DavidJPotter

Try it AFTER you have turned off "Auto Rebuild Roofs". I have never had a crash when doing the same thing you are doing so you must be doing it in a way that crashes the software. Start by turning off Auto Roofs and then try again. You should then use the "Edit Area All Floors" to do as you wish, I would not recommend "marquee select" in the case of multiple floors. There is probably nothing wrong with your software, the problem is resident in the method and manner you chose to use. DJP

The key to relationally correct framing is first: 1. Set all applicable floor platform thickness per floor (Make sure they are correct) 2. Set ceiling heights per floor 3. before building roofs make sure that the default settings for roof planes as well as on their "Structure Tab" is preset to how you are going to build, only then would you build roofs 4. Then recheck to make sure Chief is actually following your commands and settings, correct and rebuild framing as necessary. 5. Then you manually edit the auto-framing so it suits your desires Chief just fills in the spaces you create in the thickness of roof planes and the thickness of floor platforms, it does not do anything else, so if your spaces are set correctly and your defaults are set properly you will then get what you expected to get, but NOT otherwise. DJP

All the plans I create for others are delivered in PDF format since version 8, I have had no problems at all what so ever since then. DJP

Regular and auto generated walls are programmed to seek out and to be cut off by roof planes. DJP

It is part of Windows 10 by default. PDF Factory should be fine, I have also used CutePDF but I, like the others mainly use "Save as PDF that is built into Chief X7 and X8. I prefer Foxit Reader over Adobe Reader, it seems to be more stable on my PC than adobe DJP

If you use solid railings, you can via the "Newels and Balusters" height input box. DJP

I have done or assisted with projects in Argentina, Equator and Mexico. I have also done projects in Europe. Korea, Thailand, the Caribbean, Japan and South Africa. In my experience it is highly addaptable. DJP

Not all steel doors are equal, what is a "rebated" jamb please? I would need a clear understanding of what you steel door jamb should look like in order to answer, can you help me? DJP

Nitin, My PC sometimes requires about ten or fifteen minutes for professional looking renders using its Ray-Tracer function. What software do you have? What is your PC hardware like? DJP

Chopsaw, X3 does not have the "save as PDF" feature unless she has Windows 10 Microsoft save as PDF. If you look at the PDF she uploaded it says she is using "PDF Factory" DJP

In order for an image to have a transparent background the image must be in a file format that supports transparency: .png or .gif only. Are you Transparencies actually Transparent or are they something else? DJP

I do not claim to be a bibliophile of the IRC but I have always used 36" for residential structures and 72" for commercial structures for entry doors, All exterior doors should be at least 36" whether Commercial or Residential. Using this I have never had a plan rejected by anyone, anywhere. (That includes South Africa, Japan, Korea, England, Scotland, The USA, Thailand, Caribbean Islands, Canada, Australia and Argentina. DJP

Others may suggest more exotic procedures but I would just render in the back ground while I worked on other plans, that way you can get your work done without any unusual measures to take. DJP

I use Dropbox for that. Others use Google Drive of Microsoft One Drive and there are others. DJP

First you must fully understand what a bump map is, technically speaking. as Mark and Alan suggested you will then need an image editor so you can alter the grout with tile textures. Some makers of symbols at 3D Warehouse short cut the 3d modeling with bit map overlays which if not fully imported as custom textures into Chief then are lost and you, as you say get a generic looking import. 3D warehouse is free but not always high quality. You might consider buying and learning Sketch Up so you can make or repair such generic symbols, it is a matter of how intent you are to get a particular outcome. DJP

Or your video card just sucks, you might want to update your video card drivers to see if that helps or adjust as Alan said your origin in Camera defaults. If your video hardware is integrated into the mother board then it is a certainty that you need to obtain and install a dedicated video card. DJP

I know a Chief User in Saint Kitts and I know there is also one located in the Caymon Islands, I know of no users in Bermuda other than you, DJP

Another person I know who develops and sells Chief Created plans is Vince Kunasek Address: 9629 Redick Ave, Omaha, NE 68122 Phone: (402) 315-9996 Email. vince@vincekunasekdesign.com DJP

Get out of your head that Chief Architect "thinks, has judgement, is an evil entity etc". It is just a mechanical device that runs from settings that you set properly or set wrongly, especially Edit-Default Settings but also every object has a dialog box with settings, check boxes, radio buttons and input boxes. Get one or several wrongly set and you get chaos, get them right and sail along. Chief's automaticy is preprogrammed and you work with that, sometimes it helps, sometimes it does not. It is up to you to persist, study, practice until you get a good, detailed understanding of the actual cause and effect of settings and procedures to arrive at an outcome. DJP

I quickly got the floor heights adjusted. Where I you I would ignore the auto shifting of the stem walls. Once the floor heights are set then you can manually set the stem walls to whatever height you require. I never worry about any framing until I have the model and roofs stable and relationally correct. Chief being a purely mechanical device cannot be expected to behave otherwise than it is. It is your job to control its parts and objects to a result. I tend to ignore what it does automatically because it cannot do otherwise. DJP PS: Joe was writing the post above while I was studying your plan, I think Joe's post along with mine give you the understanding you need

Persisting and getting it right with the workable correct settings is not "Magic". One can figure out the proper settings by study and practice. Once you are certain how to get a result, it is competence not chance or guessing that gets it done. DJP

Use something else then? I do not find it unstable at all. DJP

There ought to be a setting in the roof specification dialog, so why don't you make this as a suggestion in "Suggestions" DJP

If you want to edit trusses you unlock the truss envelope poly-line and then you can edit the cords and truss poly line. It is tedious work but can be done. I did such a job for the same reasons as you for a particular project back in Version 9.5, so I know it can be done. DJP

The differing floor heights will be affected by way of Edit - Default Settings per floor and certain room specification dialog-Structure Tab settings. It may take a while to convince Chief of what you want to do, you just have to be sure of your settings and persist until you get what you want. When you have the model under control you then build roofs and when the model is relationally correct, only then would you build auto framing. Once auto-framed the manual editing of framing would then begin. DJP