Door Symbol from a simple 3D Box. It would only have one material which could be "Glass". OTOH, once you define one Glass Shower Door, You can add it to your Library and use that every time without having to go thru all the editing.

How did you try to change it? Don't use the eyedropper. Open the Door dbx, select the Materials Tab and change it there.

Have you changed the Wall Type? Is it possible the Casings do no project out beyond the Brick?

Just change the door to a SLAB instead of PANEL. IOW, do not use a "GLASS" Door (Door Style). Use a Slab Door, set it to 3/8" thick and make the material "Glass"

The 2nd Floor Exterior Walls of the Stairway seem to have been pulled down to the First Floor. That's resulted in the Utility Room having no height. Those walls need to stop at the 2nd Floor.

Turn Casings ON, UnCheck "Has Jamb, Turn Casings OFF. For some reason the developers didn't think we should have independent control of Jambs.

Chief's Window Symbols are designed to be "Projection" Windows (like Garden Windows, Unit Bay Windows, etc.) and do not at this time have a way to offset the 2D Block y-origin so the 2D will be inset. You can edit the Symbol and set the 2D Block to None However, in the case of your window I would just use a "Pass Thru" with Frame and Casings.

No Casing, No Frame. Separate Tabs in the dbx.

We must assume that you mean Ray Trace, not Render. You should post your system specs and other information in your Account Signature. That will give us a better idea of what the problem might be. In addition, posting the Plan will also help to find out why you are having trouble. ps: A Ray Trace can be stopped at any point. Generally 2-4 passes is sufficient and anything more than 20 passes is a waste of time.

OTOH, You can save those things and then open your Template and Import them, save the Template and it's done. Chief provides many Templates and you can set one as the Default Template. As you develop and modify you might want to save the new Templates using names that you recognize - either by style or even by Job Name. When starting a new project, you always have the option of using "New Plan from Template" and selecting whatever Template suits the job.

If you have X6, there's a download in your Digital Locker for both the 32 bit and the 64 bit versions. There is no extra charge. When you get your new computer, simply download and install the 64 bit version.

I use SugarSync plus I have 3 separate computers and use LogMeIn to sync folders.

Maybe someone else in the office had the file (or a copy) open and saved that after your save. I've seen it happen. OTOH, I am pretty sure that Larry's a one man shop - so unless he restored from another computer or backup source I can't begin to explain what happened to him.

I agree, that's a wonky implementation. But you can place it in a free space and then drag it to the point you want to snap to..

Thumbnail images are too small. However, the way to insert an image is to use the "Attach Files" option below. If it's not showing select "More Reply Options". Click the "Browse" button and navigate to the file you want to attach (usually a jpg or png) and open it. Then Click the "Attach This File" button. Note, you can attach several files to a post (maximum 10MB total).

Select an object - then hit F1 key. It won't give you everything, but for the most part it should put you in the right help section. Sometimes you just have to search with key words in help to find everything.

Now that Doug Park is off on a 2 month bike trek across the USA, who is filling in as the Moderator for the Forums? He was doing a great job and will be missed while he's gone.

Place some CAD Lines with intersections where you want the Bay Corners. Once you have those spaced correctly you can simply snap the Walls to those intersections. Then just delete the CAD Lines.

Patience Grasshopper....... Rome wasn't built in a day and no one here learned to use Chief Architect in a day either. I've been using it for at least 10 years and am still learning and refining how I do things. My father had a saying I will never forget: Can't never did anything! It constantly reminds me to be patient and persistent. Just keep trying and look for the answers. I was an ACAD user before I started using Chief and I was pretty competent with it. While Chief is 3D, it needs 2D for certain things so we have no option but to learn how those things work together. Virtually all of what you see in Plan View is 2D CAD but where there's an underlying 3D Object it's connected.

Yes, a Symbol is a 3D Object. However, when you select the 2D Block that's attached to a Symbol in the Plan View (IOW, the original outlet placed on the wall) you get the overall Symbol and not just the CAD Block. You will notice on the Edit Toolbar that there are 2 icons for the object. One is the "Open Door" and one is the "Chair". This is the same as selecting the Symbol in a 3D View.

In most cases the 2D Block is a close representation of the 3D Object as viewed from above. In the case of Electrical Fxtures and some Appliances the 2D Block is just a Graphic that looks nothing like the 3D Object at all. That's why we have the option of modifying the CAD Block - but we have to tell the 3D Symbol what CAD Block to use.

You missed the step of editing the Symbol by assigning the new CAD Block using the Symbol dbx. It's not the CAD Block that you need to add to the Library, it's the Symbol after you've assigned the new CAD Block to it. Check Steps 6 & 7 again. You just need to understand that a Symbol is a 3D Object and a CAD Block is a 2D Object. 2D Objects are essentially "Dumb" as you call them. However, each 3D Symbol can (and usually does) have a 2D CAD Block associated with it to use in the 2D Plan View.

FWIW, This is a fairly complex and tedious process but it's not something that you will need to do that often. It's really a case of a special 2D CAD Block being needed with a built-in label. Most of the time Glenn's suggestion is the way to change a Label.

OK, you can do what Glenn says, but it's not the same thing. The Electrical Symbol that you get from the Library has a 2D CAD Block associated with it. The text is a part of that CAD Block. So here is the process to Change the CAD Block itself. 1. Select the Symbol that you have placed in the Plan and Open the Symbol using the little Chair Icon 2. Find the name of the 2d Block. "Outlets:Wall Mounted/110V/GFCI" 3. Go to the Menu and select CAD>CAD Block Management or just hit the V key 4. Select that CAD Block From the List and select the "Insert" Button. 5.. Once you have placed it in the Plan you can select it, Unblock, make the changes, Block it and Name the new Block 6. Now Select the Symbol and Open the Symbol dbx 7. Select your new Named 2D Block You have now assigned a new 2D Block to the Symbol Add it (The Symboi) to your Library with an appropriate name.