dshall

I spoke with a FIELDWIRE guy about 30 minutes ago, he is going to send us some vids to watch and then talk to us via phone early next week. He compared his product to BLUE BEAM but easier to use. I appreciate the input R_seales, it is sounding like ADOBE is not necessarily the way to go. I still have an open mind. This could be a very important decision that I will want to live with until I retire.... sometime in December.... i'm just not sure what year that will be.

Wow, I rarely use the balcony designation so I am not sure if I have seen this behavior before. So I do not think it has been a problem for me. So then the next question is, why would you ever call it a balcony if this was the behavior? Seriously, why call it a balcony? I usually leave my rooms defined as UNSPECIFIED except for GARAGES, OPEN TO BELOWS DECKS..... Why would anybody call a room a balcony if this was the behavior one would get? Another unsolved mystery for me to attempt to understand. Do you guys think this is a bug? If you do not think it is a bug, what is the advantage of this behavior?

My engineer just recommended BLUE BEAM to me. He uses adobe, however one of his employees is using BLUE BEAM and he likes it... my engineer may switch over. I am not sure what the answer is and I am not sure what all of my desires are at this point... still researching and trying to get ideas.

Thank guys for all of the input. I am looking for something that is very flexible between the PC and the MAC environment. I have a feeling that ADOBE ACROBAT DC PRO might be the ultimate. Brown Tiger says "How about Acrobat DC: it can combine word, excel, images, emails, pdf into single PDF document and optimize it.", that sounds awesome, but it needs to work between PC and MAC. If it needs to work between the PC and MAC, the PRO version needs to be used. Any downside to using the ADOBE ACROBAT DC PRO....... note that I must use the PRO because PRO includes a MAC. Do you guys think I am on the right track? Keeping in mind that we are not trying to save 5.00/month, we want something that is cross platform usable and usable by others who do not have the DC PRO yet they can edit/annotate any files I send them. Keep in mind, the purpose of this is I can create a PDF file using many different apps, and the said PDF file can be shared with builders, contractors, plan checkers, plan check runners etc., and those associates can quickly and easily edit/annotate the PDF's that I would send them. I appreciate the other suggestions, however I am looking for an all in one application.

Interesting, I had never noticed that. I agree, doors will show but windows will not.

Yep, this is what I do.

I just noticed the DIGITAL BINDER thread by Jon Schussel..... is that the answer or is there something better? I remember Jon that you spoke about this in one of our workshops, maybe that is my answer. Problem with digital binder is all of my associates will need to understand the program.... is that a downside? I think I was looking for something that anybody could use.....

Here is scenario: I want an on going collaborated document to track progress and to do lists with my engineer, my client, the plan checkers etc. What program would you guys use? (Word, Excel, or Adobe Acrobat etc) This package will include: 12 sheets of plan check comments (8x11) do I scan this into a program? I will want to annotate 30 photos for historical purposes (I may want to annotate) 4 sheets of my own notes (8x11) should I do this in WORD I may want to add some spreadsheets (should this be done within a word document) So I am looking for a method to organize all sorts of info into ONE document that can be shared among many associates and then sent to the print shop for printing.

That is the answer

Thanks Jere, I was reinforcing a procedure that is required but sometimes forgotten, not only by newbies but sometimes by old timers like myself. Hopefully I did not offend you by putting my 2 cents in.

... and build a FOUNDATION.... for joists at level 1...... think about it..... floor joists for level 1 go on foundation (level zero), no level zero, no floor joists for level one.... not obvious unless we think about the reasoning behind it......

Obviously they are walls, use your all on layer set and you will find where the walls are located.

Do I really have to say it? If you can't figure it out, how can we figure it out without a posted plan?

I think there is a way.... I believe a CA guru posted a method a while back. I think the accuracy is a bit limited..... maybe the CA guru will again post a method to do this. A great question/request.

Awesome stuff, thanks Jintu.

That is the answer

If you have time to post a plan and a picture clearly stating what you want, I will have the time to do a vid to show you how to get what you want.

I do not like the extra floor method........ or I would not do it because if the house is truly a 2 or 3 story, this could complicate things. If this is simply a one story, I get it, a good solution....... however I would prefer to use the pony wall method..... If I figure out a way, I will post..... in the meantime it seems like for this project the extra floor method will work.

I concur, but an engineer can over rule me.

I tried to make the second wall with the studs for the second wall as red and even at a different spacing and I could not get the pony wall. The only way I could do it is if the studs were a different depth, a different width of studs did not help.

Here is a vid https://youtu.be/vuiIaeO1LnE sorry no volume, but you should be able to follow

Yeah, I get it, the tool bars changing. I do not have an answer. It is probably something you are doing wrong... I guess..... and it must of been something I was doing wrong when I experienced the same issues. I no longer care about the tool bars.... I use hot keys...... sorry I can't be of more help, but I understand the frustration. Maybe someone else has an explanation. This issue has been going on for years.

Definitely something I should work on. Jintu, you are a pro with ray traces, the OP was asking for some help, do you think there is room for improvement?

No, not a bad day at all, I think he/she was looking for some guidance, I was trying to figure out how we could get he/she some guidance and some guidance for the rest of us. I do not think it is an interior decorating taste that is the issue, I think it is the lighting or something that I am too ignorant to understand. I suppose I was not being politically correct. I apologize.

I do not want to be a jerk, but I think we both know those are not very good ray traces. I think you would be better off using renders or water colors or ? However, you have provided some good stuff for improvements. I wish I knew how or someone else had the time, and would be willing to teach us what you are doing wrong. Something is just not working. I know I can do better raytraces but it is by heck and by golly. I am far from an expert at raytraces. If you want, post your plan and see if someone is willing to spend a few minutes doing a ray trace that is better than what you have done..... I do not think you are far off from a decent ray trace. ​ BTW, 100 passes is a lot of passes, I would not be surprised if you could get a much better ray trace in less than 15 passes if you knew what your were doing. No offense intended.