capitaldesigns

I'm new to Chief. I'm using X8 I'm working on my first project using Chief. I will be adding a 4 small room addition to a one story residence. The existing house is framed with roof trusses. There are 2 existing small room additions, each with conventional roof framing. The 4 new addition will be framed with conventional framing as well. My question is how do I show the combination of roof trusses and conventional roof framing, then showing 4 new additions with conventional roof framing? I have view a lot of roof framing videos today. None of them show how to model a roof with both trusses and conventional roof framing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike

Thanks Chopsaw and Dave. I will start viewing the videos tonight. Mike

I'm new to Chief, I'm using X-8. I have been trying to find a good video on setting up Chief for room additions. I have been viewing one called "Dalton remodel, addition". That one is o.k. but I am looking for one that will go over default setting, layer sets, annotation sets, etc. for addition projects. I Also would like to see how Chief suggests drawing new roofs that connects o an existing roof. For example, a couple of months ago I followed one of Chiefs videos on designing a house with some custom roof features. A few days latter I decided to use this plan as a practice plan to adding an addition to. When I used the build roof tool to add the new roof to the addition all of the custom roofs that where done to the original plans were changed to the default roof settings. How do I keep this from happening? I did not try to add the new foundation to the new addition yet, but I would assume I would have the same problem with the build foundation tool as i had with the build roof tool. Does anyone know the titles of some good videos for remodeling and addition projects that you would recommend? Thanks, Mike

I'm up in Simi Valley. Most of my work is within a 40 mile radius of Simi Valley. Around 70% of my work in West Lake, Thousand Oaks, Malibu Lake, Lake Sherwood and Simi Valley. Rest my work is spread out from Hollywood to Ventura to Valencia. About 70% of my work is residential and 30% commercial.

Perry, What part of Orange County are you in?

I definitely need some training. Still learning. I'm waiting for a simple project to come in so I can use Chief to design the project. I've been using AutoCAD since 1993 so it's been taking me awhile to make the transition. I just need a couple of simple projects that the clients are not in a big rush. Where are these simple projects when them. Are any of you in or around the Los Angeles area? Is there any user groups in or around the Los Angeles area?

Are any of you planning on going to Coeur d' Alene for the 2 day training?

Great idea. I will check with the tourism office to see if they have any group events planned for the days I'm attending the classes. Thank you for your suggestions, Mike

Greg, Do you know who to contact at Chief regarding the gardening seminar for the wife's? The person I spoke to at Chief last week said they had nothing planned for the spouses. I do not remember the name of the person I spoke to, but it was the phone number Chief listed to call if you have any question regarding the training seminar. Thanks, Mike

Is anyone planning on attending the upcoming 2 day training classes in Idaho at the end of August? If so, are you bringing your spouse? I would like to bring my wife with me so we could make a small vacation out of the trip. She is worried that she will not have anything to do while I'm in the 2 day class. I asked Chief if they had anything planned for the spouses for the two days we are in the class. They have nothing planned. Over the years I have attended a lot of AIBD, AIA and Rotary events. They usually had different events planned for the spouses each day such as tours of the local area, lunch and shopping. For those of you that are planning on attending the two day class and bringing your spouse with you, is there away that we can get them in contact with each other so they can makes a plan to meet and see some of the sites while we are in class? Thanks, Mike

I know that there are commands in Chief that will let you do most of the routines AutoCAD does. It to bad that Chief decided on calling these commands a different name. When I first got the program I started looking up some commonly used commands in AutoCAD like offset, mirror, etc. I could not find those names in the manual. Little by little I learned the commands by watching many on-line videos about one thing or another. In those videos they would use a lot of the routines I was looking for and the name of those routines. I still have a lot to learn. But what I have learned so far shows me that Chief X8 is far superior to the version of AutoCAD I have been using. One of the greatest things I have found is the Chief Talk Forum. You guys have been a great help to all us newbies. Without your help the learning curve would be a much greater amount of time. Just reading the question other have asked and the answers you have given have been a great help. Thank to everyone of you that has given your time to help us learn this great program. Mike

Thanks for the information. I have been an AutoCAD user since 1993. I been using an old version which is called Softdesk 8 or S8 as most users called it. Fun that the new version of Chief is X8. Coming from an AutoCAD background it's been difficult to make the transition to Chief. Many of the command names are very different then AutoCAD. The Copy command in AutoCAD is Replicate in Chief. Move command is Transform/Replicate in Chief. Change layer is Layer Painter in Chief. Offset is Jump (that what I was told by tech. support) in Chief. Mirror is Reflect About in Chief. And if you try to look up offset (along with other AutoCAD commands) in the Chief manual, your search comes up empty. I do not understand why Chief as decided to change their command names to be so different then AutoCAD. The commands, copy, erase, move, offset, layer on, layer off, change layer, mirror seem to be self explanatory command names. The Chief commands you have to look up in the manual to understand what they actually do. Chief would get a lot more AutoCAD users to switch to Chief if they used as many of the same command names as AutoCAD.

I'm new to Chief, I'm using X-8. I'm trying to add text to the framing plan. When I do the text from the floor plan is turned on. I created a layer called "framing text" and made that the active layer. As soon as pick the text button it changes the layer back to the "text" layer, which is the layer that the text from the floor plan is on. How do I get the program to stay on the active layer "framing text" when I pick the text button and not switch to the default "text" layer. Or are you guys adding the framing text after you send the framing plan to the layout page. Thanks, Mike

I'm new to Chief. I'm using X-8. I'm working on my first house in Chief. I have 2 questions. 1. I see that Ceiling joists and rafters are called out as "joists" Is there away to change the callout to read "ceiling joists" and "rafters" instead of just joists? 2. If I create a separate ceiling framing plans and roof framing plan how do I add notes to one plan without them showing up on the other plan? Thanks, Mike

Thanks David. I'm not sure how to do that. Is this under default, walls, exterior walls, wall type definition, materials? I do not see anything called area. Thanks, Mike

I'm new to chief. I'm using X-8. How do you show a stucco pattern on the exterior walls in elevation views? When I turn off the color in elevation view the walls have no fill pattern. I have been using AutoCAD since 1993. In AutoCAD I would assign a hatch (fill) pattern of random dots that represents stucco. Is there a way to show a stucco pattern of random dots in elevation view after I turn off the color? Thanks, Mike

I checked and the Framing, Wall layer is turned off. Is there a setting that needs to be changed? These lines are showing up at the 8' plate height at the gable end of the wall. The other gable walls of the plan do not show these horizontal lines. I'm not sure why this gable wall is showing them while the other gable walls do not. Thanks, Mike

I'm new to Chief. I'm using X-8. I'm working on my first plan with chief. On the rear of the house there is a bay window. This bay window is a part of a breakfast nook. The breakfast nook has a vaulted ceiling. When viewing the rear exterior elevation (North) I get extra horizontal lines that should not show. These lines are on the 45 degree walls of the bay. They are at the 8' plate height. This wall is at the gable end. Also the corners of the bay window walls are thicker that the other corner walls. I have attached the plan. If someone could let me know how to remove the horizontal lines at the bay window and why the walls are showing thicker on the 45 degree walls. Thanks, Mike Practice 2-11-2016-2.plan

I'm planning on getting a laptop computer that I can run X-8 on. This would be used to take with me when going over clients plans at their house. Also I plan on attending the upcoming intermediate training for X-8 in Coeur d' Alene. They said that I will need to bring a laptop computer with me. Does anyone have a suggestion on a good laptop computers for X-8. A few months ago someone at Chief suggested the Microsoft Surfaces laptop. Does anyone have any experience with the Microsoft Surfaces laptop. Thanks, Mike

I'm new to Chief, I'm using X-8. I'm starting to convert my AutoCAD title block sheets into Chief layout sheets. I have one converted into my main layout sheet. That took sometime to get it correct. In my usual plan sets I have 3 different types of title block sheets. The first one is my site plan sheet. This sheet is broken down into 4 blocks. The largest bock is for the site plan. The 3 other blocks are smaller and of equal size. In one I show a vicinity map. The second is a legend of symbols and abbreviations. The last one is the sheet index. The second sheet is my main title block sheet, which I use most often. This sheet is already converted The third is my general note sheet which also has my door and window schedule. Is there a way to have these three sheets as layout sheets in the same plan files. Thanks, Mike

Thanks Joe. That's what I was the answer I was looking for, a quick way to either make a measurement in layout view in the scale the drawing was sent as. I did not know that double clicking on the layout view would quickly take you back the plan view. David, I meant 144 feet, not inches. Thanks

I'm new to Chief. I'm using X-8. When I send my plan to a layout page in a 1/4"=1'-0" scale it does not let me use the tape measure tool in a 1/4" scale. My layout sheet is set up as 24"x36" D size paper. When I measure across the paper it shows 36" wide. If it was a 1/4" scale it should show 144". Is there a way to get the correct measurements in a layout page? Or do I have to go back to the plan file to get the correct measurements. Thanks, Mike

I found the save as PDF in the print command, thanks. When the layout is converted into a PDF the wall fill is missing. I had also included a footing detail on this sheet. It has fill patterns to such as concrete, soils and sand. Those fills show up in the PDF file. Is there some setting I am missing? Also when I print this PDF file out on my HP 750c Plus plotter, it is not printing to scale. I do not have the plotter connected to the computer that I have Chief on so I need to print the file from another computer that the plotter is connected too. The plot is off by about 5%. I see that one of the buttons under drawing scale is "print to paper 95%". I did not check that button, I checked off "to scale". My print setting are as follows: Chief Architect: Save-As PDF Paper: Arch D Print Source: Drawing Sheet: Arch D Drawing Scale: To scale I have printed PDF fills that have been sent to me form other firms and they all printed to scale. So I'm assuming that there is nothing wrong with the computer settings that I have my plotter connected too. Thanks, Mike

I'm new to Chief. I'm using X-8 Is there a way to send out the plans in a PDF format. Most of the contractors an printer want the plans in a PDF format. In AutoCAD I use the print command then change the default printer to PDF then hit O.K, then choose a file name to sent it as. I do not see that option in the print command or the export command for Chief. Thanks, Mike

Is there a way to remove the polylines around a fill patterns. I'm new to Chief and have been using AutoCAD since 1993. In AutoCAD I can delete the polyline boundary of the hatch pattern or turn it off . This leaves only the fill (hatch) pattern left which looks a lot better. Also I can give the polyline boundary a different name than the fill pattern. Is there a way to do this in Chief? Thanks, Mike