johnny

Honestly, if you mostly do residential Chief is your best bet - no matter what issues you are having with the rendering.  I own Archicad (an older version), Vectorworks (new), and Chief.  Even though Chief can be frustrating at times, and has limitations for basic modeling, i've yet to find something that comes close to its "tool-sets".  I wish badly that Vectorworks could do more of what Chief does for residential....and I wish Chief would do more what Vectorworks/Archicad does in general modeling and BIM data/docs....not to mention concept work.

In the end I find that Chief edges out the others for what I do most, but I also end up using Vectorworks for lots of concept and small modeling - so you will need another 3D app (Sketchup works too).  My draftsmen don't like Chief due to the fact they haven't mastered its LARGE learning curve.  Clients though LOVE the presentations I create on Chief though.

Its a mixed bag, but if you do a lot of large-scale Commercial then Chief isn't the best solution.

If you make one board (vertical) and convert that to a symbol, you can then place that Symbol and rotate it in any direction using the symbol dbx.  Put 2 of those together to form the "A-Frame" and convert that to a Symbol.

 

Note.  If you carefully create the first board (including a face) you can assign a material to the face so that you have an advertisement.  Building symbols this way out of primitives and other symbols is important because you have much more control of materials and orientation.

In Vectorworks I can set a "Working Plane" to match any angle/plane I want on the fly (or even save those plane views) to then place graphics or text (or anything else, including continuing modeling from that plane) in a snap.    Here is a quick example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXtZ6mUN5DM

Im not trying to sell people on Vectorworks, but just trying to show how behind CA is in these types of tools IMO.

Here is a video of how fast this is in Vectorworks...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGCkzr7oiQE

This topic is a good example of why Chief needs updated tool-sets to do basic shape 3D work.

Is it the bay window?  I saw (i think Bill?) do a great video on bay window roofs a while back.  Chief doesn't auto them well since the pitches have to be slightly diff., and you need to add a ridge.  

I will try to find it.

They are correct this is a low res - but you can up-res if you really needed.   Here is a mod for texture...

(added)

I did a basic up-res for this...let me know if this works.

Here in Arizona, my plans go in on 8.5x11 paper. Code enforcement is happy they are not in crayon.

 

No Architect stamps, no seismic issues, no engineering unless there is something way out of the ordinary. 

 

Guess I have it easy.

Really???....  you submit a plan set on letter size paper?  At what scale?  That is amazing to me.

Being able to create working drawings really has nothing to do with "ability" to design your own home/remodel.  The value created in the difference of having a professional (architect or VERY good designer) influence the design, in combination with your goals, pays off greatly in livability and when you go to sell your home. 

Id highly encourage you to NOT simply look for someone that can mechanically create drawings for you, but rather someone to take what you have in mind for a remodel and blend with your existing structure.  Start with that point, and then move to "working drawings" - which may require an engineer.   

All the best.

there is a $95 fee if you let your SSA expire

 

Lew

If upgrades are your only reason to buy SSA (as it is with me now), then however many months past my expiration a new version comes out - compared with my cost per month of SSA - determines if I worry about this fee in relation to keeping "current". 

Ive used both in the past and found the iMacs (top config versions) to be wholly sufficient.  The small increase in performance the Mac Pro gave me didn't seem worthwhile for a 3x price diff.  I do think there are some software apps which make the dual GPU more appreciated, and its highly dependent on the type of jobs you do.  

If you are doing full city blocks or mammoth commercial projects I do think the performance increase by % terms could add up to be worthwhile spending the extra money.   If you are doing single family homes I just dont see a compelling reason to need more than a top end iMac.  In fact, I found the mobility of the iMac very helpful when meeting with clients....as I would bring the whole system with me for presentations.

http://casecruzer.com/apple-imac27/index.html

Now-a-days I use a Lenovo 27" tablet for my presentations with touchscreen (i7 and NVidia card).  Whereas I like the touchscreen of the Lenovo, and the fact it has a battery so if I am at Starbucks or something I dont need to plug-in, I greatly preferred the iMac performance.  

Johnny:

 

for many years the HD product line was sold under the Better Homes and Gardens label

 

then around X1 or X2, CA parted ways and re-labled the HD line as Chief Architect also

 

so someone surfing the internet could easily confuse the HD product line for Chief Premiere

and wonder why someone would recommend it for Professionals

 

Lew

This is exactly correct.  I wonder why the folks at CA don't realize their own brand management issue?  Chief Architect is a great product name, but when they used it for their company name as well - and produced many DIY products and stuck the CA name/logo on it - so there is little understood distinction between the products.

The main reason I overlooked CA for YEARS was the fact I thought this app was the Home-Garden version designed for DIY groups.  I couldn't identify CA brand as a professional one, and the clearly antiquated UI only helped reinforce my pre-conceptions.  CA suffers from an identify crisis (branding management) with professionals.  The best thing CA could do for itself is to re-brand the pro-version app - almost a re-launch to professionals.   ...but yeah, if they want to keep small and unknown and let us benefit from its functionality in residential design....great for us.  The VERY first time I considered CA was when I ran into one of Scotts videos on youtube when i was looking for Sketchup help.  It was on a fairly complex subject, and I was shocked CA was in that league.  However, it took me some time to dispel myself of the pre-conception i had of this product.

To those who compare Revit and other apps to CA - yes, CA is the best overall product for residential.  BUT, if you specialize in commercial its a whole different ball-game. Just because CA has better functionality for residential design doesn't mean CA should stay in the early 90's for its GUI.

I haven't been able to find the viewer app for this.

They call it their "free" version - which does about the same as the CA viewer.  http://lumion3d.com/free/

No, the viewer doesn't save in other file formats. I've been having a little success with exporting a Chief model in Collada format, and using this viewer: http://glc-player.net/index.php  Pretty straightforward, but the navigation tools aren't the most intuitive for a client.

Lumion has a free viewer too, and its the best solution i've found when sending over 3D concepts to a client.  That said, i don't often send 3d files...mostly 2D prints of a 3D model.

If you pre-setup a scene you can actually import new home models into this app quickly and then export into all sorts of file types -http://lumion3d.com/

Does the viewer have a "save-as" feature? 

I think you are looking for "point to point" move tool....but I see you just uploaded a vid so I will look and make sure.

After seeing your vid, I would suggest you look at the copy (array) tool and see the "sub" options.  Other than that, I would copy in place and then point to point move.   It may be just as simple to create a new marker in those locations.  Since those markers are "objects" (unlike in generic CAD) the simplicity of making new ones in the location(s) you want may be just as effective IMO.....especially since the text will presumably change in each one.

Lew, is this what your talking about? very short video

http://screencast.com/t/AkxvfGx7cp

That is exactly what I would like to see incorporated!

Most the time I am "messing" with values to get it right, and having to go back and forth into a dialog box, and then a tab or two, each time is really a hassle when you dont know exactly the right value to start.

So you know, many of my apps like Vectorworks which has this feature I move my "info" box over to my other monitor and it works very well.

instead the whole dbx could be a constant open window on the side like the library browser

 

and all the "workarounds" would still be "workarounds"

 

you can add "pretty little flowers" and "new car smells" and they would still be there

 

I agree - modeless would be wonderful

I liked it when programming VB6 and VB.net etc a decade ago

 

Lew

I agree, this would be great.

Maybe Johnny should wait until X7 comes out before commenting.

Dougs comments and the sneak previews seem to confirm x7 won't be modeless.  The features added to x7 look great, but anyone can clearly see they are staying with the dialog box/data entry approach.

 If I worked for Chief and I read this post, it'd make me feel like I wasn't doing a good job. 

I certainly didn't mean to offend the guys at CA - I do think for a single practitioner of residential design/architecture CA stands above the competition.  My point is that with sneak previews of x7 coming out I am a bit disappointed that more hasn't been done to get away from all the dialog boxes for nearly every operation.  I know from experience that is a productivity drain.

Can someone explain it better? For instance, Is Autocad considered modeless?

I believe the majority of current Autodesk products are modeless.  Id say most high end apps are "modeless".

Keep in mind, there are certain aspects in almost any app which would be considered Modal (settings/printing etc) but we are talking about the main workflow. 

Wow, statements like this from you as the developer makes me fear for the future.

Just an FYI - 

Modal interface, such as CA now, means the app enters a mode where its only "thinking" and operating on a specific subject/state until the user makes another input leaving that mode.

A "modeless" based system just means the app doesn't have to "enter" a state to consider a specific operation from the user (might not be the best explanation).

I don't want people to think I am campaigning for a visual overhaul of CA just to look cool - the concept of a new GUI is based first and foremost on speeding up processes - less dialog boxes, clicks, and manual input.  I also thing some of the quirkiness can be dealt with in the GUI redesign as well.  I personally think its "quirky" to use a design element called "slabs" for fascia....so on and so forth.  All this should be cleaned up so we are using generically labeled tools that accomplish the same things, but are easier to train people on.  CA is not easy to learn right now since its anti-intuitive.

I think looking cool and "clean" can be a bi-product of efficient design with slight effort in that regard.  

I wonder about some of the analogies. Remember the buggy whip? Well cars got rid of buggies and the whip didn't evolve fast enough...

 

Chief occupies a very unique niche market within the architectural and design world. Are they really risking going away because their GUI is outdated? It's irritating and old fashioned but I don't think they are at risk of disappearing like the above companies did?

 

Who is their real competition? It's not really ACAD, or Revit or Archicad. SoftPlan for sure but their price point ensures survival until another player comes along - into a very crowded marketplace. Wouldn't mind that myself but don't really see it.

If any of the market leaders turn their attention to residential tools (which they have been focusing mainly on commercial), I really could see a near end to CA as we know it now  - IF CA doesn't adapt before that.  Id say the same about Softplan.  There may always be faithful loyal CA users, but I also say there is a fairly good sized group of users who almost begrudgingly use this app since it is currently the best at what it does.  If I was CA id be getting out in "front" of that group to keep their attention only on CA.

Thanks Johnny for bringing this up, and in a very professional way.  Very good insight with experience in competing software.  My vote is to put Johnny on the Alpha team.  We would all benefit.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.  As a side point, I led a team of 4 GUI designers in 2002 (as a side project to my architectural business - long story how that happened but its related to the fact I designed some of the top execs homes) to redesign archaic software that existed in the pharmaceutical world.  Ominicell was a publicly traded company that controlled a large portion of the market, and we took their first system and re-designed the entire process.  Here is a link to the software, and them showing the extreme difference in how the software looked in a dos window verses what we created:

http://www.omnicell.com/Products/Central_Pharmacy_Automation/OmniLinkRx_Medication_Order_Management_System.aspx

(FYI - we actually created that graphic for them before the app even ran so they could pre-market - on the left is what the app looked like before we remade it)

Omnicell went on to change all their software to match our efficient and new GUI, and other companies in the business even licensed the visual and currently 10+ products use a version of what we did for them.  The new GUI was the principle cause for massive market-share grabs from other competing companies - since clients saved money with less "data entry" times (they note "St. Vincent Healthcare achieved at least a 57% reduction in order entry time.").

Efficiency is very important.