stephanswim

Simple answers to your questions based on your narrative and the drawings you produced: 1) No, 200 hours is not too much 2) No, you are not slow, just precise and conscientious Imagine what your mother-in-law's lawyer might charge to represent her!!

Chop saw, I never actually did this with as many as 6 different plans, but did something like this with 2 alternate plans, using a system presumably less robust than yours. I think I was using X7 or X8 at the time. So I really don't know if it would work with 6 plans. I do know that it would involve a lot of scrolling around to navigate among all the houses, and I would probably get lost! I agree with Johnny that it seems to make more sense to use different plan files, and it isn't real clear why ACADuser needs to have just a single plan file. Always get something out of your posts, Chopsaw - thanks

Transform/Replicate & move the plan 6 times, then change the individual walls in each plan as needed to alter the elevations, then send them to layout, cropping each image as needed. You can arrange the plans any way you like: all side by side or 2 columns X 3 rows, or 3 columns X 2 rows. Done

Have you tried doing the walls as a gambrel roof? I set the pitch of the lower roof at 89 degrees (CA doesn't allow a 90 degree pitch). You will probably have to experiment with it a little bit and fool around with baseline, ridge, and fascia heights, but you can still come close. Good Luck! Steve

I suggest you start by making an elevation spline at contour line +528, beginning at the property line. Then you can use the transform/replicate command to make 4 or 5 copies and move them in the Y direction a few feet and in the Z dimension 1 foot. Then you can move each copy into exact position and edit each one as required. Then repeat the process starting at elevation +532 with the contour lines going through the barn. Don't bother looking at it in 3d until you have most of the contour lines edited and in place or you will be screaming "WTF!!" and be discouraged - the terrain will look really bizarre until you have done this much. Yeah, terrain work can be tough and frustrating and take a lot of time, but can be really satisfying when you get results. GOOD LUCK!

I was able to do the one pictured in the attachment by creating a new wall type by modifying the 2x6 exterior wall type that came with CA. I deleted all layers except for the framing, then created a new exterior layer 1/4" thick using one of the wire screens materials straight from the CA library. For the framing layer material, I copied the 2x6 stud wall @ 16" OC material from the Library (or from Plan Materials) and changed the stud spacing to 48" OC (or whatever spacing you might want). After making the appropriate change for the full gable wall, I framed the walls, then opened the wall details. Then I edited each wall to get the exact number, placement, and orientation of the studs where I wanted them, and used the blocking tool to get the horizontals where I wanted them. You will probably have to play around with the screen material to get it the way you want it, Good Luck! Steve KURZ LAYOUT 4-2-18.pdf

Lew- Could you expand on your suggestion, perhaps in a separate thread? I am trying to do a plan of a small hamlet's downtown area, and am finding it difficult to work with just 3 or 4 separate buildings, and the perspective overviews are cumbersome. I have read the Knowledge Base instructions on how to create a subdivision and am going to try that, but am wondering if you have any additional tips and/or suggestions based on your experience. Thank you for all your helpful posts in the past. Steve L. Callicoon, NY

Thank you all for your suggestions-very much appreciated. Dermot's explanation makes sense to me and I will try it out tomorrow morning. Once again, thank you!

Oops!the screenshot didn't go through - I'll try again:

Here is what I get: There seem to be 2 sets of shadows coming from different directions: the light source for the baluster shadows on the walls seem to be from a source BELOW the stairs pointing upwards, while the shadows on the floor seem to be correct. Also, the baluster shadows on the stair to the lower floor seems to be correct. I tried Graham's idea, as well as Eric's , but still get the same result. Thanks for any help that anybody can give me

Can someone please explain AND solve this problem that I am having with shadows in a full camera view? There seem to be 2 sets of shadows coming from different directions: the light source for the baluster shadows on the walls seem to be from a source BELOW the stairs pointing upwards, while the shadows on the floor seem to be correct. There are no light fixtures in this plan, which I have attached. Any help will be gratefully appreciated - wouldn't you know this would happen on a Friday night when Chief Support is gone for the weekend? Thank you from Steve Lundgren Upstate New YorkMULLALY_PORCH_OVERSTACK[2].planMULLALY_PORCH_OVERSTACK[2].pan SHADOW PROBLEM - send to Chief Forum.zip

David, Did you get that by using the OOTB stucco pattern? If so, please share what settings you used for spacing and line weight. On a recent project, I had to resort to a laborious method using polylines with a solid fill and the "Sand" pattern, and still didn't get satisfactory results that looked as good as yours.Thank you

Great thanks to whoever created these and was willing to share with everyone. These images showed up fine in elevation view, but when I created a cad detail from view, I don't see them even though the Image layer is set to display. Any solution to this? Thanks

Hi, Tom I'd like to talk to you about your project if you haven't already found someone to help you out. I'm located in Callicoon, NY, about 60 miles from Clarks Summit, am a long-time user of Chief Architect with over 30 years experience in construction and architecture. Would like to have a quick conversation with you and if you are interested, I would be happy to send you more information about my experience along with samples of work that I have done for myself and for other architect. Looking forward to a reply. one way or another... Steve Lundgren (845) 887-5266 (845) 866-2167

I would like to create a portfolio using several different projects in a single layout. In light of the CA Reference Manual's guidelines regarding protecting layout links, is this even possible? I'm hesitant to experiment and risk damaging any of my plan files. I would like the final output to include plans, framing plans, sections, elevations, and perspectives from multiple projects. Has anyone done this successfully as a layout, or is there another approach that would achieve the same result? Thanks for any ideas.

Great video, Perry! Thanks for producing it and sharing it with us less-organized folks.