EricsDesigns

Hello all, I am trying to see if anybody here has had experience with 3D scanners to help with the import of as builts into chief. We do a lot of condo remodels and I spend a lot of time gathering measurements and taking pictures so I can generate the chief file. https://canvas.io/ looks interesting but you have to pay to import to cad. It could get expensive for multiple room scans. Has anyone played with this or have any recommendations for a similar product, one that is not super expensive either? Or is the tech not there yet? thanks Eric Ernisse Coastal View Construction LLC

Hello all, It has been some time since I last asked a question as I don't get to use this software very often in my business we mostly remodel condos. I have a bunch of cabinets all designed in Chief and was wondering if there was a way to generate a cut list of parts that go into building those cabinets with Chief?? It would be such a time saver if this was possible. They are frame-less cabinets and a few are custom sizes. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Eric Ernisse Coastal View Construction LLC wwwCVCmaui.com CA X10

Hello Everybody, I am in the process of designing a wood workers shop for a client and I am trying to find symbols of the common shop tools, like a drill press, table saw, lathe etc. Does anybody know where I can find them? I could always do them 2d but it is not as much fun and more time consuming. Thanks for all the help in advance. Eric

Jon Thanks for sharing what you use. After you get through the learning curve how much time does it save you in the overall processes?? Thanks Eric

Wow, Thanks for everybody's input. It has given me some food for thought and a few webpages to explore further. Before trying a new new and potentially expensive new way of achieving something that can be done cheaply with pen and paper requires a double check in the real world. I really appreciate all the honest input. Have a great weekend to everyone. At first glance redstick looks interesting. Eric

Hello everybody, Trying to make a decision between a Surface Pro/book running a full version of Chief or a Ipad Pro running Room Planner with a laser?? I have a really good desktop at the office so this would not be my everyday machine. I would mostly be using it for measuring as builts in condos remodeling. There has been too many times where I get back to the office and I don't have a key measurement. Trying to figure a professional and faster way of achieving this. Can you use a laser measuring device with a Surface Pro and the full version of Chief? Does the pen work with chief? How do people like the surface pro?? IPad? Is it really faster than pen and paper? Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks Eric

Hello Everybody, Can you use a Bluetooth laser measuring device with the surface pro 4 to input the as-built measurements like with room planer?? I am on the fence on this purchase. I am just spending way to much time sketching the floor plan on paper and I always miss one key measurement. Thanks for the advice. Eric

Thanks Lew and Alan I just tried that and no luck still the same thing. At least I can still work Will have to wait till Monday. Have a great weekend. Eric

Hello All, I upgraded to Chief X8 and Windows 10 and I keep getting this warning message: c:\p4sync\dev\releases\18.0.3\chief\source\SecurityManager.h(796): Warning #272032304 "Chief Architect needs to re-establish an Internet connection in order to verify security and check for new product updates. You must connect this computer to the Internet and run Chief Architect prior to 1/29/2016 4:34:57 PM This message comes up at program start up and as I am working every 10 min (?) or so. I have disabled my Norton Antivirus and Firewall and still does not work. Made sure that Chief X8 was on the safe list. Tired to register through the program and says the firewall is blocking access to the internet. I am logged in as Administrator and running the program as Administrator. Obviously I have internet access as I am posting this. Any help or ideas to try would be really helpful. Frustrated as I am usually good at fixing these things Thanks Eric

Thanks Rich!!! XVID worked. Hope the client will like it. Have a great Sunday everyone. Eric

Hi Kirk, Thanks for getting back with me. I had a big remodel I had to finish with bids going out at the same time.. I tried to change the codec in the preferences menu. The first one IYUV codec gave the above error. Then I tried the second on MS-CRAM and it worked but the video is unusable. I can't upload a avi file?? Any advise on fixing this? Thanks a lot Eric

Hello everyone. I tried to do my first recording of a walk through today and got this error ..\source\AviMovieWinImpl.cpp(102): Error #272031035 "An unknown error occurred while recording the walkthrough." 9/17/2015 7:36:55 PM Build: 17.3.1.1x64 Any ideas? Maybe I don't have the right codecs? How would I fix that? I am loving my upgrade to X7 from Chief 10.. So many cool new features. Thanks Eric

Thanks for the tip Larry. I think I will give that a try. Hopefully the next question will be how do I do _____ with the program?? Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Eric

Wow thanks for the great advice. The house has not been built yet. I am also sure the plans are not finalized yet as my friend wants the renderings as a double check. I am sure I can get a pdf of the plans. So the import of pdf and trace would be a great time saver. I did not know I could do that. Awesome tip. The house has 3 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, great room, office, large kitchen, pool and 3 car garage.. I believe the construction cost to be 1.5 million. So with tracing the pdf it would take about 5 days to get the model ready for rendering and let them play with the model in the client viewer?????That is with all materials and terrain. The five days would have some buffer safety time if I get stuck. I just want to make sure I would meet his budget with how much I would charge by hour. I usually use chief with condo remodels so don't understand yet the time involved in a much larger project. I really appreciate everybody spending the time to help me. Eric

Hello everybody. I finally upgraded my program from version 10. I am very happy with all the new features. Great program!!! I am a remodeling contractor that uses the program for helping the customer get a better understanding of the final product. I have only designed 2 large houses with chief. I was approached by a friend that is using a licenced architect for his design but wants me to do some renderings for him. Don't understand why it is not included. Anyway the house is close to 5000sqft under roof. I was wondering how long it would take for an average user to manually enter the model from the plans? I am not to sure if the architect will part with his autocad file so I could import it. How much time would I save if I could get the file? This could help me decide if I want the job and how much to charge. Thanks for any advice.. Eric