TheKitchenAbode

You could just make a filler with the attributes you want and save it to your user library.

In the cabinet DBX you can attach moldings to a cabinet. Set height from bottom. Should do the trick.

Graham

MacBook Pros are great machines but there is a lot to consider when changing to a different OS. No doubt that their track pads are really nice, however many of the newer systems from Lenovo & Dell have finally addressed most of these issues. You will also need to consider the other programs you use besides Chief. If you are using purchased software then you will need to buy the Mac version if available. If you are using Freeware then many of these may not be available in Mac format. Mac keyboard layout & function keys are a bit different than PCs and the OS UI is also very different, I know of several associates that tried to switch and unfortunately ended up switching back as they could not or were not willing to accept these differences.

Another consideration is the current and future Windows UI changes, especially the touch screen interface. Although this is not conducive to working within Chief I find this to be really great during client presentations. Swiping through my portfolio doesn't get any better, even clients can participate. Now that I have become familiar with the touch screen capabilities I would never go back. Its actually quite amusing but I just naturally try to swipe screens for certain functions even though they do not have this capability, very disappointing when nothing happens.

Graham

Mark - Thanks for sharing. I can understand your approach. Fortunately in my region there is not much need for this style anymore. Most designs are going transitional, modern & contemporary. However in the New England states I can fully appreciate the demand.

What I was working on before was almost there but one issue arose that would really limit its usefulness. Unfortunately there is only one element (a separation) in the cabinet configuration that I been able to find that its dimension (specifically it's width) is absolute. All other configuration components are relative to the cabinet width. For my beaded frame I used a 1/16" opening to simulate the recessed bead element, the other components frame & bead were defined as separations. Everything was fine until I increased or decreased the cabinet width, the separations remained as they should but the recessed bead element (opening) increased or decreased in width relative to the cabinets width change.

A thought did cross my mind that maybe it would be useful if we could designate whether or not a cabinet component be treated as absolute or relative.

Graham

Hi Mark, that's the way I do it. Just find a door/drawer style with an outer bead or make one up. Renders correctly and then just spec it out. We are just trying to find a way to make a frame that would allow us to just drop in any door style. I am getting close but not sure Chief will accommodate this and still allow you to resize the cabinet width without the frame changing its width automatically in proportion to the new cabinet width.

Graham

Heres the above with the corner of the bead corrected.

Graham

I am working on this a bit more. Doing it a bit different. Adding vertical separations to create the look. For example, left cabinet side vertical separation blank 1 1/4", right of that vertical separation opening 1/16" (creates bead groove), right of that vertical separation blank 1/4" (creates bead), right of that would be your door. Similar process needs to be done for the horizontal pieces.

Just working on getting the bead to join properly in the corners. The vertical simulated beaded frame has to be split horizontally and the section heights adjusted to align the bead.

The cabinet model will be fairly complex with all of the vertical & horizontal separations but once done it can be saved to the library for future use.

Here's how it looks so far. White parts are the frame, door other colour. Maybe this would overcome the cabinet label issue.

Graham

Just played with this for a few minutes. Take a cabinet, split it vertical two times. Make the left and right opening widths your frame width. Make a left & right door model with bead only on left & right side, assign to appropriate left & right openings. For top & bottom you will need to do the same type of thing for the horizontal separation. This might work.

Could also play with the Accessories Pilaster option for the verticals & make a model for the horizontal separation (frame).

Graham

Within Chief I believe currently this is the only way to do it. Create a custom door/drawer to simulate it. Would be great if the was an option for the cabinet frame when selecting "Inset" for plain or Beaded. The custom door/drawer is fine if you are only using this style once in a while but would be very time consuming if you require this frequently. Would not surprise me if for example the Gulfshore were not using something like 2020 which works using manufacturer catalogs.

Graham

Thanks Mick. Just noticed that key. What was I thinking. No wonder no one was paying any attention to my posts. "X7" got it !!!

Just like to thank the tech support team. Been having problems with A7 in conjunction with Intel HD3000 graphics. They just released an update that has resolved this problem for me. Saved me $$$ as I do not have to purchase a discrete graphics card now. Owe you one. I know you probably had to dig deep to resolve this. "That's Technical Support". Would probably have taken MS or Apple a year or more to do the same thing.

Worked for me. A7 running fine now on Intel integrated HD 3000 chip. Many Thanks !!!

Just tried the new update. A7 working fine with my Intel integrated HD3000 chip. Many thanks!!

Graham

Their was a post yesterday on Softpedia.com referring to the release of new Intel driver for their integrated graphics chip. Did not have time to try it out but maybe some can and let us know if this is the solution we have been looking for.

Graham

I am a 100% Chief advocate. About 10 years ago when having to choose a software package Chief in my mind was the clear winner. This has been repeatedly confirmed each year as new features are added and tweaks implemented. Great Job for all involved. Keep up the work it truly is appreciated.

Graham

A Quadro card will work but as Doug states in post #28 you will pay a high premium for features that Chief cannot take advantage of. Quadro cards are designed specifically for specialized engineering applications. They do not require shading & texturing. Gaming cards on the other hand are designed to be as efficient as possible to deal with this at as high a frame rate as possible. Chief users need this when panning with camera views with shadows, textures and smoothing turned on.

The high price of the Quadro cards has little to do with the hardware and more to do with the specialized market they serve. Gaming cards are at a much lower price point due to the a the large & highly competitive market with gamers.

Graham

Use a Trim Molding Line instead. It will show in all views. I usually only use the cabinet attach molding for light valances and decorative baseboards.

Graham

I usually just place two cabinets back-to-back so I have full control over each cabinets face configuration. 

Graham

Meant setting the transparency to say 98%. Sorry about that.

Graham

Have had this issue before. Only way I have been able to click on is in plan view. It seems to behave in a similar fashion as a door opening if the casing is deselected. Have not tried this but maybe setting the transparency to only a few percentage points might do the trick and yet not show in the renders.

Graham

This may be what you are looking for.

3D

3D View Defaults

Backdrop

Graham

hello,

 

probably best to contact CA's tech support.

 

Thanks,

The Cheesy Animation - Commercial 3D Walkthrough

Took a peak at your website. Absolutely gorgeous renderings!!! Just out of curiosity, how long on average does it take to push through a rendering to achieve this level of quality?

Graham

I won't speak for anybody else, but yes, depending on where I am in my process, I will have multiple standard camera views (OpenGL) open with the possibility of a ray trace running in the background performing a light check.  Not to mention Spotify, Netflix, and a full Amazon shopping cart to keep my attention during those activity lulls.

 

Seriously, if you ray trace out of Chief or any third-party render engine, then this "level of performance" is really bare minimum.  If all you're doing is modeling in 2D and assembling ConDocs, then...  why are you using 3D capable tools?

 

Throw in multiple monitors, wireless HDMI to a display array, Adobe AfterEffects, Photoshop, etc., etc.  I am not a one trick pony.

 

Then, of course, the cool factor. 

 

jon

I can fully appreciate your particular circumstances. For the purposes of discussion I base my experiences on this type of workflow set-up.

Windows 8.1

Chief - 1 plan tab, 3 elevation tabs, 3-4 camera view tabs.

Raytrace - running in background

MS Office - Outlook, Word, Excel, Onenote

Browser - 4 or 5 tabs

Photoshop at times

Music always

Two monitors

This runs on an 8 year old Dell Workstation, Intel quad core 6600 2.4GHz (assign 3 cores for Raytrace), 4gb ram, 560TI 1gb video card. Everything certainly seems to run fine. Never an out of memory. The only time things get ugly would be if I have edge smoothing & shadows turned on during camera panning. Just don't have much need for this when working, always run a Raytrace for colour/texture confirmation and finals.

This same configuration also runs fine on my Lenovo T420s ThinkPad and it only has an integrated HD3000 video chip.

I know these hardware discussions will always draw in many differing opinions with each having their own merits. From what I have been able to deduce is that the most significant factor concerning performance is primarily on whether the user needs to live pan with smoothing & shadows. If this is required then there is no doubt your going to need a top of the line laptop or gaming type machine. If not then users may have a wider breadth of laptops to choose from that are less costly, significantly lower in weight and with much greater battery life.

Graham

I really don't offer or promote in-home services. Fortunately, our client base is never more than 20 minutes away, pretty easy for them to drop by. Yes there is a need to visit their home for site measures and confirmations but this is only done after a consultation at the studio first. Have always found that those who are willing to make an appointment along with the effort to visit me tend to be the more serious. Obviously if you are servicing a rural area then this is not likely going to work.

Graham

Jon, please help me out on this. Why does everyone feel the need for this level of performance? What specifically are users doing? Is it that they are running camera views with shading & line smoothing? I don't see any other condition other than this.

Graham