BenPalmer

Yeah, surprised there wasn't an update/patch with the announcement of the 'official' release. There are still some outstanding bugs that I'm needing fixed before I dive in.

FYI: Nvidia Hotfix Eliminates High CPU Usage Driver Bug https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5450 I was having high CPU usage, and this fixed it for me...not totally related to the intent of this thread in regards to Chief, but still on the topic of drivers...hope it helps someone.

Macros is how I do it as well (in my template)...we used to be able to edit the program files to change the default label (long long ago)...would be nice to have the ability to adjust the default window labels so no macros are needed or create our own window defaults and labels...similar to room names, etc.

I don't like the library browser either...I have turned off the 'filters' (search) portion at the top to give the room back, but that means I have to turn it back on when I want search (which I don't do a lot). I don't like the preview (filter results) at all...I prefer the 'tile' view, but would like to make the thumbnails bigger...I'm not seeing a way to increase the thumbnail size? I never want the 'subfolders' to be included when I'm selecting folders...so, I turn it off, but everytime I reopen chief it is back on again...how do we make that stay off!!! It's also slower in general. So my issues so far: search (filter) area too large need ability to control size of thumbnails in filter results (I want them bigger) --> SOLUTION per post below: Ctrl Scroll wheel to make bigger or smaller need ability for showing subfolders to remember state of last use when closing/reopening the software...I want it to stay off, but turns back on when reopen the software slow compared to X14 Not a fan...I'll give it more time, but not liking it initially. Maybe this needs a new thread...?

Select the roof or roofs, then use the 'display on floor above' tool. An additional resource: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/6129/generating-displaying-roofs-on-a-multi-level-structure.html?playlist=95

With a very general question, it's hard to 'guess' what the answer is without more information...typically the view you are in is what gets sent and you can choose color on or off when the send dialogue opens...some of these videos may help: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/playlists/105/layouts-construction-documents-and-printing.html

I think they do that because some people may not have the option to download the old version in their locker or may not want to download the full version, so they provide the 'viewer' option that all people can access.

Knowledge Base Article for additional reference: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00279/opening-legacy-files.html

Unfortunately no. It is not backward compatible. https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-01209/message-this-plan-cannot-be-opened.html You would need to be running the same or newer version of what they are running. Or on future projects, they would need to run an older version. Once a file is saved into a newer version, it cannot go back. Hope that helps.

Totally agree the pricing now is reasonable...as long as they keep it in the $600 range we currently pay and continue to receive the discounts we receive on additional licenses we have. However, if I'm reading it correctly, if I were to buy my 3 licenses on or after January 10th, the cost would be: (1995+1295+1295) $4585 That's over a 350% increase from my current annual fee!! That is a MASSIVE price increase!! I don't see anything that says legacy will be the same price ($595) on Jan 10. Chief needs to let us know what the legacy pricing is going to be on January 10th. They seem to 'imply' it will remain the same price structure, but they certainly don't tell us. On a side note, I do think they are doing the right thing by keeping the license perpetual. However, that's only for legacy folks. New licenses don't have the same luxury. With the massive price increase for new licenses and lack of ownership, I'm not seeing Chief as an attractive option for new folks. Please feel free to correct or clarify any of my comments.

Excellent, glad I could help.

You are correct. You're description in the first post of 'needs to be flush with the rest of the roofs' and your pic with the porch roof not flush with the rest of the roof contradicted each other in my interpretation, so I was trying to answer both questions for you. My 'guess' is your comment about being flush meant to get rid of the hip over the front porch vs making the eaves flush...but that is just guessing. Doing my best with your description. The screen shots are very helpful.

Now seeing the floor plan: If you want to use 'auto' roofs, you would need use the second option I listed by adjusting the 'roof baselines'. Or use option 3 and adjust the roof manually. I'm sure you know this, but your floor plan screen shots in your second post don't match your roof lines from your first post. The roof polylines will be easier to work with if you have it like your first post to start with.

A few ways to match the example that has a higher roof height at the porch (auto) raise the heights of the side rooms (left and right) to the same height you have on the porch (auto) use 'roof baseline polylines' (see F1 help) and adjust them to the left and right of the porch do it manually by adjusting the roof planes as needed. If you want it 'flush' with the rest of the roof planes as you mentioned vs matching the higher roof of the example, then lower the ceiling height of the porch to match the rest of the house.

Do you have any 'real-time' backup software running? Or possibly incremental (timeframe) backups? If not in the archive you mentioned, then a backup copy you create outside of Chief's ecosystem would be where to find one. If you don't have backups setup, I highly recommend it. Odd for the archive folder to not have the file, wouldn't hurt to double check your 'autosave' settings within Chief. For reference: I have (2) real-time backups running so if I crash and archive file is unsuccessful, I can go to the drive I save to as well as OneDrive's cloud backup that has version history. I also have multiple nightly backups run as well. I'm a little psycho about backups...lots of redundancy, but hate redoing my work. Sorry if you lost your files...hate that feeling.

Hence the need for the perspective overview camera (to go back to the OP)

Thanks Glenn...I'm trying to get rid of the tilt from a 'top view'. I would love for it to look like the ortho top view with straight down walls. This tilt works fine for a smaller house, but on a big house, these wall angles don't work well. Sample of what I currently get attached. Suggestions?

For everyday designing, I only use orthographic and not perspective. However, orthographic does not have 'Clay' or 'PBRT' rendering options while perspective does have those rendering options available. So I need the perspectives for straight down floor plan views to use those rendering styles. If the orthographic cameras added those rendering styles, then I would not need the perspectives....in fact I would prefer the orthographic views so the walls are straight vs tilted. Let me know if I'm missing a way to use those rendering styles in orthographic cameras and I'll concede. Until then, I need/use the perspective cameras.

Within the windows specifications, go to the 'Shape' tab and make adjustments to get what you need.

Depending on all you want to bring in and how old a plan is, I import the following: >Saved Plan Views >Default Settings (check overwrite and replace) >Layer Sets (select all and replace) >Wall Definitions (if any new wall definitions needed) (a few other steps I do with really, really, really old plans) That should get you pretty close and will just need to make some adjustments as you go...but much faster than starting over.

Thanks...that may be faster than controlling each room polyline, and I had a similar thought...but as you can see there are quite a few of them...so, while it is a good option, I was hoping to avoid...guess I'm lazy, haha. I like to call it efficient. Sounds like a feature request. Thanks again.

Thank you for your suggestions and efforts...much appreciated. So in short, Chief can't fill the openings the way I want it to with 'room fills'. I was really hoping to avoid all of the polylines as I believe the room fill is much faster (multiple select, match properties, no editing etc), but as you all mentioned, less control where the polylines have complete control. Attached is what the entire plan looks like with Room Fills...but as you can see, the doorways are white....in some places that's fine, but would prefer the fill....I'll play around with it some more to see if it's worth the effort. Thanks again.

See attached plan and screen shot. I need to get the 'room fill' to go through doors and doorways. Is there a way to accomplish this? RoomFill.zip

Reminder, per the reply from Chief, this is an issue with 'fonts that aren't default to Windows'. So, if default to windows, there should be no issues. If not default, then spacing issues 'may' occur. I would 'assume' that each non-windows font would behave differently.