Chrisb222

The "finish" at the floor framing is determined by the Exterior and Interior Layers of the railing wall specification. If you only have a main layer, then only that layer will show in 3D views. These layers do not appear at the level of the railing, but you need them to finish the face of the opening. It can be any material: It works the same way on exterior walls. If your finish material or wall cladding is in the Main Layer section, and you don't have it in the Exterior Layer, the "finish" won't extend down and cover the floor framing.

There are tons of instructional videos on this website, from getting started all the way to advanced techniques (caveat, many of the videos are from older versions): https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/ The Knowledge Base is also very helpful: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/search/?default_tab=support&page=1 My number one advice is to learn and use Saved Plan Views immediately. In my opinion running and learning this software for over a decade, it's the single most efficient, powerful, useful feature of the program: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/2421/saved-plan-views.html https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/2433/developing-saved-plan-views.html https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/10199/productivity-tips-saved-plan-views.html Finally, almost every dialog box has a "Help" button which launches the Help program and links you directly to that particular topic. It's also accessed through the main menu bar. Very useful for learning as you go.

Each dimension default now has settings for Temporary Dimensions. That way you can have multiple settings for temporary dimensions, not just one. Open one of your dimension defaults and you'll see the temporary panel.

Temporary Dimensions use the settings in the currently active dimension default. Change your currently active dimension to one with settings that work better for details. It's helpful to add the Active Dimension Defaults Control drop-down tool to your toolbar for easy switching: Note: If your Saved Plan Views are set to Always Save, and you don't change back to the regular Dimension Default that SPV uses, changing your Active Dimension Default using the drop-down could cause unwanted results.

Why not use the Material List? To get it to calculate by Area, go into the Define Material > Materials List panel, and change it from Count to Area:

Do you have "Soffits" unchecked? Soffits cut the lower tip of the rafter tail. If you don't want a soffit, use Insulation Air Gap as its material.

You're seeing the warning because your currently selected dimension default has auto dimensions turned off. You need the change which dimension default is currently active to the one that has auto dimensions turned on. To use this method you'll need to change your current Active Dimension Default to the dimension you want to generate, then back to your normal drawing dimension default to resume normal drawing. Set everything up like Michael described Add the Active Dimension Default Control drop-down menu to your toolbar (see screenshot) Before generating auto dimensions, go to the drop-down and select the dimension default for the auto dimension you want to generate Generate the dimensions Go back to the drop-down and select your normal dimension default Add the Active Dimension Default Control tool to your toolbar:

Check out some YouTube reviews. Yes, ray tracing has improved vastly.

Jim, I copied your Brick-6 and deleted the drywall, and made the framing layer 2.75", then wrapped it three sides. It's a quick cheesy workaround, and I don't like the lines showing in the plan view, but it took about 2 minutes and they key word is "works": WALL END PROBLEM - CB.plan.zip PS I like the way your file opened to the problem area with a cloud.

@para-CADthanks. Been considering M4 Max Studio but this made me check and... think I'll wait. The Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips is expected to launch in the middle of 2026.

You can also just double-click on the browser's title bar, at least on the Mac.

You might play around with the method described here: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-01142/creating-an-image-for-use-in-a-brochure-flyer-or-website.html It uses a Top View 3D Ortho to give you a "flyer" type of look to the design, then overlays the floor plan for annotations. I've also done something similar, but used the cross section slider to display doors and windows in the 3D Ortho view without having to overlay the floor plan. I like that look better, and then you could add a plan view with just the room names and dimensions, instead of the entire plan which doesn't always look right with the 3D ortho.

Haha, I have a Chief .plan that is nothing but reminders on how to do obscure or complex techniques that I don't use often enough to commit to memory. And sure, it could be a word document but I'm in chief so why not access my tips without leaving the program.

Saved that to my tips and tricks file, thanks Robert.

Post it up in https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/forum/8-suggestions/

Simpson catalog, 160 Interior is very close:

Shane, I didn't bother to track down the cause, I just went to fix it. If you select the wall in elevation or 3D, you can see the little stem projecting down. Just grab it and slide it up to align with the bottom of the wall: This cancelled "Default Wall Bottom" in the wall specification dialog under Structure, so something is wrong somewhere. But personally I don't usually fight the program on stuff like this, as long as it doesn't cause a worse problem elsewhere. I just find a fix and move on. Hope this helps.

Yeah it's normal. Somewhere along the line a material was used in a way that caused the program to create an additional copy. You can merge the multiples in Plan Materials, but it maps anything using that material to the first one in the list. Sometimes I go in and clean it up but, I mostly ignore it unless it causes issues like you described, then it needs fixed. From Help: Click the Merge button to merge multiple selected materials into one. The material that is listed first is retained and all other materials in the selection set are deleted. Any instances of the deleted materials in the plan are replaced by the first material. Only available when multiple materials are selected.

As of X17, Temporary Dimensions now use settings in the current Dimension Default, under the Setup Temporary panel: There no longer is a single default setting for temp dims. That way you can have multiple setups and switch between them, without having to change them in the Defaults.

Just scoot the "rafter tail" roof plane over the thickness of your I-joist. It will throw off your roofing material, as Shane shows above.

For the 3D I would just toss a ceiling plane and move on. If you want to show a cross section with framing or other, detail it out in CAD. Sometimes trying to bludgeon the parametric features into special situations just ain't worth all the squeezin.

Idk, it doesn't do that for me. It blinks for half a second but does not restart the PBR. Are you going to File > Export > Export Picture?

As far as I know, you can't narrow it down to a species and display that as a single report, but you can total the cost of everything combined. Set up your structural materials pricing in your template, and everything will calculate automatically. Go to Tools > Materials List > Structural Member Reporting... and then open your preferred reporting type, and enter the pricing for individual members. Then the Materials List will pull pricing from there and run out the totals for each member automatically. As far as I know, you can't narrow it down to a species and display that as a single report, but it will total the cost of everything combined. Plug "structural member reporting" into Help.

Why is someone running around the board posting AI replies to every topic question??

You're right, using the "Select tool, shift-drag" function on beams will also select posts. For this you want "Marquee Select Similar." Select one beam, then hit this button on the bottom Edit toolbar and drag-select: You can also use Match Properties in that same toolbar, but for this use case MSS is better.