DaViper

I tried dragging the roof plane way out past the wall. The rafter and roofing extend but the heels stay as-is, even with a forced truss rebuild. As well, both walls have the roof plane in the same spot, yet the heels are different side to side. I did figure out that when I raise up the ceiling surface just a touch past the top of plate, it will build a more substantial heel. It really makes no difference though as we have a very special truss design to use that I doubt I can build it Chief. I just need to get dimensions and such right. You can see how one side the truss cuts into the wall and follows along the bottom chord plane. The other has a flat bottom heel, which is what I need. I also learned that once I get my trusses set at the right height, I can just go back and raise the height of the poles in my pole barn and it will notch the poles like I need. Just gotta get this truss issue figured out!

Sorry, my Inet connection is beyond poor today and the file will not upload. I got it loaded to file convoy so you can just open it from there. I generated 4 basic walls and a truss to keep this very simple. There is obviously a setting or something simple causing this but it has so far beaten me. http://www.fileconvoy.com/dfl.php?id=g8d1f23ea792dd5c0999759061063a1b9ec8c5d9af

Nope! Was able to do this one time and still not sure what setting would control this. The picture shows what I want at the heels. I have created several other models. ALL of them will create a nice heel like the one pictured, and another that will cut into the wall at the other side. EDIT: for reference, I added the odd ball. Even if I make a brand new model with 4 basic walls, it does the same thing over and over. One heel has a flat bottom, the other just follows the bottom chord

Got it! My gosh that wasted some time. Apparently I recreated one of the roof planes with "auto birdsmouth" selected. Once I deselected that and recreated the roof planes, we have success.

Thanks and that is what I was thinking. Question though, the truss configuration in truss2 is actually what I want. Is that even a possibility? I am trying to configure something with flats at the heel that sit on top of the top plate or pole in this case with no birdsmouth or notching for now.

I am not sure what a model will do. I will not be able to design the actual truss in Chief, I just need it to be dimensionally accurate. In a nut shell, I need truss1 to look like truss2. These are the two ends of the exact same truss. Chief is generating different ends on the same truss and I am not sure why. If I knew what settings would control this, I could check parameters.

I am going with "more than frustrated" right now. I created my roof and ceiling planes to generate a truss. I am very close to what I need as far as dimensions go BUT in pic truss2, it shows what I need with a vertical heel member. The truss1 (other end) does not do that. I have checked every single parameters side to side for the roof and ceiling planes. Everything is the same. I have also deleted the truss and recreated it, and closed out the program. What parameters define the heel area of the truss and what did I screw up? The way I defined the roof plane was to select the roof plane tool and create boxes around the two walls I would use, then "join roof planes". I think I did a similar procedure for the ceiling. However, I am working these planes from each side rather than together as a unit. Can I combine them to end this nightmare or do I have to work each side separately?

Here is the basic layout of walls. My design uses a flush wall configuration.

Sorry, maybe I should have reposted in my previous thread but this is a pole barn design in which the wall girts are horizontal. I could find no other way than generate the base girt at the correct dims, setback, and position, then translate those up the wall. I guess it is possible that I went about this the wrong way. ? Joe, this has not presented an issue as of yet but due to some changes in wall height and main top beam, I am sure we will need to edit the spacing slightly. I think more than anything I am trying to define some of my own efficient methods for working with pole barn design. I asked previously about adding notched saddle features in the top of the poles for the trusses. That is something I could probably live without on the main model but I will have to build a separate detail sheet for that. It would require it anyway I guess. Just getting more familiar with "custom" work in Chief.

Realizing some issues in editable features in the software, I think I might be able to work around this limitation by defining any duplicates in a separate layer where I could turn on only that layer for deletion and rebuild them. This was realized when creating multiple wood studs. I am unable to go back and change their spacing later and the base level of studs must be defined correctly. I build up my base level of studs, then used the paint features to move all the elements over to a new layer that I created. I wanted to then have all duplicates show up in yet another layer so I could turn on only those duplicates for deletion but the software seems to want to keep those duplicates in the same layer as what is being created. Are there any simple work arounds here? I was wondering if I could possibly make a duplicate of the master elements in a duplicate layer so at least the master layer would still exist? Or can you only have 1 element in 1 layer, and not doubled up?

Not to be biased against Chief but I think the lack of edit options after generation makes me wonder what other softwares might function a little better? I have not used Revit but work a lot in CAM softwares and Catia where there is not one element that is not editable. Catia is top notch for 3D modeling but I would lose countless hours defining each detail in which Chief will auto generate those elements.

Having worked with a lot of different top tier CAD softwares, I think what I am missing most here is an operation tree or some way to review and alter previous steps. Unless I just never found the "tree", this seems a big issue with you use functions such as "duplicate" to make a BUNCH of objects.

Here is where I am. I have built the space by generating a new wall definition with my specs. I built the walls, then specified the room with a mono slab. I then create all my poles using the pole functions and translated them around. I then used the general framing functions for the lower girt and then translated them in the Z at the proper spacing. Problems...... I was attempting to get the base level of my girts in a separate layer as all my replicates so if I need to change spacing, I can do that. So.... Is there either a way to edit the replication specs or a way to get my replicas to show up in another layer? So far I have found no way to either go back and edit my spacings or get the replicas in another layer so if I need to change something, I get to delete about 100 pieces of lumber and start over.

Well, the way I am working it right now is creating the main post array by creating a polygon just for a reference. After posts are complete, come back and add walls along the posts. The framing is "flush" in which the girts/purlins sit on edge and in between the posts and trusses, not on top of them. Questions. 1. How in the world do I add the horizontal framing members? Some say you can do this in 3D but I have not found a way. 2. I need to create a saddle cutout at the top of the posts for the trusses to sit in. How would I do that or should I mod the post defaults before generating them? 3. The gable walls will not have roof trusses, but rather continuous posts all the way to the roof line and a 2x12 roof beam added along the top. The design calls for notching the side of each post so the 2x12 will sit flush with the exterior side surface along the top. The posts are then angle cut to match the roof angle.

I am really fine building an enclosure with wall tools, then framing it as needed but I am finding that overly complicated and figured there was probably an easier way. What I did was generate my concrete pad, then started installing walls on that pad but having issues with that. The walls do not want to sit flush with the outside of the pad so am trying to figure out how to select those areas so I can scoot the walls. Simple stuff but this is what wastes my time. This is what got me thinking if I am doing this all wrong. I can add poles right down through the walls but I have to completely reconstruct the framing with girts/purlins. What I am trying to avoid is get going on a design that looks right and all but by the time I get to the framing, I cannot modify it enough without starting over.

I am already running into questions on how I get started with this. I know starting the right way will help accelerate the build out. The construction is a pretty basic pole barn style with scissor trusses, 12ft pole centers, and metal sheeting. I started by constructing a simple mono slab and attempted to just add ext walls to that. The first issue I ran into was defining the space so I could adjust the wall heights for ext walls. When selecting the space, there are only general settings for "slab". not a room definition with ceiling height. Also, due to the different framing, I am unsure if I should construct the building with framing tools and try to add wall coverings or build with the wall tools an edit the framing members? Basic framing is 12ft oc posts with horizontal girts and purlins. The roof trusses are also very custom so I am hoping I can create these and add them to my library. When creating the posts, I would like to define their subgrade lengths and extension above the slab. The slab will BE the floor for all spaces and I am sure I can somehow define the slab as a floor?