robdyck

https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/ I just checked this for my home and solar noon today is at 1:21 pm. Chief's sun angle only allows 15 minute increments and the results are close enough to consider this verifed. This created a shadow in Chief that is perfectly pointing north.

Obviously one could regurgitate a simple google search of this topic, but it does seem obvious that one must recognize the difference between solar noon relative to your location and 12:00 pm. At 12:00 pm, the angle of direction from the sun to my house has to be different from the angle from the sun to my neighbor’s house. Okay, that would be a very small difference because of the scale, but 12:00 pm occurs at the same time across my entire time zone. Obviously the sun angle and resulting shadow has to be different from the east side to the west side of that time zone. Chief Architect's sun anlge uses the time, not solar noon. I'm sure you could find a way to determine when solar noon is for your particular location, but that wouldn't provide very meaningful information as the time of solar noon would be slightly different every day. I can tell you from my own experience that if your inputs are correct, Chief's shadows are exact...at least at my house they are! I designed my own home in Chief and I've physically measured my shadows on different times and days to compare with Chief's output and they are exact!

@Renerabbitt I saw this was somewhat close to your region, Rene. Maybe you can connect a few other Californians to this post if you're too busy.

A solid would need the top adjusted to be relatively close to the terrain, depending on retaining wall type. What I was referring to was a 3d solid that represents a concrete retaining wall, formed with either: a straight, consistently sloped top slightly higher than the high side of the terrain a straight stepped top, formed in even increments suitable for concrete form work What I was not referring to is a concrete wall with an undulating top and bottom as determined by Chief's terrain modelling characteristics. I prefer something useful for my modeling and my builders. I also don't care about Chief adding a footing to my retaining wall unless it is required for the particualr wall construction...which varies by builder preference, jurisdiction structural requirements, overall retaining wall height, retaining wall location relative to property line, structural engineering (if needed), etc. And for retaining wall con docs, I'm just going to be using one of my cad details, already completed or ready to duplicate for a unique application.

I rarely use retaiing walls because of the top / bottom control issue. Instead I use a terrrain break (2" transition distance, centered on wall) and I almost always use a 3d solid for the retaining wall. This provides me with stable control without ever having to 'fight' an automatic height. It also gives me more control over the ret. wall display in all views. More control, saves time.

One of the best things you could do is to always position your project so a major building corner is at 0,0 on the x /y coordinates. This helps in many walls and for many projects means you woudln't need to add a framing reference. Even better is to already have the framing reference marker positioned at 0,0 in your template plan and use it as a guide to start drawing walls. Then, if some condition requires the framing to be adjusted, the framing marker can be moved.

As a startign point, I found a door that was very close. The frame and bead were ok, but it had a raised panel. So I used the delete surface tool to reomve the raised panel and then created a symbol and placed it in plan view. I then added a 3d solid for the center panel and a molding for the detail between the bead and panel. I then select those 3 part and create a new symbol assigned to the cabinet door/drawer category. I set the stretch planes to be centered on the width and height of the panel, and add to my library. I didn't search the library very long, but it still would have been faster to have created the door from scratch. A molding polyline can be used for the outer frame and then duplicated and re-sized for the bead and detail.

It's almost certainly faster to make one than to find one. Try this one out. cab door.calibz

I use these all the time. I've created a copy of the 'Balcony' room type for decks with no ceiling, and a copy of the 'Porch' room type for covered decks. I've specified a Floor Finish layer 1/8" thick with a vinyl decking type material. The Floor Structure is 2 layers as shown. For the structure, I do NOT have Framing checked. I don't build the floor framing unless I am showing the framing in a framing plan or have some other very specific reason to. Also, I find it easier to build the framing correctly manually than to edit all of Chief's incorrect floor framing.

Yes, it sits on the terrain. and it will move with the terrain. The only caveat, is that it needs to be manually 'rebuilt' to update what the label reports. If I place it on the terrain, it will report correctly. If I alter the terrain, it's label will not update until I rebuild the terrain and rebuild the object (open / close the object dialog with no changes). I'm used to this and I accept it so if I make adjustemnts, I simply select all objects and perform an open/close as needed or once I'm close to finished.

Yes those were. The first was a text marker and the 2nd video shows an object which reports the terrain elevation anywhere you place it and the label can show in any view. I have those objects set to show the labels in my terrain plan, site plan and exterior elevations. Obviously they save typing errors, but they do require manual moving of the label.

Hi Jason, you need to check in with @Alaskan_Son He has an object that does exactly what you are asking for. He can also provide you with a macro that will work in a Text Marker and in storypole dimensions. 20250329-1734-50.5948914.mp4 20250329-1736-27.5350163.mp4

Yes and No. Chief can generate a truss that is not correct, and then you could manually adjust the truss polyline. Your particular model raises more questions than I have time to address, however I suggest getting the framing reasonably close and then making manual adjustments. Chief will almost never build top plate heights and vaulted ceiling trusses both correctly. For this building, you could split the room to create 2 separate default ceiling heights to help drive wall framing...but then you have 2 rooms instead of one. So, it might make more sense to manually adjust the wall framing of either the low or the higher wall. Either way, it will help if the default ceiling elevation is either 84" or 125 1/2". Also, it will help if all framing defaults and assembly defaults are exaclty correct to what is being built, and if the walls have both framing layers as 'Main Layers'.

I stopped adding image renderings to pdf's because of the hassle of aligning, resizing, and updating views. Instead, I provide the images as a gallery. For me, time and money trumped my desired finished plan. And if sharing an album link, you can probably find a service that allows you to replace images when things change saving even more time.