KevinWaldron

Just did an experiment..... 1)took a plan and did a Full Perspective View......2)Exported as a DWG 3D Model..... 3)Brought the file into Rhinoercos 6 and asked that it covert wide polylines to surfaces, convert regions to curves, and leave mesh precision to auto and the model is in millimeters (it was ft and inches but in this case smaller is better for reproduction on 3D printer).....4)walls, roof, etc. are present as they should be but to save as a 3D STL or other 3D printable file it takes a lot of cleanup work to get rid of things that you don't want or need but it is possible. kw

Here are some actual lumber photo's Claro Walnut Wood.bmp

The program Alibre Design 2019 has auto open and release of the program....... not sue why other programs find this impossible. Not sure why Chief can't do the same!........ (Open on one machine shut the program down and walk to another machine and the program will automatically open when you only own the license rights to one program and still yet go to a third machine if the 2nd machine program is shut down...... you can still only run one instance of the program)

Another idea that would require a small amount of technical skill is to fix the computer. Purchase a larger SSD drive and along with the purchase in addition purchase an external USB Solid State Enclosure Adapter (it will depend on the SSD style) . Plug the new SSD into the USB adapter and then use a program like Acronis and clone the drive as different size drives. (I've personally done a lot of this and it is a easy and convenient fix that allows older machines a little longer life). Unplug old/smaller SSD drive from computer and plug new drive into computer.... and your now fixed....... use old SSD in the adapter for a great portable drive or as an extension of your current machine. kw

Personally would not recommend Chief...... not enough muscle ....... we have moved projects that are not houses to VectorWorks...... enclosing several JPG's of what we did in Chief prior to the move. We are a design build firm and we must estimate accurately and to get accurate material estimates we also needed to look beyond Chief.

As one who owns a business where CNC's are used and we draw for these machines. I think that you will need to look at other programs to do what your asking for. Will Chief help with panels yes, but if your talking about true CNC work where one might be cutting windows / doors out, electrical and plumbing holes out, and many more things you are starting with the wrong program. For the most part Chief draws a facade of a part. For instance a 2 x 4 is not a solid object but line components made up of several lines representing a solid object not a solid. Cabinets would be another example where lines represent a part not the individual part components as solid objects. A CNC needs either a mesh representation or a solids/nurbs style objects to be able to process through the Cam program to generate tool paths and then produce the G-code which is a text file that the CNC machine can read by the various machine callings. Might recommend that you look at sites like Aspire or Rhinocam to get a better understanding of what a CAM program will and want do. Drawing/CAM programs such as Solidworks, Fusion360, Rhinoceros, FormZ, Inventor, Mastercam are all programs that would typically be used for making parts pieces for the toolpathing for a CNC. I'm sure there are specific programs for producing CNC house panelized products but I personally haven't a clue. Hope this steers you towards the right direction.

If your doing single family homes and possibly lite commercial only..... possibly upgrade although the overall basic program has changed little in my personal opinion ( there are many more bells and whistles and quicker ways to do things.....but from one builder to another still so much lacking given what is available in the market place.) I also started with Chief in 1982 and have the lates vs X-11. Anything more than residential you might want to consider another program at that investment. We personally have moved into VectorWorks for anything beyond sngle family. Still using Chief as our single family homes program.

Personally do all this in a Cad program like Turbocad. Usually get a dwg file from the various engineers so have the plot plan ( and most of the time the topo information is present as well) or an alternative is to get this information by way of the registers office as a recorded pdf plat (online available) or we have also gotten from Google earth. Now direct import or open into Turbocad with either method involves re-scaling plat to 1=1 and separating the individual lot before or after scale. Using Chief make a footprint of the plan per cad and export as a DWG. Next step is to use the front/side or rear property line and offset from said some dimension... say 35' so we now have a front line or other to work with. Next step is to import the house file into the plot for the lot or open in a separate dwg file next step is to group or block the house somewhere that we can only select the house and then cut, paste or move into plot plan drawing. Now that we have both the plot plan and the house in the same drawing we choose the front/side etc of the house and use a snap command which allows matching the setback or other line we used.(the existing front/side etc to the line of the property angle direction is irrelevant if the original Plot plan is accurate as for N-S directions and again fairly easy to do if we have something to match to). House is now lined up accurately with the front line or any other line we used as the match line. Rest is simply adding the various items needed. Personally can do what Michael showed in his example in about 15-20 minutes total including drive, sidewalks, elevation points etc. not uncommon to do 300-400 of these a year. If we need this back in Chief simply convert to a DWG export and then import. Rarely need 3D terrain but if we do usually stay in TurborCad where most of our plats already have the topo information and where blend, extrude, Boolean is much more effective. We usually go one step further with our plot plans and lay them out so personal on the ground can lay the house out if an engineer is not required. Personally think that this is the time to use the best program in your toolbox and for me Chief just does not perform this well.

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Speaking of electrical connections another question related. Any of you guys show fire/smoke detectors and show them connected per code? If so how do you show connection with fire/smoke detectors that are on a second floor or vise vs?

One major issue is speed........ both in perspectives and floor plans and doing any kind of realistic changing (using a i7-8700 with 64GB ram 1 GB-SSD with 2x Nviidia GTX 1080 TI 11 GB and 2-8TB storage units) Cutting and pasting units and floors gets old ....especially if you have a lot of units...... (project size is 134 units ...In addition we have approximately 26 different plans) Cad work is all being done already on TurboCad 2018 because of the limitations of placing large amounts of units all together for a plot plan and connecting with engineer. Additionally more information is needed on the plan such as gutter downspouts water extraction location at the time of foundation plumbing and slab installation as well as electrical outside disconnect etc........ ( much of this is not required for code but is required by us as we need this information for a total project ...... typically the civil engineer does not locate these kinds of items.)

We are a design build firm that has primarily built for in-house both for selling and renting of single and multi-family units (apartments) We have built and drawn most of what we do for more than 45 years. Our local area is now producing many townhouse units primarily because of the sales price and lot cost and we would like to enter this market. We feel that our knowledge permits us better planning and designing of actual units so therefor we have chosen to draw them initially ourselves (we do have to have an Architects stamp our plans with units more than 3 and more than 3 stories or over 5,000 ft. We have found and Architect willing to work with us. A young guy who in school used Revit but we personally never liked this program several years back when we had legal copies). We have and are drawing units but we think that we have reached the limits or the capacity of what Chief Architect is capable of doing. attaching examples...... Suggestions for other software please? Kevin

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Looking for a Licensed Tennessee Architect to draw in Chief......... multi-family apartments, townhouses, as well as light commercial strip centers. (close to middle TN) Blessings, Kevin Waldron

Mark, Thank you....... understand now..... kevin

Mark, For my own knowledge.....As one who has several business interest and using a multitude of software.....Are you guys using Chief to produce layouts/3D views only? Most people that I know are trying to use 2020 for manufacturing cabinets/closet components etc.? (CNC ready files, nesting etc.) What I see in the cabinet industry is the need for easy to use full capability manufacturing software....... not just layouts/3D views. I'd be interested in knowing what you are doing...... .Programs like Mojaik, Cabinet Vision, KCD and others are still the solution for most cabinet companies unless I'm missing something.....The market tells you this..... as far as volume of clients.... I would like to know...... not trying to fuss or argue just interested for my own knowledge as we have a business where we use CNC's and manufacture componets etc.

My original statement still holds......... controls need to conform to the majority of other CAD programs .......... still implemented poorly in CA! Showing another Cad program controls that are built into the Cad program and the standard 3D Connexion interface.......( been using the 3D mouse for 5 years.......on 4 other programs......so I'm quite proficient with it.....)

Graeme, If you use Yahoo.com mail....... it has features that automatically move your files to Dropbox when beyond the normal size files accepted...(usually 20-25 max) program will ask for your permission and sends a link to the recipient. Scott, I might also consider a good Database .... if you where using Microsoft...... Access would be what I might recommend........ although I think Mac can now use Access. Much more muscle with a true database. SQL database would be the ultimate.....Bluebeam is a good program and may offer what you need.......

FormZ 8.5 better suited for this kind of drawing and rendering....

Jonathan... The original point I made was that you are so limited with the ability to import or export 3D dwg files......... GPS points can have XYZ coordinates but would you consider this 3D data in and of itself a 3D drawing? ....... This is so limited as far as what you can do with the points and the terrain data as compared to other software...... you can't draw curves between points, drape, loft, blend, fillet, extrude surface extend surface, fillet, smash, tween and the list goes on....... kw Enclosing a file that was originally drawn in Chief then exported as a 3D model from Chief....... the elevation draws great but look how much of the actual information needed for a true 3D file is missing.......( Rhinoceros is the program running the DWG file) Same thing occurs on an import.......much of the data is truncated or you can't import file as one might need..

Jonathan...... since you brought it up....... This is an example from Turbocad Advertisement for their Civil add on......... It would or could be a DWG file........ Chief can't import this terrain data as shown although it is a 3D DWG file....... kw

Joe, Not to argue but............ the problem is not that DWG format can't produce 3D files.......... it is the fact that Chief can't import a true 3D house or many other items from DWG files even if an outside program is capable of producing the necessary components and files to make a true 3D object. Many programs are..... personally don't think this is the best format for 3D work.....but many programs that produce and use DWG are capable of much more than 2D files...... In my opinion much of the problem is that Chief is using outside faces for 3D representation in many areas......... example would be cabinets...... they are not made up of individual components like a program like Cabinet Vision would make...... but primarily four sided faces or solids not necessarily actual parts..... they are more times than not.....representation of parts or whole items ... a facade if you will ....the representation serves the purpose most of the time but fails in many area's to make a 3D object that could be used by a a CAM program or a 3D printer to actually make the part, whole, or component. Original Post Best to probably stay in a DWG program and import your symbols from another 3D source and make new blocks in the Cad program. kw

Try this program if you need this kind of capability.....we purchased and use very often.......incredible what you can actually do...... http://www.simlab-soft.com/3d-products/simlab-composer-main.aspx (To my remembrance you were using things like Solidworks/Catia........ why not convert to a 3ds or 3dwg and use the files in your solid modeling software.) kevin

Better served in my humble opinion using another program. Something like Simlab Composer Pro .... it would be much faster and easier and would look more realistic. kevin

Hate to keep kicking but........ just another case where not enough tools to do basic 3D things..... much less something more complicated....