tchomes

We use the tools --> Reference Plan Files so that we only have one place to go to change all the elevation views. As we get closer to finals, we may have 20-30 elevation/cross section, cabinet views and doing them individually would be very time consuming. Again, this is something that has just started happening with X16, so hoping there was a toggle to turn this feature off. Also, typically when re-linking to the latest file, our Plot Line Views will automatically turn on color when we click to save the .pdf the first time. So we usually have to "print to pdf" twice. The first time it goes through and updates the views and makes them color. We close that one and then we can re-print to .pdf and it will be correct. This doesn't happen everytime, but often enough that our designers have to check before closing and saving. We have 60+ open projects at any given time in our office and most of my designers are making small updates to 3-4 projects per day, so this is a time consuming task that we didn't have in X15. We pride ourselves on trying to be as efficient as possible.

I appreciate the feedback, but we only use Plot Lines. We never use Live View.

We create versions for the .plan and .layout file for each time we send it to the customer so we can revert back to previous versions if needed. So our process includes renaming the .plan and .layout each time and re-linking it in the .layout file. When X16 came about, now when you re-link to a new filename, it automatically goes and updates all the elevations views (Exterior cameras as well as wall elevations). I am wondering how to turn this off? This can be very time consuming when working on older files as well as when making minor adjustments to files. All view Dependent Edits are lost as it refreshes the view. I am sure this is a nice feature that was requested by some, but it has negative drawback to my design firm. I appreciate letting me know where to uncheck this feature. Thank you.

So far, so good...

Having a problem with the program seeming to crash repeatedly. The error message is below. Has anyone seen this and been able to correct the problem?

Thanks everyone for their comments. I’ve decided to switch all of our future meetings to Teams and we will try it out. I won’t cancel my zoom subscription until we used TEAMS for a month or so without hiccups. I’ve decided not to get Teams integrated VoIP phones. Seems shortsighted initially. Thanks again everyone!

I did a search before writing this, but didn't find anything quickly so.... For those of you that share your Chief screen with a client while doing design work, have you had any issues with Teams vs Zoom? I ask as we have been using Zoom since COVID, but thinking of switching to MS Teams since we already have the license with Office 365 and are looking to integrate TEAMS phones. However, I read that MS Teams can have some issues when sharing video with lots of users. The most we have on our design meetings is 3-4 users, so unsure if the articles are talking about 100's of users as in a general sales meeting or classroom setting, or if sharing video like Chief, would be problematic... Not a big issue to switch back, except for the fact that we may get hardware for our office phones that would be setup for VOIP with MS Teams. not sure if the hardware will still work if we switch back to Zoom and go with another VOIP provider. Thanks in advance for your great knowledge!

and that is why I posted this in the suggestions section so that maybe the program can be changed to offer this as a room style.

Hello, My name is Scott with Tracy's Custom Homes in Texas. I am trying to figure out how to make a "Room Type" for our porches and patios. I want the patio floor to be dropped 1.5" all the way around. I used the Garage room type. This was the only one I could find that would allow you to lower the slab floor. How can I make a room type that will allow you to lower the slab floor for a porch and can be saved to our master template for everyone to use?

Thanks for both of your ingenious ideas! I used the polyline as a road perimeter with a curb. I had to set the curb 1" tall for it to show all the brick as it appeared the terrain was cutting the curb otherwise. I used the road marking for the cross bands. In hindsight, I may could have used the road again, as the road marking you can't set the defualt height and it creates a little bit of a "toe trip hazard", but for my CD's, it won't be noticeable. Thanks again for your creativity! I knew I could count on Chief Talk.

I am needing to add brick inlay boarder and strips in a sidewalk for a customer. Normally in Texas, everything is flat and I just create a molding polyline on the sidewalk and that takes care of it. This customer is building with a little bit of terrain and wants an exposed porch, so the sidewalk doesn't lay flat... I'm sure some of you have figured this out, so I am all ears! Let me know your tricks. Attached is my polyline trick, which doesn't follow the terrain like my sidewalk does. I'm moving on to some other items on my clients list and will check back in when you all have solved my dilemna. Thanks in advance for being super smart!

We are a small design firm (5 employees) and I am looking to bring in an additional designer. Prefer Chief experience, which is why I am posting here. We work out of our design office located in Farmersville, TX. We are NOT looking for remote work. We do full design (floor plans, elevations, cabinet design, electrcial...) and work with about 26 custom home builders NE of the Dallas area. If interested, please review our job posting at indeed.com. Send resume to: roy@tracyscustomhomes.com Thank you, Roy www.tracyscustomhomes.com

Awesome Eric. I never checked the line style at the bottom. I have no idea how that got changed. I REALLY appreciate you finding that. If I can assist you sometime to pay you back, let me know.

Sorry Eric, I have added the file to my original post. Thanks

I am working on electrical on a plan and I have placed all my electrical symbols and now I go back and add electrical connections between the switches and lights. However, after picking the end points the line disappears and doesn't actually draw a connection. I have had this happen before when working on a legacy plan and I closed it and restarted and everything worked fine. This time, I have closed Chief and restarted my machine and still it won't show up. Anyone else have this issue and know how to fix it? I can draw a line or arc and put it on the electrical layer, but I have a shortcut key to the electrical connections which makes it much quicker. I am working on a final set and the customer is expecting thier plans by the end of the day.... Thanks for your help in advance. Minchew Residence b.zip