Chopsaw

Working on a project that I thought I would try a 3D Satellite overview of like Antoine was working on last week: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/10486-jog-memory-please-or-upgrade/ So I applied the material to a psolid laying on top of the Terrain Perimeter just slightly smaller that the Terrain Perimeter (matching with the sheet margins) for scaling purposes to match the material source from plan view of a satellite image overlaid with plot plan info. The issue being that the only apparent export option from plan view with greater that screen resolution is PDF and that needs to be converted to something else with third party software to make a material with. My initial thoughts were to use a .jpg file but maybe there is another format that would produce a higher resolution with a smaller file size? The biggest resolution issue is text and plot lines from the plot plan overlay. I did a little more reading and testing and it seems that a .png file format is more suitable for this sort of situation so I tried loading one at 500 dpi. and 3.76 MB that looked better than the 500 dpi. .jpg file but again it is time for Task Manager and another call to Tech Support.

Does anyone know if there is a known maximum file size for materials in X8? It would be nice to get a warning or something but I keep having to use Task Manager to End Task. I have done this several times now after making file after file and reducing the resolution each time. Any suggestions would be great at this point. I have a 400 dpi .jpg file that is working at 5.32 MB and a 600 dpi. .jpg file that is not working at 10.2 MB it seems that my system will handle a file like this but Chief will not. Would like to maximize my resolution without too many more tries. Was able to get a 7.6 MB 500dpi .jpg to work, and it looks ok so that may have to do for now.

Here is an old but quite comprehensive cricket demo that I came across recently while looking at something else, see training video #2. http://www.indyblueprints.com/videos.html

Open Camera DBX from floor plan and change name or callout label. Also a good idea to save. Maureen's suggestion will work fine for layout box label but if you want to keep your Project browser organized or use callouts go back to the floor plan camera DBX where the label originates from.

Glenn, Please see my edited post. It does work as Michael suggests when converted to a Symbol. The problem I have now is why the plan copy of the supposedly converted to symbol psolid with .jpg material is not a symbol but remains as a psolid? This is what the Help file says "4. Click OK to close the dialog and convert your custom object to a symbol." I think this is why it takes soo long to learn Chief. Please Help.

Just did a quick test and this is still a problem in X8. Symbol does not lock orientation of material. Video to follow. Sorry just a quickie no audio today. .jpg applied to polyline solid and converted to Symbol and rotation attempt in Perspective Full Overview on Terrain Perimeter. Sorry Rookie mistake. I created the symbol and put it into the library but the plan copy stayed as a psolid? Does that seem right? I have never noticed that behavior before, I will have to check that a few more times to see what is up. Thanks All, Sorry about the confusion.

Michael, I am pretty sure that is what Alan did in his X2 demo and it did not work. Was that glitch improved with a newer version? Glenn, Thanks for the vid, I think that will do the trick.

Hi Antoine, I have been silently following along because I am quite interested in the subject and really respect your amazing work. I would love to give this a try some time soon. If you are following along with the basic principals of the video that Alan Brown made for X2 provided in the link from CJ. He discusses some issues that come up when the model is rotated that have to do with Material Rotation Orientation right at the end of the video but unfortunately when I play from his website I have no controls for the video and have to watch from start to finish. And there may also be some differences with the newer versions of software that would need to be compensated for. Just like Glenn I am a little confused with your description of where you are at with your problem but that is fully justified based on the complexity of this procedure. A 30 min. video just covers the essentials once, so if you wrote a manual that explained everything it would be rather thick. If you get it all sorted out please keep us all informed. Thanks, Chopsaw

I would be quite interested if someone comes up with a brilliant way to do that but I would think you would need to create a new symbol from two of the existing ones.

Do you have a picture Johnny? Is this something that you just need to fake the eye with some moldings?

Is that camera open by any chance?

One thing I found quite helpful while I was learning the basic tools was the Child Tool Palette. It does use more real estate on the screen but you get that back when you graduate. If you need the long description of what each tool does hover and press F1. Welcome Aboard and keep us posted with your questions. Chopsaw

Not so sure there is a setting for this but if you want to you can custom frame all your wall details after you are sure there will be no more revisions or auto framing. I think is saw a thread on this subject a long time ago but I have not been able to find it. I might have been incorrect, check this out: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/4082-add-disclaimer-to-material-list/?p=35388

Rich Text 95% of the time and Regular text for charts and Hyperlinks.

One thing you may want to check on is your local building codes for wheelchair access as there have been a lot of changes for that recently and it can drastically change your design criteria for a new modern building design.

Soo Sorry Diane, I did not know you were X7, I can recreate for you if you like? Question 1- Go to Foundation Level and adjust from attachment 1 to 2 Question 2- Beam is not part of wall definition. See railing DBX attachment 3 6" Single Layer Wall Definition. See attachment 4 Don't worry about railing footings that I mentioned, somehow they were created when I accidently imported the file into X8. I just updated to W 10 and the options for checking versions are not the same. Welch DRAW PLAN swap m bed and bath fix X7.plan

Maybe that is why my arrow keys get all screwed up. Sometime they are completely reversed, I never know which one to use.

Looking pretty good. Have you decided how you would like to hold all those chairs up yet?

Assuming that this might be new for you, here are a few threads discussing the process: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/9483-how-to-explode-or-ungroup-imported-skp-models/?p=83028 https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/7173-break-apart-library-items/?hl=%2Bedit+%2Bsymbol#entry64065 That entire collection is just one stone in different orientations so if you would like to learn all that stuff it is great experience but I thought I might as well share. Armor Stone.calibz

I found one collection on: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=uf1c77176-c97f-4a4d-ae89-16a481f3735f that might work for you if you can make some improvements to the materials and increase the size. Edit in Sketchup or Chief.

Hi Diane, I had a go at your porch. Hoping you like how this looks . Building with the Mono Slab gives many more possibilities. I have attached your fixed plan file, and this is a summary of what I felt was required. I Set up a new Single Layer 6" Railing Wall Type. Made your beams 6" to match posts. Removed Railing Footings. Increased Mono Slab Footings by 4" for post inset. Turned on Attic End walls for porch. Removed Ceiling for more open feel. Dropped Roof plane 4" for more window clearance and full birdsmouth. I would also recommend moving the whole porch a foot or two to the right. Hoping this Helps. Welch DRAW PLAN swap m bed and bath porch fix.plan

Rod, I had a chance to take a look at your plan and once you have the roof elevations corrected as suggested you might want to look at the carport door walls and their non default heights. For some reason we don't build that way in Canada but I like the way it looks, possibly because of the amount of snow we get. There would likely be quit a few benefits to having room definition in the area of the carport and porch by using railing walls in the open areas and including your millwork posts in the defined railing wall.

Johnny, That would be great but I don't think it is an option. For now just make sure you have a terrain before you start drawing things outside the house perimeter or when you do set it up adjust it to 0" and all will be fine.

Thanks Perry, That could work ok for a ground level porch like Eric and I have illustrated without a railing and then use a blank line style for the railing wall but I had not thought of that since most designs in my area are elevated with railings which it does not work for since the rail and balusters stay in the center of the wall. However this is an excellent way to have a rail offset to the front or back side of thick Newels/Posts. Still not sure exactly the nature of Diane's design but I tried to find a solution that would work for all.

Eric, Thanks for the schooling, I will experiment with this until I understand it fully. I was just experimenting with the psolid arched beams while I was waiting for you to respond as I suspected that would be the only way to make it work. This may be a little off topic but the submission I am working on is for the "Square Half Post" (at Wall) function that has never worked for me. However I usually do not get the opportunity to use decorative columns and design mostly rustic stuff with posts, but have you ever seen anything as crazy as this for a "Square Half Post". Now I am not sure what that setting is at all. I always thought it was for Square rather than Rectangular but maybe it is for Rectangular rather than Round, but would anyone design that way? Seems strange to me. Attachment #2 is what I understood that function to do or at least what I would like it to do. Chopsaw