lbuttery

also note that the software requires a software lock and needs to touchbase with the mothership every so often or the license can be turned off X9 was the last version to have a hardware key that gave independence of CA's control unless the key breaks etc the software lock was introduced with X2 someday I expect to hear that CA has turned off all software licenses prior to version XYZ they have never indicated this - just my supposition that they could Lew

caution about using the Client Viewer do you really want to get into "tech support" with clients that are not "computer savvy" ? If so, then learn how to use Zoom or the equivalent to make the "training" easier Lew

Hmmm, apparently two people don't like my advice about PRO users following the Chieftalk forum Too damn bad I will continue to offer this advice Lew

HD PRO users can benefit from following Chief Talk since PRO has many of the manual tools that Premier has be aware that some solutions won't apply to PRO best to note in any queries that you are using PRO for HD products to edit a Premier file there is a setting in Premier to allow that but the versions have to be compatible I believe there is a chart on CA's website Lew

I agree with Mick about upgrading to HD PRO Lew

maybe software like this ? https://softwareconnect.com/construction-management/uda-construction-suite/ integrates with Chief: https://www.uniteddesign.com/cs_cadsoft_integration-cm.html https://press.udatechnologies.com/archive/2008/09 Lew

I hear that Planswift makes a good companion for Chief https://www.planswift.com/ Lew

Chopsaw: you are correct but very easy to print 11 x 17 at Staples or Office Depot etc Lew

i set my layout to 24 x 36 (Arch C) with a 1" border all around thus giving 22 x 34 then if a client or trade needed smaller the PDF could be printed at 50% to give 11 x 17 - tabloid size which I believe is just as easy to print as legal most home printers can do 11 x 17 Lew

as Chopsaw stated if a "workaround" / "futzing" works that is a good sign that Chief is capable of having a dedicated tool to achieve the task in the future send it to suggestions - and maybe - just maybe - some future release will add that feature Lew

my general rule is to spend $$$ on items that can't be upgraded later ram and storage can usually be added later video card upgrade - maybe ? screen size, video card, cpu, power supply are not upgradeable or difficult to upgrade plan for at least 5 years of usage I still use my 2008 Win7 laptop as an offline workstation Lew

https://www.iccsafe.org/professional-development/training/ Lew

Chief has limited BIM Chief can't do bi-directional BIM sharing You probably need industry capable BIM software Chief is capable of doing "small" commercial projects where BIM is not a factor Lew

another method is to create a separate plan for just the terrain then make a 3D symbol of the house and save to the library then add the symbol to the terrain plan then play Lew

if the buildings are attached then 1 file is best if they are detached then having a separate plan may be "easier" all depends on your skill level too Lew

Ryan: as I stated they need to be aware of the limitations of HD PRO so they can evaluate whether a Premier solution will work for them Lew

HD PRO users can benefit from following ChiefTalk as PRO has many manual features like Chief Premier has Just understand PRO's limits and if you post on Chieftalk please clarify that you are using PRO and that some of the suggestions may not apply to PRO Lew

another choice is to have a plan for each terrain place the house in the new plan - then make a symbol of the house and place it in the old plan a layout can reference multiple plans Lew

Gene: be aware that even with monitor and printer calibration the colors can still be "different" depending on the material used on and the time of day etc warn the client that they should do test patches and review at various time of day etc before buying many gallons only to find they don't like it Lew

https://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/performance/accuracy/ military stopped "selective availability" in 2000

GPS data from sats used to be 3 meters off or was it 3' (1 meter) ? this was a requirement by the military not sure if this has changed Lew

Chief has never been backward compatible and never will be With Chief's 3D model there is simply to much complexity to go backward If the plan uses a feature from NEW version and it was saved as PRIOR version what would be done with any features that were used in NEW version that PRIOR version doesn't have ? just leave big holes in the plan - leave stuff dangling unattached out in cad space ? Lew

Shane: I did that years ago and every time I contacted tech support they blamed the issue on Chief being installed "wrong" I finally gave up and re-installed to C: Lew

saving CA to an Autocad readable format By choosing to save it as whatever the version Autocad the other user is currently using Note: Autocad is 2D software and can be saved as an older version - because it is simple cad lines Chief is 3D and thus the plans are far more "complex" and it is not feasible to save as an older version Lew

Jim: A companion for Chief is Planswift You export .jpg's from Chief and import into Planswift then do your material lists with pricing https://www.planswift.com/estimating/general-contractors-estimating-software/ Lew