TheKitchenAbode

No doubt and I did just find some articles that mention "Press Tab to Update Dialog". At the end of the day I'm just suggesting that Chief should somehow make things like this more obvious, especially for less knowledgeable users. In my example concerning the materials DBX, a user changing the emissive setting and ,pressing "OK" may not realize that their new setting was not applied, they could easily assume it was, but the reason it's not showing any change is due to something else being incorrect, they then go off and start playing with the sun, other lights or other settings as they attempt to get the emissive to work, while all the time not realizing that it failed to work because the Dialog was not updated before pressing OK.

Yes, I realize this is the case but using the Tab key seems to be a best kept secret. Just checking the knowledge base and there is no mention anywhere as to the need to do this. Even in articles on roofs, they state "Click OK to Close Dialog and Confirm Changes".

That's also my thoughts. The fields I mentioned appear to be single independent entries, no other fields in the DBX appear to be reliant upon that fields data. I understand for example in say the DBX for roof planes, in the DBX there are 4 or 5 fields that are interdependent, the input in one field is used to compute the remaining fields and this should be seen by the user before they do a final validation by pressing OK. Even in this situation I find the approach a bit unusual as there is no oblivious indicator that additional validation is required and if so what key or button does one press to initiate validation. In other software I use DBX's will often have at least three buttons "Close", "Apply", "Cancel" and possibly a forth button "Reset". This type of DBX nomenclature is very familiar and obvious to even the least experienced user. CA on the other hand uses "OK" and "Cancel", as far as I'm concerned "OK" means "OK", by pressing this I'm telling CA to take my input and proceed, not ignore my input and close the DBX. If CA wishes to keep the "OK" then when I press "OK" it should, if an entry requires but has not been validated by some other means such as "Tabbing" pop up an additional box with an option such as to "Close without Updating" or "Update and Close".

I understand the point being made about the tab key but then why is it only some of the time?

The provided explanation is not entirely correct. Yes they put it back in the software but not back in it's original place. It has been removed from it's original menu location and relocated to the background. If you wish to have this tool back you now need to use customize toolbars and find it. Had it been put back in it's original menu location no one would have been the wiser.

That would be understandable if they were consistent. In the materials DBX all other entries will stick by just pressing OK, no need to tab. Why just these two?

Maybe so but they should fix that not remove the tool. The main issue is that it's the only camera view function that allows you to get a decent view in a small room. How do you get a full screen view using any other camera mode/setting?

Yes it still exists but they have changed the Icon and relocated it, took me a while to find it. It's now bundled with 2 other camera save functions in a drop down menu.

Never noticed this before but in X12 it happens all the time with those two settings. I use these settings all the time and never noticed it in X11.

If you qualify for the X12 version you can create curved soffits using the new Tray ceiling tool. If not, you can use a P-solid and then place it up to the ceiling or as Eric suggest you can use a molding line. With the molding line you can stack different profiles to create varied shapes.

Has anyone else noticed this. For example, if you open up a Materials DBX and directly enter a number and then press OK the entry is not retained and the previous entry remains. So far I have noticed this for two entries in the Materials DBX, one is when setting the scale for a bump map and the other is when setting emissive. To get the entry to stick I have to click on something else and then press OK.

Agree, they also changed the icons for saving camera views and editing the active camera, can barely make them out, little tiny camera with a tiny disc and pencil. Don't get me started, downloaded X12 Beta and so far, at least concerning the tools I use, I'm not impressed. Just wait until you try out the so called new ability to edit p-solids in all views, need to take a few more blood pressure pills before taking another look at it.

Me too, I use this camera view setting and was surprised to see that it had been removed from the standard menus. Found it and put it back. Yes it can go a bit wonky at times but if this was the basis for removing tools then half of the tools in Chief would need to be removed. Also found the old copy and paste in place tool and also put it back, use this all the time.

My recommendation would be to take a hard look at the proposed configuration, not just the video card. That I7 8700 CPU is dated, there are much better CPU's to choose from. Concerning the video card, recommend sticking with Nvidia, RX 2060 or better, 6GB ram. Not that other similar cards from others won't work but my sense is that Chief uses Nvidia cards in their machines so it's your best assurance that CA will perform as designed. If you choose an Nvidia RX series card then you will have the capacity to real time Raytrace if and when this becomes available. No harm in having this capability but I would not count on this feature as the solution to a fundamentally poor rendering.

Though I'm not currently located in the UK I have done several projects in St Albans, just outside of London. As you are aware Chief is certainly geared towards North American construction methods and materials, and requires some customization. Fortunately, Chief has many features that permits this so you can define and create wall types and symbols to accommodate the specific needs in the UK. What I did find to be the most challenging was more related to the difficulty in replicating the finer architectural details versus the base construction, especially the intricate exterior brick work. The home below is currently under an extensive renovation including a ground floor back extension and loft conversion. Note the details around the windows and doors, specifically the fact that the bricks have either camphor or radius ends/edges. One significant benefit, though not realized when the project was first taken on, was the capacity to accurately demonstrate exterior shadow projections using the sun settings and the 3D model. When the project was submitted to city planning the neighbour complained that their "Right to Light" would be compromised by shadows being cast onto their property and conservatory. With Chief it could be demonstrated that these potential shadows were not significant and when cast they were only for a very short period of time, planning agreed and the neighbours request for consideration was rejected.

That used to be the case but AMD has made very significant improvements in their CPUs. The only slight advantage that Intel has is in single threaded performance but AMD has really closed the gap on this and for most users the minor difference would never be noticed. When it comes to cores AMD rules, especially for any given price point, with AMD you will likely get 20%-30% more cores than Intel's similar offering, that's a difference you will definitely notice and appreciate.

For Raytracing the more cores the better, it will use as many cores as you can throw at it. Currently the AMD 3900X series processors provide the best core per dollar and this new series also offer very competitive single threaded performance. Anyone currently upgrading should definitely take a very serious look at these AMD products.

The fact that the glow on those triangular walls is reduced when you turn the sun way down is a strong indicator that some portion of the those walls might be protruding into the attic space or the adjacent walls cavity. Open up a section view and check very closely to make sure this is not the case, even a 1/16" protrusion can cause this.

Good catch Mark. Will keep that one in mind.

More than welcome Kevin, pleasure to have helped.

If you have glowing surfaces that may be due to the surface material having an emissive setting. Best way to find these is to turn off all lights, set your sun intensity to 0 and toggle the sun off. Everything in the scene will be black except materials with an emissive setting. Emissive is useful but you need to be careful as overdoing it can really screw up the scenes lighting. The only other time an object may glow is if it penetrates say a wall so part of it is on one side and other part is on the other side. If one side is brightly lit CA may use that light to generate the materials appearance versus the light within the room that the camera is in.

You are most likely seeing the hidden automatic light that CA puts in if you have no lights in your plan. Just place any light in the plan, it does not have to be turned on and CA will not put it's own light in. Just be aware that with no lights your scene may be very dark.