HQ Rendering and .plan file management

[OldBarnDesign]

Being a pretty new Chief user, wanted to throw his out there to see how others manage this when it comes to creating renders for websites, proposals, etc.

 

Say you create a new stock plan and generate construction documents, and now you want to create some high-quality renderings to show off the plan on your website.

 

Obviously, you need to stage and furnish the house in 3D before setting up cameras, lights, tuning materials, etc. You might also need landscaping and a basic site model for any exterior renders. While you might furnish a rendering or two in your construction documents, those "sizzle quality" renderings typically require a lot more content.

 

I would imagine to furnish and stage an entire house could end up bloating the .plan file quite a bit, resulting in sluggish performance any time you open that file to make a small edit, or to just interactively show a client. I know layer sets are a solution and are supposed to control what's rendered in any given view. My question is if layer sets alone are enough? All that content is still in .plan file, do you find that things start to lag a bit more, load times drag, switching views become slow, etc.? Does the plan file become so sluggish that it's painful to work with?

 

Any advice or war stories about how to manage it?

 

I've thought about having different versions of the same plan, one for construction documents and one that's "blinged out" with content and details to make the renders pop. The obvious problem there is that you have to keep them in sync. If it's a stock plan, it's not supposed to change all that much, but it still has to be managed.

 

Thanks in advance!

[OldBarnDesign]

Also, I am aware of this article now:

 

Troubleshooting Slowness in Chief Architect Plans

[robdyck]

17 hours ago, OldBarnDesign said:

different versions of the same plan, one for construction documents and one that's "blinged out" with content and details to make the renders pop.

This is what I do. You have to pick your poison!

[OldBarnDesign]

Thanks Rob!