DavidJPotter

I would just draw a custom poly line solid to emulate the front gable wall, editing a wall to that shape is extremely difficult to do, a P Solid is easy in comparison. DJP

Once sent to layout any isometric or elevation/cross section can easily have lines added or removed using the "Edit Layout Line" tool while in layout. That IS how that is handled. DJP

No,not in Beta or now. DJP

Most engineers I have worked with use AutoCAD, so I share my drawings in AutoCAD (.dwg) format to speed along their specific work (I do this ALL the time). That is probably what you will need to do also: find a LOCAL, state licensed structural engineer licensed in your State and living near by the location of the project so they will be familiar with local weather and geological stresses to your intended location. DJP

Did you FIRST set your Default Settings - Floors and Rooms - Finished Ceiling Heights before starting your plan? DJP

Anything that you enjoy cannot be "strange", just enjoy what you enjoy! Many dedicated, hard-working Chief Users can and do photo-realistic renderings as part of their business model and services. It involves having a 3D modeling software (Chief, Home Designer, Revit, Sketch Up etc.) to have something to render. Many users obtain professional grade renderings just with Home Designer Pro or Chief Premier or Interiors and some few others use a third party rendering software like Luminon, Twin Motion and others to take it a step further. for what you are trying to do for yourself I think Home Designer Pro's Physically Based Rendering Engine should be just fine for your purposes, you just cannot expect that "clicking a button" will obtain the results you desire. It takes tweaking lighting, materials and backdrop until you get just the look you are after. Nothing really worthwhile comes "easy". DJP

It takes most of us "forever" to get professional grade products until we learn the right settings and adjustments (join the club!). Perhaps it is just my new PC which CPU-wise is a little faster than my old one but my Ray Traces (not PBRRT) but just old fashioned Ray Trace just about two minutes (after set up and adjusting lights and sunlight, just as in PBR). No one just clicks a button. DJP

I specialize in online help, I have all versions of Chief Architect Premier (X 13 - X1), So if you just need a little help when you get stressed, I am your person! DJP

I can work with you live online to get this done if you wish, email me if you do please. DJP

You have to change the entire "Data folder" location of which the Archives folder is just a part. DJP

Cabinet Specification dialog - Box Construction tab - Door Drawer Overlay input box - increase value DJP

I have always used AMD PC's (My laptop is an Intel machine). I have had one or two crashes with NOTING lost thereby because I manually save every few seconds as I work. This is on my new computer I had locally built and I attribute those crashes to a weak spot on my new PC that I have not yet found. The crashes seem to be random in nature and not connected to Chief, any version. DJP

Beautiful! DJP

Several times I have had Home Designer Pro users ask me to help them create construction documents using Pro. I created a layout file for each page, both of the custom homes I helped draft had a minimum of seven pages and the homes are now permitted and built, so it is doable. DJP

They can be drawn manually using short CAD lines and they are also found as a CAD block in the Library Browser under "CAD Blocks - Designer Blocks - Reflection". They are manually doe either way and not by way of any "check box" in a dialog. DJP

Most forum persons here do not use Home Designer Professional, most have not even heard of it. With the 2018 version you have a printed page limitation of 18" x 24" max size. More recent versions offer the full range of paper sizes. Home Designer Professional can do most everything Chief Premier can do, just not as efficiently or finely as Premier. You can at least imagine what the differences of two programs, one costing merely just under $500.00 and one costing six times as much. Professional and Premier are worth every dollar exchanged for their use but they are also not equal in efficiency and ability. Current versions of HD Pro. can import AutoCAD .dwg files, 2018 cannot, it only imports .dxf files not near as useful as .dwg files and on and on. Simple, smaller construction documents can be done in HD Pro 2018 but you would be better off generally by at least upgrading to the current version (2022 just recently released) and even better served by an upgrade to Chief Architect Premier version X13. It is your choice to make. DJP

DJP

Each permit authority publishes their requirements on their websites for plans submittal and they vary from place to place. DJP

Once you have enabled a maximum of lights and have verified that they are "ON" then it is a matter of balancing the Sun light intensity against the visibility of the interior lights. This assumes that your video card can support that number of light sources simultaneously (not all video cards can do this but up to date ones should be able to). DJP

You are going to have to be a little more distinct with your query to obtain useful answers and understanding for yourself from others. The "Scale" of what and where, doing what please? DJP

DJP

I have been using Windows 10 since it was first made available now on two computers and my laptop. I have had nothing but stable, reliable behavior BUT I also have all my pertinent files double backed up as well as Library and other Chief specific files in the cloud and on secondary hard drives as insurance. That way if worst comes, then I I have to do is to reload everything. I am also quite conservative and trust no one but myself in terms of my own survival. DJP

If I experienced what you did, I too would be looking for an alternative. Presently your only alternative is a Mac computer OS. Linux is just not widely enough used to support a corporation's survival, Chief must port to the Operating systems that are used by consumers who support Chief Inc's expenses and profits. DJP

Me either, I believe this is a joke post. DJP

I did this one manually. DJP 244919330_JonesHome.plan