para-CAD

Is it cathedral or vaulted? Are those beams real or fake for show? What is the ceiling pitch? Take a level with one end touching the lower part of the ceiling, and when you have the level horizontally correct, measure vertically from the end that is not touching the ceiling up to where your tape measure touches the ceiling. and then divide those number of inches by how many feet long your level is, and that will give you the pitch. When you go outside, is the roof pitch steeper than the inside ceiling pitch?

Get permission from your boss to deactivate the license on your machine at work when you close up, and then use that license on your home computer. One license per operational use is the standard. That means no one at work can use that work computer for chief architect work while you’re at home also using that chief architect license.

I will find out soon..............I skipped the M4 Max (wife has it). M5 Max will arrive in 2 weeks. I use AI for nice renders, so PBR real-time rendering isn't something I use or need. My current rig is an M1 Max......this new machine is supposed to be twice as fast in CPU and GPU tests. Real-world is where I hope it actually performs at.

Max Tech is always upbeat

I sure would like to have a different output than the one defaulted. Instead of: ¾ IN = 1 FT I'd rather have it be like this: ¾" = 1'- 0" PM me with a price, you macro masters!!!!

I hope chief abandons it's in app photo-realistic rendering approach and partners with a good AI service (included in our subscription). And the cloud idea.........I am not inclined to drop Dropbox, or pay more for a CA cloud service. Chief should integrate with Dropbox. They don't need to expand outside their true focus...CAD software and not try to be a jack-of-all-trades.

Nano Banana

Avoid GROK

wow. Nice catch. I have a feeling that online thieves are embracing AI to make their scams appear more legitimate in languages that aren't common to them necessarily.

Had potential

Tired

Old

Nothing important

I had some success with Grok, initially, but now it cranks out completely blurry images like I'm showing a home from Witness Protection.

Nevermind......someone should start a new thread.....

well..........my wife's laptop died...............sooooooooo........she has it. (I know...how does that happen?) I have set my sights on the M5 Max MBP........either in 3 weeks, or the M5 Max Studio later this summer....... For the limited time that I drove the M4 Max, it was much more "snappy" than my M1 Max. The 1TB drive feels small since I have a 4TB in my M1 Max. I don't render in chief so the M1 still is solid. The trade in value is $1220 so I need to jump on it.

AI is the way forward for rendering.

Are you affiliated with trussnote? I’ve never heard of it but I am going to search it up now.

Render using Nano Banana (Google Gemini) free. Or other AI tools. Attached is AI giving me 2 different color styles for a 999SF DADU. If not for marketing, chief is a solid champ for 2D plans for permit.

I'm thinking the M5 Max in the studio config might be a win. Coming in a few months.

That's a tech support issue. Those guys are really good at solving such problems.

Sometimes the chief architect file contains a template that the person paid money for and it would not be morally correct to share that with someone unless they paid the original template designer to have access to that. It would feel like theft to me. My contract only states that the client gets a PDF to submit for permit and I will share as many of those with that client, in case they lose it, as they need.

For hourly work, I export project time and open it in a spreadsheet. I find the total time and bill for that exact time. Hourly clients know upfront that they pay for my time….nothing rounded up in my favor or down in theirs. When I’m dealing with last nigh’ts spicy dinner, they will see some 10 minute work spurts in the spreadsheet on the following day. I often find that working hourly increases my personal stress level if I cannot maintain focus on what I’m doing. Dogs might want to come visit me or my family is doing something unintentional that is distracting. I normally only do hourly if I know there’s going to be lots of changes as the project progresses because it’s impossible to flat rate bid that. I also use a separate timer, there are all kinds of free versions out there that are pretty good. My wife uses Clockify, and I use something that is mac specific. Most time tracking apps create a nice report and consolidate everything. It’s nice being able to track my time while I’m doing research on the county GIS page separately from only tracking work in chief architect from the chief architect time tracker.

Maybe the stair tools got some love!!

I used to use AC as a 2D crutch. Gone. I make sure truss guys get span and pitch....and vault if part of the design...on my plans. Framer's get the the truss plans...or if stick framed I send cut sheets to builders I trust who trust me. Now I use SU as a 3D tool because I can 100% correctly model complex framing, something CA doesn't always do. AC LT isn't too bad of a subscription....cross platform too.