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On 4/21/2023 at 3:38 PM, Barton_Brown said:

Don't disagree with you here. That is why I focused on the fastest RAM+M.2 NVME I could get. 

I will disagree slightly on 'the other crap'. Water cooling, in my situation, has been very helpful (non-AC house in the tropics). I have had both air and water cooled solutions and won't go back to air-only. I did a slight upgrade on the case, not to see the lights, but to get an aluminum anodized solution that would not rust out as some previous cases have.

I would not want to work in the tropics for the reasons your explaining.  I made the mistake of taking my work laptop to Hawaii once, never thinking about those nice cool trade windows blowing into our ocean front condo.  My laptop died after about 3 days!.  Local repair shop smirked and said he see's this all the time.  So water cool everything sounds smart when you live in paradise.

I want to rant a bit here, so forgive me.

But every f**king time I watch one of those youtube influencers on computers, I go down this time consuming black hole of bright and shiny bigger, better and faster tech slides.

All I really want to know at any one point in time is 'what is the best CA rig I could afford to buy' and why.

All the other crazy information out there is really geared towards gamers, who don't really care about RT, that they call 'eye-candy', where as we do.  We don't care about FPS until we are doing a PBR walk-thru.

We now should care less about the CPU and more about the communication pathways between the CPU+GPU+RAM+M.2 NVME and the MB pathways.

I may be wrong but I think that is what the coders at CA are looking at also.

It is way to easy to overspend on crap we really don't need, like water cooling, or pretty cases with side panels to show off all the RGB lights inside.

Rant done...

It is a little frustrating to read threads like these and see a bunch of comments which focus on parts and pieces instead of systems.

The best advice from a cost perspective is get a good graphics card and us PBR instead of CPU RT.

All the threads and cores of the 13900 series of CPU's are costly overkill for 99% of what we do. Not worth the money in a custom build.

Right now, for CA users, it seems like the money is better spend on a high end graphics card.  Barton, another good test is to launch task manager and just look at what the CPU is doing between the i7 cheap CPU and the i9 overpriced CPU.  Is all that money worth the extra 2 minutes you save? On island time?

Like most people here, I've ditched the measuring tape for a Laser measuring device several years ago.  I even tried the bluetooth link to CA for a bit, but it was still too buggy for my limited skill set.  Now with the advent of advanced Laser Measuring devices that can generate point cloud data, I'm real curious if many, or anybody here has gone down this road and what their experience has been in the conversion process?

As I age, and during Covid, I'm less and less inclined to measure up my clients homes, so I'm always looking for a faster, and accurate solution that is still affordable.

The technology is improving pretty fast with companies like NavVis and, I don't want to get left behind.  So where are we at with Chief Architect and the point cloud conversions?

I suspect that most of the conversions will soon be automated with the advances in AI, which might also complete the design for us!

This is an older thread, but I've resisted Windows 11 until now.  I'm planning to install it on a separate SSD just to be safe, but I'm wondering if all the issues have now been worked out with the Nvida RTX30 series cards?

On 3/27/2023 at 1:35 AM, Rich_Winsor said:

If you're a glutton for punishment you can accomplish

a lot with material regions. For example I made all of

the seams in the front of this local auditorium using

material regions set to cut the finish layers.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow. That is a fantastic job of using that tedious tool Rich.  Beautiful front facade.  Way to think way outside the box.

But it would be nice for those of us sitting on the fence with using a space mouse if we could see a perspective where and expert is manipulating a model, using custom keys and show the screen at the same time as the hand motion.  Similar to this well done video: 3D Mouse Review

Is there any chance one of you experienced users could post a video of how you use this fancy 3d mouse thingy?

I'm ready to pull the trigger, but I'm uncertain about how it would work with the opposite hand as the mouse.

It would be nice to see how you use it with CA, especially with custom buttons.  I've seen Rene's video's where

he uses one, but his are very custom and a bit confusing unless you can stand near and watch the hands and the screen.

2 hours ago, wazzubrad said:

Hey John, for Braced Wall/Shear I use a website called Braceline. Its very similar to the APA Shear Calc site or the Simpson Calc, but in my opinion is very easy to use. It's $40 per month, has a few YouTube videos to train you up. I think there is also a 30 day trial. For everything else (tall walls, etc), it goes to my Engineer.

Thank you.  That is what I was looking for.

I do understand the liability issue, but I'm not concerned in this case. Plus I can over design it.

Do any of you guys do your own structural engineering?

If so, what programs do you recommend?

I learned to do it by hand over 40 years ago, but have always relied on professional structural engineers to do my lateral shear loads.

I'm in a bind with one client that cannot way the months it will take to get it engineered.

I remember seeing some kind of program online that was simpler looking than the 'Wood Works" program my engineer likes to use.

Anybody know how to draw this using the 3d polyline solid?  I'm drawing a blank.  CA, just draws them as straight segments.

I know there is an easy way to do this but I've been staring at my screen for over an hour trying things that don't work.

Thank you Rob.  I wish it only took me 2 min.!   Can you tell me  how you did this?

Any clever people here have a suggestion on how I might go about creating a DryAway Cabinet?

I've got a client that wants one and I'm stumped on how to show it in CA.

Beautiful Design Justin,

Plus that curved wall with the cap turned out about as good as you could actually build it.  The brick cap is quite the achievement, as well as the textures,  But this was not rendered in CA right?

8 hours ago, scottharris said:

If you are going to IBS/KBIS, be sure to stop by our booth.  We have several presentations, a User Breakfast Wed AM, and Training following the show.  Here's the schedule.

That was my next question, as I did not see CA in the list of vendors.

Now it might be worth going. 

Very clever. Thanks Adam.  I had been using landings to do the same thing, now there is another way.

I'm just curious how many Chief users are going to this show?

On 11/2/2022 at 10:25 AM, Adrean said:

Thank you @SusanC it was a long project and I lot of work, but I think it is a great resource and improvement!

 

I'm glad to have been invited to contribute and to represent Chief Architect!

Well that explains why the CA program has been getting really good with Kitchen and bath items.  And why people like Rene Rabbit will use Cabinets to make everything under the sun. :-)

2 hours ago, DougDM said:

Version X14... I know there is a way just can't recall.  How to adjust text height?

 

Thanks

I'm constantly having that same problem of recall.  I think our brains are just full.

But this is a great plug for the SSA membership I pay for every year.  I will make at least 4 calls each week to CA support to help me remember what I've forgotten.

Makes it well worth the price as it keeps me from wasting an hour or more of my time trying to find the answer.

On 12/20/2022 at 8:42 PM, DeLayDesign said:

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Because I have two 27" monitors or because my signature is obnoxiously huge and I don't know it? ha ha!

Either way, UPGRADE

I haven't tried painting them another color, but I suppose I could try that.  I still want the plants to look like plants, just not washing out like they look sometimes with sun properties.

Adam,

You should check out Rene' Rabbit's youtube video's on that subject of AO and lighting. It is not very intuitive unless you've cut your teeth on that stuff.  He's been able to make his PB'rs sing before he exports them to Twin Motion.  You'll find it very helpful.

On 9/29/2022 at 10:57 AM, DBCooper said:

Place the recessed light inside the house and then just drag it under the roof soffit.  If the height is wrong, adjust the height.  If it's sloped and you don't want it sloped, then turn off the "flush mounted" option.

 

 

One big reason I love reading these questions and answers,  I've been dogged by those damn sloped recessed lights for years, and I never knew there was a way to turn off that follow the roof slope feature!!!  As usual, I don't want to know how long that has been in CA.  But big thank you for your explanation DB.

Too often in these porch situations, if it is not a defined room, those darn lights wanted to follow the roof. Now I know why!

This picture also shows off Rene's creative use of cabinets for casement windows..  If I was Rene, I'm sure I would find a way to put a light in a cabinet and insert it above the porch. :-)

22 hours ago, JacobB said:

 There are two queries in the OP.

 

The "Custom" option only lets you change the number of panels, not their size. Clicking the help button while on that panel and you'll see the following: "Select Custom, then specify the number of panels on the Left and/or Right door components. Only available for sliding, pocket, and bifold doors." [Bold italics added]

 

There is currently no built in way to specify the panel sizes for double doors, but there are several work-arounds I've seen on this forum. The simplest work-around is probably mulling two doors together.

Great response Jacob.  Love the fact CA people read and respond to so many questions without being condescending. 

I think the two door mulled solution works best.  But you might want to add that option to the suggestion pile for future updates?

I'm doing more and more modern designs based on the same design aesthetic overall, and CA is very easy to work with.

The main challenges come from getting a beautiful 3d model converted down into 2d working drawings.

That is hard in any country.

But with all the newer setup tools, templates, styles and such, if your smart, take the time to first set up your version of CA for

how you like to draft and design, then tweak it for your form of building plan oversight, it will be simple and easy.

We have asked that CA consider adding the option of making the inches side of the label a superscript, so that inches are smaller than the feet.  That is the way us old timers used to draft those labels.

Beautiful. Well done Justin.  The design looks like a great example of the current modern style.  Makes it easier to work from home if your home looks like work. :-)

Can we just ask CA to put pivot doors in X15?