johnny

Typically for semi-spec grade custom homes I use fiberboard for the box, and then MDF stock for panels - using the home's baseboard (if it matches the height I want on column) and crown. Sometimes there is a post in the center, sometimes not - and so I use a 2x cleat attached to the post or floor/ceiling (or faux beam). For more custom homes i will use a greater build-up and use Birdseye maple ply for the box (painted) - and if the column is to be a stained wood I spec the cabinet maker to provide....but I typically never count on it to be structural at all apart from a post or wall in the center. The reason I was going away from the solids is after watching a vid on cabinets being used for wainscoting. I was also thinking I could make some nice custom panels for more complex columns.

I would love to use cabinets for my columns, especially those with a recessed panel design. However, I can't get the corners to be "sharp" (there is a small relief on the edges) unless I use a slab style door - but then I lose the panel options. Is there a way to eliminate the edge relief like I can with the slab setting? column.plan

Actually, that stuff you are talking about is in there - I downloaded and confirmed. You had me curious.

There is a "Landscaping Accents" in the dowload library but not sure if it has something like this. It does say "garden statues".

OK, thanks - I see now that I can assign page information inside layout and then extract that out through the macros.

Is there a way to customize the prefix label for the page schedule to work in conjunction with sheet numbering?

I agree Glenn - we should have that option for line styles. You are correct, that was my issue though.

The only thing I am wondering about the way Dave did it is that the size of the opening shouldn't be the same in plan view. The pitch/angle should be skewing the opening size on a top down view....right? wrong? If I am right then the size of the modeling symbol shouldn't be covering the entire opening. Perhaps it doesn't matter, but I thought I would mention this.

Yeah no problem - but Scott and Glenn really deserve the the credit for showing me how to resolve these glitches.

I've learned to not fight CA and just try and move past issues like this - Scott showed me many times that just manually editing these areas can be the fastest and best way to deal with them. ...and yes, I feel your pain on these types of issues.

I was curious about custom lines and control of the appearances. How do you control the size of the text etc?

I never tried creating a custom line before - thinking in part this was already fixed in the program (styles). That really is cool too.

Thanks Joe!

Time = money is a true statement, but i've found it to be true in every sense. You will get paid more the more you know, and the more you do. I took the entire course by Lynda on Unreal, and I am convinced this is the way of the future for architecture. What Unreal has that Lumion doesn't is the ability to have a video-game-like charter move and interact with the environment. You could send a client the file of their home, and they can walk around freely in it (full rendered), open doors, turn on sinks/showers/tubs, turn lights on and off, and even jump in their cars to make sure they can easily drive in and out of the garage just fine. Easy to use, pre-packaged scripts exist for everything I said above - but I can see where there is a fairly big learning curve on implementing this. I've decided to learn Unreal and dump Lumion, although I am still not clear on how Unreal will get paid. At this point it looks completely free, but that seems too good to be true (and you know the saying about that).

Here is something that might be useful... http://www.lynda.com/Unreal-Engine-tutorials/Unreal-Engine-Architectural-Visualization/370011-2.html

This looks impressive, but its actually not that hard to do. I downloaded a free version of Unreal and was shocked how easy it was - very similar to Lumion, but with more options. This is going to give me some pause next time I have to upgrade Lumion. The only real issue I am seeing with Unreal is the product licensing. They provide the app for free, but they want a piece of the "royalty". Im curious how this works for architectural.

Great vid Michael! I really need to get my brain working this way as far as solutions. I have to say though that Chief should give the Premier customers a pro feature that allows us to work on any 3D plane/axis we want "on the fly" in 90 degree segments. I've run into this issue even in 2D top plan mode working on non-standard angles. Until then good way around this.

That simply isn't true when it comes to print media. Other media types it may not be as important, but in print media (which is what this is), its very important. Whatever printer is printing this banner will have a dpi number that it can print to - a physical size and number of dots provided per inch. Yes, you can blow up the size of the image and scale down, but more accurately you can set the size and dpi for print. http://www.vsellis.com/understanding-dpi-resolution-and-print-vs-web-images/

Believe it or not "right up close" is relative compared with print media. You can walk right up to the banner, but the quality doesn't need to be the same as a brochure etc. In fact, even the material that larger media like this is printed on can only display so much quality. You can set the custom DPI in the raytrace settings. However, you could also just set the size of the pixels larger to accomplish the same thing.

I've had experiences where clients use a "web designer" that basically self-taught themselves to use the basic features of a program that created the website. I put them in the same category as the "1-hour" design guy advertising on this forum.

Id ask the person printing the banner, but the reality of the situation is different than magazine quality printing in that a banner doesn't need to be viewed close. Large billboard printing is often very low resolution since the audience if so far away. If you provided them a 2500 pixel (wide) x proportional x 300 dpi you should be more than adequate. They will increase the size and it will seem pixelated (somewhat) close up but look fine at natural viewing distance.

If a web designer doesn't know how to optimize an image for the web then they are a fake web-designer and you should tell your client to use someone else. The largest common size of a 2k monitor is 2048 × 1536. So giving them a 100dpi (72 would be enough actually but rounding up) at 2048 × 1536 should be sufficient for anything. 4k monitors can have higher resolution but its ultra-rare to try and design for people with that resolution.

Its always hard to judge a user's needs without seeing examples of work they are trying to duplicate. From some of the very-professional lighting renders i've seen, it will take an additional program to render final presentation quality design product. There is only 1 software I know of that packages professional light and render abilities into a single package, but I can also tell you from experience using that product that you'll spend MUCH MUCH longer learning to use the application to get where you need to. Even once you learn it, it will then take longer to produce design product - but the result will be better than Chief (but that is due to the fact it was designed for lighting etc). Just reading your posts and having experience in both Chief Architect and the other application - Chief Architect will be your best bet. However, you may need to add a 3rd party rendering package to your process down the line - depending on the level of "final" product you need.

Nice job Dennis...good option for interior shots.

Part of the issue is that nothing modeled in Chief is contained on anything but a floor. Unlike other apps, layers in Chief are simply view styles/options for the current layer. With reference layers you can get 2 floors with varying layer display options to work, but no more than that. This is probably nothing new to people reading, but what I personally dont like is the suggestion for a multiple reference set ability. Chief should bite the bullet, and redesign their layer and floor system so that layers can exist on their own "z" coordinate and have any combination of layer display options. Objects/model should exist inside their respective layer, and have a "view options" take over much of what Annosets do currently. That is my 2-cents.