Kelly_K

I have stayed with X6 longer than I normally would to keep working existing projects, and have been jumping back and forth between X6 & X7. I really like X7 and have started new work in it but wow does it move more slowly on just about every aspect of what I do. My machine is as new as can be, 8.1 windows with maybe a dozen apps added since I have started using it. I revised a plan drawn in X5 saved it as an X6 and X7 file (I would assume that there should be some difference albeit negligible between the different formats) generated undo’s, redo’s, ortho views, perspective views, moved between tabs, copy, paste, so on. Everything takes a half second to 2 seconds longer in X7 compared to X6. Crashes haven't been a problem, maybe a little less with X7. I sure like to see an answer, or better yet a solution.

That I haven't done. I will give it a try - thanks.

I find auto interior to be more work than pulling my own string (does that sound right?) unless there is a way to tone it down that I am not aware of.

Is it me or a new setting that I can't find, because it seems like dimensioning to walls has gone backwards under X7. I like to use end to end a lot and then choose the walls I wish to dim. I am set to primary wall side and nothing else, but I find I am picking up centers and sheet rock not the framing.

3 files - as built - demolition - new construction.

I always appreciate the use of 'a lot' it conveys an illusion of preponderance, or most, if not all, when in fact could mean a few, but because of perception it is quantifiably substantial to an individual’s justification of a point. Just as I would say a lot of my customers find the perspective camera confusing (which actually is the case). The main complaint I get is that the linear perspective is sometimes too attenuated to start with, exacerbated when scrolling backwards. In meetings I pop up an orthographic view, a lot, of my customers exclaim unprompted that is much better view than what they get with the client viewer, hence my request for a tool that was once available. Very Good advice on the home designer products, I wasn't aware a chief file could be opened by the lesser software. I really hate screwing around with furniture this is the answer I have be looking for.

I would like to see the orthographic camera come back for the viewer, I find clients get a little confused by the perspective overviews and camera shots. It would also be nice to allow furniture placement, perhaps our friends at CA could find a way to sell this feature. I know the folks I deal with would be more than happy to pay.

Or if you are into taking more time you can lock a truss, multiple copy and modify each to fit.

Lew, I know what you mean; kind of like when I first bought Senco nail guns they all came with lifetime warranties, and repair. That changed after a couple of years. Guess nail sales wasn't what they expected. That kind of warrant by this maker is probably pretty safe for them to offer since they specialize in gaming machines, and most their customers likely move on to new equipment after a few years, as well as they say they rely on their vendors referb parts that they send in. I'm just hoping to get 6 to 7 years this time around (been averaging around 5). I had been buying dell but my last machine went through a couple of power supplies, so that kind of warranty would have looked good to me, especially, given the proprietary equipment dell sells. I felt it was worth a try.

Well I am not sure if this is helpful, but I ordered a system a week ago from a company call Xidax. I went with them because of the lifetime warranty. They also said that I could make changes to the system in the future that would not void the warranty. I am sure I could have shaved more off the price with a lessor processor and older version of graphics card, or even a different manufacturer, My target price was 2k without monitors which I exceeded by a few hundred. The following are the specs that I thought should work well with chief guess we'll see. CaseFocus MotherboardMSI X99 SLI Plus Black Motherboard ProcessorIntel Core i7-5820K Processor Memory16GB - Xidax Extreme DDR4 2133MHZ Memory Power SupplyCorsair RM850W Power Supply Optical Drive14X BD-RW Combo GraphicsNVIDIA Geforce GTX 970 GPU OCOverclocked Graphics Card - 1 Card Sound CardsOnboard Audio HDD/SSDXIDAX Performance 256GB SSD 2nd HDDWestern Digital Black 1TB - 7200RPM 3.5" HDD SoundproofXidax Professional Quiet-Tech Sound Deadening CPU PastePremium CPU Thermal Paste - Lower Temps 5-10° C GPU PasteStandard Graphics Card Thermal Paste CoolingCORSAIR Hydro Series H100i Water Cooler OSWindows 8.1 64-bit T-ShirtXidax Xtra-Large KeyboardsLogitech MK120 - Wired Mouse & Keyboard WirelessPCI-Express Wireless-N Adapter

Fix the high amplitude wire arcs, plus a couple of alternatives to wire with - which I have mentioned in the past under suggestions.

Trusses are not a good solution for what you are trying to accomplish. If you absolutely insist, on trusses then you would need to go parallel cord. You can do this by adding ceiling planes 12" to 16" below your roof plane baseline, or vice versa. Oviousily, this is an over simplification given your nondescript conditions. A large span will necessitate you deepen the distance between chords, and floor support from a truss can be complicating as well.

Beg to differ, I am currently using a G600 in my right hand with 12 side buttons X 3 mapped to various hot keys and numbers and an MX310 for my left hand; both Logitech both working well. The 310 is at least 6 years old with heavy use, the G600 a year and a half with no sign of failure yet. I change modes on the 600 for a number keypad that works surprisingly well, Another mode for all the electrical tools, and the final mode that includes keys mapped to undo, line, box, text, make parallel, break, etc. The 310 I use the side buttons for copy/paste, and the rest for cntrl, join roof planes etc. I hardly ever touch my keyboard which for me is speedier.

I must admit I am a little perplexed with all the talk about a steep learning curve for Chief. I found it to be just the opposite. I too came from the 2D cad world and tried 3 products in my move to modeling for construction docs: A borrowed copy of archicad, a purchased copy of softplan, because on the surface I was convinced this was likely the best platform ( and because they had no free downloads at the time), and a free download of Chief. I took Chief less seriously than the others, and therefore spent the least amount of time learning it. Archicad was difficult with what I would truly consider a steep learning curve, but unquestionably a good program with lots of goodies and power. If I was a commercial guy there would be no question what my platform would be. As stated Softplan was my emphasis. Reading the manual cover to cover a couple of times using the tools as I went, I was very serious. After a couple of weeks, and feeling a little frustrated. and similar to hotshoez, I caught up to softplan within an hour using chief. I bundled up softplan and sent it back, and pretty much been happy ever since. I still occasionally look around including softplan, but it is more of a question of is the grass greener elsewhere - so far no. Not sure what others do or what is recommended for that matter (most my work is new construction), but for me on remodel/additions I use 2 files - draw an as-built and then create a new file based off of it to do the new work. I use the as-built for my demolition plan, and if I need to mix the two I convert the demo plan to cad.

Roof returns can be fickle. Typically, when I have problems it is because of non parallel roof planes to walls, and wall (or more specifically room) elevations are fairly different from the base line elevation of the roof plane that you wish to automatically generate a roof return. Frankly, I don't waste time trying to solve a problem with an auto roof return not forming I create my own. Hope this helps.