lbuttery

Hi: look under MENU - FILE - IMPORT for the various file types chief can accept I doubt if .bim is there Chief has very limited BIM capabilities and doesn't play well in the BIM sandbox I have been suggesting for over a decade that Chief allow for inter-operability with other BIM apps but no joy so far you should contact CA's sales team and discuss your needs to ensure that they don't have a solution as to let them know they might be "missing the boat" Lew

I prefer to have separate buildings in separate plans then create a 3D symbol of each building and place it in the library then have a master plan with terrain etc and place each building symbol as needed HOWEVER, if the various "buildings" are attached as "one" in real life it is probably best to model it as one building this will require learning how to control floor and ceiling heights and roofs for a "split-level" this requires a decent learning curve I have a partner/friend who does this type of complex modeling for me as I just don't get it - most of the time if you don't "get it" after awhile - consider hiring someone to help with the tricky parts also If you post the plan here - many will attempt to help for free - as they love the challenge Lew

it only allows 1 page AFAIK. yes, but you can create as many pages as needed - just one at a time Lew

If Chief would add recordable macros for Ruby this might become feasible along with lots of other power options that recordable macros would give I doubt if this will happen any time soon Lew

Thomas: layers can allow some flexibility for options however, Chief does not have great features for showing various "builders" options as stated it will probably require a separate plan for most "option combo" sets Lew

for the record Chief's free client viewer can pull measurements no idea if it is easier or better Viewer can also do markups and generate renders (and maybe rayraces ???) Lew

Chief's free Client Viewer has mark-up tools and lets the Clients create 2D and 3D views etc Lew

This fix, from tech support, is what I have to do fairly frequently. It fixes it for that session but then reappears in the next day or two. I don't worry about it until I am taking a break because the program still works fine. Annoying, but it is what it is! Sherry: wow !!! that would drive me crazy every time it happened I would call CA's customer support to complain about it I would want to annoy them every time I got annoyed I'm glad I have always used the hardware lock this is why I am staying with X9 and won't be using X10 or any future versions that don't have a hardware lock Lew

If you are still interested in trying to use Chief's Material List for estimating etc then contact Joey Martin as I believe he has a method worked out that involves meticulous detail and then exporting to Excel for extensive massaging of the data - but he claims it works and is worth it Lew

Just a note to OP HD Suite doesn't have manual roof tools so you won't be able to edit those roof planes etc except with the auto roof tools HD PRO does have manual roof tools Lew

I have my laptop on 24/7 and I use Chief X9 with hardware lock I fired up X10 to check something and I got the message about needing to connect so even tho I am connected the software doesn't try to connect to mother ship until activated again so if you only use Chief occasionally then there won't be an issue until you want to use it again and then you will need to ensure it does connect with mother ship and refresh the license or the next time it won't work ... Lew

a Chiefer who has X10 should be able to fix the roof for you and you will be able to open and edit the plan afterwards if they set the "edit plan" setting for HD (whatever it is called) Lew

Randy: if the settings are done properly any size paper should be to scale one method I use for paper size is to draw on 18 x 24 for 1/4" scale with a border giving 17 x 22 then if needed I can print at 50% and it fits nicely on 8.5 x 11 for 1/8" scale same with 24 x 36 with a border for 22 x 34 for 1/4" scale which gives 11 x 17 at 50% for 1/8" scale Lew

Scott: you could also consider X4 as that is the first version with anno-sets avoid X3 at all costs basically X4 forward would be good to consider NOTE: CA also has a monthly payment plan that is worth considering Lew

$2100 for X6 would be way too high Upgrade fee for X6 is $1595 subtract $500 (or so) from new license price ($2,795) that should be an offer for older version + transfer fee + upgrade cost to new version (X10) any more and you might as well buy a new license NOTE: transfer fee can be from $50 for full license to $400+ for 2nd license etc best to consult with CA's customer service before finalizing a deal Lew

I chose to keep my files locale and constantly updating as opposed to dlownload on demand option ReneRabbit - this is my preference too I see the Cloud as a "convenience" not as a workplace I'm old fashioned since I started with computers in 1976 and bought my first one in 1978 spent 30 years as a systems analyst/programmer and I prefer to control my stuff locally I have been to hotels and other places that have PAINFULLY slow internet get to a clients that has "bad" internet or they don't want you using theirs and ??? just my opinion Lew

an alternative is to create the model in Chief then create floorplans and elevations etc as .JPG's or maybe .PDF's and use them with Planswift to do the estimating not sure if CADEST is still in business, it used to have interface with Chief Lew

someday CA will get rid of all "hardcoding" "everything" should be changeable via preferences or defaults Lew

You can also try Elefont software which I believe is free Lew

maybe your should contact CA's sales team and discuss your needs Lew

I'll take productivity improvements any day Perry: If I was still in business I might agree I think X9 will continue to meet my needs and I do wonder what will happen if CA changes policies and decides to turn off older software locks or someone buys the company or they go out of business or their building burns down etc etc etc Lew Lew

Antoine: yes, it is a "downgrade" no more hardware locks If I was still in business I might have to suck it up and go with the software locks but I only use Chief for my historical projects so I think X9 will be sufficient for that need for many a year to come Scott/Perry: BTW, I'm stuck on Office 2010 also and Win7 Lew

My partner and I have X10 but we are staying with X9 since X10 doesn't have hardware locks Lew

-Layer Set. What if the layer set doesn’t exist? And if the layer set DOES exist, what if it’s set up differently in the legacy plan? What to do with any layers that exist in the legacy plan but not in the new plan? What to do with the layers that exist in the new plan but not in the legacy plan? -Annotation Set. What if the Annotation Set and any/all of its defaults don’t exist? Michael: but Chief can already import/export layersets and annosets ??? so apparently, they deal with the issues ??? on IMPORT you get to choose which layersets to import and can select all of them you can also choose to replace existing layersets or they will be added as new ones annoset IMPORT gives lots of choices (see image) I'm sure something similar could be done for plansets Lew

I guess I don't understand why CA doesn't include import/export for these types of features automatically ? why wait for requests and then many versions later to give something they KNOW everyone will want to have ? if they truly are unsure they could ask before implementing new features ? Lew