what plan default do you start in

[crosscutter55]

WOW I AM GOING CRAZY WITH THIS  I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN LOL !!!  I did do a deck manually placing all the joists & beams . When i do to refrence plan on the basement level and hit refrence plan i cant see the joist on that level but i do see the joist hangers  Am i suppose to be  switching from default to framing  ?? GOD I AM SO LOST !!!

 

[justmejerry]

Did you use the framing and beams from a automatically framed deck and just move them around to your liking or did you use general framing members? you would have to make sure that the layer is turned on to display whichever one you used. The framing would normally display on the "0" level if that layer is on. You could create annnoset for decks. I have one for framing, one for structural posts and beams and one for railings.

[CJSpud]

Not sure where you are with your CA "self" education but based upon your post, it sounds to me like you should go to the following link and start looking through all the videos and seeing which ones cover the areas that you might be having trouble with - then watch them and practice what you learn.

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/?utm_source=Chief+Architect+Premier+19.3.1.8+x64&utm_medium=software&utm_campaign=Resource%3A+videos 

 

I could also tell you to hit F1 and find the topics you need to review and read about them ... but who likes to read the manual? ... to me viewing the videos leaves a more lasting impression as to how to use the program.  By the way, hitting F1 will take you directly to the appropriate section of the manual if you have a dbx (dialog box) open and are trying to understand what the different parts of the dbx are all about.  This is a very direct way to get help in Chief. 

 

Your choice as to how to proceed in learning Chief.  Blindly using the program often doesn't yield the best results ... although it can be a good way to learn ... providing you do so in a constructive way.  Practicing by trial-and-error is the best way to learn as opposed to asking for help on the basic operations of Chief.  That is not to say that you shouldn't ask for help when in a bind.  The Chief offices are not open on weekends so ChiefTalk is the go to place for weekend help.  Don't be shy ... ask your questions.  But PLEASE .... make a good effort in trying to find solutions to your questions by searching in the manual; checking out the many videos available to watch; research topics on ChiefTalk; perhaps consider spending a little extra money and become a member of Chief Tutor or Chief Experts ... or get Terry Munson's book and go through it as laid out.  Besides all that, there are many expert Chief users who will do GoToMeetings with you (or Skype sessions) to help you with your problems.  We are very blessed to have so many resources available to us to assist us as Chief Architect users. 

 

Good luck .... you will get un-lost eventually ... keep plugging away.  Chief has a lot of horsepower under the hood and you will not learn it overnight.

[Kbird1]

The new  X9 Tutorial Guide , along with the Reference Manual and User Guide would be worth a download too , if you don't have them.

 

The Tutorial guide isn't available through the Help Menu like the Ref, Manual and User Guides but is pretty good , at least for what I have checked out so far.

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/documentation.html

 

 

M.