Chrisb222

Drywall area, sheet count, thickness, type* all can be captured from the wall object properties. But you can't get that into a schedule without ruby macros, as far as I know. *An actual "type" property doesn't exist. To define different Types (eg standard, fire code, green board, etc) you would create separate materials for those, and identify them in the Material Name field, which is a property. Not that I'm aware.

It requires a custom macro, custom schedule, and some initial setup in your wall definitions. Can be done but a little beyond the scope of free assistance for most. If you don't know how to do it, several people here offer custom work for hire, maybe post in Seeking Services if no one volunteers: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/forum/15-seeking-services/

@JonathanK Well, in my defense I was specifically replying to your complaint about having to draw everything manually, so forgive me for assuming you weren't aware of easier methods. You mentioned manually drawing things multiple times and didn't mention other methods, so I thought my post would be helpful. You're right though, it's ridiculous that the line weight and color options for those layers has no effect on elevation views. Sadly, it's not the only thing about Chief I'm disappointed in...

Be aware, many times turning off the endcap produces a tiny dash at the end of the line that doesn't look good. I don't like the endcap, but haven't been able to get away from it because most times the endcap looks better than nothing.

In Preferences, set this value to zero:

I don't know what you mean exactly by "work correctly" since the software is working how it was designed and intended, but if you send your elevations to layout as Plot Lines, you have complete control over every line in the drawing. You can also add lines. It's not automatic, but by marquee-selecting lines you can edit them pretty fast. Certainly faster and easier than manually drawing it all from scratch.

Go to CAD > Lines > Line Style Management, copy one of the dashed lines and see how it's defined, edit to what you want. Or use one of these: dashed lines.plan

Yes, this can be done automatically using the "conditioned = true/false" Room object property. You'll need to insert a call to that property in the OIP for each room. Pull the value for this property into your room schedule. Set it up in your template plan and layout so it works on future plans without any further manual work, unless you add a room type, then just copy an existing type for the new.

All my SPVs that go to layout are specific floor. But I tested it when switching to the design-stage SPVs I use that are set to Any Floor, they maintain the floor level of the previous view before relinking.

Yeah, put it on the partition:

I've found the copy/paste hold position, then relink the plan view to be the fastest and easiest. Something's off on your SPV settings. This doesn't happen to me.

So I showed that the software generates accurate numbers. This is a question for your designer. Sure there is. Change 500 to 472.

No clue. See attached, these are "software generated numbers" derived from an OOB factory Chief Architect template file: What software is your designer using?

Fix the stair tool!!

Something needs to actually be included in the schedule that is different between the two styles of windows. Doesn't matter what it is, but if the schedule doesn't see any difference, it will group them together.

Huh that's strange, it works for me. My template has been brought forward over many versions and still has master bed and bath, and the rooms show up in the Room Finish schedule when starting a new X17 plan. I also opened an old plan in X17 and added a room finish schedule and it populated master. Not sure why it didn't work for you.

The "finish" at the floor framing is determined by the Exterior and Interior Layers of the railing wall specification. These layers will extend down to cover the exposed floor thickness but the Main Layer will not. If you only have a main layer, then only your framing will show in 3D views (or nothing, if you haven't built the floor framing) because the main layer does not extend below the floor level. On a railing wall these layers do not appear at the railing level, 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.

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.