Sneak Peak Into Chief X7 - Posted On Facebook

[BenPalmer]

The added benefit is you would get real time feedback: for example when in an elevation I can make adjustments to a window or other design element and see the change immediately which is great for trying out different design ideas on a home.  Versus making the changes on the dbx and then exiting out to see the changes on the model.  I know we have the render feedback, but I like to see it on the plan versus in the dbx.

[RodCole]

What I see here are some very good points being made by all those involved in this discussion. 

 

Where I am coming from personally is not so much the need to revamp Chief's interface so much as to make it even more friendly to using additional software.  Ideally that would be through an API, but for now file exchanges will have to do.  I hear what Doug is saying about a measured approach to any major GUI improvements.

 

But, as far as the newer interfaces being only a small improvement in productivity I am having a hard time agreeing with that.  Take for instance Octane Render, granted, it is new and should be cutting edge, and comparing Chief to a newly developed app that is highly specialized is not exactly fair.  But, to say that using an interface that allows for instant feedback of rendering progress, GPU processing, and immediate access to settings is only a minor issue for productivity is not something I can agree with.

 

That being said, I am still more inclined to see Chief's interface move forward in a rather measure manner, but the access to those best of breed applications should be more than  a passing consideration IMO.

[Rosco2017]

Wow, this thread has really gone from the excitement of a sneak peak, to a whole new level. I had to turn off email notifications from it. LOL I understand that some of you are frustrated with the program, however I am very grateful that I have this program and I really appreciate all the work they put into this software. I make a living off this software and it took me many years to learn it. I'm not going to lie, I still don't know a lot. Foundations are a headache for me as well as layouts. Other than that I kinda have it down. If I worked for Chief and I read this post, it'd make me feel like I wasn't doing a good job. I appreciate all you guys do for us, and I greatly appreciate a lot of the users that help everyone out on this forum as well. A little off topic here. I was on Chief's Facebook page and read some comments that a user had left on a status of Chiefs. I believe Allen Brown even commented on that post and tried to set that gentleman strait. Lord knows he needed it. The gentleman made it seem like Chief was the worst program he had ever come across in his entire life. I couldn't believe the sass that guy gave. LOL No one is holding a gun to our head and forcing you to use this software. Good grief fella. Ya'll have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Just my two cents.! LOL 

[Nicinus]

If I worked for Chief and I read this post, it'd make me feel like I wasn't doing a good job.

 

Well, that's certainly not the way I hope my particular suggestions come across, I love it and think most of us are here because they do as well. For what I do, I honestly prefer it to Archicad and Revit, but that doesn't mean I'm not hoping to see some of the stuff I left behind implemented here.

 

I think some of these discussions gets a little intense because someone says that something is important, and then someone else says 'nah' and you have to reload the cannon.

[Rosco2017]

I think some of these discussions gets a little intense because someone says that something is important, and then someone else says 'nah' and you have to reload the cannon.

Lol! You hit the nail on the head! We're only human! Everyone has flaws...just like this program. LOL Nothing's always perfect.

[johnny]

 If I worked for Chief and I read this post, it'd make me feel like I wasn't doing a good job. 

 

I certainly didn't mean to offend the guys at CA - I do think for a single practitioner of residential design/architecture CA stands above the competition.  My point is that with sneak previews of x7 coming out I am a bit disappointed that more hasn't been done to get away from all the dialog boxes for nearly every operation.  I know from experience that is a productivity drain.

[DRAWZILLA]

I certainly didn't mean to offend the guys at CA - I do think for a single practitioner of residential design/architecture CA stands above the competition.  My point is that with sneak previews of x7 coming out I am a bit disappointed that more hasn't been done to get away from all the dialog boxes for nearly every operation.  I know from experience that is a productivity drain.

Maybe Johnny should wait until X7 comes out before commenting.

[ragetoca]

https://www.facebook.com/ChiefArchitect?ref=stream&fref=nf

[lbuttery]

instead the whole dbx could be a constant open window on the side like the library browser

 

and all the "workarounds" would still be "workarounds"

 

you can add "pretty little flowers" and "new car smells" and they would still be there

 

I agree - modeless would be wonderful

I liked it when programming VB6 and VB.net etc a decade ago

 

Lew

[johnny]

Maybe Johnny should wait until X7 comes out before commenting.

 

Dougs comments and the sneak previews seem to confirm x7 won't be modeless.  The features added to x7 look great, but anyone can clearly see they are staying with the dialog box/data entry approach.

[DRAWZILLA]

Lew, is this what your talking about? very short video

http://screencast.com/t/AkxvfGx7cp

[johnny]

instead the whole dbx could be a constant open window on the side like the library browser

 

and all the "workarounds" would still be "workarounds"

 

you can add "pretty little flowers" and "new car smells" and they would still be there

 

I agree - modeless would be wonderful

I liked it when programming VB6 and VB.net etc a decade ago

 

Lew

 

I agree, this would be great.

[johnny]

Lew, is this what your talking about? very short video

http://screencast.com/t/AkxvfGx7cp

 

That is exactly what I would like to see incorporated!

 

Most the time I am "messing" with values to get it right, and having to go back and forth into a dialog box, and then a tab or two, each time is really a hassle when you dont know exactly the right value to start.

 

So you know, many of my apps like Vectorworks which has this feature I move my "info" box over to my other monitor and it works very well.

[ragetoca]

Thats how Autocad's properties box is - I suggested this.....nothing new under the sun

[dshall]

Lew, is this what your talking about? very short video

http://screencast.com/t/AkxvfGx7cp

Perry,  great demonstration.  I think that is what many people are asking for. I almost posted a response responding to something like this yesterday but changed my mind.

 

Since you brought it up,  I will now put in my 2 cents.  

 

I agree this is a nice feature,  select n object and ONE dvx opens up with all the attributes quickly editable.......  But,  But,  But,  I do not want to always want to edit what I just selected,  I might want to move it,  so I don't want to give up screen space for a dvx I will not use.....  so my solution is select object,  AND THEN hit quick key to open said dbx or I can move item selected.

 

Point is,  a quick key to open the FULL ON DBX,  not much time lost with using that quick key,  and I agree with you and others.....  that full on dbx is kind of neato.

[ragetoca]

The quick properties box in Autocad is dockable and has an "autohide" feature, which means if I want to see the quick properties I simply roll over my mouse over it and it shows or opens up. Since I have 2 screens, I always have it open on the 2nd screen - No shame in using others ideas/approaches...just ask Apple or Samsung....

[DRAWZILLA]

The quick properties box in Autocad is dockable and has an "autohide" feature, which means if I want to see the quick properties I simply roll over my mouse over it and it shows or opens up. Since I have 2 screens, I always have it open on the 2nd screen - No shame in using others ideas/approaches...just ask Apple or Samsung....

The program I showed also has the auto hide feature, I just kept it up to see it.

[ragetoca]

Perry - what program is that?

I did a quick screencast in ACA - Autocad has a properties box and also a "quick" properties that is customizable, you can add which things you want to quickly edit....

http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/c2lqrJetmA

[Richard_Morrison]

One thing that's missing from this discussion is that Chief is more layer-based for display properties than other CAD programs. If you want flexibility in how your objects behave in different layer sets, it is more important to get them on the right layer with a Default display, rather than tweak the properties of individual objects. I'm not sure how useful the "quick properties" DBX would be for this particular program.

[Nicinus]

One thing that's missing from this discussion is that Chief is more layer-based for display properties than other CAD programs. If you want flexibility in how your objects behave in different layer sets, it is more important to get them on the right layer with a Default display, rather than tweak the properties of individual objects. I'm not sure how useful the "quick properties" DBX would be for this particular program.

 

Knowing that you have a background in Archicad, Richard, I somehow wonder if this doesn't affect your view given that Archicad also is one of the few that still uses modal dbx's.  I loved many features of Archicad, which perhaps is the most complete package of them all, certainly for more contemporary designs, but moving from Revit to Archicad was very painful in this respect.  I remember I couldn't believe something as powerful as this still used a modal interface, and this was a frequent topic on their forums.

 

It is more than display properties, it is basically all settings that affect objects, size, hatch, position, etc.

[DRAWZILLA]

Perry - what program is that?

I did a quick screencast in ACA - Autocad has a properties box and also a "quick" properties that is customizable, you can add which things you want to quickly edit....

http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/c2lqrJetmA

It's called Design Cad, did hundreds of jobs on it a long time ago, you can get it for $50 bucks now. They are letting it die on the vine.

[RodCole]

I use TurboCAD Pro Platinum as well as Chief.  TC has a very similar feature to what Perry has shown on the Snagit clip.  In TC it is a called the Selection Info Pallette and it can be set to open automatically when an object is selected, opened from a docked position along with other pallettes, or opened in a floating position with a hot key.

 

Very powerful feature.  Not dying on the vine from anything I can tell.  I am finding more and more ways that I would like to use the power of TC along with Chief.  From my perspective it is not one or the other, it is Chief as a central player and all the rest in their respective roles.

 

Not Cheap though, but I believe they offer a substantial discount as a competitive upgrade.  I am pretty sure Chief qualifies.  At least they used to offer this.  V22 should be out before too long also.

 

Not saying that I would not like to see Chief clean up the clickity clickity click thing though.  It is just that I already have other apps that I can use for specific purposes that already have these features.

[Richard_Morrison]

Knowing that you have a background in Archicad, Richard, I somehow wonder if this doesn't affect your view given that Archicad also is one of the few that still uses modal dbx's.

Well, I suspect it does affect me in that I probably have a better appreciation of the issue than most. (LOL) Actually, you can work both ways in ArchiCAD; if you set up the dockable Info Box to be rather complete, then there is seldom a reason to open an object in a new window. Most editing commands can be done on the fly without opening another DBX.

 

On another issue, ArchiCAD display is more PEN-based, rather than LAYER-based. Changing an object's layer in ArchiCAD has no effect on its display properties other than visible/hidden; you need to use a different pen set to get heavier lineweights, for example. So for ArchiCAD, having immediate and direct access to an object's display properties is important, because you are more likely to be changing those than the layer. Actually, one of the most powerful features is that of "Favorites." For every entity you typically use, you can set all of the parameters and then save that entity as a Favorite. (Sort of like saving to the User Library, but faster.) When working in ArchiCAD, I certainly miss Chief's layer-based display feature. 

[DRAWZILLA]

I use TurboCAD Pro Platinum as well as Chief.  TC has a very similar feature to what Perry has shown on the Snagit clip.  In TC it is a called the Selection Info Pallette and it can be set to open automatically when an object is selected, opened from a docked position along with other pallettes, or opened in a floating position with a hot key.

 

Very powerful feature.  Not dying on the vine from anything I can tell.  I am finding more and more ways that I would like to use the power of TC along with Chief.  From my perspective it is not one or the other, it is Chief as a central player and all the rest in their respective roles.

 

Not Cheap though, but I believe they offer a substantial discount as a competitive upgrade.  I am pretty sure Chief qualifies.  At least they used to offer this.  V22 should be out before too long also.

 

Not saying that I would not like to see Chief clean up the clickity clickity click thing though.  It is just that I already have other apps that I can use for specific purposes that already have these features.

Rod, turbo -cad (IMSI) bought Design-cad and let Design cad die on the vine. Why would they need 2 cad programs, we knew that when IMSI bought it.

[lbuttery]

Perry:

 

yep, that is the modeless feature that would be VERY nice for Chief to have

 

AFTER they "fix" most of the "work-arounds"

 

Lew