robdyck

All you'd have to do is cut/paste the story pole dimension (ctrl-x, ctr-alt-v). This will add point markers at each dimension extension. The elevations will remain as noted but they won't be locating the noted elevations. If you don't want to see those point markers in your elevation or section view, simply select them all and make them really small / place them in the back of the drawing order.

This method requires a bit of habit / memory so that you know / remember your process.

I'd be willing to discuss both renderings and training. Send me a PM or checkout my website.

https://sites.google.com/view/robertdyckbuildingdesign

8 minutes ago, vikiw_bend said:

I may be able to up my game in Chief,

Yes, I'm sure you can! It might take some consultation or training. I know this is getting off topic for the original post, but can you post one of your best renderings and a sample image of what you'd like to achieve?

2 hours ago, vikiw_bend said:

At IBS recently, I talked with one of the stock plan people at Zonda Media, since my goal is to get into that market. I brought some examples, with Chief X15 PBR renderings touched up in Photoshop. They do not pass muster at Zonda, which dominates the stock plan market with several websites. I was told the renderings need to be more photo-realistic. Chief's rendering capabilities are better than ever, and are excellent for showing clients, contractors, putting on your website, etc. But apparently, if you want to sell plans on the market, you have to go a step further.

Consequently I downloaded Twinmotion (they still have a free version with abbreviated functions) and I'm trying to learn it. Eventually I will need to hire out the rendering to people far more skilled than I, but I at least want to run a rendering past my contact at Zonda to see if it is more acceptable.

Anyone have input on learning Twinmotion? Recommended tutorials? I keep making mistakes that aren't covered in the tutorial I've been watching. Frustrating.

If I were getting into the stock plan market, I would respectfully suggest you learn how to keep everything within Chief. Chief can do it all. For me, exporting between various software would be come too big a hassle as you start to compile variations of a stock plan. It's simply too efficient to copy/paste in Chief to look elsewhere. There are plenty of Chief users producing great images, inside and out. And extremely quickly.

It looks like your plan file was still open when you attached it. It has to be closed! 

What you can do is use 2 walls in the same place.

Railing wall 1: room definition (yes), railing pony wall, wall cap, rail style open, no newels, no top rail.

Railing wall 2: room definition (no), top rail, newels, balusters, set height to be just under ceiling, in plan view, center on wall 1.

It can be done very close to what you want. For a perfect representation, you may need to build it manually, or at least just the wall cap molding.

12 hours ago, decorators3 said:

I like that you're in Canada. I'm in Newfoundland so the cost would NOT be US dollars, training and/or discussion sounds good especially identifying areas where I improvement.

 

Another Canuck! I've assisted others and they've been able to make drastic improvements in only 1 or 2 hours of training. As I mentioned, the first step would be a brief conversation by phone or, preferably by Google Meet, the 2nd step would be for me to inspect a plan file. Then we can determine the best type of training method for you.

I'll go out on a limb and guarantee that you will be beyond impressed at what you'll be able to learn in short order!

3 hours ago, decorators3 said:

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated

If you were willing to pay a render farm, how much would you be willing to pay someone who also uses Chief to render for you? Or, what kind of budget would you have for training?

Who knows, that may cost less than you might have thought. I might train / mentor or render for you as would others. It would all start with a one-on-one conversation.

You need to be comfortable with the person helping you and that person would need to examine one of your Chief files so that through a discussion, together you can identify the areas for improvement that would benefit you the most.

3 hours ago, decorators3 said:

but are lacking in exterior realism .

Respectfully, I would disagree. There are many CA users producing very realistic exterior renderings. The level of quality is largely dependent on 3 main factors:

1. your skill / knowledge
2. your hardware
3. and most importantly your clients budget.

https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/gallery/image/6019-exterior-1-5/

No doubt some of my images are better than others (of my own)...almost entirely driven by factor #3 from the list above. And FWIW, I almost never use any other software!

If you're having issues, I would hone in on the above list and ask myself which one of those factors is the simplest to improve.

To improve #1, you'll need time. Maybe some training

To improve #2, you'll need money.

To improve #3, you'll need to improve #1 & #2

Simply some additional information for those who can use it: When generating a room molding polyline, the elevation will match the elevation of the original room molding that is being replaced by the molding polyline.

When drawing a molding polyline, it appears as though it will 'land' on the floor finish elevation of whatever floor you are one.

Find a tile material in Chief's library that shows a tile using only 1 tile for the texture. Copy that material to the User library and then replace the texture file with your own texture file. That would be a good exercise to start. The DalTile library also has plenty of materials that would serve as a good starting point for texture replacement.

All you need to do is use the import tools to import the saved plan view from Chief's template plan. To do this, select File>Import>Import Saved Plan Views...

You will need to know the file path for the Residential template plan. You can find this by following Edit>Preferences>General>New Plan>Plan Template

small jump to 12 MB. Takes less than 2 seconds to generate model.

find the wall you want. single click. look for the wrench tool at the bottom. click it.

52 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

Seems like a bug to me

I don't know this for sure but it seems like an unintended consequence. I'm not sure why Chief's template plan has Auto Adjust Text Direction unchecked...that's the opposite of how it should be setup. I've sent this in to Tech Support and I'll update this topic if I hear anything worth sharing.

In older plans created in previous CA versions, terrain elevation point text would always read correctly, regardless of where the text was positioned relative to the point marker. That no longer works correctly, and I'll be darned if I can figure out how or if this can be corrected. Does anyone know how this can be corrected? Or if it can?

Chief's Template Plan does NOT have Auto Adjust Text Direction checked for any marker defaults. For markers, this setting does need to be checked.

Here's what I did: Resize the terrain so all items are within or meeting the terrain perimeter. Nothing extending beyond. Check for elevation region overlaps. That took the build time down to 2 seconds.

Another good tip for you: adjust your fill patterns used in plan view to solid fill wherever possible. If you need to see through them, adjust the transparency. Busy fill patterns in plan view slow Chief down as well.

I think you can do it all in Chief. I think Chief is awesome at framing details, drawing coordination, automation, reporting, etc. and it's only getting better. Let's forget about slanted walls for a moment and assume those will be a rare occurrence. What you'd probably benefit from the most is working with someone to create a customized Chief template that has all the default sets, layer sets, plan views, and camera views that you'd typically use with plenty of thought given to the aesthetic of your experience using Chief.  Then, I think you'd have a completely different view of Chief. When I see Chief being used with the out-of-the-box settings, I don't know how anyone can deal with it, and if I were a new customer searching for software, there's plenty that wouldn't impress me much. But one of the great things about Chief is how you can customize almost every aspect to drastically improve the user experience. You'd be able to customize or 'stylize' Chief to match the architecture you're looking to craft.

But keep in mind that I'm a one trick pony! Over 20 years with Chief and I don't know $#!+ about any of those other programs!

To create an attractive border around an interior elevation view, there will almost always by some CAD work to do. That being said, this can be quick and simple and can be done directly in the elevation view. There should rarely be a need to use a cad detail. Rachel, you might find it helpful to talk to someone who can review your files and discuss (in person) the troubles you face and what kind of solutions are available.

1 minute ago, Mackenzie said:

would you still recommend editing the defaults for that?

I would usually keep the default set for either the most prevalent type of construction or the most important. The previous exercise was really to help you understand the function.

When I'm drawing an addition to a house with a foundation wall and an assumed footing, I don't show the footing in plan view UNLESS there has been exploratory excavation to determine the footings existence and size OR unless there are building plans available for the existing structure. I make clear delineation in all drawing types between existing structure and new structure.  A simple method for you to consider is to show all existing structure with a medium grey line color and a light grey solid fill. 

The choice to use terrain modifiers like lowered regions isn't the best option. I've deleted the lowered regions and replaced them with 2 Elevation Regions, both of which are shaded and have there elevations displayed. This is a very quick and simplified demonstration, but I'd suggest you give the elevation regions a try.

I'm sure those who know macros can offer much better solutions but until then...

Another Option: Copy this macro and rename, then edit the obvious parameters  "FormattedWidthSixteenths". Place the new macro in the door label.

21 hours ago, DHerb2014 said:

E.g., a very large, wide garage door 22' wide x 8' high. Can someone manipulate it this way? If not, it would display 264" x 96".

The simplest way for large doors that are sized in 1foot increments is to use %width/12%' 

Notice I've added the ' designator and you'll need to uncheck Use Default Formatting to get rid of the " designator.

I don't know anything about macros but I'll offer what I do know. You can make a copy of Chief's macro "FormattedWidthNearestInch" and rename it "FormattedWidthNearestFoot"

Then edit the macro:

obj = owner

obj = referenced unless referenced.nil?

obj.width.to_ft.round

Edit the Crawlspace room so the floor thickness is zero and the foundation wall height is zero. Select the 2 grade beam walls and uncheck 'sill plate'. For the Addition Room, set the framing group to 2.

Also, it would be better to edit the default floor platform than to set the floor structure room-by-room or floor-by-floor.

@TeaTime Oh, I thought about that! For future detailing, I think perhaps Jim should just get in the habit of using polylines:)