SHCanada2

2 hours ago, Michael_Gia said:

Do you guys just create custom macros for these labels? Or something else? 

Text macros. If you have to type them in anyway, you can just type them in the TMM dialog.

Only downside is organization. For instance you can type it all into one text macro, but then you cannot format specific parts of the text, say underline, in a rich text box. Or you can have individual macros and then you can underline, bold, etc each one. Downside to this is having to go into each text macro and type them in.

In my view, CA could just create a category for text macros that they then show on the form you show. I put in a request awhile ago

4 hours ago, DBCooper said:

If you are using an old one that is designed to go into a cabinet, I don't think it will work.  

it(countertop) worked for me, just doesnt look correct in 3D with the 6in offset,

CA also told me to relogin as I had it happen to me as well

5 hours ago, Designers_Ink said:

f you open the cabinet DBX, select the appliance, you can regenerate the 2D and it will show properly again until they get it fixed.

I tried that and it did not work

FYI:

I opened up an existing plan and the dishwasher in cabinet now looks like this:

had to go into the dishawsher in the cabinet and offest -6

to give:

i dont have to go into my locker to use X17.

I'm also not crashing

17 hours ago, Michael_Gia said:

meh, not impressed. 

I agree, the one guy states it well, no one puts all of the details in the actual model, so you are left with work to do, its just a matter of where to do that work.

The make a rectangle around the section you are interested in detailing, and it auto creates a callout, is nice...if you make details using the model

great video, especially with the as built tidbit.

For the question of "should I rename" the .plan file when copying a project. If you dont and have the same plan name open for multiple project, and multiple views open, the names on the  tabs become smaller and more difficult to differentiate. As such, one might want to rename

I did put in a request to have the option when copying a project, to specify a name and then that cascades to the plans and layouts in the project. Easier said then done though as CA would need to know whether to prepend or replace

9 hours ago, decorators3 said:

Gee that's strange.. so if i go to x17 can i still revise a plan that was done  x16? by  reopening  x16 even though I have 17?

yes,

but if you want to place a new object from a catalogue not yet available in X17 you cannot...or at least that is my experience. I search for something in the library, it comes pack with something, then I go to download the catalogue...and it says the catalog is unavailable

Not all catalogues are available on x17

1 hour ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

I would be totally down with this if it gave me what I wanted

you could post your project to freelancer.com. You need to tell them what the CA backup looks like, how often it creates one, that there are multiples, and that you want a service that extracts them from the zip file and then, I assume, you want them placed into a directory structure based on the name of the CA project. or if just one big directory, then tell them that. But that will be the key piece of the puzzle. And then tell them if you want it triggered by a newly created CA backup within x minutes of it being created

And then you will need to tell them what to do if the plan file is already there, do you want it overwritten or a new one generated. Do you want them to compare the two first to see if they are different before making that decision

3 hours ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

f they need to be worked on months later, I go to my folder organization on my D: Drive, like I always have, and double click the Project file to Import it back into the PM. If Chief can automate this through a backup and/or trigger I would love that, and I think others would also

You(or someone) could probably write a script or windows service that makes just the plan and/or layout backup to a directory. The simplest way would be to extract from the CA backup automatically

1 hour ago, VHampton said:

For example, I already organize my projects by client, keep plan and layout files in clearly marked folders

I can see why if you do this seperate folders between plan and layout, the new PM is not making it any easier.

I always had mine in the same folder, so I see no real difference in the PM project view today. A PM project is just what I used to have for a folder.  But it would be easier to navigate if there were folders within the project that I could move off copies of the plan that I use as a versioned plan, to

1 hour ago, VHampton said:

and automatic file linking,

I sent in some improvements on the naming. I find the options on the right click confusing as to what they will do.

2 hours ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

I think my point was clear above. I was done with the plan. I no longer was working on it, and in my process I do not need it to take up space in the PM. I have plans completed 40 years ago. Why would I want to store that in CA? 

good point, yes even I  will likely clean house every once in awhile, and may do it by project export, but in pondering it now, I will more likely I will just take a copy of the CA backup and store if off on disk, and then delete them out of PM. If I ever need a plan from 5 years ago, I will probably then go in and unzip it. For me when I am "looking" for a plan I did, I typically look at the PDFs because it is faster, and those are already in a directory. so in the future I will find the PDF, see the timestamp and then find the CA backup that I copied off, which is newer than that timestamp.

 I do about 40 plans per year, so maybe every December copy off a backup and delete files out of PM that are older than 4 or 5 years Currently I am not bringing X16 files into X17. If I need to make changes I am doing in X16. So for me, this copy off and delete process will not happen until probably 4 or 5 years from now. but never know maybe next year at this time there will be too much clutter

Currently I have 8 projects, so it is not cluttered enough to have filed them via the folder tags. So it will be interesting to see how I am doing next year, but half my work is doing variations of existing, so that will all be in X16

I'm not sure I am understanding, why are you exporting a project if you want to work on it? why not just make a backup copy of the plan file in the project?

For me I think my workflow will be:

1.keep all projects in PM. Let CA backup in the format CA chooses (zip file of everything). This backup is for the sole purposes of disaster recover, i.e. disk failure

2. if I need to checkpoint, I will do what I did before, which is make a copy. And I will let it stay in the project as copy(x). CA now lets you make a copy while the file is open, so that is a nice improvement.

I do not anticipate ever needing to look at a CA backup file, except in a disaster. And I do not anticipate to ever need to export.

For those with multi computer environments, then an export would be required

1 hour ago, Gawdzira said:

It also happens when I open a pdf and hit the print function

not a CA problem then? maybe it is looking for a network printer that does not exist

right click rename?

2 hours ago, Renerabbitt said:

f you're currently writing these caproject files to your main nvme, your pumping the read/write up pretty high and shortening the lifespan on an nvme.

in the grand scheme of things, of how many R/W are done constantly by windows and others, I would think doing an export is of negligible impact to the lifespan

47 minutes ago, Steve_Nyhof said:

So if I save 20 times in 5 minutes of work, no archives are being generated. How often is the file archived? I do not think my last work being saved is placed into an Archive. This fails a true backup of my current plan.

this is how it always worked. if you want a permanent backup everytime you save, you have to make a copy. the good news is the new PM allows you to make a copy even though the file is open

I think you are looking for more of a checkpoint functionality where you state that you want a copy at a specific moment that you have done a bunch of work, where backups have tradionally run at certain times of the day

29 minutes ago, Rookie65 said:

I believe the Matterport Pro 3 will now do exteriors as well. It's about a $5K investment

cheaper than the $20k leica. I will look into that, thanks. sometimes I spend an entire day trying to get the elevations correct, so that actually might be worth it for me for the complicated ones, although complicated ones are probably only 15% of the houses I do. 

I'm curious as to how these exterior ones deal with bushes where half the window or something else might be behind. Here the side property lines are typically only 2-4ft from the house.

Ideally if matterport used the interior data like window locations in order to create the proper exterior elevation...well then there would not be much work for me to do

1 hour ago, ComputerMaster86 said:

With that said, I have been using the new "Project Management Mode" for a while now and have generally come to like it overall.  I feel like I am a little more efficient from not having to navigate between Chief Architect and File Explorer as much

I would concur, less going to windows explorer, saving a few clicks here and there 

16 hours ago, Rookie65 said:

Compared to the time it takes to measure a job by hand is where the real savings show up. Can scan a house in maybe 90 minutes versus 3 to 4 hours, or more 

I bring my laptop and do it in CA, so I can reconcile any discrepancies on the spot. So in about 2 hours(because I use cubicasa for the not important floor levels) I am done the required portions of the floor plan in CA at the customer's location, then I go back to the office and trace the cubicasa (which is about 30 min) for the other floor level(s). And then I do the elevations, which then take additional time regardless of using a scanning tool or not. I actually find its the elevations(because of roof lines, posts, porches, cantilevers, window wells, etc) that take the most time. I've tried out a couple elevations apps, but cant find anything decent.

But if I do have a discrepancy found after the fact, I have to rely on a video I take of the inside/outside. It works, but it would be nicer to have a scanned model I can point and zoom in and move around in.

In general then for me to do a full house floor plans without elevations its 1 hr drive, 2 hrs at the customers, call it an hour to put it together back at the office. 

1 hour ago, Rookie65 said:

A yearly plan can start around $680, I think. The plan back from them starts at $15

yeah thats not cheap, if I do 2 as builts a month, thats $100 a month, plus the 3k amortized over 5 years is another $50 a month, or $75 per scan. I guess not too bad.a cost.

8 minutes ago, Rookie65 said:

Clients like the 3D captures with the Matterport, and being able to measure the scans if needed. Great to forward to their subcontractors so they can get an look at the job before going to a site. 

yeah,  thats why I was looking at polycam, it gives you the actual model, to zoom in and move around in, at $37/month. What does matterport cost these days?

4 hours ago, Rookie65 said:

I have a Matterport Pro 2 that I use for interior scans. I can't say it's as accurate as they claim it is, yet it does save a lot of time from measuring by hand. Especially for additions where the town wants the existing house layout with it. When I am on site, I will use a laser to measure a room's length and width. That way when I get the floor plan PDF back from Matterport, I can set the scale on the plan from the dimensions I took to get the floor plan from them closer to actual size. Then I will trace over the walls to make my plan from it. 

thats basically what I do (except I currently use the $10 a scan app, cubicasa), and even the rendr guy in his video  says you have to take exact measurements by hand for the area you are renovating.. but I am also curious how good the render app is with split levels or two levels. His examples do not have stairs