MarkMc

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Everything posted by MarkMc

  1. Thanks bunches. I can get easily confused these days, big help
  2. As suggested I always draw at least 4 walls. Print only from layout and select use current screen when sending to layout which makes fitting easier. Most of the time I also draw adjacent rooms at least roughly, though often to accurate dimensions. In Chief it is so easy that I see no reason not to. It only takes a few extra field measurements and a few minutes. I keep templates for raised ranch and split, which would take longer to set up. Or drag out an old job that was completely drawn and do a save as. I can just adjust those to suit the situation which is quick. Clients really like that. It allows them (and me) to understand flow better, perspectives are more realistic (include the view out of their window, patio door, for backdrop. In special cases take a photo of an adjacent room and place a billboard in the doorway) Most of my competitors don't bother so it sets me apart. It lands jobs. Small extra effort, big advantage, might be worth considering.
  3. I just always use custom counters, always made from only one cabinet in a run to avoid extra nodes and start with square corners. I like control
  4. Not quite- it doesn't assemble cabinets rather it splits one. It takes a cabinet and allows you to split the face, vertically and or horizontally (don't see if there is a limit to how many) then assign each section as neded- i.e 72" cabinet- split vertical into 3 sections, make left a sink base, center a drawer base, and right a sink base. You can assign left and right stiles and a default separation, individual horizontal seperations as before. Perfect to make a double sink vanity, but doesn't accept two sinks. When I said the "old method" that is to make individual cabinets adjust stiles as needed then block- which is closer to mulling windows. That at least give me control over the sinks- top drawer hardware is done the same either way.
  5. Thanks- I just thought there was some improvement here. Might as well go back to the old way of making double vanities in this case, thanks
  6. Setting this on my toolbar- from what I can tell I need to have both "object painter" and "select properties to paint" ? IF I click "select properties to paint" first nothing happens If I select the "object painter" I get a spray can but have no control over what properties it uses If I select the OP then click properties I get a list. Is this how it works? or am I missing something somewhere?
  7. Just tried the new feature, have half a dozen vanities to do in a house and thought this would make life easier.. Split the cabinet no problem- then tried to add two sinks. I can't figure it out- anyone try this? If you were successful what makes it work? Also- from what I can tell there is no way to eliminate hardware on the false drawers at the sinks, correct?
  8. with your file if I click- - "make make room molding polyline" and leave it set to 0 I get what you got. -Do the same and set to 4" and I get what Arthur got. -make room polyline- then convert to molding polyline- get a pline with fewer nodes.
  9. select all using ctrl+a, space bar or shift select a group then space bar, skip past what you want on, and shift select again
  10. They are on a Pdf so can't be selected. That layer is locked so you can trace them to make your own profiles. They are scaled to actual size and are common profiles. I drew a few and placed them on the side to show the needed orientation to have prior to sending to the library.
  11. Youdaman you too Scott thanks guys. Sunyaer might want to mark this as solved.
  12. Joe, the material doesn't rotate with the object. I tried faces to see if they work differently but rotate a face also altered the size for some reason?? Great idea Scott, it keeps the grain going properly but that makes a mitered door not a rail and stile door. Still very useful though don't use them often I just took on a line that has quite a few and does them well (rare) I was not looking forward to making them with solids. Wish I'd thought of that some time back when I had to do a bunch of floor inlays for a client- using my limited brute force tactics took some time, this is easy. Still wonder what the magic trick is? Is it a secret? Where's Doug?
  13. Those behave the same way the one I made in Chief (which also has the grain correct) does- that is click the eyedropper tool, select a texture, apply to the doors. IT will change either the rails or the stiles and panel depending on where you click. (middle and right in attached pic) So it takes an extra click and an extra material definition. Doors in the core catalog, along with many (most?) in the manufacturers catalogs show grain correctly for both rails and stiles AND the entire door changes when a new material is applied and it shows the new grain correctly. (left in attached pic) So the question is how to make a door that does that? I have tried blocking, exploding, adding faces, exporting in every file format and reimporting as a symbol. I did not mess with the exported files first but based on the sketchup import I don't see that as a likely solution.
  14. I don't know how to do it ay other way than what I show. Which works but as you see adds a step when changing texture. Hopefully someone else knows an alternate. I've tried more than a few variants with no success. If no responses may try something over in the Q&A forum. I have at least one plan using catalog doors where the grain doesn't work once I changed textures and not sure what I did or how to fix and ought to find out.
  15. If the frame is made from a single p-solid with another subtracted from it then all change at once- but grain also goes only in one direction. pic below Checked and don't see jaggedness you are talking about on my machine. Molding lines are straight as far as I can tell, perhaps the molding profile has some roughness and you can see it? Since you have the plan you can change any of the parts you think might help. Don't get why you had issues with the door I loaded? Sizing should have been x -3,3 and z 12" works properly for me? Why--3,3 pic below
  16. Are you having trouble with the one I included? Checked and it seems to be working properly on mine. I use the -3,+3 for adding muntins.
  17. Here is a zipped plan file you can play with, call it a kit. There is one set of parts for a door with just an framing bead, and on the wall next to it another that a molding Pline for the lip (outside edge) I also placed a finished door in the plan- you want to open the symbol and look at the "sizing tab" -I almost always have to set these by trial and error, just can't remember what they should be. You can change the molding profiles. Both have a recessed panel -somebody smarter than me (Joe?) has to tell you how to make raised panels in Chief- I don't know how. If I need that I use other software. You can snag a few raised panels from the 3d Warehouse (sketchup which is what I'm more likely to use if I'm making a door) or raised panel doors there and edit them till you have a panel to use. I made some notes in the plan and elevation about what is going on in each and why I use the view. If they don't show check the layers that show. Once a door is the way you want it: Save as- name the file for the new door, then delete everything else but the door parts- walls cameras, text profiles- everything. Go to a perspective view, select: Tools, Symbol, convert to symbol, select cabinet door from drop down, check off "add to library" and "advanced options". Note- this door is made with separate rails and stiles- there is also a way to make the that out of a single object. If I have to go to the trouble of making a door I want the texture of the rails and stiles to show correctly (going in different directions) so I go to the trouble to do it this way. There may be simpler ways to do all of this in which case someone will hopefully chime in. As noted earlier I snag as many existing doors as possible from the over 40 mfg catalogs- there area lot to pick from. FWIW I sell cabinets (5 mfgs- none with catalogs in Chief; 3 supported in 2020) and I primarily use Chief.
  18. one place to start is with the various manufacturer catalogs. Open a new plan, draw 4 walls and take a perspective view. Then go to a manufacturer catalog and start dragging cabinet doors onto the plan. Click OK when it asks if you want to place as a free standing object. Look at the 3D view. As you find door styles you will need add them to your library, one at a time and rename each one to something relevant to you. I use several brands and keep a folder with door styles for each. It is a bit tedious but you can find a fair amount of what you will need. Whatever you can't find you will then need to make as Joe outlined. When making your own it is a good idea to check them on a wall cabinet in 3d. Change the size a few times to make sure your new symbol works properly. You may want to keep the help section on stretch zones and planes open until you get doors to behave properly. This is most important for doors with muntins.
  19. I use both semi and full custom but both by a manufacturer. Both rely on written order, with drawings for clarity. All the competing cabinet software does pretty pictures. I would not have dumped a $6k investment , with 15 years familiarity, in program pricing and a decent cabinet list with mods for pretty pictures. I think cabinet and interior people are just a market of opportunity for CA, hardly a priority. I've run into more kitchen folks who dumped CA than use it. Really, I don't see any other features listed anywhere, cabinet or otherwise? Where is the list? This feature was heavily requested by "building" folks on the forum (of course there are many more of them here) it would not be one of my priorities. I'd agree it may play well to the bleachers. Give me control over cabinet sides, fix clipped corners, show side panels in plan, snap dimensions to cabinet parts, put "guts" into "Interiors", ...I might see things otherwise, but I'm not about to make book on any of them. A general fix to schedules would be a benefit for me and I suspect many users. As to the GUI- I'm for anything that improves productivity or accuracy. That along with stability are why I use it. Cost? If a competing software (or an upgraded ver$ion of Chief) was suddenly a major improvement for my work I'd be on it as soon as I could afford it, Tools and materials are almost always cheaper than labor.
  20. I took an 8hr on line class thru Chief as a jump starter. Then and now use all the resources mentioned and read this forum every day. The "legacy chieftalk" -old forum - is near the top of the forum page.
  21. Just tried a variation on Scott's suggestion. Opened a plan then placed cabinets in it -nothing else- set each to a specific configuration and saved as a template. So any one of those cabinets can be used to set the default which will take care of the toe, top drawer, etc. mentioned below. I'll work with that for a while- would cut down on templates - still doesn't really solve the switching problem-wish select same load same had a way to deal with it. Scott-Hadn't tried that -just gave it a shot now to see if that is better...not sure it is but will try it a little further to see.if it is an improvement. One issue I found off the bat is the toe height. If I set a toe height for a cabinet to say 4" and remove the "D" but the plan has 4" as the default it adds back the "D" . So if I send it to the library and drag it into a plan with 4-1/2" toe it switches to that . IF it is a drawer base (variations of which are the most common cabinets I store) that changes the drawer heights. Guess I could change the default on the plan, then change the cabinet toe to a non default and then add one to the library for each variable to use to reset the defaults A couple of critical elements in cabinets don't respond to defaults; top drawer height and construction (Inset, frameless, overlay) are two. I have: 2 toe heights, 4 top drawer heights, 2 reveals on frameless, 3 for overlay, 2 top rail heights for inset walls...two templates configured as traditional overlay (one frameless and one full overlay) so that I can make the top and bottom reveals match the specs. Biggest thing for me is the need to make multiple variations for a client or change is mid stream....Doors style and color are easy. Construction and brand not so much once everything is in place. Would be nice to streamline it all (or have more cooperative clients , so far templates have helped. I'll try your suggestion a bit- I'm open to anything.
  22. For me the building defaults are either existing or decided by someone else so I set those as needed. I have about 9 for different cabinet makes and construction -top drawer, toe, and top rail height; inset, overlay and frameless. I did save one for raised ranches with a building in place and have a couple of extra with 9 foot ceilings with stacked cabinets. Occasionally I can open an old plan and work off that.
  23. No, there is not a way to change that. For just a few cabinets you can fix it in layout-(this is for Premier- won't work in Interiors) easiest to first draw cad in elevation I drew a pline rectangle, sized it and point to point to move to corner of the cabinet- have to zoom in since it doesn't snap. Then transform replicate/copy by a factor of 0.9, then adjust the dimensions to 5/8. Once in layout use tools,layout, edit layout lines(not available in interiors) and delete the original lines at 3/4" then you have to adjust all the shelf lines to meet you gable. I thought there was a way to resize a pline box by a dimensions but can't find it- anyone know how to do that??