johnny

I dont know how practical this info is, but as an FYI I did receive a comment back from Chief on a suggestion to upgrade shape modeling and was told this aspect was a focus for improvement by the Dev team. However, when that ends up being reality I have no idea.

What sometimes frustrates me even more is when i've drawn a shape or poly solid in a certain view and then come back at a later date for a revision.... having to find the editable view all over again is beyond ridiculous and a waste of time.

This is an interesting thread. Anytime i have two windows in the same location I get odd glitches in the wall - sometimes on the interior and sometimes on the exterior. You guys dont get that? This is actually an issue I run into often and end up just having to place a note on the floor plan that doesn't show the window. Perhaps an option to see a window on different floors should be a suggestion?

You could always just draw a molding poly (or 3d molding poly) and use a gutter profile. However, I can't fully visualize in my head what you are wanting to do. Do you have a pic?

I've had these artifact lines before and ended up just moving the walls around and back to the original spot and 80-90% of them are removed. However, I do get 10-20% which I can't remove and its beyond frustrating.

As Brown said it may be a better strategy to create the shell of the porch at least in CA and then supplement with imported objects you want to use (made in Sketchup or Chief). There are some advantages to building the shell in CA when it later comes to making CDs you can't get easily from a symbol.

Chief is the worst 3d app, hands down, (Trump Quip™) when it comes to generic shape modeling i've ever used. Next time you think about modeling shapes in Chief just go to your dentist for a root canal instead and I promise you'll feel more satisfied. In all their infinite wisdom the Dev team thought people would only want to rotate a shape in the view it was created. There are great limitations on what view you draw/edit shapes in Chief.

Chief has an iOS app called Room Planner, and there is a "viewer" you can get to look at models made in X8.

I would call it a hipped lean-to roof. Mansard roofs are basicly "hip" versions of a gambrel roof. A gambrel roof has a gable end vs a mansard which connects on the edges similar to a hip roof. Both those styles require multiple pitches in their run.

I think what is really odd is that if you keep the windows separate the reflect control works fine. Although, Sherry's issue may still be a problem.

Here is a pic of the mulled window, and then the center line (blue highlighted yellow) i used to copy/reflect (in 1 operation) and the reflect doesn't simply reflect but flips as well. If I dont have them mulled and simply select both and do the same operation it works fine. The issue is I think this is a bug unless for some odd reason CA wanted it this way. Though I can't think why.

I think there is a bug, but would like to verify before I submit. When in X8 (not sure earlier versions) and I mull a window unit, but then copy/reflect it to another area the windows dont flip as they should. Having 2 individual windows works as expected, so the occurrence is only when the window is mulled.

Here you go - https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00166/creating-a-custom-molding-profile.html The principle between making a custom interior finish molding is the exact same as the method to make this external cladding detail.

I've done a couple small commercial projects in Chief, but I have to say the largest disadvantage CA has for this type of work is the lack of instancing. Commercial projects typically have many more repetitive elements than residential. If you have the same element on multiple floors and you need to modify all those instances separately - that could take a substantial amount of time each time you make an adjustment. For most other apps you can edit 1 item to change all the "child" groups automatically.

Thanks guys - and special thanks to Glenn for the video. That got me a lot closer.

I have builder clients who often want to flip a home previously designed for a different lot. Flipping the plans isn't a problem, but what is a problem is the notes etc on the elevations/sections. Is there any solution for this?

You may be able to create a symbol of the side windows by modeling them in a more manageable (for CA) position and then rotating 90 deg once they are made.

Here is a good example. I have a stair "system" I want to reuse in other plans, and I copied first into a blank plan (as you mentioned) and then into a new plan I was working on. Id call this a fail. Getting in there and cleaning this up is nearly the effort to rebuild.

Ill put some pictures/examples together and let you guys see what I am talking about. I've tried to isolate the composite in a new file, and that does "help" - but then to take the next step and keep everything in place while I precisely locate the group in an existing file just doesn't work well.

I'm growing more and more frustrated with Chief and the inability to adequately re-use resources between plan files, which contain multiple types of objects. I realize you can block certain objects, but so often I have a composite group which may include walls or other "non-blockable" items in Chief. Further, those items dont even copy and paste well without a massive amount of duplication of efforts on properly reconnecting everything so it works - which can often take longer than simply remaking or reassembling the entire group. Common composite modeling resources Id like to reuse with ease are: - Stairs, with shaped knee walls, solids, etc - Fireplace surrounds that include wall elements. - Box windows with paneling - Window configurations with polysolids - Bookshelves that include wall build-outs. -and more Has anyone found a way around this or is it a complete fail on Chief's part?

This is one of my most hated elements of Chief - these sorts of "artifact" left-overs. I know we can tinker with the models to eliminate some of these lines, but I spend WAY too much time messing with it. Honestly, this issue may eventually make me leave using Chief it annoys me that much.

You don't need Chief to render. There are free apps that do a better job even....you simply send your exported file to the render machine.

You might want to post an example section. I just went through and opened some sections and didn't find them particularly slow. Chief has always been slower to me than other apps, but if I keep my files simple (no furniture etc) its reasonably quick.

This is what I do and it works fairly well for 2D. What I really miss in Sketchup (and other apps have versions of this as well) is 3D guidelines....which we have nothing in Chief I now know that can even simulate this ability.

I do this more often then not, but I hate it....live sections are much better if changes are made down the line, but I find CAD details a lot easier to directly control the visual presentation. I dont know if you use point-to-point dimensions or not but I use them OFTEN. I dont like messing with it and will just manually enter what I want and move on.