Archnot-Boltz

I'm crashing several times a day on an x14 drawing and it occurs in 3d views while I'm zooming and panning with my mouse. My co-worker just tried it with one of his plans and it crashed as soon as he moved his mouse in the 3d view. He closed the drawing and reopened and he couldn't make it crash. We are both using the latest Nvidia driver update. Everytime I crash, I'm getting the option to open up a saved version that is more recent message. I'm going to try to roll back to 526.98 and see what happens.

Not even close? When was the last time you demoed or used SP? SP & Chief are the only two residential CAD programs that are in the same category of usability and residential design and they are superior with their Soft List vs Chief's Material in list and at handling the layering of existing conditions in regards to drawing additions. Cadsoft Envisioneer is basically Autocad Lt w/ some 3d. So, Joe, if SP is not Chief's main competitor, who is? -Respectfully-BB

Softplan is Chief's closest competitor as far as I'm concerned and they are at $95 per month for a subscription or you can buy it outright for $3395.00.

Thanks, the only time I crash is when moving around in a 3d view. Mostly in a 3d perspective framing view it seems. My co-worker has the same laptop & operating system but hasn't crashed yet.

I've been having the same issue as the original OP and recently updated to 528.02 and it still freezes the screen with the same message as the op and crashes when you say ok. I switched from gaming to studio and it still crashes when panning or rotating the view with my left mouse button. This all occurs on my office laptop system. I can't run x14 on home cpu because I still have windows 7 and never upgraded to 10.

Ok, Mick, I was only guessing and maybe Chief would offer a last chance deal to any regular users who might have missed the boat. It did kind of come out of nowhere and I can see how someone (whom I've never seen on this forum) could have missed the memo.

Chief has been warning of the impending lease only option and giving offers to entice folks to upgrade from older versions and or renew their SSA for a couple of months now. Kind of stinks if you missed the memo about the cutoff date of Jan 10. I don't foresee many subscribing at $200 per month when Softplan is $99.00. Of course then you would have to learn SP, which is still more user friendly than most of the other Big Boy CAD programs (Autocad, Archicad, Vectorworks(Nemetschek?) and Revit). Cadsoft has a goofy one out there too. The SSA path was/is fair and my hope is that they will treat continue to treat the legacy users fairly.

Certainly an important question. But, would have possibly been cheaper to upgrade prior to the change and continue with SSA depending on his long term projected use. Someone would have to do the math to determine which model was more economically viable. Of course, a person could subscribe monthly if only doing design work at certain times of the year, say the spring, summer busy season. You would get use of the current version every month you subscribe. Chief would have to give 12 month discount to keep that from possibly happening.-BB

Archicad is very intensive and expensive. Vectorworks used to be a great deal but still a bit complex. Are you saying that Chief is giving you a first year subscription at $99.00 per month and then the full $199.00 the following year or that you can upgrade and older version to X14 (w/ included year of SSA and free upgrade to x15) and then if you discontinue your SSA the following year you lose any rights to ownership beyond X15 and would need to subscribe $199.00 per month for any uses of future upgrades? Eg, has Chief said that folks with older legacy licenses would be able to continue using the program without any support from Chief? bb

Unfortunately, this wouldn't be happening if all users had subscribed to SSA. Folks should have gotten onboard back when it was only $199.00 per year. SSA was/is the best way for Chief to pay for R&D & to sustain the previous status quo. Hopefully, our loyalty (mine since 1998) for all the years of continuous upgrades and SSA will be taken into consideration in future SSA price increases.-BB

Hey Lew, maybe try selling your company for $1.00 to the person interested in your license. I don't understand why Chief wouldn't want to keep your license with the annual $599.00 SSA fee in the revenue stream. I just don't see folks renting Chief for $199.00 per month with no ownership path as being a sustainable business model. Give em hell Harry! And have a happy retirement to boot.-BB

Not quite but pretty decent, and they have GAF Shingles colors/textures and their stair railings are correct as well as having an automatic graspable handrail (to name a few of many). Their command structure and drawing method is more cumbersome but my coworker seems to like a lot of their features. I used it back in '96 or '97 for a couple months in a builder's office and then bought Chief for well under a grand while SP was closer to $2k, so economics and ease of use won out. Looking at the new version of SP, I still like Chief's intuitive commands better. I'm hoping for some nuts and bolts stuff in x15 (stair framing, better railings and handrails, smarter library items like joist hangers, post caps, etc).

One-Time Payment from SoftPlan version 2020 Upgrade to SoftPlan 2022 $1345- So, as you can see Chief's annual SSA at $595.00 is similarly priced with SP's upgrade cost. Upgrade Extra Station to SoftPlan 2022 $995* Upgrade Network Station to SoftPlan 2022 $795**

I spent a month or so in an architect's office trying to wrap my head around Archicad. Nice program but one bad wamma jamma of a learning curve. Chief and Softplan are the only two that I can do.

Softplan is the only other program that I've tried that even comes close. I recommended that they get it on with Chief and make a badarse baby!

I agree that what Chief is doing is a colossal mistake. 1) Chief's Rental program after January is $199.00 per month vs Softplan's $99.00 per month rental program. with no purchase options #2) Chief's current Rent to Own should be kept because you would own the program after 22 months of continuous payments (about a grand more than an outright purchase) which is basically an interest charge for those who can't afford the initial $2395.00 outlay 3) $595.00 per annum for SSA is a great deal when weighed against the $199.00 per month rental program (they also give you a break on the SSA for additional licenses- currenty $416.50 per ). So my annual SSA for two licenses is currently $901.50). SSA is what allows Chief to continue improving and upgrading the program. I guarantee that part of the push to go to the Rental and eliminate the for purchase model is all the folks that sit back with older versions and don't contribute to the future of this program. 4) I do wish that Chief moving forward would offer the following options 1) Offer Purchase Option of $2395.00 plus require the payment of SSA annually or lose your license 2) Continue to offer the current Rent to Purchase option $199.00 per month with 22 consecutive week requirement 3) Offer a more reasonable Rent Only option at $99.00 per month (to realistically compete with Softplan's subscription service because, quite frankly at $199 per month, I think Chief is going to go out of business and I'd hate to see that!). -BB

Thanks, guess I'll have to learn how to use a #!!

I'm wanting to get GAF roofing products (especially shingles), added to our library. Our roofing and remodeling company are one of the largest regional installers of GAF shingles in our part of PA. I've been remiss in not bugging our rep. thanks-bb

Great tip Glenn, thanks. Still a bit of a work around because of Cheif's issues and their conflicts of Beams, Room Definition, Ceiling Area, Soffit Area, Railings and of course why the hell does a foundation wall's location have any business controlling a roof framing member and it's display? ( Riddle Me this Batman!)- but seriously-thanks. BB

Yeah, I fixed it myself after some screwing around. Thanks for the help. But still, why does Chief throw a goof notch at it? It still bugs me that I have to draw an additional three invisible walls and designating an open to below room in order to get the ceiling correct because of floors defining ceilings. bb

More images due to file limit of 14meg.

Dear Chief, isn't enough, enough? Common, man! Here we are in x14 and I'm still getting unwanted Rafter Notching. It just makes using Chief a pain and is the reason that my co-worker at a large remodeling and roofing firm is "demoing" Softplan at $95 per month because of it's better material's list and various construction oriented and design features. In this example, see attached images and attached drawing file. I've railed many times regarding Chief's inherent issues with conflicts caused by the way rooms are defined using walls and the interference caused by the foundation wall below if the beams above don't align, same with rails and beam conflicts and the way it also screws up the ceiling areas. I shouldn't have to explain any further. Just please fix the program so that we can do it right when creating our "Professional Drawings". Heck, Softplan gives you automatic 3d joist hangers but I'd give that up in a heartbeat if Chief would allow for correct framing and wall intersections. Sorry but I'm tired of wrasslin' wit woika-rounds!! bb 1259207018_NotchedRafterBSinx14Still.zip

Exactly, why do I need a room under a cantilever that does not have a room under it. This is a huge issue with Chief that relates to interference and conflicts with Railings, Beams, Porch and Deck boundaries, foundations below porches, porch roof soffits, porch ceilings etc. I guess I really should take this to Suggestions. bb

The floor should be cantilevered to support the mansard framing, which is how I have it. Cantilevered floor should be able to have a soffit ceiling underneath.

Well, I was going to put this post into Suggestions such as "Please Don't Make it so easy for this to occur" but figured it would get more traction here. Roof soffits seem touchy, sometimes they display correctly and sometimes they are screwed up by a roof or wall intersection. I have attached two images and the obligatory plan file. My solution, was to turn off Rafter Framing in Elevation and 3d views. And I'm sure my issue is caused by user error (but why so easy for an experienced user?) thanks for any input. -Brad Hotel Transilvania-RafterTails.zip