johnny

This is very true. I find myself often wishing one package had a feature the other has and vice-versa. It would be fun to pick and choose what features you liked from each to make your own....lol

Fully agree. Chief actually doesn't do modern homes well IMO.

Thanks! I do use Chief as well right now, but I am transitioning away from it. My team will be on Chief for the next year or so until we're finally moved over - but we'll still keep a couple copies for accessing older files etc. Chief is great for many people, but their speed of development was becoming a serious concern for us.

Are you sure they print "corrupted"? I've seen elevation and section glitches before but when I made the PDF it didn't translate to that document so I didn't really care.

In fact, here is a project I am working on right now where i used Vectorworks and Concepts with the Wacom to create some conceptual elevations. lot_54_concepts.pdf

I use a 27" Wacom Cintiq for both drawing, sketching, modeling, and a second monitor. I've come to like a top/bottom config for 2 monitor setup better than side-to-side....especially since i can start drawing on the lower monitor anytime I want. I don't use Chief a lot with the Wacom, but I have. However, I LOVE using it with Vectorworks and other drawing apps like Concepts. I use it a LOT and found it helps to have an architectural drafting height table.

Large Northwest Home Builder looking for an interior designer working in Chief. Looking for someone beyond just a "color and material picker" someone that can work with our existing suppliers and developed tier options with design collections....and then take our existing models to show selection options. Please PM me with resume/portfolio.

lol...well, just remember in X13 Chief gave us a way to make quick copies of texture files so we can have 4+ version of the same texture type in different directions....because that is a smart way to handle this sort of thing. When I design a custom timber truss (visual) its wonderful having this problem only to learn you have to adjust its size again and start over. (yes, i am salty)

Respectfully, that is a very incomplete question.

What version of Chief are you using? I do this all day long and I have to say the DWG export in Chief is pretty good. If you can post the file here and I'll try and import into Autocad.

Out of curiosity how is that any different than Chief Architect?

Edit - I guess reading your post again you're actually looking for something like Dropbox or Onedrive. There isn't collaboration tools in Chief like other apps.

My team services a multi-state large home builder in the Northwest. We have drafters, architects, and engineers. We'd like to hire a part or full time drafter who has a strong background in knowing how US homes are built. We aren't primarily looking for pretty pictures...we are looking for ConDocs working with our engineers. We work completely in the cloud and have a refined communication system. We do have physical offices (though most people are able to work from home due to COVID), but in this case we don't need you to live close to any of our offices - we can teach you our process through MS Teams or Zoom and you can work from any location. To special individuals who are seeking an internship with architectural licensing options in the future, we do offer NCARB Intern Development Program (IDP). Initially we want to hire as a subcontractor, but over time if things work we can offer direct employment with benefits. If interested, please PM me through ChiefTalk and include your email and i'll respond that way. I'll give you far more details through that secondary communication.

I find it a bit odd they seem to skip 2018 in this list. Downloading older versions | SketchUp Help Download All | SketchUp

That is interesting...i've tried several models into Sketchup with collada and the textures come in just fine....so just FYI maybe there is some subtle issue - but if the whole system works for you then I guess it works.

I'm curious why you're trying to get to an FBX file in your process? You can export from Chief to Collada (as you do now) and then import that right into Sketchup and its a pretty clean file without the 3DS issues. I do wish Chief exported FBX directly for other reasons, but unless you plan to use the file in Unreal Engine or other gaming software I don't see the point of adding that step....but i'd love to hear your reason. Perhaps there is some other advantage I'm not aware of. Another thing i'm trying is using Vray with Blender which I find is WAY WAY better to organically shape terrains. Not only that but Blender is free and very robust.

Do a search on PBR inside Chief....if you're talking actual photo grade where you can't tell the difference of a real photo vs rendering you will need to supplement with 3rd party software. Lumion or Twinmotion Ultra real = VRay

Nice work Yusuf. I'll always admit that Chief is a good tool to make pretty pictures - and I'm sure with tons of 2D work on the plan side it can work for ConDocs. What I will say is having used other apps for commercial work where the BIM model is also of a quality where you can cut sections and details that are representative of the actual assembly method, the idea of drafting 2D details in Chief sounds arduous....let alone the lag issues with such a file. I've completed some conceptual work for Commercial projects in Chief and it wasn't fun (compared with apps designed for commercial).

You used Chief for a large government building?...and "they" have their own copy of Chief to mess with the file? That alone is interesting.

I think the OP is talking about getting points snapped back into other points to delete extra point/nodes. If he just hits the new "simplify polyline" on the secondary toolbar (sometimes docked on the bottom of the Chief UI) shown in my pic it might help you. The tool is designed so you can get close enough and it will delete those "close" extra point/nodes. ...but yes, Chief has hordes of snapping problems.

So is my firm.

My firm runs 100% on the cloud - 16 team members including 3rd party engineers - and its the best thing we've done. You can easily slave a local drive location so files you're currently using are accessed from your own HD but it uploads back to the cloud as you work - with no interruption. If i wasn't working with a team I'm not sure the advantages of working on the cloud other than an auto-versioning and backup (which is nice).

I feel for you - I don't have one for CA but I can tell you i've put more time in certain projects on the site/storm plan than the actual house plan. Where I am its nuts too.

That is a good point..and if I was in my 60's looking at retirement soon it probably wouldn't make sense. I'm in my low 40's so i have some time to go...lol

Hi Glenn - Let me make a video to explain - i will post. JP