robdyck

That's a good point! I thought about that and 'thought' I had checked that but I didn't realize that Gene has a separation set to 1.5" so his vertical lights were partially buried inside the front cabinet frame! After relocating them, I opened the camera and they still don't show up when the cabinet door glass material is Glass Standard (straight from the Library). I can get the lights to show through the cabinet doors with Glass Standard as the material but only if I uncheck 'Refraction' in Technique Options. It's worth noting that Gene's door style has 2 panes of glass whereas Chief's default glass door has only 1 pane of glass, however I tested that and it made no difference. Here's a nighttime view: All vertical rope lights are on and only 1 UC rope light is on.

The only thing that comes to mind right away is that I would suggest some experimenting in a saved version of the file. When I've imported surveyors contour maps and converted them to elevation lines, the terrain has generated far too many elevation points and it really slows the the file down. I've had the same experience when importing terrain data from a survey. What I prefer to do is use simplified methods and manually enter the elevation data in a way that I know will keep my file operating efficiently but still represent the terrain accurately. Alternatively, I may import the data in a separate file and then create a symbol that I can use for visual reference in my main plan file. But I've found that importing data, then cleaning it up / simplifying / deleting / altering for the terrain to generate efficiently in Chief can take longer than placing elevation points / lines / regions manually.

The material used for the glass cabinet doors has the most effect. Using a General Material will enable the lights to display in PB rendering.

Can you provide more information? Several screenshots of the problem or even better, attach the plan file! If you do this, someone will provide you with the solution almost right away!

@Renerabbitt Can you speak to this Rene?

I prefer that both lines of all arrows remain consistently parallel whenever possible. My method for adding this text is somewhat different. I make sure my arrows can't move or adjust themselves and I replicate the arrows and a text box vertically a set distance. I then adjust the angled portion of each arrow and then lastly add my text. If I need to make a vertical adjustment because of space, I either center the text on the leader line or drag the horizontal portion up/down to snap to the center of the text.

Yes, working on 2 Zero Threshold project right now. Our foundations are probably quite different than yours, but I use a concrete foundation wall with a reduced thickness at the top to provide a bearing ledge for the floor framing. This allows me to bring the grade up to within 6" of the sill plate. The sill plate is directly under the floor sheathing. Generally speaking, it would be my understanding that a the top of a concrete driveway / sidewalk is not considered as grade level, but rather the substrate below it is. TBH, I'm not entirely sure if your question was in regards to the building methods or sloping the terrain in Chief.

From the standpoint of a builder, I'd also want to see how the slope is being achieved when all components appear to 'flat', but I realize that may be handled in a different drawing. I'm ok with simply noting slopes in 1/4" scale section views, but for any thing over 1/4" scale, I prefer that the slope is shown as accurately as possible.

My comments would have been similar to Rene's; at that scale I'd try to be sure that the flashing components are highlighted. The roof assembly components could just as easily be identified with the callout for that assembly. Here are some of my illustrations; feel free to examine and pick apart what you like / dislike and then determine how you might adjust your detail.

This has always been the case when using trusses with this type of roof configuration. If you really want the correct appearance you will need to do some manual editing. Perhaps the simplest method is to use 2 separate roof trusses, 1 for each roof plane. It still requires editing the polyline of the higher truss, but I find that a bit quicker and more stable than editing the truss framing members.

In this case 'ca' could mean Canada, not Chief Architect! @dskogg and I know that a face frame cabinet is beyond extremely rare in Canada. In fact, of all the houses I've been a part of, I've never seen them so I'm not actually sure I believe any of you who say a face frame cabinet is even a real thing. You can make a picture of anything these days so that's not proof! Seriously though, they are not the norm in western Canada!

I don't think this functions the same as what you have in mind but the distribution polyline is pretty close. In this example I made a CAD block of spiral ducting and then added that block to a distribution polyline. There are significant limitations to this and it's not a method I would necessarily recommend. There's cases where it works well and others...not so much.

This could all be done but it would be pretty gross! The spreader symbol would need to include a face material to represent edge banding. Box construction: Framed Separation: Max. 1/16" Doors and drawers would need to be symbols with 3d offsets. And, if travelling this road, then the drawers should be modeled with a separate component to represent the front member of the drawer box. This type of cabinet construction usually has the drawer faces added to a drawer box.Cabinet Spreader.calibz

Plinth blocks are an item that don't generate a 3d component. Plinth blocks do not display in 3D views, but are counted in the Materials List.

Yes, using the Edit Area (All Floors) tool you can neatly cut a portion out and move the left or right remaining section the appropriate amount. A little trial and error along with the undo key and you'll have it figured out in no time!

Perhaps the solution might be to allow both wall and door to be transparent. By adjusting the transparency you can control how the 'intensity' of the display of objects behind the glass. Using my tempered glass material with transparency at: 10% 50% 100%

For slopes on lots or exit paths, I create a cad block of my desired arrow, save it to the library and then use a polyline distribution path.

Post your plan or send me a file download link and I'll point out the problem and solution right away.

In response to some of the earlier conversation in this topic; While in some ways a sloped garage floor modeled accurately may seem trivial, when designing an accessible home with an attached garage and a zero-threshold concept, the accurate modelling of the garage floor and exterior sidewalk slopes are critical. These calculations shouldn't be left for trades to make on site. I appreciate that you'd take the time to submit a comprehensive suggestion, Charles! Railing control on a per edge basis (like landings) would also be helpful to add to your suggestion.

I know that not everything makes sense here. For example, if the roof structure is really deep, you shouldn't need the ceiling plane, right? But Chief won't build trusses without the ceiling plane, it switches back to rafters even when trusses remain checked.

Also, edit the roof structure depth to be the full depth between the ceiling and roof (24.5" in your case).