para-CAD

https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/2028364686706786614?

https://volteco.com/en/products/amphibia-3000-grip

I don't render anything in motion.  Sometimes I'll send out 3D screen shots with RFIs for clarifying some thing.

On a zoom call, sometimes I walk them through Doll House but I stress that the colors / textures are default, unless they want to pay extra for the time to make it match what they want.....I do this in a light hearted way......because I'm RED/GREEN color blind and not the guy for interior design pallets.  People understand and we move on.

3D is great for people who are limited in their spatial skills from 2D plans.  I try to focus everyone on the plans for permit aspect.  That's why I love working with builders.  

I have found, and was educated by someone smarter in chief than me, that you have to hit SAVE first on your files that you want to later SAVE AS. 
 

this exact thing happened when someone I was helping thought we should have a backup copy to the plan so we hit save as. This was all done locally on his machine and not in dropbox. He lost quite a bit of time and work. The solution would’ve been to hit save on the original files to make them updated, and then save as and you would have two identical copies at the same work state.

Out for delivery

I'm going to try LOOM again.......if it tries to make you sign up, disregard and I'll send it to Y/T

https://www.loom.com/share/09fe58c3aad34dd79e7072625112b2bf

The image is a quick start to work through options before chief.

11 hours ago, Style_of_Parti said:

Want to get a set of construction plans completed to permit for building a small residential project:  foundation, floor plans, cross sections, framing, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and door / window opening schedules and elevations.
 

The structure is to be a 28 x 32 two-story garage with a 1 BR efficiency living space on the 2nd floor.

 

Rough layout already created in CAD. Construction to be in North Carolina.

Previously Licensed as Builder - so hopefully this makes working together easier.  

Thanks!
 

Truss roof or stick-framed?

I will have the M4 Max in about 9 hours.  

I tried it out before but the price was a bit steep.  

I went refurb from apple and down spec'd it a bit.....we shall see.

On 2/25/2026 at 8:55 PM, TheInspector said:

Hello,

 

I am looking to hire an experienced Chief Architect user with strong residential construction and framing knowledge to generate a complete framing layout from an existing permit-approved architectural and structural plan set.

 

This project is a residential addition and renovation located in Tacoma, Washington. The architectural and structural engineering plans are complete and approved. I am now looking to develop detailed framing plans in that can be used as construction-level guidance.

 

This project includes integration of multiple large steel I-beams and HSS posts supporting floor and roof loads, along with conventional wood framing.

 

Project scope includes creation of the following framing sheets:

 

• Foundation framing plan (crawlspace foundation with concrete footings, steel beam bearing locations, and posts)
• Floor framing plan (joist layout, steel beam integration, hangers, bearing points, and load paths)
• Wall framing plans (stud layout, king/jack studs, headers, point loads, and beam bearing locations)
• Roof framing plan (rafters, ridge beams, steel beam support conditions, and framing transitions)
• Beam and post schedule (including steel and wood structural members)
• Header schedule
• Typical framing details and sections as needed to clarify load transfer and framing conditions

 

 

Deliverables requested:

 

• Chief Architect (.plan) file with framing fully generated and organized
• Framing plan sheets exported to PDF
• Clean, organized framing layers
• Framing aligned with the existing structural engineering plans
• Steel beams accurately modeled and integrated with the framing system
•  

I am a licensed General Contractor and Home Inspector and will be using these plans for construction coordination on our primary residence. 

 

This is a paid project. Please reply or message me with:

 

• Relevant experience
• Example framing plans you’ve produced (PDF preferred)
• Your typical rate or estimated project cost
• Estimated turnaround time

 

 

Thank you.

 

Matt

Hey Matt,

This reads odd to me.  It's hard to imagine that Pierce County would approve your plans without the items being present that you list in the scope.  

So you want framing cut sheets created from your permit-approved plans - for construction co-ordination - not for permit?

How is liability covered if the framing plan(s) I create differ from the approved plans?  I've done this level of production design for years and I have seen plans from architects and/or engineers that sometimes do not match reality on the ground.  Your engineer should have addressed and spec'd all your listed deliverables......at least the PEs I have used do.  My focus is all about building it correctly and I am typically that guy, so my plans help keep me accurate.

All this seems easy enough for me to do, but the deal breaker for me is I never sell my .plan or .layout files.  

For complex and digitally accurate cut sheets and project construction coordination, I use Sketchup.  Then I import the 100% accurate model as 2D images, into Chief, so I can accurately annotate everything.  Chief is my primary CAD tool.

If I'm involved on site, I bring laminated sheets......you know the PNW wetness.

If you want to discuss this further, let me know.

I'll PM you a dropbox link to view how I work.

I never use the floor up or floor down tool. Every saved plan view goes to a specific floor automatically. I think I do this because I want granular control. I also do dimensions and CAD but I haven’t implemented it in this current template yet.
 

It was just a week ago that I got up the nerve to start using project management. I can only take so many of these exciting new changes at one time.

I know I'm probably overthinking this, but I have started modifying my general template in the following ways:

• For each SAVED PLAN VIEW I create a TEXT layer and a NOTES layer named and associated with that SAVED PLAN VIEW. As I navigate from one SAVED PLAN VIEW to another, I will already have TEXT that is specific for that plan view as well as NOTES. For some reason, I have struggled with TEXT sometimes appearing on different and multiple SAVED PLAN VIEW that I have to manually go and deal with.  I figure that if I isolate unique TEXT layers and NOTE layers to SAVED PLAN VIEWS, I will eliminate this.

• All my SAVED PLAN VIEWS are named after layout sheets so that when I start modeling I open up the layout for whatever project I'm working in and then double click in the view ports (layout boxes) and it opens to the proper SAVED PLAN VIEW so I can do work based on layout sheets.

• I've seen many people say that you can do all your work in the WORKING drawing layer but I have had issues with that for some reason, probably user inflicted because I'm that guy, so this is my workaround and I thought I would share it as a suggestion. At some point I will make a video so that what I've written is more easily understood.

Black and then white text is odd...and I don't always have projects that use all 40 sheets.  Unused are deleted.

Layout Pages

Saved Plan Views

10 cents PSF.  MIN $250 per model.

Pass.

Time is money.  At $125/hour min. how long will these 3D models take?

Try https://www.freelancer.com

or some off-shore service.

Good luck

Did you remove the zipped plan?

Did you use the Build Foundation tool or the Slab Tool?

That would be a nice option in preferences.......or per object type for the macro masters

If you make changes on a plan out for bid.......don't......unless you send out an updated plan.

Having subs bid plans that are not current can lead to $$$ mistakes

I manually do everything with polyline boxes and then manually add that information to sheet 0 in the title block

Dan's live training starts again in 8 minutes

Log in and say hi

More:

Streamdeck for 1-button shortcut key (hotkey) activation.

The 32 button physical deck

Followed by the repurposed iPad with up to 128 buttons per screen in dual app mode

The most used hotkeys start in the bottom left and move outward.

So back in 1989 through 1995 I exclusively framed houses within 150 miles of Houston Texas. Every single set of plans had a small text box on the very first page, cover sheet that had heated space first floor heated space second floor those two numbers added together and then all the unheated space listed as garage, covered porch and the like. 
 

We being lazy framers were caught up in the dollar per square foot game and we were able to look at the very first page and run a quick calculation from those numbers to let the builder know what it would cost for us to frame it. This was when I was a helper and this is how I saw it done.

As I moved on and ran my own show I started to study the plans from the roof down to the foundation and I was able to see where the choke points were and add additional pricing to cover the time. I was no longer a flat rate dollar per square foot Framer.

If they were putting these kinds of numbers on the cover sheet back then, there’s no excuse for that not to be automated and available without having to buy a macro from someone.

I respect and admire the guys that can write macros but some of this stuff should be default in chief itself. 
 

I dictated this without proofreading so there may be some confusion

I have an apple account and ran into this

windows users might not want to create an apple account just to view your plan.

BKJ

You will have better results if you start a new thread of your own than "hijack" a completely different thread.

More apps:

 - Build Calc (better than Construction Master) https://www.buildcalc.com

 - Setapp  https://setapp.com (subscription is worth the access) All Legal. See pics below

    - Cleanshot X

    - PDF Squeezer

    - Text Sniper

 - Grab2Text https://www.softwarehow.com/grab2text/

 - Thriftmac https://www.thriftmac.com

Websites:

 - https://globe.adsbexchange.com  Just to know what aircraft are flying overhead

 - https://www.youtube.com/@RailCowGirl  Just a 4K view out the front window of electric trains crossing Norway.  Nice to have just out of direct eye sight.  Like you're working on a plan in the front of a train.

 - https://www.chiefexperts.com  Dan Baumann

 - https://www.rabbittdesign.net  Rabbitt Design

Cool.  I've had this laying around in a "tech" drawer.  I am now trying it out.

It has quite a few buttons.