rlackore

This is how I do metal buildings: 1. Review the metal building manufacturer's drawings. Make sure you understand the column layout, how the columns relate to the slab, the wall and roof systems, etc.Ensure the drawings are correct - at least relative to the architectural intent - because metal building designers aren't perfect. Are the sidewall girts flush, inset, or outset? Where does the exterior face of the cladding fall in relation to the slab edge? 2. Draw the slab. 3. Lay out the column gird. I also create 2D CAD blocks of each column and base - I find it helps me when it comes time to design the interior build-out. 4. Create a wall type for the exterior walls; I include everything, from the exterior cladding to the interior liner panel, or in your case, the 2x4 infill wall assembly. Draw this around the slab perimeter. Cut a section to ensure you've got the wall elements lining up correctly in relation to the slab edge. 5. If there is a mezzanine I create a second floor; otherwise throw on the roof, then cut a section to verify you've got the assembly and heights correct. The rest is just normal stuff; lay out your interior, put in the windows, doors, and what-not. Special exterior elements like your entry trusses can be tacked on without much trouble. I manually create my wall sections because around here we have to detail the building's thermal envelope; this is why it's really important to have a complete understanding of the manufacturer's wall and roof systems, the insulation strategy, etc.

I set up a hotkey.

A pony wall is the right way to go. The key is to set the framing to hang from the foundation wall, either by selecting all the foundation walls and using this checkbox: ...or by setting it in Defaults>Walls>Foundation Wall. The only thing that Chief won't do is draw the second sill plate - you'll have to do that manually: EDIT: Joey beat me to the punch.

I'm not aware of any automatic method to model in 3D the insulation between the stud spaces. "The other thing going on here is if you read the BSC doc it begs the question about the need for controversial house wrap, and whether the small gap it produces is effective?" You may want to read Lstiburek's BSC-038 Mind the Gap, Eh! "Interesting part is according to test with these gaps, there is only a 1% chance of either vapor or liquid water reaching any house wrap or substrate (insulation, drywall, etc)." Lstiburek makes an assumption - and interpreting it as a 1% chance is misleading; he's making a prediction of volume, not probability - he assumes that 1.0E-5 (0.00001) percent of bulk water hitting any given area of a wall assembly will make it through the water control layer to the substrate. For 1 liter of bulk water, that's only 0.07 ml. That's not a lot of water, which is why modern housewraps can be effective with moisture control. Remember that a housewrap is - first and foremost - an air barrier and a water control layer. A grooved or crinkled product (like Tyvek Drainwrap) promotes hygric redistribution across the face of the wall. This enhances the ability of the sheathing (OSB, plywood, etc.) to cope with the infiltration of bulk water, and reduces the risk of moisture damage. "How is it so many homes did well for centuries before house wrap was ever created?" Perhaps this was a rhetorical question. But if it wasn't, the reason we didn't have problems before housewrap has nothing to do with housewrap. We've used housewraps for a long, long time: before synthetics we used asphalt-impregnated felt or paper. Plastic housewraps appeared around the same time as the other factors that led to under-performing walls: polyethylene sheeting, vinyl wall coverings, OSB, etc. Before we started installing vapor barriers (in cold climates) and packing the cavities with batt insulation, walls could dry to the inside or the outside. Water was getting in, but it could also easily get out. The wetting of the wall materials was temporary and produced few problems. "It's about time, now designers have to get it into homes..." We are. So are builders - at least in my neck of the woods. In some cases the builders have been ahead of the designers.

Material regions with custom-rotated textures.

Anna, The file was created in Autodesk Civil 3D. Exporting to dwg from Civil 3D produces "proxy graphics" - entities that can be viewed in 2D accurately, but have lost their "intelligence". Exploding the proxy graphics results in a whole bunch of tiny lines; this preserves their 3D data, but it's unusable (for Chief's purposes) because most of the lines have start and end points with different z-values, thus they can't be "stitched" together in Chief (even in AutoCAD it's a laborious process). The surveyor is correct - all the data is there - it's just of little use unless viewed in Civil3D. Try importing the attached file. I exploded, flattened, and stitched together the contour lines. When you go through the import dialog box, note that I turned off all the layers except for the contour layers - just to make them easier to find and to select for conversion to Elevation Data. You'll need to use the check boxes next to any other layers you want to import. Also be aware that because lots of the contours aren't contiguous, you may get poor results in the Chief terrain perimeter. I expect it will need a lot of cleanup. It may actually have been faster to simply trace over what was already imported. Certificate-for-arch working contours.zip

That color is also used if you select the "Blend with Texture" option:

Anna, Zip the dwg file first, then upload it. Or PM it to me.

Solver is correct. I prefer to also set the floor structure to zero so the diagram is correct.

Here's a texture I use - it's not perfect, but isn't horrible. sidewalk.calibzterrain.calibz

BrownTiger, you still haven't told us exactly what you want: 1) A 3D symbol? 2) A 2D CAD drawing of the riser diagram? If you want a 3D symbol, can't you use any generic enclosure? A 42-pole enclosure with room for an integrated main and over-current device would measure about 5dx15wx38h. If you want a 2D drawing, I'm sure you can knock that out yourself, though it may be tedious.

I don't think you can accomplish what you want using Starter Treads. When I need a funky bottom tread I draw the shape in CAD, then convert it to a landing.

I don't see a panelboard on the floor plans, so are you looking for a 34 circuit panel as shown on the riser diagram? Can you be more specific?

Then why is there even an option to turn it off?

I think Glen's point was that it may want to be UNchecked.

The whitest thing I see is the gutter on the right side of the entry gable.

There are no significant landscape improvements from X7 to X8. In my opinion complex landscapes are very difficult to create using Chief's tools.

Preferences. Drop your .pat files into this folder: ...or if you don't use a network, you can drop them into the default program directory. On windows it's typically: C:\Program Files\Chief Architect\Chief Architect Premier X8 (64 bit)\Patterns\

That's clever as heck. I'll remember that one. Thanks.

I've given up using fireplace objects with separate openings. Instead I use a window to create the "fireplace". It's a lot easier to position within the wall, and it cuts its own opening. Plus it's quick and easy to swap materials to get the firebox to look the way you want.

When you create a Detail From View something perverse happens with 3D symbols: instead of using only the 2D Cad Block that is assigned to the symbol, Chief includes the symbol's 3D geometry in the new block. For instance, here is a chair symbol's assigned 2D CAD block. I've selected it so you can see the CAD lines that have been used to define it. Here is the block that Chief created when I created a Detail From View: Notice all the extra lines - this the result of Chief including the 3D symbol's actual geometry within the new block. Why? Maybe because sometimes we assign 2D CAD Blocks to 3D symbols that aren't fully representational of their actual geometry. I often used "cleaned up" CAD Blocks because I prefer my floor plans to appear less busy. Here's an example of a gas cooktop with Chief's block on the left, and my cleaned up block on the right: Anyway, when you explode the block in the Detail From View, you end up with a bunch of extra geometry that you'll have to select/modify/delete, etc. Or, don't explode them - they should continue to display as they did in your Floor Plan. Joey's suggestion is good, but it doesn't always work, because the geometry in the new block may be different colors, styles, weights, etc., and you'll get a dbx that has those options grayed out:

No picture attached. But in the meantime you could check Default Settings>Camera>Generic Sun>Intensity, or Default Settings>Camera>3D Views>Lighting Options>Daytime Ambient.

Glen, where is the Railing Panel tab in the Stair Landing Specification dbx? I've never run across this setting, but would love it if I'm just being dumb, because it would really helpful. Thanks.

David, I believe Griffin means "rabbeted". Griffin, to answer your question, there is no satisfactory method I've found to model a commercial steel door frame, either in plan or 3D. Several of us have Suggested this be fixed, so far no joy. Again, if Chief is going to tout itself as suitable for light commercial construction, this is one of several very important issues they need to address.

As Alan mentioned, GIMP is a free and powerful image editor that can help with creating and transforming materials, including creating usable bump and height maps. Like Photoshop it has to be learned - you can't expect to pick it up in a few minutes. However, there are other, easier to learn free image editors (I prefer FastStone Image Viewer) that can be used to create bump maps by manipulating saturation, highlight and shadow, contrast, etc. I also use Genetica by Spiral Graphics. It's payware, difficult to learn, and is no longer actively developed, but it can produce very good results.