MickeyToo

Johnny, Lots of very good suggestions, but I see no reason not to include the Slab Footing tool for the purpose you stated, so long as you check off "Invisible" and "No Room Definition" (so it won't mess with your structure defaults and allow you to specify a floor for the entire crawl space). If you want to change the thickness of the footing (make it deeper, let's say) or its elevation relative to the foundation footing, you can easily do so in 3D or in cross section view. Hope this helps.

Emma This is new to me too, but it looks like you have to extend the footing parallel to the wall to get the footing to extend beyond the end of the wall. From what I can gather it looks to be a two to one ratio. So extend the footing to one side 12" and it will add 6" to the footing on the end of the wall, which should already extend beyond the end of the wall by a certain amount depending on your defaults. Extend the footing on both sides by 12" and it will add 12" to the footing on the end of the wall. This is a workaround so it is definitely not perfect. Hope this helps.

Yes, very good tip! Great for when adding on to an existing wall/footing to carry a new load. Thanks

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the thread. Very informative. This pic may have been posted before (not sure), but I found it to be very helpful, too, in sorting through the many software options that are available.

It's a nick name I was given when I played baseball in school. I was a switch hitter (not all that good) and there happen to be switch hitter at the time who played for the Yankees who was very, very good. It just stuck. Real name is Bill though. I agree that learning to use the right click to select things is Chief is probably going result in increase productivity in the long run. But when you are left clicking in every other program it is tough to make the transition in Chief. I do try to remember to right click whenever I am having trouble selecting things, however.

Actually, Michael, I think the recommended way in Chief to select any object is with a right click (saw it in one of the videos once), but that to me is counter intuitive and really takes some getting use to. But then again maybe this is in instance where it make sense.

Actually you can. You just have to right click when the cursor is over the marker.

Johnny, Agreed: polyline solids should have snap handles regardless of the camera view. In the meantime, here is a workaround I found works: In elevation view (where there are no snap handles for a PS that was drawn in plan) simply draw another, smaller polyline solid over the one you want to move (see the first pic) so at least one of the corners line up (it will snap in place). Leave it selected and then use the Point to Point tool to select the corner (you will see the snap handle on the corner) and make the move. Both will move to the new position. You can then delete the new/temp polyline solid. Hope this helps.

To upload your plan, first close your plan. Then hit the More Reply Options at the bottom of this thread. Then hit the Browse... button and go to where you have saved the plan and select it. Once you have selected it, it will appear next to the Browse... button. Hit the Attach This File button, and then Post. If it is a large file, you may want to Zip first.

Don, Do you have the Wall Detail layer set displayed? As well as 1/4 Scale Annotations? And be sure that Dimensions, Manual is set to display (within the Wall Detail Set). See if this helps. Btw, I used the End to End dimension tool to place the dimensions in this detail, but the other dimension tools work as well.

And don't miss the fact that when you Launch Help (F1) from Chief after making a selection or opening a dbx, you will be given the opportunity to access Chief's Online Training Videos that relate to that selection or topic. There is also the ability to "bookmark" topics you may want to return to later. Lastly, in addition to hitting F1, there is a tool button (a question mark "?" ) that can be added to the toolbar. David's original comments are well taken, as are Perry's. With Chief it is not an either or but a both and. Spending time reading through the Launch Help from within Chief (if not the actual PDF's) is a good way to accomplish this.

You are right, Scott. The question is why are CAD Blocks not visible in 3D? And why is there not an option to set the slope of a manually placed rafter (like there is with a CAD line)? And why can't these rafters be placed on a separate layer and lock? And why is wood grain impossible to manage when using Soffits, which is touted as the go-to tool for this sort of work? A lot of ink spilled here for something that should be fairly straight forward. It seems the only option for preserving your work is to block (to keep them from being deleted when rebuilding the framing), and then to unblock in order to view them in 3D. Either that, or make them into a symbol. For those who may not know, both CAD Blocks and Symbols can be added to the library for later use.

Agreed, except the OP wants the beams to follow the lowered, sloped (ceiling) plane (see post #1 and #12), not the roof. But since you suggested it, how do you change the pitch of a manually placed roof rafter?

Use a sloped ceiling plane and build the framing. Select one of the ceiling joist, copy and lower it. Resize and change the materials to that of the beam you want. Once you are satisfied, copy it in plan to complete your scheme. The only problem with this method, I found, is that the beams (ceiling joist, really) will be deleted if you have to rebuild the framing of these ceiling planes. Placing them on a separate layer and locking it did not help. Maybe someone else could chime in with a fix for this problem.

Quieve, Joe mentioned in another thread that he thought some of them were already set up this way. (I found all the drop-in tubs in the core catalog, at least, to be so.) Here is that companion thread: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/forum/24-tips-techniques/

Follow Robert's suggestion. And if you are trying to rejoin line segments to form a closed polyline, there may be times when you get the polyline, that is, all the line segments are joined, but it will not close (as in the attached pic). In that case use the Close Polyline tool.

The control you are looking for in order to be able to edit individual line segments is found in the Edit Object Parts tool. You can access it at Edit - Edit Behaviors - Edit Object Parts (Shift - F8), or from the tool bar button.

Terry, Take a look at this thread I came across. I believe it will answer most of your questions (it did mine). The long and the short of it is that Chief cannot do what we want-need as far easily taking and placing dimensions in cross section elevation that will update with changes to the model. It is a significant short coming of the software and not a training issue. Others have come up with workarounds (as you will read), such as placing CAD lines to dimension to, but again these only serve to degrade the value of using live sections since these measurements will not update either. Many on this forum tout the value of using live sections versus using a CAD Detail from View for developing sections to send to Layout. The best that can be said (given this short coming) is that there are clearly pros and cons to both approaches, depending on your needs. Maybe users of such programs as Vectorworks (Johnny?), Revit or Archicad could chime with how these programs handle cross section dimensioning. As far as recalling a backclipped cross section view, assuming you saved the view/camera, it should be listed in the Project Browser. Chief will usually ask when you close a view if you want to save it. I usually just hit the Save Active Camera button, the one that looks like a camera with what looks like a red H across the top. Hope this helps. https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/2933-measurements-on-elevations/

Thanks Joey, but it is not just the finish documents where this is a problem, but also when working through a design and being unable to do something as basic as place or take measurements in cross section and have them update as changes are made.

Like the OP, I have found placing dimensions in live sections in Chief extremely difficult and frustrating. I know you can use the Point to Point dimension tool that will place markers (yuk!), or Chief will place markers for you if you use the other dimension tools, but then these dimensions will not update if the model changes, so in that respect you gain nothing over a CAD detail. If someone has found a way to do this easily and consistently, I, for one, would appreciate getting that information. Perhaps someone could post a video??? Thanks

This "thing" should be a fix in the current version and not a feature in a paid upgrade, IMO. Just another example of one of many sources of frustration users have expressed about this program.

Dennis, Here is a link to a post on the old Forum that takes up this subject. In it, Bill Emery posted a plan with his method for accomplishing what I believe you are looking to do. http://www.chieftalk.com/showthread.php?64641-How-To-Create-a-Deep-inset-Window-With-a-Stucco-Wrap/page2&highlight=drywall+wraps And here is a link to a similar discussion on this Forum (with a link back back to the old Forum). https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/4465-unique-door-and-window-trim/ Hope this helps.

You're too funny, Wendy!

Thanks, Rich. Learned something new today. Good job, btw!

Rich, You said earlier that you could change just the grout color. Can you explain how you would do that? Also, any chance we can get you to post that symbol? (Would understand if you did not want to.) Thanks