robdyck

I do the same thing. I'm going to try a screen recording of the ctrl-alt-s and see how that turns out. Should be quicker.

Whatever! That's pretty cool! Is there a speed setting for that?

I bet it's a 'working' kitchen so they don't have a SINGLE sign of life in the main kitchen! @decorators3 Am i right? or close? Heaven forbid that guests see your coffee maker or toaster. Or a 'spice kitchen'?

Canadian city planning departments... It's even worse in a slow market. Do you think they lay anyone off because there's little to do? Nope...make more rules instead. Everyone wins!

I've made some adjustments for your comparison. 1. adjust vertical offset 2. adjust light bulb material 3. adjusted vertical sizing 4. adjusted lighting of point light 5. added a 2nd light source, spot light. Pendant Eglo Loncino.calibz I forgot to turn of the emissivity of the light bulb material...oops.

He's saying emissivity isn't the way to control the lighting.

Can you post the plan?

What are the components or layers of the 12" thick wall? Could you explain what you mean by the term 'shutters'?

You guys who all say you don't like the grid aren't new to the program...you've got a system that works and your comfortable using it, right? There's times when I don't want to see it either so I just hit the toggle button docked in my toolbar.

Waste lumber is not dependent on the measurements of the building but rather on the skill of those doing the building. Believe it or not, I framed many 2000 to 4000 sq ft houses with only a single 6 yard dumpster of scrap. In large custom homes, there is a place to use almost every cutoff of either lumber or sheet goods. In simple tract homes, optimization of dimensions becomes more important.

I certainly understand that many users wouldn't want to see or use the grids and then choose to have them off. My comments were based on the many plans posted by inexperienced users who are leaving them on, but are not using them to their advantage. I think it's fair to say that if you're new to the program, anything that helps you make a wall 32'-0" in length as oppose to 31'-11 3/16" is a benefit and maybe should be used. Personally, I like having the visual reference of both grids to quickly identify something that may misaligned. I also like using it elevation view as a guide for quickly and accurately placing cad reference lines to help guide items like material regions, stepped foundations, wall area polylines, manually placed trims or decorative elements. Of course, the elevation view guides are very helpful....if you started your floorplan on the grid at 0&0 on the x and y axis. Maybe it's from having been a builder, but I like instinctively knowing where every item in the house is on the x,y,z coordinates. But I also draw and model a lot of things that Chief doesn't have library items for.

That sounds painful Very nice work by the way! I can think of some fairly quick ways you could get the dimension lines to extend beyond the arrow. Obviously it'd be extra work. You could easily create a polyline around your building, then replicate it to where you want your dimensions to be. Then create a white box at each corner to cover those polylines leaving 4" showing beyond the building. That'd also give you a nice permanent guide to snap your dimension lines to. Probably easier ways...

Find the object in the library. Right Click, Open Symbol. Materials Tab, click material, press F2, type new name.

Ahh, that you change in the library. Right click on the object, then Open Symbol

Looks great Michael. Plus then you get the option of using the wood door. I think Masonite only makes those in MDF. I did something similar when I built my garage cabinets. I used birch plywood for the doors and a triple row of v-grooves near the top to sort of give a 'vented locker door' type of look. My comment about the 'Berkley' door above was because I made that symbol (or the same thing). Of course its possible someone else did the same thing. Its a Masonite product. I made all of the Masonite modern door symbols awhile back. They may have some new products by now.

Geez that's a nice door! Where'd you get it? Just click the highlighted material, and replace it. Or adjust the material and delete the texture file.

Location of project? Lots of code considerations. That may not be as simple as choosing between option a and option b. Also an expensive upgrade. Check your clients pockets before you start planning such 'features'.

Yes and No. Read the first sentence of the number style dbx. It doesn't do what you'd assume it does I believe you need a macro to control the dimension display in schedules.

This is entirely subjective. A great method for comparison would be for you to post something you've drawn. It'll give us a much better point of reference to see what you're looking for. The short answer to your questions though is YES. Chief is able to do more than you'll ever figure out. Many users have completely customized Chief and use none of the out-of-the-box settings. I've been using it for around 20 years (is that possible?)...and I'm still learning new things all the time.

There's nothing built on the 2nd floor of your test plan. Therefore...nothing to reference or snap to.

We need more info to help you. Best to post the plan.

For sure!