tommy1

In the past few years low power and high performance for 3D graphics cards has been a major focus of the 3D video vendors. Partly this is to support tablets and smart phones.

 

The result has been that some vendors, such as Intel have really upped their game in terms of performance resulting in a lot better 3D graphics performance for low end laptops and tablets.

 

I would look for something with the dual Intel HD and NVIDIA graphics. This gives you both good performance with low power consumption and excellent performance when power consumption isn't an issue.

Mine has dual Intel HD Graphics 4600 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M. I'm looking at the display adapters under the device manager.

Tommy Blair recently purchased an new HP laptop.  You might find that thread and see what he purchased.  I am sure Tommy would be more than happy to answer your questions about his purchase and VC if you gave him a call.

 

The only problem I have had with my laptop is doing some exterior elevations (vector views) when using the Nvidia card only. No problems with interior elevation or renders of any kind. I'm having the problem with X5 as well as X6. This laptop has Windows 8.1 installed. I'm beginning to believe that it's a Windows 8 problem. I didn't have this problem on the other laptop that had Windows 7. HOWEVER, all my problems go away for the exterior elevations if I let the computer decide which graphics to use. By default it used the video chipset unless you change it to only use the graphics card. I tried all kinds of ways to fix it but this one is the only one that keeps the laptop from freezing doing exterior elevations. I was starting to get a little nervous about completing layouts due to the elevation problem but now I'm fine. I still can't figure this problem out. Some elevations that are fairly detailed go just fine and some that are simple freeze the laptop. It's not because of a symbol or millwork that I'm using. For now, I'm going to let the computer decide the graphics because my problem is solved. This apparently is a vector issue only.

We've lost (or don't see very often) some of the best ChiefTalk sources of help that one could dream of:

 

ChiefCanada (Rob Fisher)

Louis and Katy Fernandez

Tim O'Donnell

Don Randall

David Michael

 

and many others I can't begin to remember at this moment.  I hope they are all doing well.  It is refreshing to see new blood come along and fill the gaps. 

I still see Louis pretty often. His office is below Katy's office. Louis has started his own cabinet business (My-Cabinet-Source) selling several different manufacturers cabinets. Katy took over My-Design-Team. Katy and me do all the plan work now. I have always been grateful and lucky to have Louis show me the ropes on how to use Chief when I first started. I haven't heard much about Rob ever since he discontinued being a CA dealer. When Tim was on the forum, I always thought he was one of the best users of the program. He was amazing...putting it mildly.

I don't think so

 

many times asked for - but ???

 

one trick is to send b/w to keep it live and scaled

 

then make a color .jpg and import on same page

 

then using a corner handle for the .jpg size it over the b/w view

 

Lew

No need to import an image and resize with the corner handle.

Hi

In Chief X6 can you send cross section - elevation views to layout, in scale, in colour,  as I can only seem to send in black & white line  with no colour

thanks Rob

Yes, it can be done quite easily. I credit this method to Wendy Welton who introduced this method along time ago. I also went over this awhile back at one of our user group meetings.

1. Take the elevation you want.

2. Send it to the layout as "Current Screen As Image". This will be a colored image.

3. Switch back to the elevation and be sure NOT TO CHANGE THE SIZE OF THE IMAGE ON YOUR SCREEN (DO NOT ZOOM IN OR OUT),

4, Send that elevation (current screen, not current screen as image), to the layout at what ever scale you want. This will be a vector view with no color.

5. In the layout, open the scaled vector view and see what the width is. Make note of it or paste it to your Windows clip board.

6. Now open the color image in the layout and change the width so that it matches the vector view. Be sure to maintain the ratio or keep it concentric. 

7. Reposition the images as needed on your layout. Delete the vector elevation if you want.

Now you have a scaled color elevation in color. Keep in mind that it is an image and not an elevation that can be updated.

Color Elevation.pdf

Nice Tip Tommy , I was going to suggest the same thing as Perry , which I know him and Scott use on all their house's .....ie the extra (unseen) floor...

 

 

Mick.

I actually make an attic a floor too...just depends on what I'm doing.

You can make your own symbol and have it attach anywhere.  Export the current one and import it with your requirements.

I hope this is what you are asking.

You don't even have to export it. Just take the symbol from Chief's library and copy it to your user library. Now you can open it and make it sit on the floor so that you can place it anywhere you want.

Why don't you just make the sidelites yourself using doors or windows. I do it all the time. Just mull them.

A note about changing the Alt-Q. After changing this, you'll notice that when you select a wall, the move handle will be where your Alt-Q is set. I always set the Alt-Q back to the default setting of outside main layer after I have changed the wall types in the plan.

Even if someone has one in X6 you can still get it to him by exporting it as a 3D DWG and then he can import that 3d dwg. This how you can make any symbol backwards compatible.

BTW, what I generally do to create a new wall type is to select the wall type you want to change> copy it> rename and then add the layers to alter the wall type. This is faster than making a new wall type from scratch. Be sure you click okay after you make the new wall type or it will not save.

Sure it's possible after the design. There are several approaches but the easiest might be to just create a new wall type of the one you want to alter. You'll have to insert a new layer>change the thickness>add the material> change the pattern. Check the other layers also because when you add a layer, the materials will change around the new layer. After adding the new layer, your wall is now thicker right? This means that your dimensioning will change either on the inside or outside. What you need to do is open the "Qlt-Q" (wall default) and change if needed where the new wall will "resize about" in the plan. By default it will be set to the outside main layer. If you need to have the inside dimensions remain the same, you might want to resize about the inside surface (or inside main layer depending on where the new layer is placed). You'll need to go around and select the existing walls to be changed, and make them the new wall type.

We use an ice and water shield underlayment for anything less than a 3:12 pitch.

If you were to hire a new person, how long is a reasonable range of time you might allow to produce the first project from knowing nothing through learning with help to completion?

 

Hours? Days? Weeks? or Months?

This is hard to answer but IMO, forget hours. How much time are you willing to spend each week? For example, if you're only willing to spend 5 to 8 hours a week, well....How well do you remember things? Repetition helps you remember things. It's always good to find someone that will help you 1 on 1 when you get stuck. This will save a lot of time. 

Things I recommend for new users:

1. Study the room dbx and all options.

2. Click on a lot of objects and study the edit toolbar at the bottom of the screen to see your options for editing.

3. Use the "All tools configuration" for your tool bar.

4. Get familiar with the snap tools.

5. Get familiar with layer sets and annotation sets. A little more difficult but a must (especially for doing layouts).

6. Try to understand how to do roofs manually. Eventually, you'll have to edit a roof.

7. Get familiar with the elevation cameras. The back-clip camera especially. The back-clip camera will help trouble shoot modeling problems big-time. 

You can create any detail you need in Chief. I have hundreds. Some made from scratch, some edited from DWGs provided by Architects or Engineers.

Turning off cabinet module lines in the layer display will solve most of your problems. The soffit is a cabinet tool.

Did anyone report this to Tech Support?

I ran in to this problem yesterday with an older plan. Work around was to open window dbx, go to framing, and set R.O. to the width of the brick molding. Of course this will affect the framing but I could not find another way. This was not happening in X-5.

 

Kevin Walker

Yes this works.

joedesign,

Here is my 2 cents. First, I will not talk bad about Softplan, Revit, or any of the other programs because I have not used them. I will say that I started with Chief 12 years ago using Version 8. It was difficult for me but I was fortunate to have one of the best users (back then) to give me one-on-one training. I must admit that it took me several years to really learn how the program works and more important, how it thinks. When I first started, I spent mega hours on my time off and most all week-ends trying to learn the program. I too looked at the training videos but to be honest, I believe the training videos are okay for the basic stuff but that's it. You said that you have played with the program for 2 or 3 weeks, well I can assure you that's not enough time to understand the program. I've also been told that having prior experience with ACAD makes it harder to learn the program because you're already programed to think in ACAD. I have been doing remodels showing existing and proposed plans since the beginning and it's quite easy once you understand the program. I do not advocate using Chief's idea of doing demo plans and proposed plans by using different layers for the walls. I will almost guarantee problems with a sophisticated plan with multiple floors. I also see so many new users jump right in doing high end plans with out taking the time to learn the program. I'm helping a young kid right now who recently purchased the program and wanted me to help him learn the program. I asked him if he was ready to devote a lot of time to using the program. He said that he picks up on things really, really, fast and thought that it would not be a problem. Well, after 3 hrs., he could barely keep up and we had to stop and that was only the extreme basics. I told him that the mind can only absorb so much at one time and is why you have to spend a lot of time on this or you'll have a hard time picking it up. I really do think that if you can get ACAD out of your mind and just focus on the program for mega hours, you'll pick it up. I have recommended to some people to keep using the program you were using to do current jobs, but keep practicing with Chief on all of your spare time. Taking the time to try and figure it out on your own is one of the best teachers. If you can find someone to help you one-on-one with specific problems will help in the long run for learning this program.

Aedy, keep checking you digital locker and be sure you're logged in. You should however get a notice if you're not. It implies that you do have SSA even though it's not required to have to get the program. Good luck and keep me posted. I sent you a reminders notice for our user group meeting Monday a few days ago. Hope to see you at the meeting.

We have a free online meeting Monday, Aug. 4, 2014 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm (Central Time). If you would like to attend, then please send me an email using my email address shown in my signature. Feel free to call me if you need more information.

Sincerely,

I believe that Polyline Solids - like slabs and primitive solids are set at "Absolute Elevation", not "Floor Relative".  It's one of those things that it would be nice to have another data box for in the dbx.

Slight correction to this comment. If you place a slab in plan view using the slab tool, It will place the slab by default at 12" above the floor height on the relative floor you're on. In other words, if you place a slab on the second floor, it will be 12" above that that floor height and will be 4" thick. Same on any floor you place it including the first floor. I can't remember right off about the foundation level.

The slab tool height does display it's height in the absolute value.

I use the plan scale macro for this. I put it in a plan or cad detail view first and then send it to the layout at the scale I want. When looking at the layout, you can zoom in and out and the scale macro will change (just like in plan view) and you can zoom to the correct scale in layout view. Keep in mind that when printed, I will probably look slightly different depending on the screen resolution of the monitor you're using but it will be very close. This is one reason I was complaining so much when X6 first came out because if doing this as I mentioned, the scale macro wouldn't change like it is supposed to when zooming in and out in the layout. This was confirmed a bug and is now fixed in the latest update. 

Doing this is easier said than done. What I would suggest is to open a blank plan along with the plan that has the trellis. Tile the views. Take the trellis pieces and copy them (in place) to the blank plan. Then try to select them all and block them. Now because they are 3D objects, you'll have an "architectural block" not a "cad block" that you can add to the library. A warning though, sometimes architectural blocks lose their origin (or used to). I haven't done it in a long time. Good luck. 

This has never been able to be done for things like showers in any version.