tahoebrian5

Thanks Glen, not sure why I did t think of that

Sherry makes a good point, is there a way to export just what is actually used in the file into a new stripped down file for the purpose of emailing or attaching to a post in this forum?

I'm not there either

It would seem intuitive that Chief would implement the crossing behavior with the right mouse button as an alt behavior. I suppose I'll add this to the wish list

There's a couple things slowing me down and just wondering if you guys have any sneaky tips up your sleeves. Isolate layer, this is a common tool I use in autocad that would be really helpful. It turns off all layers except the one whose component you picked. Is there anything similar? Picking all similar objects at once, this is already implemented for many objects like walls and dimensions where you pick the tool and hold the shift key. How about for cad objects? This helps do similar tasks as lay isolate. Selection box, I know you can choose between items need to contained in the selection box, to items just need to be crossed. Can you change this on the fly? I thought I read something about this but it's faded. Please add any other good tips you might have.

I'm not even done with the as-builts and my file size is over 20 megs. It's not an overly large house.. Just a typical 3 bedroom two story with a garage. Any common pitfalls you guys know of to avoid this? I know, I know... Post the plan! I will when I get to the office.

Thanks for taking the time to show us how that works. Very useful stuff

Sorry I didn't see this till just now. I'll upload one tomorrow.

Hmm, I did have something similar happen but I was able to turn it back on

Im using X8 beta on my surface pro but its the I5 version. No problems here

This is probably a tech support issue but I can't seem to navigate my way to where to go to report these things. Anyway, first of all the settings won't stay put in defaults as far as locating elevation objects. I remove most of the items, then when I use the dimension tool there is a whole bunch of elevation markers that I did not choose. go back to defaults and it has changed from where I set it. Then it puts the grade elevation marker a couple feet above finish floor when the terrain object is below finish floor. This upsets all of the elevation values. Since there are only two different setting as to where to put zero elevation this is a major problem. Im doing a garage so there is no finish floor or subfloor. The only other choice is grade. There needs to be more choices of where to put zero. And also the zero point should be able to be edited on the fly in the elevation view. Okay, my file is attached heit garage CA2.plan

Is there any options to set how chief places studs at wall corners? I've always used 3 stud "channels". This allows for better transfer of uplift so if I have two shear walls coming together at a corner I can get away with one hold down. It's also been standard practice on most job sites I've walked.

Ok, it was my reference floor settings and I got them working. Would still be interested to know more though about how to put things on different groups

The manual is a bit vague on this. It says objects are placed on one of three groups, back, front, and default but does not say how to control which group an object goes to. I've drawn a cad triangle to represent a hold down. It draws in front of my siding wall just fine, but not my foundation wall. Tips?

I just went through the same process of untraining my autocad habits. I spent a few hours this weekend get annosets setup and I think they are going to work well

Interesting thought, I really need to see em while I'm working though. I need to see where post loads are coming down from above to either place footings or head off beams. I'll give the symbol method a try today.

That's not what I'm getting at Bill, although that is another issue that needs improvement

I've got the ref set working okay for showing floor 1 posts on the foundation plan (floor0). I'm just exploring other options to see what's possible. Also on multiple story homes the ref set method isn't going to work that well unless all the posts and hold downs live on the same floor. I do keep a copy of autocad LT current which I use for other stuff. I'll probably keep using it for detailing for now and for working with other designed that use autocad. I'd prefer to keep all my framing plans in chief. Despite its short comings I still think it's worth it once I figure out how to work through a few problem areas like this. Anyway back to post options 1) what about using a "symbol" that contains two or more posts that are on different floors? I just thought of this and it seems like it would work. I recently read a chief tip on how to save an entire house as a symbol and then drop multiple house symbols into one site in order to create a subdivision. 2) I could create an additional level that only contains posts, hold downs, and maybe grids. All the posts regardless of where they are at in the house would be inserted on this level. Then just set this level to be the ref set for all my plans.

I still have t given up on coming up with a way to create objects that show up on all floors. My though was if you could create two tiny roofs, block them together, and have one of them set to show on floor below, then you would have a post representation that would show on two floors.

Are roofs the only objects that have the option to "show on floor below"? Also can roofs be made part of a block?

Any way to use the scheduling tools to do a footing schedule?

I'm trying to use a circle, the rotation is for the line

Thanks guys, I think snapping to the framing studs is the winner here.

I've tried zooming in. I don't have on object turned in because what is the point of a snap if it chooses anywhere along an object to snap? I prefer to snap to corner intersections or mid points so I know where I'm at. Ideally I would be able to snap to the middle of the "end" of a wall at a wall opening. What I was trying to do was draw a cad line centered in a wall to represent a window header. When I was navel to perform this seemingly simple task I decided it's a good time to dig in and figure out how chief likes to snap before I snap.

Silly question, door opening headers have their own layer "doors, headers". What's the deal with Window headers? My plan does not have a si liar layer and I've got dashed lines at my door openings but nothing at my windows. Trying to decide how I'm going to show and call out headers in my framing plans.