Chopsaw

Very true. I squeeze my projects on to 11 x 17" as often as I can for that very reason and the ability to flip pages in the cab of the work truck also. On a big expensive project you could almost throw in a free ipad to view digital PDF's rather than having to keep reprinting full sets of working drawings that get destroyed in the initial stages of construction. Anything to keep the drawings accessible and in use, rather than just going with what they know or don't know and making mistakes that can't be undone.

It just does not work out well with a regular ruler or measuring tape. I have used it the odd time for an irrelevant overview but not for working drawings if there is any way to avoid it. You my want to consider Arch E 36 x 48" for some of your larger projects.

Ok it looks like you dove right into Plan Defaults which will effect every new "Full" camera you open in the plan file. If you want to change the backdrop for an existing saved camera just use the Edit Active View tool when you have the view open. Or you can also select the camera in plan view and use the Open Object tool to get to the same place. That will get you to the "Specifications" for each specific camera. Notice in the clip of the DBX I posted above it says "Specifications" and not "Defaults". P.S. You can place and X in front of the 13 in you signature for clarity since there was another whole series of versions before the X was introduced.

For each camera be sure to "save" it and go to the Backdrop tab of the DBX (Dialogue Box) apply your custom backdrop and it will stick. When you are ready to explore Plan Defaults click this tool:

It looks as though those backdrops are project specific so you will want to save them to the specific cameras they are being used with. Otherwise there are also plan defaults for each type of camera. If you want to have those stay the same every time you open a new file the file would need to be saved as a template file after all the defaults are set the way you want them. Layers upon layer of possible customizations.

There are a few symbols in the core catalog for log homes but they are pretty basic. You might consider making your own in Chief or Sketchup and using some higher definition materials or see if there is anything available premade in the 3D Wharehouse.

I think you will need to write your own macro based on the length of the foundation wall. Chief seems to use "=num_foundation_bolts" but it seems that is an inaccessible global that if you are not happy with you can't change.

the curent design without the angled below stairs ceiling plane, would only have the walls insulated, which means the only insulation between the suite and the concrete garage floor is plywood from the stairs Unless you have a thermal barrier I am not sure how you would work out the energy calculations. I would agree with Doug and insulate the Fired Rated barrier otherwise you need a fire door on the bathroom by the looks of it ?

Red is usually used for a reference layer. Open up the DBX for the Layout Box Specification under the Plan View tab and turn off the Reference Display.

Here is one that Joe posted a while back:

As long as it is properly installed into windows chief will recognize it the next time it is launched or possibly you may need to completely reboot the system, not exactly sure.

Are you insulating up into the stair cavity from the under side or just the ceiling plane framing below ? If you are not using the stair cavity for insulation value then use the bottom of the stair stringer for the calc. Basically an average of where you are placing the vapor barrier.

Ok so the upstairs access is from outside only ? Then stairwell and under side of stairs will be the fire rated barrier and division between conditioned and non conditioned zones. So you should be able to just calc. the wall area above the stair level for the conditioned area I think.

I think a manual ceiling plane should work fine for this situation. So for question 1, do you intend to put a door at the bottom of the stairs ?

If you are not paying for the ink they work well. Just the odd time you may want to make some material adjustments to avoid the darker colors or it can start to look like a heap of coal. Also watch for offset issues on larger plan files especially.

The only other thing I can suggest it to make sure you are on the latest graphics card driver. If all that checks out you and it still does not work you might want to call tech support or see if another Mac user chimes in.

How about the "Shader Model" it should be 6 or better but not sure how to confirm on a Mac. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03146/identifying-the-shader-model-of-your-graphics-card-in-windows.html

How about your "Video Card Status" in Preferences ? Does it suggest that your video card "Supports Minimum Requirements?" ??

I agree. Unfortunately this and many other items that I have run into in the past do not work at my normal comfortable working zoom levels. Perhaps this should have some sort of adjustable Preference setting ? Thanks Rob. If you did not clarify that I would have just walked away and had to use a less effective tool.

Drawing a cad line shorter than 1" with 1" snap grid turned on. At least it would not work for me.

Excellent choice !

Ouch.... Are thy all on the Cad Default layer ? Anything else on that layer ? All Off layer set perhaps. Those should all default to an Auto Detail layer but it just follows your Current Cad Layer so it is best to make that unique if you can remember to.

Yes you can rename all those things. The Component name is the name of the Symbol so rename that in the Symbol DBX. The material name"s" can be edited from opening each and selecting the material from Plan Materials then editing it.

I was actually going to suggest that Rob but it does not work. You would think it should but.

You could likely divert the water to the front and back with a cricket but that usually just looks like a mistake.