X9 - NEW STAIRS FEATURES

[lbuttery]

 

[HumbleChief]

Here's the link Lew - the discussion has evolved to include this new teaser in the X9 Sneak Preview thread but more discussion is always a good thing. What's your opinion on the new stair features?

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/2404/x9-stairs.html

[HumbleChief]

I'm going to steal an idea I could have sworn got posted yesterday by a poster in the other Sneak Preview thread. As I remember (poorly I'm sure) he suggested that Chief's stair improvements include a lot of 'eye candy' that doesn't address the technical details and needs expressed by some posters here and I just wanted to second that opinion. We can't know Chief's market and we can't know how many forum members represent that market but I think this is who Chief is, for better or worse. They make the complicated simple at the expense of really detailed flexibility. Works for some may not for others.

 

I might be in the minority (and the forum is a terrible measure of such things) but I don't need the technical stuff and never think I'll use the eye candy but always do in the end. These new stair tools seem too simplistic at first glance but I bet I use them and love them. I hate getting cable railings on stairs and they would never behave between landings etc. This new feature looks great for that. The snapping to walls is great addition as well. I don't usually have to wow my clients with custom balusters etc. but maybe I will now. Looking forward to these new tools.

[RL-inc]

Couldn't agree more on the rail options for cable, glass, etc.....

Been a pain having to manually create such styles to match flat railing profiles.

 

Nice work CA

[GeneDavis]

Heck, all I wanted was the option to put the starting newel on step 2 instead of step 1.

[lbuttery]

Larry:

 

I would agree with your comments

 

when I was doing projects I usually found stairs "complicated"

and anything beyond the "simple" I usually let me partner do

 

anything that makes stairs "easier" is welcome

 

my biggest stair "wish" is to be able to block all the pieces and parts as an "assembly"

especially if it is a multi-floor stair system so that the entire "assembly" can be moved

 

1" or 1' if desired by me or the client

 

Lew

[mthd97]

I am going to coin a new term, "APE" for how and why CA works fast with relatively simple house designing of rooms, stairs and other building 3D components. "A" is for Automatic, "P" is for Parameter and "E" for Extraction.  We use Chief for its productivity and speed in producing run of the mill housing with relatively minor customization and features. I not sure if any of you have heard the saying "Going Ape" in the US ? Stairs in CA automatically extract thier parameters from where they are placed in the 3D CA Model hence the new stair types including the existing stair types in the drop down menu or child buttons. The problem has been that the room type that the stairs are placed in will affect the stair parameter data extraction and how they build. That's why we build a floor opening that is enclosed and room labeled open below so the stairs will supposedly build correctly every time. Specific room types also have their own destinct parameters and will affect how the stair builds. I have not tested this in X9 yet to see how this works with the new and existing stair types so if anyone has, please tell us when the NDA period is over what problems you found if any ?

 

[mthd97]

BTW what I wrote above was in another post but it is more applicable to this post thanks.

[johnny]

Anyone else find interesting that 2 of the 3 stair examples used aren't to code.  That says a lot to me about a company trying to make a pretty picture and flashing marketing over nuts and bolts of getting it to work correctly.

[BrownTiger]

LOL

 

I love updated newel posts.... 

 

 

These thin things are Newels? Really? And the gap on the left between the a newel and a baluster. is100% up to a IBC (GBC).

 

 

 

And the glass paneling looks like  Joseph-Ignace Guillotin came back to life and designed it himself.... With a nice wide gaps big enough to fit a child and may be an adult. Not sure if this other paneling or disconnected railing is better...

 

 

Jokes aside... Fine, no big deal. I just want someone from CA to post a video how to create knee wall staircase. All the steps.

 

[scottharris]

For the knee or rake wall you could use a polyline solid

[Joe_Carrick]

Scott,

 

I think most of us know that a PSolid could be used.  It's also possible to use a Ramp.  But neither is the ideal solution, still requiring a lot of fiddling to get it right.  In addition, there are many different Railing conditions that Chief doesn't handle easily.  I think my suggestion

Railings Enhancements

would solve the great majority of the cases.  The Railing Wall on a Pony Wall should take care of the knee or rake wall condition.

[DRAWZILLA]

The only problem is p-solids don't frame

[Joe_Carrick]

20 minutes ago, DRAWZILLA said:

The only problem is p-solids don't frame

That's only one of the problems.  They also don't provide:

1. anything usable in the Materials List.
2. automatic update if the Stair is modified.
3. merging of surfaces in Elevation Views

[DRAWZILLA]

Yep, I think the only way is to provide a pony wall (like Joe says) with a railing on top w- a cap on the lower wall.

[HumbleChief]

7 hours ago, johnny said:

Anyone else find interesting that 2 of the 3 stair examples used aren't to code. 

Not me. Chief has always been the company they have always been and it's just too easy to get stairs to code with Chief's tools. 

[HumbleChief]

1 hour ago, scottharris said:

For the knee or rake wall you could use a polyline solid

Have run into this many times over the years with workarounds that aren't so great. How do we get this ability OOB with real pony walls, framing etc.? Seriously, what would it take Scott? More suggestions in the forum? I know the Beta team is active are they asking for it too? Would love to see it. Thanks.

[Greg_NY61]

I been making half walls out of interior wall, making psolid cap and matching stair incline and making a railing following the stairs and making a symbol and putting everything together.

[Joe_Carrick]

Greg,

I've also done it that way.  But often I get very messy results - particularly at intermediate landings.

[HumbleChief]

30 minutes ago, Greg_NY61 said:

I been making half walls out of interior wall, making psolid cap and matching stair incline and making a railing following the stairs and making a symbol and putting everything together.

Very creative but i think you might be making the point that this should be easy and straight forward within Chief's stair tools.

[Greg_NY61]

34 minutes ago, HumbleChief said:

Very creative but i think you might be making the point that this should be easy and straight forward within Chief's stair tools.

It's time consuming but it gives a clean appearance when you display it

[mthd97]

Compliance parameters are needed in stairs and balustrades but does this show up now after doing a plan check in X9B ?

 

Great discussion and we should not be afraid of showing and asking CA what we need for stairs to be up to scratch for even relatively simple and common stair cases used.

[BrownTiger]

16 hours ago, Greg_NY61 said:

I been making half walls out of interior wall, making psolid cap and matching stair incline and making a railing following the stairs and making a symbol and putting everything together.

Yes but this is not a complicated case...

 

Try split floor plan, and knee wall staircase both sides, followed by short 4' supporting wall on one side, connected to a landing, with x inches over the landing having railing above knee wall, turning  180 over the same support wall again with knee wall exposed on both sides....