DavidJPotter

I recently had a client who was having the same problem with X10. This, as far as I can remember did not come up during Beta Testing (other Beta Testers can correct me I they remember differently). What I did for my client was delete the floor plan views on layout and start over sending them to layout. You may want to contact Tech Support to see if they have had reports of this unwanted occurrence. DJP

I agree with Robert, in that one's level of zoom directly effects your video card's ability to differentiate between the numerous possible selections in an area. After all the software is merely a mechanical device, that does not "know" what you are trying to do from one moment to the next. DJP

Like Eric, I gave up on the auto-interior dimension tool as soon as I saw what it did. I prefer manual dimensions for the interior. DJP

How you do a screen porch, in my experience is determined by how it is to be framed. Sometimes I use railing walls for the walls and poly-line solids for the screen and sometimes I use siding walls, with windows with their "Glass" set to screen. I try to first find out exactly how my builder intends to build the screen room walls and then act accordingly. DJP

I appreciate the time, care and intelligence you both exhibit with this thread. I have been an end user of this software since 1994 as a professional designer/drafter/teacher but I do not have any background in computer language or function. I know what I know through daily use of the application to get professional grade products. I have deadlines to meet. Commonly a plan set that will be acceptable to building permit authorities (.plan and, layout files) to total around 7-10 Mb whether the project is a custom home or commercial project. The creation of plans requires very little embellishment (furniture, plants, people, animals etc.). What is required for building purposes to communicate to all fundamental trades is all that is required. So in my years of using Chief, I have NEVER experienced such laggy behavior except on two or three extremely large projects (a commercial building of multiple stories totaling over one million square feet). I stopped using auto-save back in 1999, rather I manually save every few seconds as I work. Only for flashy display renderings do I add plants, people, brick-a-brack and other non-essential objects as these tend to slow my workflow down while I wait for my PC's hardware to process such additional unnecessary objects 3D faces per unit of time. Such creations are merely for fun or for promotional purposes, not making money per se. I have observed that amateurs, casual users, hobbyists and doodle-dadlers add this level of unnecessary detail by default, making their plans a bear for anything other than a supercomputer. I am not saying this should not be done, I am saying that such users commonly have minimal hardware arrayed PC's and so get swamped with sluggish performance. Professional users require completed products as opposed to "works of Art". I do know a few users who specialize in this kind of product with no complaints about slowness from them. Basically, you have confirmed what I already observed from my experiences. Thank you for your efforts, I just wanted to also add that not everyone uses Chief Architect software for Lucas Film level graphics. DJP

I recommend PNY Brand NVIDIA video cards. They range in price from 100.00 to over $1,000.00, so one's budget is a limiting factor. My video card is getting old but still does a good job. I intend to upgrade my card soon, probably with an NVIDIA 1060 or 1070, we will see. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON VIDEO SUPPORT BUILT INTO THE MOTHERBOARD, SUCH "SUPPORT" IS CHEAP BUT ALSO INADEQUATE TO SUPPORT CHIEF. DJP

I run versions 7-X10 (including X9) on my PC, they all run well. I do keep older versions (7,8,9,10 and X1) on my XP 32 Hard Drive though, they run better there. DJP

I used Dropbox until recently when they charged me for services I did not order or agree to. I canceled my "Free" account. Now I use Microsoft's One Drive, I bought Microsoft Office 365 which I use every day and got a terabyte of storage space with it for just 6.99 per month. i am liking it very much so far but I am a one-person operation, I do not know how it would be with others also using the same space. DJP

What I have observed to be true with problem layouts is that too much Megabyte sized graphic material can be sent to a layout file as images and or PDF files instead of vector based text, lines and other 2D CAD objects can make a .layout file hard to handle on ANY computer due to the shear size of the added together material. I think that this is what the OP is complaining of ( a self generated "problem"). I have experienced this myself and is the only condition I have observed that could be causing her to not be able to print such a burdened layout file to crash the application. I cannot of course prove this without the actual layout file AND its attachments and associated .plan files but I suggest that she look for this as the cause. Bite the bullet and remove some of the megabyte heavy material in your layout and then see if that alleviates the crashing phenomena. Replace PDF text with actual 2D text, replace or reduce the size of graphic images and PDF's wtih smaller files or draw them using 2D CAD tools. DJP

I just checked in my X10 and yes the "Blend with Texture" is greyed out but I was still able by changing the color to directly effect the material and its texture, just as before without the check box. Please look again and try again DJP

Manually you can do whatever you want, Auto Dimensions usually default to level zero windows, manually you can dimension however you like by manually adjusting the dimensions from level zero to level one. Though common Architectural practice for such windows is to symmetrically place them, floor to floor. I usually create a floor plan for each floor so all windows are shown in those floor plans and level one, two, three are usually aligned to each other floor to floor. DJP

The labels for both windows are there, just one on top of the other, so click on the window object, grab the label and move it slightly outboard of the window to display both labels in plan view, they will show by default in elevation views if window and door labels are turned "on" for the camera set Display Options and in the object's label dialog. DJP

I believe you, I also know the list has over 10,000 requests on it as of around the year 2000 DJP

See if this is helpful to you DJP

I think some one needs to make a formal "Feature Request" and then maybe in will then be added to the list of requested new features. Talk here is just talk, talk directly to the creators if you want real change. DJP

I have always preferred PNY brand NVIDIA cards for my PC's. they always work perfectly, reliably and long. DJP

The kind of behavior with Chief and AutoCAD is NOT usual. Everyone has occasional crashes but yours sounds like a bad software driver (mouse or video card, which are easy to address, just update them to the latest offered by your mouse maker or video card maker from their respective websites). A corrupt driver can be a source of such behavior. Frankly, it could be several other possible sources: a bad RAM module, a virus or other mal-ware, even the accumulation of dirt and dust on your hardware components, or if your Drive "C" is too full or heavily fragmented. Buying a new computer is the last thing I would first address when having such problems. I do know from experience that versions X 7,8,.9 and 10 are a lot more demanding of PC hardware resources than earlier versions (each new versions does more and also requires better hardware to keep up). DJP

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/#contact DJP

I think it is now confirmed to be unwanted graphic behavior, time to turn this in as a "Bug Report" and get it fixed for all of us. DJP

In order to share .layout files you have to also share any .plan files that are associated with the layout file and as chopsaw pointed out you also have to embed (save in plan) any associated image or PDF files as well. If I were you, I would not continue to "bang my head against the wall" with things constantly going wrong. Contact your client and let them know you will be delayed a little. Then on Monday morning call tech support to help you sort out this annoying and unwanted problem. I have not had Chief crash like you describe except when I tried to place too much additional graphic data in my layout, embedded or not (large image files, large PDF files). You can overwhelm your PC's ability to handle that much graphic data per unit of time. You can reduce the size of images and PDF files without loss of graphic clarity (Image editing software and PDF sizing software) to reduce their size in Megabytes. While PDF files can save some time displaying details and notes they can also bring too much mass in terms of megabytes to the layout file, such files can be just typed that convey text data (text is a lot lighter in terms of megabytes than PDF files that contain text. The same is true of PDF graphic details that convey basically 2D data are generally heavier than 2D details you draw using 2D CAD tools. It is more work but doing what you are currently doing is not working either. Consider this incident part of your learning curve. DJP

I have spoken with several users of Chief recently that use Chief for estimating and take-off estimation. The make break of such use is YOUR competent and methodical use of Chief in terms of carefully creating your .plan file. Your resulting materials list's veracity will depend upon how well it mirrors your actual, real-world structure. Most of us use Chief to create plans and 3D renderings and as such those do not require near perfection to serve their purpose, whereas for a Materials List the 3D construct must be near perfect to do so. If you are willing to learn Chief to a high degree of competence then, yes, go for it, otherwise leave that job to professional take-of specialists. DJP

I usually set up a Ray Trace for lunch, break or dinner time. I turn off the "Time Tracker" and let it run as long as it needs to to get an acceptable result. BUT before I do that I run several Ray Traces so I can adjust lights and materials and other settings, only when it is so modified do I start the final ray trace period. If I have the time, I let it run until visually acceptable. Commonly the set up time can run as high as 10-15 minutes and the final Ray Trace usually runs, like Chrisb222 at around 10 passes. 891 passes on a view that has not been tweaked as to materials and lighting is a gross waste of time. You get it just right and only then take the time to create a final product. I recently did some rather large format images for a Home Show Poster for a display booth, so the Ray Traces needed to be very high resolution and very large (48"x24") for the banner. Those required a run time of four hours each but came out great. A Spanish user once did some Ray Traces for a Billboard display and her run time was 36 hours each but most screen sized images only take a few minutes to create a good professional product. Set up is actually more important than the final run in my opinion. DJP

Find out for yourself, if you need and want a certain look you do what is required to obtain it. I do not think merely placing roof tile symbols at the edges will slow down Chief that much (doing the entire roof probably wood but I am not suggesting you do that). DJP

So is carefully connecting the CAD lines in a DWG only to find out that they cannot be converted to topo lines in Chief, I feel your pain and share your annoyance but in the end, I like what works versus what just wastes my time. DJP

In X10 I am getting the same, unwanted result. Where I you, I would bring the .dwg as a block on a locked layer and then trace over the topo lines in the DWG with Chief elevation splines. Only Tech Support can address the greyed out conversion dialog absence. DJP