DavidJPotter

DJP

That being the case it HAS to be a fault video card, take a look and find a Geek to help you replace or repair it. DJP

When I Ray Trace (I mainly use PBR currently) I expect to Ray Trace numerous times to check that materials, lighting and Sun Angle and intensity are properly adjusted. Once I am satisfied with the Ray Trace settings I then let it run about 10 times to get a final result. This IS time consuming and IS why I mainly use PBR or sometimes Twin Motion render engine. For quick high quality renders I use PBR and for special clients I use Twin Motion. Some people just require some 3D renderings to understand the designs, for remodeling I commonly just use 3D line drawings for renders. Photo Realistic rendering is a professional ART which should be properly charged for. Your client and your boss will tell you what is "OK" or not. Whatever you do has to fit into someone's budget. Learning Ray Trace or PBR takes some time to study and then practice to hone professional level skills, there are NO short cuts to competence. Only once did I have a client that required the help of a real pro (Jintu Designs) and he always does near perfect professional grade work, Rene Rabbit and Sam Vitone are also terrific Professional Render Pros. DJP

Schedules have not changed much since they were added as a feature other than refinements. In my experience (since Old Version 4 forward) your schedule reads what is in the plan file and NOTHING more, you make a change and that change then automatically updates to the existing schedule. Each Schedule has its own dialog box where you can shoot yourself in the foot or get exactly what you wish. Each Electric object and light source has its own dialog box where you can alter "Labels". I am just saying there are lots of places where you can screw things up without wishing to. It is up to you to keep things straightened out so you get desired results. Like Mick I have not done much with X8 for awhile (I only have one current client who still uses X8.) My advice is to carefully check all the contributing symbols and your Schedule dialog box to make sure you haven't messed up that feature yourself. BTW I am 73 myself. DJP

DJP

I agree with you but that does not override the old saw of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and "The customer is always 'right' ". I try to steer my clients away from such things but with the former in mind. DJP

That is exactly what I do, put it all in your profile.plan. DJP

Manually, yes, otherwise NO. My foundations are purely conceptual because I am not a State Licensed Structural Engineer (I only draw foundations when I work directly with such a person, it is illegal otherwise). So I do not worry about foundations unless I am working with an Engineer. DJP

Mulling is for windows that are dead close together. Your windows are NOT and thus do not qualify nor could then be bought as a single unit. They are two separate windows and would be framed as such and that IS why they will not mull, nor should they. DJP

I am not sure what you are doing that is not working, I nailed it my first try (see image), DJP

DJP

In "Edit - Preferences - Materials List" you can globally turn on or off material categories and other Materials List functions. You can limit what is displayed as a Materials list by using **** different tools (Material Region, by room and by floor) DJP

The thing that you must understand about the Materials List tool is that it precisely measures the materials in your plan file. In other words it measures your ability to PERFECTLY model the actual structure in Chief which is then measured by the Materials List tool. So it is more a gauge of your ability to use Chief than otherwise. If someone wants me to generate a usable Materials List, I tell them that I can do so but that requirement will cost them considerably more for the plan file than a plan file merely developed for Construction Documents, a LOT more in terms of my time to make the plan file perfect from foundation to Roof. For Remodel projects, I make a relation-ally correct model of the existing home which I call the "as built" and then make a copy of the as built and call it "Proposed" adding the addition or additions to that plan file, then I can subtract the as built material list of the as built from the Materials List of the Proposed. But in my experience, I have NEVER worked with or for a Remodeling contractor who was willing to pay my hourly fee just for a Material List, they mainly want Renderings and CD's on a budget. When I first started using Chief in 1994 my boss asked me to find out how usable Chief was for obtaining a Material List. I told him, after trying my best that getting that product at my current skill level was not a viable endeavor, so we used Chief for some raw data, square footage and did our Materials List the traditional way. You are welcome to do as you wish. DJP

I just closed this project! DJP

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DJP

I did the video in X12 so I cannot share the results back to you, the video will have to suffice. DJP

Anyone can screw up something, it requires competent, trained people to obtain professional grade results. When I need large format prints, I go to a "Blueprint" company where they know what is what. I have never used Fed Ex etc so I have never experienced what you have. Plus when I get screwy results, I first assume that I did something wrong and not the software or operating system and after 25 years plus experience, I have been right 99.9% of the time. I know these days people like to find a scapegoat for their own incompetence and shortfalls of their own personal integrity and Ethics but that philosophy never has worked and never will work except for creating and forwarding misery for all. DJP

Yes The big difference between HD Pro 2008 and 2021 is that the current version can now print to full sized Construction Document sizes ( Arch D 24x36 and Arch E 36x48), HD Pro 2008's largest print size is 18x24 DJP

No, Each application have ".layout" files but the HD Pro .layout file is programmed to hold only one intended, printed page per file and the same .layout file, generated in Chief Premier can contain up to 1,000 potential pages per .layout file. HD Pro cannot fully edit Chief Premier .layout files due that fundamental difference but HD Pro .layout files can, individually be edited, one at a time, in Chief Premier. That is a major difference between the two applications in terms of sharing files. DJP

Click here to compare Premier against Interiors please. There is NO comparison between Chief Interiors and Home Designer Interiors, in fact Home Designer no longer offers HD Interiors, it has been dropped from the Home Designer line up, forget about it!. In my opinion Chief Interiors is specifically for Interior designers who do not commonly model an entire home and landscaping or create fully detailed construction documents, where as Premier covers all the bases. DJP

Take a look at these videos introducing Plan Views , Once you understand how they can be employed to suit your purposes, I think you might just abandon trying to do what you have been trying to do. A CAD Block that has been altered any way but concentrically cannot be, thereafter Unblocked (that is the way CAD Blocks are programmed to work in Chief Premier). If you are creating a View to CAD from a Chief Premier plan file (which is natively at a real world scale of 1' = 1') you shouldn't then be required to re-scale them after export (this I completely do not understand considering the above). Saved Plan Views makes this whole procedure much easier and less probable to fail, take a look please. DJP

Sorry, I forgot about the foundation walls. Foundation walls have Default Settings and they can be manually adjusted in Cross Section cameras with exactitude (I have done this numerous times working with an Engineer). DJP

DJP