DavidJPotter

DJP

The wall elevation camera includes ONLY what is in the room perpendicular to its viewpoint. To include or exclude a cabinet or cabinets one changes the extent of the room with an invisible wall to extend or distend the rooms width and thus the camera's field of view. DJP

I do this sort of work all of the time DJP

Run "Plan Check" (Tools - Checks - Plan Check") while on the floor that is missing it's "LIVING AREA" display. Running that check will restore it to view per floor. All answers to all questions reside in your Reference Manual, Help files, or the Chief Architect Website - Knowledge Base. Learning where and when to look is a large part of becoming competent. DJP

To expand on this comment: Chief is potentially helpful but ONLY if you have learned how to guide it to a desired result. It really does nothing by itself. The key is to really look at (confront) the dialogs, Default Settings, Check Boxes and input Boxes for it is all of that that adds up to success or failure. Then there is 3D Geometry as in your posted image or screen capture. The apparent unwanted edges are the undersides of roof planes that you ordered to be there, the software just does what you knowingly or unknowingly ordered, so the problem is rarely Chief Architect Premier, but 99% of the time it is your own lack of competence in guiding it to a result. I am NOT singling you out, we all of us, have had to mount the learning curve but it is worth suffering, keep it up. DJP

Thanks for bringing me into "PRESENT TIME", I was still doing it ala X1 DJP

In my over twenty years of using Chief, I have never seen what you are speaking of. Can you please post a screen capture of what you ARE seeing? Perhaps attach a copy of your problem plan. I agree with KBird in that it is most likely you have on the "Reference Display" Tool. DJP

If you do not like the symmetric spacing offered by the Railing Tool, then just make the existing "Newels" 1/16" think and assign "Opening No Material" to them. Then place the posts or columns of your choice and spacing from the Library Browser. DJP

For what it is worth, I gave up even trying to import survey data to "automatically" create terrain planes for the exact same reason you are now complaining of, and commonly such resultant constructs are too complex for the common PC or Mac to easily handle in 3D. What I now do is to import the graphical data and then MANUALLY convert selected lines to "Elevation Objects" or tracing over such imported lines with custom terrain objects. This is, of course, slower but it keeps ME in control of the process (and not pre-programming) and I like that a lot better AND I then, with certainty always get a useful product. DJP

3D Printer or 2D printer? Are you asking about printing construction documents or about 3D models? What size paper do you wish to print to? DJP

Sometimes it is well that I and others just seem to some "hard bark" on us to just keep going and helping others, whether they like it or not! DJP

For those of you who already knew (So what) but I just found this out!: If you run the "File Back-Up Entier Plan" command while just the plan file is open, the command backs up all referenced file textures and embedded files in just the plan file. BUT!! If you open just the layout file and run that command it backs up ALL ASSOCIATED PLAN FILES, PDF'S AND ANY ASSOCIATED PDF'S AND OTHER FILES REFERENCED IN THAT LAYOUT!!! For me, I just never tried it that way, I have always just used it on plan files alone but this is a GREAT tool when you are working with other users on different computers, in that it rounds up all associated files period! WOW, no more error messages when sharing files!!! (new to me anyways (: DJP PS: if you already knew this, try not to gloat or make fun of me for just finding out.

Your example photo looks NOTHING like your Chief plan file image, so I do not know what to tell you other than generally speaking, if you want an "Auto-Roof" solution then you have to tell the software what you wish to do by way of several settings that YOU must think through and accomplish before you order a "Build Roofs" command: 1. Ceiling height or the baseline of auto-roof planes is set by the ceiling heights of enclosed spaces by way of Room Specification Dialog box - ceiling height input boxes. 2. Your roof intentions can and should be communicated to the software by way of the settings on specific walls in the "Roof Tab" of the "Wall Specification Dialogs - Roof Tab" 3. there are other tools for specific changes for windows (you select a window and in the "Edit Toolbar" you select "Gable over this window" to obtain a small gable of the selected window 4. There is a manual "Gable Line Tool" for manually laying out where you wish gables to appear after ordering a "Build Roof" command. In closing, there is no substitute for a strong intention to become competent in using this software. YOU FIND OUT by regular study, fail and succeed practice sessions on a regular basis off your usual production time. If you are not willing to self-learn on your own time, then just concentrate on what you do like to do and hire someone that has taken the time to obtain competence. Be honest with yourself and your own intentions, decide and then act. But DO something about it and if you do you will increase your competence, that IS how it works. DJP

Sorry to let your hopes down but there is no "automatic" way to do this. Here is why: Roof systems are determined by the geometry of the floor plan against the pitch you assigned to roofs. Roofs bear on usually parallel walls, the distance between those pairs of walls ALONE determines the resulting ridge height between them. The "good news" is that you can do this manually by methodically raising, manually, the ridges so they match BUT then those manually edited roof planes will then have differing plate heights as a result. If this is unwelcome news you can blame Euclid as he is said to have invented the subject. DJP

Mike, I did misspeak, I meant to say "CAD - CAD Detail Management" instead of "CAD Block Management", I should have looked first before posting. DJP

What I have adopted is to triple back up everything which is what my additional hard drives and my One Drive accounts are for. Library files I manually back up and update manually when I add new library files which I back up to a USB hard drive for that purpose, just saying... BTW if you like, I can share my own personal "Users Library" file, it has symbols in it dating back to Noah's Ark, it is about one and a half GB in size to replace your missing one, let me know DJP

End the end, if the plan file is too large to email, that IS what Dropbox, One Drive and Google Drive are for. Are you saying that JUST the plan file by itself is 300Mb or is that its size when zipped using hte "Back Up Entire Plan" tool under the "File" menu? DJP

Thank you. Dermot Dempsey et al did NOT tell me this, nor have I ever read this in the Reference Manual, rather I just observed that this is the consistent case since I started using Chief back in Version Four (no X4 but 4). DJP

Chief Architect software is designed to match fascia heights by default but when you have adjoining roof planes at different pitches then the lower pitched roof plane's eave must be extended to match that preprogrammed setting when building auto roofs. When this occurs one then has to manually make the shed roof match the adjacent higher pitched roof fascia tops match but maintain the uniform default pitch. I have seen this countless times over the years and is a bit annoying but IS understandable when dealing with an automatic software tool. DJP

It the "Landing" is a Deck Room then Yes. If you are speaking of a stair landing or Balcony then NO, you must manually add them. DJP

Also if you have imported any PDF, .dwg or dxf files they tend to bloat a plan's size. Also the use of symbols imported from 3D warehouse can be problematic in terms of 3D faces and they also can add weight to the plan file. You purge unused material associations by opening plan materials dialog and then select a material that does not have a check mark by it and then press the "Purge" button which then removes any material associations in the plan but leaves all actively used plan files. CAD blocks are usually stored in "CAD - CAD Block Management - CAD Details. This is OK to do IF you have not also sent some of those details to your layout plan- deleting them form CAD Detail management will remove them from layout as well. DJP

Me as well. DJP

Turn on the "Reference Display" on the floor where the stairs are to be annotated in plan view. Draw a dotted polyline where the steps are (whether above or below) to show that they exist in plan view. In other words you have then show in 3D on the First Floor and only in 2D on the foundation level plan view. DJP

I manually save every few seconds as I work. Since I lost 12 hours of work back in 1999, I have adopted manually saving AND being extremely careful of settings, procedures and NO loose ends as I work. I have not had a reoccurrence since 1999. DJP

DJP