SCI_Design

chief forum temp.plan
yeah for some reason the plan files fail every time i try to upload.

Not sure what is going on here.

I am not sure what is up with my model but if anyone could help troubleshoot with me that would be greatly appreciated. That would actually save me the trouble of messing with wall schedules at all which is ironically the name of this feed. 
I am not sure however how to post the plan file so if any tips on that are around that would be helpful! 

thanks again everyone for your insight and helpful comments.

I have, it is quite complex, hard to troubleshoot and usually very much inaccurate -not even ball park range. Calculating these takeoffs manually is my only solution to try and figure out how to use the automation better. trial and error. We are working on getting our models more accurate also which I know will help. 

This data can be useful for calculating material takeoffs because with height and length you can then calculate area and have a more accurate number than most 3rd party estimators can give, (and cheaper).

There is a way to add a comment box into the table. Then you can open the walls and go to object information and under the comment section you write "%room.height.ceiling%" and then it will populate into the table with (most of) the correct heights showing. still a work in progress needing some more finagling but I hope this builds upon our previous information together.  
 

Hi fellow Chief Users,

I am wondering if anyone has any info on populating wall schedules with wall heights as well as lengths and types. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Is there ways you have had to adjust when creating your model from the start, that you may have not had to worry about before the materials list was a function? 

Does anyone out there actually use the materials list to estimate their takeoffs? And if so, are you able to get an accurate estimate that makes it worth your time to use rather than doing by hand?

Just seems to be real finnicky but if in the long run can save us time and money then it will be worth it to us to invest more time into materials list training. 

Thanks in advance!

Why do some walls show up with siding in the material list but some walls do not? I have found that even though the materials are all identical, some walls do not calculate into the material list and hence the total number of materials comes back below what is actually needed. Does anyone know how to work around this in the model to get the list to be accurate in the future?

Doing all live elevations.  It is a bit tedious at times to drawing in the detail we want, but it has been faster overall.  I've attached a few examples of typical cross sections.  These take about 20-30. min each and we do about 5-6 per plan for a average custom home.  Has really saved us time in some cases where modifications are made to the plan and they automatically update with only a few adjustments. 

 Once you get the first one done on a project, the following ones usually go faster since you can copy and paste a lot of elements over to the next cross section.

 We used to do all cross sections as all CAD lines, but going to live has cut our time in half at least.

Example Elevations.pdf

My two cents would be to get the fastest gaming laptop you can afford... maybe Alienware, Acer, or similar.  Even if you don't raytrace much, it will run the programs efficiently. 

Great test!  One interesting thing I noticed as I played with it - My computer would run it just fine with all 400 chandeliers in the plan as long as I was only looking at say 20-30 at a time.  In other words, if my camera view only was viewing across the edge of the group it ran fast and smooth.  If I zoomed out to include more chandeliers into my screen view it slowed down.  The more I zoomed out, the slower it went.

Also noted:  I downloaded the plan and opened it from my regular drive.  But when I "Saved As" the file to the SSD and operated the plan from that, there was a substantial improvement.

Depending on the render style that you used in sending the elevation to the layout (watercolor, painting, etc) the elevation will show really pixelated.  It will actually print to a higher quality.  This is done to allow the layout to still function at a fast speed.  So the jagged elevation is simply a rough preview if you will.  I've attached a few examples to show the difference.

Graham,

  Thanks for your detailed analysis.  Its very similar to the experiences I've had... CA needing to rebuild with nearly every action really slows down the program.  Bigger plans get worse and worse as detail is added or framing is generated.  As you mentioned I've also seen good results with a bigger / faster computer.  More CPU cores, fast SSD, and good GPU's will certainly speed things up.  I've come to expect a $3,500 investment on a new computer every few years to keep things moving fast.  

Yep,  I use live elevations and cross sections.  This has really sped up my production and accuracy.  As was mentioned, use the update feature sparingly, since it can take some time to update larger elevations.  I usually avoid building out all the framing (joists, trusses, walls etc) and save 3D framing members for critical structural elements or when I need to make sure my load paths through the building work.   Having the entire model build out all the framing will slow down the plan a lot. 

Dshall,

   Naw, just a working man like the rest of the bunch here.     Had to learn some of this stuff the hard way, but I've also been given my fair share of chances.  If my two cents worth of advice can help somebody else, then that's great.

 Designsyko is a jumble of what I do and who I am, kinda like a Bridge Troll or a Drawzilla.    Drawzilla's.... didn't they have those in Jurassic Park?

Well, back to basking in front of the two 40" 4K's to crank out the next epic plan.  Draw on my friends!

Put together a package - both examples of your work, references, your design process nicely laid out, helpful info for clients etc.  Then go meet with builders face to face and leave them with copies of your package to hand off to new clients.  Most clients want an easy program to follow, so make it easy to sign up, easy to get a hold of you, easy to pay, and easy access to what you are creating for them.

Don't just e-mail two dozen local builders and say you are offering services.  Make a point to go meet with builders you would like to work with and talk to them on how you can help them gain clients and make their job easier by offering good plans / specs.  Show them how they can make money off of you.  Again, make it easy for them to work with you.

A good website, Houzz account, or other social media is helpful too - although bear in mind that most builders (in my experience anyway) are just barely getting into social media themselves and are probably doing it to advertise their services - not doing it to find a designer.   To gain trust, you need to go shake their hand, visit their jobs, and build a relationship so they will trust you with their clients.  

It takes time and determination to build a reputation from the ground up.  Undersell and over deliver.  Be organized and responsive.  Usually anyone willing to apply themselves can find a good degree of success. 

  Best of luck!

Yeah, this is a real problem - especially when you try to clean up any random lines on the elevations via the layout line edit tool.  You can delete the line, but the shadow remains.  Hope it gets fixed soon.

I have had this issue as well.  It is related to using a poly line box with a transparent fill.  The box does not even need to be of a similar size as the whited out area in the PDF - it just has to exist somewhere on the page.  I have used several PDF printing programs (even the "Chief save as PDF" ) and sometimes it clears it up, but sometimes it does not.  This has made me simply stop using the useful tool of transparent fill, since it can easily ruin a final print set of drawings as Chopsaw mentioned.  I am now in the habit of print previewing (as big as I can) each page before I print to try and catch the problem.

Ditto what Joey said.  I usually just start over and re-draw the plan.  

Using (2) 40" Samsung TV's - one is 4K and one is 1080p.  I am blown away by the clarity of the 4K.   In the past I've used (4) 27" LCD monitors, but the 40" 4K TV is even better.  I still like additional monitors for bringing up webpages or e-mail on the side, but for my main drawing screen I can't see going back to anything less than a 40" 4K TV.

 Make sure the your graphics card can handle 4K output if you plan to go that route.

  It is definitely dependent on many variables, but would it be realistic to estimate 40k-60k, 60k-80k, 80k+ if someone is very proficient in the software and has good business acumen.

 

 

Thanks guys!  Some great input here.

  I'd like to gauge all the CA gurus on this forum to learn how I might speed up my drafting process.  

 For two years now, my schedule has been really busy, and production has become critical to fulfilling commitments.  The single biggest draw on my time has continued to be drafting blueprints.  Maybe I'm a stickler for detail, but I like a complete set of blueprints that are specific to the project and clearly portray details of the project.  I often end up with 16 plan pages of content for an average custom home.  I know this slows me down some and I'm willing to sacrifice the time to keep up the quality.   But, I also think there must be some ways to speed things up.

 I suppose what I'm more interested in is finding out from others what are some of the key steps you employ in CA to streamline your blueprint drafting process.  Here are a few I already use:

• CAD blocks for everything.  Someone told me once regarding CAD drafting "If you are drawing it twice, you are doing it wrong".  I absolutely keep a library of foundation details, framing details, hardware details, and so on.  Copy and paste is king.
• Templates for Plans and layouts. 
• Layer sets or annotation sets help a lot.
• Creating "live" cross sections.  This is a fairly new practice for me, but it works well - especially when changes happen to the plan.  It updates the whole blueprint quickly.
• Drawing an extremely accurate 3D model.  Even custom brackets, or specialty details - draw them as they will be built - exactly.  This slows down the concept design, but really helps the blueprint drafting.

  What about you?  What do you do to speed up your drafting process?  I'd like to draft a plan in 2 days, instead of spending 2 weeks.  How fast can you produce a permit ready blueprint?  I know blueprint content varies by location, but feel free to share.

Glass house is great for seeing through a structure and identifying issues or seeing how parts of the structure correlate.  How much room is there under the enclosed stairway for example.  There are other ways to in Chief to show clients this information, but a 3D Glass house option still maintains the helpful 3D aspect while offering a see through benefit.

 Some of the other render options are helpful during interior walk throughs.  Sometimes the Standard render can be hard to see because of lighting issues.  Duo-Tone or Technical illustration can help define wall and ceiling lines more clearly without distracting shadows etc.

Other render types are just for more artistic presentations.  I have often used them to capture the clients imagination and get them excited about a project.