TheKitchenAbode

Some of Intel's latest chips have this capability. http://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/architecture-and-technology/hd-graphics/hd-graphics-developer.html Graham

What laptop do you have?

One other note, are you just mirroring your laptop display or are you setting it up as dual monitors. This can make a difference. Graham

Check out Bill's suggestion. This will tell you what the graphics card in your laptop is capable of. You mentioned in your last post that the laptop was fairly new, as such it should have a resolution greater than the 1080 you mentioned in your original posting and it should also have multi-monitor support. Even if it does not fully support 4K you may find that it may support a high enough resolution that things will be good enough. Graham

If the graphics card is 4k capable then the tv will display 4k. You may need to get a better quality HDMI cable though as their bandwidth capacity is quality dependent. Having said all of this it may be prudent to wait for a few more users who are using large high resolution TV's as monitors for their advice. I may be off base on this but I believe that some software does not always upscale as one would expect. Have encountered this before where the main program is fine but a pop up dialog box does not properly scale. This can happen as pop up dialog box boundaries are often predefined in absolute pixels. Graham

The graphics card determines the native resolution being sent to the 4k TV. So yes it will determine the image quality. GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit, this is the main processor on the graphics board. CPU stands for Central Processing Unit, this is typically the main processor on your computers motherboard. Best performance is achieved by having the graphics handled by a separate graphics processor, this frees up your main processor for other duties. Currently Nvidia is leading in the graphic card field. Joe makes a very important point if you are looking to use a laptop for 4K. To do so you may have to purchase a laptop that also has a 4k screen if you wish to have the same native resolution to send to your TV. You will need to check the specs to see what the graphics card capabilities are and if it will support a second monitor at a resolution that differs from the laptops monitor. Never really looked into this, but as these laptop graphics cards are special mobile versions they will undoubtedly lack some of the features found in their desktop equivalent. Graham

As Joe said above, you need a graphics card that will support 4K. What's happening now is that your 4K set is set to upscale the 1080 in order to utilize the full display area, it's a zoom like process and as you a zoom into any pic beyond it's native resolution it will become less and less sharp. If you do not require the 4K sets screen to be filled you could set the 4K set to display the input in it's native resolution, defeats the purpose of the large screen but it will improve the image quality. Otherwise you will need get a new laptop that has a graphics card that can do the job. Just make sure you get a good one, processing all those pixels is very demanding. Just one other note. If you Raytrace then you will likely need to increase the pixel size of your images, otherwise they will look soft & fuzzy. Your Raytrace time will increase accordingly. Graham

Dimensioning is mostly automatic. You will however need to enter numbers in dialog boxes to define other sizing parameters. If you prefer using a numeric keypad then it may be best to purchase a separate standalone unit, that way your choice of laptop will not be so restrictive. All depends on how you like to work. Graham

Thanks everyone for the support. The issue concerning Raytrace times appears to be an ongoing issue for many users, especially to those who are new to Chief. I am certain that Raytracing for many, including myself, is an extremly important tool that facilitates our ability to express our ideas and thoughts in a format more conducive to our clients capacity to envision their projects in a realistic 3 dimensional perspective. For me this is a great way to differentiate myself from many competitors who only rely on plan and elevations. Given the above, it can be a bit of a double edged sword, especially if the time to run a Raytrace is ridiculously time consuming. For example, a typical kitchen layout will include between 4 - 6 Raytrace views. If each view takes 1hr then a minimum of 4-6hrs is required and this assumes that I do not notice something amiss, which will require a rerun. To make matters worse it's inevitable that upon review the client will request some changes. Even a simple 5 minute fridge change now requires those Raytrace views to be update, another 4-6hrs. As we all have experienced these change request can be numerous and the Raytrace time continues to add up. I can recall many projects were this time exceeds the actual base design time, not very effective use of my time. It can also impede my ability to resond to requests in a timely manner. Hopefully the examples provided in my previous two posts will help users to improve their Raytrace throughput and also gain an improved perspetive when considering a hardware upgrade/purchase driven by this parameter. Many Thanks, Graham

Here is a comparison that demonstrates the impact with Intel's latest Skylake i7 6700K processor. 10 Passes used in all sample runs. 1200 X 571 pixel size. I5 2540M 2.6 GHz i7 6700K 4.0 GHz Spot Point Spot Point Lights off, 9,510 surfaces 1:01 1:01 0:17 0:17 Lights on, 9,510 surfaces 1:09 14:05 0:20 3:54 Lights on, 114,200 surfaces 1:15 16:55 0:21 4:55 Lights on, 114,200 surfaces, Photon "On" 3:37 19:27 1:03 5:45 Lights on, 114,200 surfaces, Photon/Caustics "On" 3:42 20:17 1:09 5:48 This new processor is between 3 to 4 times faster depending upon the task. Another noticeable benefit is that it handles multi-tasking really well when Raytracing with all cores assigned and running flat-out. The i5 is a T240s ThinkPad that cost about $2,300 three years ago, the i7 is a new Alienware X51 R3 costing only $1,600. Graham

The following demonstrates the impact on Raytrace time in comparison to light type setting, surfaces, photon mapping and caustics. The base scene - single room, 1 object (9510 surfaces), 8 mini can lights The base Raytrace settings - use camera view settings, Uniform intensity 5.0, Photon & Caustics Off 10 Passes used in all sample runs. i5 2540M quad core, 2.6 GHz. 1200 X 571 pixel size. Spot Point Lights off, 9,510 surfaces 1:01 1:01 Lights on, 9,510 surfaces 1:09 14:05 Lights on, 114,200 surfaces 1:15 16:55 Lights on, 114,200 surfaces, Photon "On" 3:37 19:27 Lights on, 114,200 surfaces, Photon/Caustics "On" 3:42 20:17 This demonstrates that "Point" lights have the greatest impact on Raytrace time. It also shows that the number of surfaces are of minor consequence. If your Raytrace times are unacceptable to you then the things to do are: 1.) Change point lights to spot lights. 2.) Turn off all lights in your plan not associated with the scene. 3.) Turn off Photon mapping when spot lights are used. If your scene lacks sharpness then the only way to improve this is: 1.) Increase the width & height in pixels and, 2.) Post process the image in an image editor. Always keep in mind that after about 10 passes you have likely attained 90% of the potential quality that can be achieved for any given scene. Running 100's of passes will not significantly improve things. If these techniques are unacceptable then your only option is to throw more processing power at it. Currently Raytracing is 100% CPU dependant so your main processor is the key, your graphics card has nothing to do with it. If your system is several generations old then one of the top consumer grade i7's will easily reduce your times by at least 50% or more. Beyond that you will need to move to Zeon grade processors most likely in a dual configuration. Graham

Spot on Rich. The law of diminishing returns applies to Raytracing. Each pass imparts a refinement based upon the previous pass. If one assumes that this refinement provides a 50% improvement then the following can be assumed. 1 pass = 50% of the maximum image quality 2 passes = 75% 3 passes = 87.5% 4 passes = 93.75% 5 passes = 96.875% After 10 passes if the image quality from a resolution perspective is unsatisfactory then an approach other than increasing the number of passes should be considered. The best I have found is to increase the pixel count. For example, if the original image size in pixels is 1960 X 1080 then increase this to 3920 X 2160, this will quadropal the number of pixels used to render the scene. I ran a 1960 X 1080 scence for 50 passes which took about 1 hour, the same scene at 3920 X 2160 was run for 10 passes which took only 30 minutes and the resolution was siginificantly better than the first. Like a digital camera, the more pixels the better the resolution. A 1960 X 1080 scene is equivalent to a 2 mega pixel camera. Just a note when using the Raytrace DBX to increase the resolution. If the width & height is set in pixel units then the DPI setting has no impact on the reolution, it only determines the intended printout size. However, if the width & height is set in inch units then the DPI setting determines resolution. Graham

One way is to place a soffit the same height as your crown. Then in camera view or elevation veiw you can just bump the uppers to the underside of the soffit. Graham

Been using OneDrive since its inception as Skydrive for all my files. No problems whatsoever. Has anyone successfully experimented with placing the Chief catalog files on a syncing platform like OneDrive. The reason for asking is that I run Chief on 3 systems and it would be really convenient if the catalogs, especially my user catalog, would sync across all systems. I tried this before with Skydrive but Chief did not seem like it. Maybe some issue with the catalog files still open in Chief and sync changes taking place at the same time. Graham

Just checked this out. You are correct #3 in Michael's list seems to be the default configuration. As you indicate no need to mess with it, unless there is a need to assign a different fill colour to the countertop. If this is the case then you either send it to the back or set a transparency level. Regardless of the chosen method, there will be some obscuring of objects below or colour blending where colours overlap. If it's worth while thinking about then how else could it be? I hate saying this but "it is what it is". Graham

Same issue if you use a Polyline Solid for a countertop versus the custom countertop tool. I'll just keep using the countertop fill transparency setting in order to see the underlying base cabinets and uppers above. Graham

The only problem I have now is that the countertop is showing as if it is below the base cabinet. Is there a way to now move the base cabinet to the back of the group? Upper on top Counter in the middle Base at the bottom Graham

Thanks Larry, would have never thought it would be under "Line Style". Was always using the "Move to Front of Group" command. Many Thanks for that, Graham

Mark, that's the beauty of Chief. There is usually always a way to get what you want, just not always a particular users preferred way. No matter how hard we try we just can't "please all of the people all of the time". Fortunately Chief does a good job at "pleasing most of the people most of the time". Good point about the dividers, should be a vertical/horizontal option in the cabinet shelf DBX. Would give better control than inserting vertical separations or floating in partitions. Cheers, Graham

Played with this in the provided plan and one of my plans. It seems that your only option is to change the countertops fill transparency. Trying to move the upper cabinet to the front does not work, maybe Chief sees these items as being in the same group. I have experienced this before, just can't remember where. If memory serves me correctly you can only control the movement of one group over the another group but not the order of items within a specific group. Not sure if there is a function in Chief that allows you to define the group assignment of an object? Graham

Touch based devices, regardless of whether one uses their finger or a stylus, have some significant limitations. From my experience the main issue is that currently a finger or stylus really only has one command (gesture) that being a "Left Click". Unfortunately, as most software is designed around a mouse many software functions require or react to more than just a "Left Click". This is highly evident where drop-down menus with pop-up submenus are used. The first drop-down menu contains "hover" activated links to call up the sub menu. You can't do this with only a "Left Click". Fortunately Chief does not use "hover" links, but there are many instances where you need for example to use the zoom function in conjunction with another activity, without a mouse this convenience is lost. I'm all on-board with Microsoft's direction and use my tablet everyday, but for productivity based software they are just not there yet. Unless of coarse you buy a dock, keyboard and mouse. Graham

Agree that many items such as doors & windows are orientation specific and there would be no real purpose for a rotational capacity. If I could rotate a cabinet in all axis I could for example use a wall cabinet with an open face and shelves and rotate it so it could be a floor bin with open access from the top. This technique could also be used to easily create bench seating where the seat can be flipped up for storage access. Also, given that many symbols can be rotated from within their symbol DBX it would be far easier to be able to access this capability within a camera view and a rotational handle. I have always found the symbol DBX rotation controls to be very awkward and at times I am not 100% sure I have rotated the item correctly. If this could be done in a camera view there would be absolutely no confusion, at least on my part! Graham

Have been running Windows 10 and X7 for sveral weeks. No problems with Chief so far. However, upgrading was not as smooth as it should have been. Have 4 systems, 2 upgraded without any problem, the other 2 did not go so well. Finally got one of them upgraded properly but still have one with issues. No data loss but some windows functions are not working as they should, specifically the start menu & notifications. Just make sure to keep your former windows version for a while just in case you need to roll-back. Graham

Not sure the stylus should be viewed in the same respect as a digitzer. It believe it is intended as convenient way to take notes and mark-up docs versus a precision pointing device. Microsoft is releasing a Surface 4 pro, most likely sometime in October or November. It will likely utilize Intel's new Skylake (6th generation) processor series. Compared with the current Surface 3 pro I would not expect a huge performance gain, maybe 10% at best. The bigger benefit will be longer battery life and possible fanless units (thinner & lighter). Just as with the current Surface 3 pro i5 & i7 processors there are Skylake processors specifically engineered for mobile use, not the same power as their desktop equivalent. Graham

Would really like to have this capacity. It's there to some extent. Take a wall cabinet for example and open a camera view, rotate to view the cabinet top and click on the top surface and the rotate handle is displayed, same if you rotate to the underside. This does not work for the face, back or sides. Why not? Graham