DavidJPotter

I downloaded your plan, opened it in my copy of X4 and I could not reproduce the lag phenomena you complain of at all what so ever. X4 is not the sharpest tool in the shed but I do not think that explains anything. I would tend to suspect that you may have a mouse driver problem (easy to check on and fix if necessary). I would make sure that my video card drivers are up to date. You may want to consider how long it has been since you cleaned your PC's case interior (possibility of dust coated interior causing overheating of interior components) or lastly perhaps it is time to upgrade your video card to a newer model. Most suspect is your own PC hardware it its drivers and not X4. As an aside I would put those additional 2D details that you currently have in the plan view in "CAD - Cad Detail Management", that alone might speed up doing things in plan and camera views. But that is just a personal opinion, not vital data or an explanation of why you are getting "slows" DJP

Chief Lite or Chief Interiors are the same application. It is designed for the Interior Decorator and costs $1,995.00 as opposed to Premier. I would just call Tech Support, with your SSA you get free phone answers. The staff at Chief Inc are merely Human like us and things can get overlooked sometimes, If it is important to you, then call them. DJP

I have taught Chief Seminars from 1999-2005 and have been helping others with Chief and Home Designer software since 1999 via the internet. Please contact me for an appointment if you like. DJP

Back in the early days before Chief added the curved roof option, the only way to emulate a curved roof was to manually create small roof sections at different pitches to emulate a curve. This was the only option for many years and versions until they added that option around version 9 of Chief Premier. In Home Designer Pro that is currently your ONLY option, other that setting a dormer default to a curved roof, exploding the dormer and then copy-paste the curved roof. In either case it is a very manual operation but can be done if you are intent enough to do so. DJP

If it is aesthetic you must have, you must also be willing to make it aesthetic. This is not merely software based but rather end-user based. I agree with Michael above along that line. If your PC hardware sucks that is your responsibility not Chief's. If you require beauty, then create it using whatever you have to do so. Vectorworks is on sale or you can use what you have. The make break is how intent you are to have beauty and your competence to create it and or know what it is when you see it. DJP

Larry, as Michael has suggested some work-rounds may have to be applied to get a more perfect look in camera views. Another "solution" is to set all framing to carry "Drywall" as its material instead of the default wood material. I just do what I must to quickly get an acceptable appearance to what I am doing. DJP

What the message actually says is that you have a version of X8 which has not yet been updated to the latest patch (newer is newer is all it means). If it had meant X9 it would have said so but it merely said that the file was created by an updated X8 relative to the one you obviously have which is not updated. Check that out by checking to see if you are in fact running the latest version of X8. (18.3.2.2x64) DJP

You also need to turn off "ceiling over this room" on the shower's "Structure Tab" DJP

Never disparage yourself. We are all ignorant until we are no longer so. What you know, you know, what you do not yet know you can find out. DJP

It is always the case when problems arise that it comes down to a setting or settings in dialog boxes that you did not know about. Such things take time to become aware of as there are a lot of settings in a lot of dialog boxes. DJP

A week end seminar is delivered in two days and covers a preset curriculum. It's speed is governed by the slowest classroom students speed. One on one tutoring and trouble-shooting is more effective for you. This is not merely my opinion but rather from teaching a lot of two-day seminars myself from 1999 - 2005. I can help you if you wish, your choice. DJP

You can turn off (Uncheck) "Auto Rebuild Walls and Ceilings" in "3D Preferences" at any time which will stop Chief from auto rebuilding walls and ceilings as well as attic walls but I DO NOT recommend you get into a habit of doing this as you will regret it later. I suggest you do as Eric recommended and "Just get used to how Chief is Programmed to work" and work with it as it is. That is what I do. DJP

Most engineers use AutoCAD. So when sharing my drawings with engineers I export the plan views and elevations as .dwg (AutoCAD native file format) from Chief after I find out what version of AutoCAD they use. I have been using this method for many years with success. Finding a licensed Engineer that also uses Chief may be a hard job to get done though I do know of a couple, just not in Florida. DJP

Part of my business is teaching and tutoring others in and with Chief Architect and Home Designer software. I am not certified in that I never bothered to pay for and take the certification test. I have taught classroom seminars in Texas, New Mexico and also in Idaho at the 2005 Users Meeting in Coer d 'Alene and have operated as a teacher-tutor since 1999. I do so via the internet using my "Go to Meeting" desktop sharing service. That way it does not matter where you are. I have helped other users from South Africa to Russia to lots of exotic places around Earth. It is fun, safe and easy to do. DJP

With such a geometrically complicated roof system, I use auto-build roofs and then simplify the roof lines manually. You should also consider doing that as well in this case. Auto Build roofs for me is usually just a starting point. I am smarter and more experienced that any software running on settings, you are too. DJP

If you live near Minnetonka, MN You might consider contacting Dan Baumann who either can help you or refer you to someone local who is also competent. You can certainly work with Charles Volz as above but if you must have some one physically one on one you might pursue talking to Dan. ChiefExperts.com, Inc.12304 Junction RoadMinnetonka, MN 55343 Email: dan@chiefexperts.com Office: 952-236-4427 DJP

I opened it in an AutoCAD viewer and the wall lines show perfectly but when imported into Chief the wall lines are invisible and not on an imported layer as far as I can see, weird, even when I made the background black in Chief, the wall lines appear to have not been imported at all. DJP

Chief is programmed/designed to operate from one's hard drive or in very specialized cases from a local network. Services like Dropbox, One Drive etc are in terms of Chief Architect and Home Designer Software should not actively be used to work on plans in real time. I use cloud services only for sharing and storing of inactive .plan and .layout files. To do otherwise is to invite unnecessary trouble and loss. You can easily verify this with Chief Architect Inc. Tech Support during their office hours. DJP

I can help you with your project. Please e mail or call me (see signature below) DJP

Do you own any Chief Premier software or Home Designer Software? What is your phone number? DJP

Nope. https://accounts.chiefarchitect.com/360/535464413230059 DJP

Do what Eric said: "use a railing symbol, not a wall". Or you can make a railing exactly 5' long that contains the correct baluster spacing from slabs, poly-line slabs, or soffits if you must have absolute precision. DJP

It appears that your "Drawing Sheet " and print software are properly set but the 2D CAD of your border and title block are too small (not upsized for a Arch D sheet). Also Check the scale of the drawing instance you sent to your layout using the "Scale" tool to verify that it is at the intended scale (1/4" = 1' Scale). you missed a Print Set Up setting that is causing the results to be off. Find your mistake by carefully reviewing your presettings and then try again. The print process is simple but totally unforgiving when you make mistakes. DJP

For back up I use Carbonite with my PC laptop and desktop. I also use Dropbox, ICloud and other free storage services mainly for the transferring and sharing of files with clients. I never actively use any adjunct services for "actively working on" .plan files as Chief is not properly programmed to work on remote files (you are better off only working on active files directly from your hard drive). Nothing but trouble ensues when some of my clients and students have tried to work active files from ICloud, dropbox and other such services. If you or others get different results I am happy for you, I know from others experiences that trying to do so is merely a source of unnecessary trouble and loss. DJP

I run legacy versions of Chief and Home Designer. For the oldest I dual boot into Windows XP x32, so I do not need it to also run in anything newer, OS wise. I have read other threads here about this subject and others run Chief 10 within Windows 7-10, the main "Must Have" are updated hardware dongle drivers from the dongle maker's website. I have not tried this myself but reports from other users were positive. There are much better 2D CAD programs, even free ones that have better 2D tools than Chief 10 (TurboCAD, IntelliCAD and others) that are designed to operate within Windows 10. You do as you see best. DJP