rlackore

Just now, HumbleChief said:

Nice Robert, and clearly doable with added manipulation with 'other' software but the implication is still the same from a customer's point of view and to me that implication is, "Buy Chief, achieve this look for your plans." But can you simply buy Chief and achieve that look? I don't think so and I don't like the marketing technique...

All I did outside of Chief was create a gradient background in a free image editor (Gimp 2.0), which took about 30 seconds from opening the program to exporting the image. Chief includes all the tools necessary to create the same look - you can't expect them to provide all of the content as well.

Create a gradient background in your favorite image editor:

Create the camera and set the technique options:

Get the result:

The only thing I'm stumped on is how they achieved the grey shadows on the terrain.

I did another project where the whole house was timber frame and pitched, and I placed the SIP and the shingles together within the roof surface definition. The timber elements were modeled separately as beams, posts, etc.

Last one I did was a low-slope application. I placed the SIP as the roof structure, and the protection board and membrane as the roof finish. I modeled the open-web trusses separately - they were spaced quite far apart. This worked out well for this project, all things considered.

5 minutes ago, DavidJames said:

Opening indicators? 

Yep.

IMO Chief is ill-suited to straight-up 2D condocs using nothing but CAD tools. If you plan on only modifying the 2D, then I'd use AutoCAD or another robust 2D CAD platform with which you're proficient - unless the revisions are very minor. Otherwise, model the project in Chief to leverage its abilities to quickly develop elevations, sections, etc.

A colleague in my office did a 42-unit project; it was manageable because the only interiors that were developed were for the model units. He also did a lot of detail work in AutoCAD.

Okay, it took me a while, but now I understand that the Mullion Depth has to be set to a positive value that equals the distance from the face of the wall finish (interior or exterior) to the face of the window frame (interior or exterior). I think I have this correct. For me, this is completely counter-intuitive.

EDIT: If I set the Mullion Depth to a value greater than what I've described, CA has a Serious Error related to rendering the window preview and I have to Abort.

Hey Glen, why don't you post your plan so we can see how you solved the puzzle.

This still doesn't work with an inset frame (for drywall returns, for instance):

You might try a ramp, turn off the default railings, then draw new railings and set them to "follow stairs", then assign a "gap" material to the ramp.

15 hours ago, johnmarkey said:

Where is the Layout Box Specification dialogue?

Select a Layout Box and click the Open Object tool.

Check this thread: Write the Master List file fails on close

This thread may help: 1hr and still going...

Scroll to the bottom for my reply and explanation of how to fix the problem.

I share, and expect the same in return, whether it's for MEP, civil, whatever. It's a low-risk way of cultivating good relationships and making everyone's life easier. Sharing doesn't negate your copyright.

This screen grab is for X11, but I'm pretty sure X10 had the same kind of functionality:

I've downloaded the trial of Substance Designer and played along with the tutorial for creating a first material. I've been using Genetica (no longer developed or supported) which is node-based, but SD is a significant step up in complexity and power. I took a stab at creating a Nichiha fiber cement material (Dimension Series, Ribbed Panel):

nichiha_ribbed_panel.sbs

Nichiha.calibz

The first lesson I learned is that the Substance Designer PBR workflows don't exactly match the CA material definition, so it's necessary to tweak the SD outputs and CA inputs for best results. The second lesson is that improved materials are much more computationally expensive - optimizing the material maps is critical to improving raytrace performance and the performance of the material preview within the Material Definition dbx. Regardless, I welcome anything CA does that provides greater control over materials.

Dustin - can we assume that a Substance plugin is coming to Chief Architect? Is this possibility more than a pipe dream?

I use the Object Information fields to add this kind of information, generally under the Comment section:

16 hours ago, misterwiley said:

How do you insert a floor below an existing foundation?

You can't - it is not allowed by Chief; you can't insert below the foundation level or above the attic level, so you'll have to work around those limitations.

You need to set the default header depth for window objects in Default Settings>Window>Framing>Header:

Use the Calculate from Width checkbox if you want it to use the default settings you set up in Default Settings>Framing>Openings.

Default Settings>Framing>Plan Display>Joists, Rafters, General Framing>Use Line for Framing

This setting "sticks" for whatever floor is displayed in Plan View at the time, in other words you can set the value independently for each floor.

Turn on the Rooms layer.

Turn on the Roof Baselines layer, select the Roof Plane, then perform a point-to-point move from the Roof Baseline to the porch railing wall. Then you can clean up all your roof intersections.

If you prefer them round: direct vent.calibz

You can also create a greenhouse using a railing wall and roof planes with some rafters thrown in: