johnny

For me, building sections are a PITA to get "clean". 9 of 10 times I end up making tedious sections by capturing the view in a CAD detail for line-by-line edits. Is that what most people are doing, or are you guys spending tons of time trying to get the dynamic section to be clean enough to work?

Chief recently gave us the ability to refine the display order of objects - however, most apps i use also use that as the "selection" order. In Chief that doesn't seem to be the case, which im not a fan of at all. Anyone else agree? Id like to suggest they change this.

That worked pretty good - thanks.

Yeah that might work - will give that a try - thanks.

Eric nailed it.

Its actually the visual issue for my framing plans - which i attached. I want a single line for the header like normal beams to show in the framing set. Yeah, the headers themselves in 3d space aren't as much the issue.

I'm desperate to find a quick way to draw in door/window headers. Can someone tell me the problem if I use the floor beam and simply relocate the Z so its in the same general location as the head is supposed to? Is that going to cause issue?

Is there a location where you can easily re-use symbols that have been imported into a project/file already?

^^^^^^^ what Rene said here is the key. There are 3rd party apps that quickly reduce poly counts to something more manageable by Chief.

Helpful thread - thanks everyone. What I wish we could do is set all arcs drawn in Chief to lock to center by default. Is that possible?

Its hard to fully tell based upon the pic, but i dont think those are Quoins. What I would do is set brick wall to a thickness that is appropriate to the outside of the main layer of brick, and then come back and place wall material regions that "cut" the surface layer - and use the settings to make the recess correct. You will need to align the material regions around the corner correctly since we dont yet have ability to wrap - but it should work.

This discussion on roof calc is something i could use greatly as well. I hope Chief lets you guys use that data in the future.

This issue of library items is a tough one due to how many styles there are to cover, and I think Chief does a comparatively good job with content included with SSA. Sure, I think the content styles could be updated a little. Most modeling apps you need to find collections and download or make your own library. Do some searches and you can join sites that sell specific resources certain design styles...

Nice vid Michael!

Clean work Kevin! Nice.

Thanks guys!

I think they are "on" and I have it set to show in all modes. Here is the file in case that helps. I dont know why the file size is so large for a simple bathroom. bathroom_design.zip

Im working on an interior ray trace trying to add lights in the scene (not fixture lighting - just lights). I can't seem to add lights that make any difference whatsoever. I've set the lighting as high as I can get it just to see what happens and nothing... I've verified the layer is on in my perspective view. Does anyone know how to active the lights?

Does anyone know how to force Chief to do the auto-visual union of polysolids in the same plane (and same fill type)? It works in some instances and not in others.

Yeah when I am at the office on Monday I will forward to you. I dont charge extra for the files...

I think considering the "BIM" nature of where this industry is headed, its going to become more common place. I've developed a quick agreement I have clients sign before I give them a file. I sign these all the time from my civil guys when I ask for files, so I think its becoming part of the process. I've also handed files to builders as well, who are looking to mess with interior/exterior colors and staging furniture with an interior designer. They've all so far respected my contract so i've not had issues. Sometimes I lock certain layers. Initially I had trepidation with this idea of letting my files go, but my practical experience tells me I was worried more than I actually should have been. I guess it largely depends on your client as well.

Honestly, the issue is more to do with thinking Chief's out of the box auto-interior dimension is going to get you nice clean dimension lines. I personally don't use that auto-dimension stuff except for exterior and even then I come back and clean it up. Changing settings of some of that will help, but its not going to solve the problem. I believe you are using the wrong tool.

You mean what you are getting in PDF is different than whats on your screen in this regard? You should be seeing about the same thing as whats printed, and in which case you can simply move the dimension value's manually. What you show looks like cluttered mess. Consider reviewing videos in Chief about dimension settings etc.

I agree, we really need links for this stuff. JP

Why would you even do that inside Chief? Chief has some nice tools for residential that outweigh some of its serious issues, but a for a commercial project I view Chief a liability for several reasons. I still use Vectorworks for my commercial projects.