kylejmarsh

On 1/19/2024 at 7:00 PM, richoffan said:

Nice

Sometimes you can bypass the Rescheck requirement by citing the code and going with the 'perscriptive' option which requires a certain minimum insulation/windows/etc. In michigan there's an option on the energy compliance sheet that you just check a box and you're good.

If you have to do some exporting, I find (on a mac) that you can just export the 'thermal envelope data' and plug it into rescheck online version and it's pretty simple.

Yikes I can't believe they put windows with horizontal panes in an otherwise well-done dormer. 

Can't believe I missed this so long ago but the Thermal Envelope data is a nice feature. Would be even better if it could be linked to a live schedule instead of an export.

Anyway my question is how can we get a 'clean' export of the data? Right now it comes in with the units attached to the numbers in teh spreadsheet and that's a real PITA. Not a biggie but one of those 'I wonder why' things

On 9/24/2015 at 7:51 PM, RodCole said:

When setting up cross referenced cameras it compounds the work req'd for the cameras and call out numbering rather than being able to set them up and drag and rotate.

Just set them up in your template off to the side and move them up when you want them. Then they're already set the way you want them, and already synced to your template layout file. Done and done. I have three for each direction:

On 11/14/2019 at 12:52 PM, Kbird1 said:

If you can't find it , goto Preferences>Reset Options> Reset Side Windows

 

M.

A lifesaver! Worked like a charm.

- B/W didn't help it

- The former layout prints no problems (but it was from a while back so could be other issues)

I ended up moving it over to a new layout file and prints just fine:

Now here's the test: Turn on the watermark and what happens to the print? (save it first!)

Looks like it works just fine...

Having issues exporting a layout set where the file exports a blank looking pdf. However if you inspect the pdf a bit you'll see that the text is there, but everything is just white.

Here is a pdf with the issue:

Plans - Evangelista - Estimate Review - Sep 5.pdf

It's a small file so I assume only the text is getting added to the pdf not the vectorwork or the live views.

Also should know:

- Other layout files plot just fine, it's just this one .layout

- Relinking the model to a different one does not help

- Sending it to printer instead of pdf creates a blank sheet

- Previews in print dialog show as white

- I had played around with adding a watermark to this layout, which is the only thing that is different than usual (from what I can tell)

Any ideas on what could be going on?

Plans - Evangelista - Estimate Review - Sep 5.pdf

Agreed the plant images are basically unusable - even the multi-poly trees are not good-looking enough to be worth bogging down the model. I've been doing renderings in TM but even there they don't have many of the big trees around here - Maples, Oaks, Hickory...

On 9/17/2022 at 12:11 AM, Alaskan_Son said:

Anyway, long story short, there are definitely a bunch of problems that need to be addressed. 

One thing that should be addressed is that Chief should offer a standard 'Master List' with dang-near everything on there. Would be great if they hosted it on their website (with some kind of disclaimer obviously) and updated it every season or so. 

Problem is that all framing should be already on there (beacuse we're not creating anything new like that) and a basic window, door, etc. etc... just a 'ballpark' type of Master List would be excellent because I could export it and give to the builders just for gut check type measurements.

Maybe we should crowdsource a Master List together here at the forum. Would be a lot easier if we had all of us pricing things and adding them to a list than one of us chasing down prices for every part of our project like a General ...

Here's how you can make some nice looking demo elevations with red dashed linework.

Start with demo layer having the dashed + red linework style.

Then go 3D to vector view - and try to turn off the 'color' of the wall textures. Problem is it turns off the linework red color too, which you want to preserve:

My hack is just to turn the 'material color' to white for the textures on the existing model:

And the final result is pretty nice:

Then you can send this to your layout view as a static image ->

Or you can coordinate the demo elevations, which now look like this:

Final product - demo elevations with dashed, colored linework showing demo areas:

Does anybody have an easier idea? There could probably be some changes to the software to allow for 'plot lines' views with colored + dashed linework (or maybe there already is?) but currently this seems like the best way to do it.

Kyle

On 8/4/2022 at 4:40 PM, Alaskan_Son said:

You don't need to create a whole new Default Set.  All you need to do is change the Dimension Default being used for your Saved Plan View.  Of course you can create a whole new Default Set, its just not necessary in most cases. 

Good idea - ok so time to make better use of' saved plan views' I guess

Hmm so I would need to set up different Annosets for the different type of dimensioning I do, and the Auto Dimensions can be controlled by the Annoset defaults? That could work. I will give it a try and report back.

Just revisiting this again - I wish that each of the different automatic dimension types could be on a different layer, because depending on what you're showing you want different dimensions to show up. For example, I would like my outside corners and perhaps my overall dimension on the roof plan, but I don't need my window centerlines on there. For site plan, I would want just my overall dimensions perhaps. Here they are - I keep overall, outside corners, and centerline dimensions on different layers and show them in different colors so I can keep track of them. It would be great if we could tie the auto-dimensions to these different layers

1 hour ago, glennw said:

Sorry, I accidentally deleted my post trying to edit it.

You basically need to draw a 12" wide "L" shaped room and raise the floor.

Keep the original absolute ceiling height. 

This is how I always end up doing it. The Bay/Box window controls are too weak for a finished product, though they are useful during conceptual design

Just checked the MI Residential code section and it looks pretty accurate, even with the later 'Addendum' notes which changed some things like stair rise+run requirements, so looks like they have it up to date. Plus you can see quite a bit of content without an account, just not the photos. Will be bookmarking for future reference and for sharing with builders who may not have a codebook.

So far I just keep a pdf of the code I usually work under, the MI code, which I bought from the icc store: https://shop.iccsafe.org

Thanks for the tip Michael! I have used the skydome but never the reflection probe - will check it out.

Twinmotion is also a good renderer. Fairly easy to learn and powered by the Epic (think Unreal Engine) core rendering software. It has basically realtime rendering (like physically based) and then you click export to get the final one in about 6 seconds.

I'm just dabbling in in but got some decent results:

Also I'm not sure if this still applies but it was at the time the only one that worked on a Mac.

Good Luck!

I have the M1 Pro on my new macbook and it's blazin' fast I'm so glad I upgraded. Also the fact that X14 has a native mac version didn't hurt either - but so far I have been feeling like the program operates smoothly and with far less lag than before. Hope that helps. I bought a refurbished 'new' Macbook pro and it's been more than enough to handle big models and construction drawings.

On 5/3/2022 at 1:20 PM, Designers_Ink said:

I started using this one that Rene Rabbitt suggested.  Very clean, no business names cluttering it up like Google Maps, and really easy to just screenshot and drop into my layout.   https://snazzymaps.com/style/130173/ccr-black-and-white.  With it being black and white, it is also easy to add new streets for those projects in brand new subdivisions which are not on the map yet.

 

I like SnazzyMaps too - been using a greyscale one I adopted for Vicinity Maps https://snazzymaps.com/style/6298/subtle-greyscale-grey-roads

Horizontal windows in otherwise traditional designs are jarring and technically incorrect, especially in a gable-dormer like shown below. Look how splitting this one helps make the entire house much better. So remember to split your transoms into multiple windows, or at least add 'grilles' to them so they are legible from a distance.

Just wanted to chime in here with my first impressions. Overall it's a great update - seems like they did some work 'under the hood' because the overall program seems a lot faster and sleeker. All the actions and things are so much faster - not quite instant like with the mac studio Ryan has but still quite snappy compared to the previous versions. What I really liked is that Layout is much faster than before - they've really sped it up so it works like a CAD program should, without lag. 

It's certainly a game changer when that little bit of lag time is eliminated - very happy about that aspect of the update and it seems to run great with fewer crashes.

2 hours ago, Gawdzira said:

There is also a Width and Height field you can activate in the schedule.

This is probably the answer you're looking for. Here's how I do my window schedules - separating width and height so there's no confusion (sometimes those window codes are so ambiguous especially for customers reviewing them)

Here is the basic window schedule, which live on their own 'cad detail' sheet and automatically update - this way I don't recreate details, and they don't have to live on my main modeling sheet off in the corner.

Set them all up, then you can reference them from a template layout file and you know they'll always be correct.

I also have this one which shows window elevations etc and all the windows are split apart (no double qty etc they are all individual). This goes to the builder when he orders windows, but doesn't appear on the drawing sheets (too big)

AS for W+Height, those feilds are in the table options you can add them, rename, etc....

Hope this helps!

Kyle

Anybody else got a recent follow from this person, who seems to be a BOT or spammer?

Caroline81, if you're real I apologize

Thanks! Have deleted it. Anyway I do agree with the post - dimensioning in elevations should be improved. How about having some snaps for what you want to dimension in the elevation, same way they do in plan view?

BTW I'm not sure how the original toolbar layout does it but I keep my snaps off to the right side like this. You could imagine similar for elevation/section snaps.