HELP: Can All the Cross Section Details Be Auto Generated?

[HomeDesign724]

There's a very specific way my boss wants our plans to look and what he wants included in the details page. In our current program (a dinosaur called CADVANCE99), there's a macro where a text box pops up and you input the details (also for cross sections) for the specific plan, such as if there's R30 insulation in the walls, if the outside has vinyl siding/brick.etc, the rafter & joist size, floor to ceiling heights, etc and then the program draws it all for you. I've been searching nonstop for 2+ weeks for various tutorials, videos, articles, even called tech support but no one is really giving me a straight answer to if there's something similar to what we have in CADVANCE that can be replicated in Chief. My boss doesn't want to switch over to Chief if we can't figure out how to auto generate the cross sections & details to his specifications. Chief is 10,000% more efficient than CADVANCE, but the ONE thing that CADVANCE seems to do better is this super easy and simple way to make the details and cross section pages. We can't use CAD blocks since those are canned, we need them to basically be like everything else in Chief that auto generates and whatnot.

Please help!! I'm about to give up.

[TeaTime]

5 minutes ago, HomeDesign724 said:

such as if there's R30 insulation in the walls, if the outside has vinyl siding/brick.etc, the rafter & joist size, floor to ceiling heights, etc

These sorts of details are specified in the Wall Types, Floor/Ceiling defaults, Roof defaults, etc. So as you draw our your building it will build with all of these settings inherently present.

9 minutes ago, HomeDesign724 said:

My boss doesn't want to switch over to Chief if we can't figure out how to auto generate the cross sections & details to his specifications

The closest thing to automatically creating CAD Details is the "Auto Detail" feature available when in an Elevation/Section view. It will automatically create CAD elements such as Insulation blocks, concrete fills, framing cross boxes.

Here's a video on the topic: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/46/adding-detail-to-cross-section-views.html

[Kiwideziner]

It would help if you provided an example of what you would like to achieve.

In CA you build a 3D model, start by setting the various defaults, eg ceiling heights and joist sizes. you can then cut sections at any location you like.

you then have to manually annotate the sections by adding text and lines/boxes etc. or use a seperate scale detail drawn with cad.

I am not aware of any modern program that will do this all automatically, thats why we are drafting professionals.

[Renerabbitt]

16 minutes ago, HomeDesign724 said:

Please help!! I'm about to give up.

I have something like this in my pro plan template..see 330 seconds in

 

 

[HomeDesign724]

Thanks everyone for replying!!

I attached an example of what our details page usually looks like, as well as the text box that we have to input all the information to create each details as well as the cross sections. Because it's so simple in the program we already have, we need something similar in Chief.

[HomeDesign724]

22 minutes ago, solver said:

Could you post a couple of screen captures of these details? Maybe you could make, or link to a video showing how this works?

 

With Chief, all the information is built into the model. 

Yea absolutely! Just posted some down below. Let me know if you need anything else!

[SHCanada2]

do those details dynamically change size or remove components? For instance, if you specify 2x4 walls or 2x6 walls, does the one detail show a wider stud, or are there two different details?

 

and how does the cross section work. The entry screen shows 8'1 floor heights, but the image show 7'9? The dialog shows 12:12 roof pitch but the cross sections shows 6:12. does the roof pitch CAD line dynamically change pitch?

 

what if the cross section had a sunken room? Are all of those arrows dynamic, in which if you made the basement 10', they would all move up/down with the change in height?

 

For me I have details similar to yours, cathedral, and normal. I then have variables in each where you specify the R value, cladding type, sheathing type, floor size, etc, but the CAD lines are static, only the text changes

 

Watch Rene's video above, he has pointers which is similar to your radio buttons

 

 

[Joe_Carrick]

Once you've created a Cross Section:

• Select "Auto Detail"
• Then use CAD Detail from View to create a new CAD Detail.
• The CAD Detail (complete cross section) can then be edited to remove the areas you don't want in the final Detail
• Annotate as needed.
• Repeat the process for each desired detail.

 

[HomeDesign724]

15 hours ago, SHCanada2 said:

 Are all of those arrows dynamic, in which if you made the basement 10', they would all move up/down with the change in height?

Yea for the most part whatever we put in the dialogue box will be drawn on the plan. It's not completely dynamic like Chief is, but for instance the roof pitch will change depending on what we input. 
I just brought up the text boxes for you to see, they're not what I input for the actual plan drawing I sent.

[GeneDavis]

Every one of those details could be drawn in Chief (and look better using Rene Rabbit's style) and placed in a plan available to all on your system.

 

Show your boss what Rene does.  Maybe he or she will decide to come into the 21st century.

[HomeDesign724]

19 hours ago, Renerabbitt said:

I have something like this in my pro plan template..see 330 seconds in

 

 

Thanks I'll have boss man take a look at it is this only for x14 or will it work on x12 which is the highest version that'll work on my computer?

[Renerabbitt]

20 minutes ago, HomeDesign724 said:

Thanks I'll have boss man take a look at it is this only for x14 or will it work on x12 which is the highest version that'll work on my computer?

X14, and you May want to check your email for chiefs new subscription model, you’re going to be priced out of new software soon if you don’t keep with the SSA. Just letting you know in case you weren’t aware.

maybe time for a new computer

surprised to hear that your machine won’t run x14… are you sure?

whats your machine make and model?

[HomeDesign724]

40 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

X14, and you May want to check your email for chiefs new subscription model, you’re going to be priced out of new software soon if you don’t keep with the SSA. Just letting you know in case you weren’t aware.

maybe time for a new computer

surprised to hear that your machine won’t run x14… are you sure?

whats your machine make and model?

Same honestly, I just started this job three months ago and I'm shocked at how many old computers are still here xD The one I'm working on is ViewSonic, Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4570 CPU @ 3.20GHz   3.20 GHz, 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor.
I can't even run x13 on here, a popup comes up saying the video card is too old and the 3D models won't generate ):

[Kbird1]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:47 AM, HomeDesign724 said:

I can't even run x13 on here, a popup comes up saying the video card is too old and the 3D models won't generate ):

 

You need a 1000 Series Card at a minimum now, the 600-700 series are not supported. However a cheaper 3000 Series card like a 3060 will suffice, though a 3070Ti or higher would be better especially long-term. Off course if the boss will go for a whole new system with a 3070Ti or 3080 all the better I'd think.

 

If all those CAD details can be exported/saved to DWG or DXF out of CADVANC99, Chief can import them for example into a "Details Plan" and be sent to Layout from there.

 

Mick.

[Joe_Carrick]

If you want "Live Details" try this:

• Create a Cross Section (Vector Render Technique)
• Save it and rename as desired
• Open it for Edit in the Project Browser 
• Set Clip Lines (Horizontal and Vertical) and check "Display"
• In the View, move the Clip Lines to crop the Detail
• Annotate the detail - some things can use referenced labels
• send to Layout (at desired scale) and use the built-in macros to Label the Detail

When anything is changed, the Detail will automatically correspond to those changes.

 

You might need to play with the Defaults to get the annotation sized correctly for the scale of the Detail(s)

[SHCanada2]

On 12/16/2022 at 6:17 AM, HomeDesign724 said:

Yea for the most part whatever we put in the dialogue box will be drawn on the plan. It's not completely dynamic like Chief is, but for instance the roof pitch will change depending on what we input. 

what is dynamic in that cross section? I'm still not understanding what that represents. Is that actually the cross section of the house, and then further adjusted by that dialog box? What would a sunken living room floor look like and how would the one floor height change in the dialog box impact it? i.e. that dialog only has one floor height, what happens to a sunken living room when you change that height?

 

Are all the annotations just put where they are with no user interaction? Impressive if it does

 

 

 

 

[GeneDavis]

There were no dialogue boxes shown addressing anno.  I am curious as well, as to how the text is generated.

[Kbird1]

1 hour ago, SHCanada2 said:

Are all the annotations just put where they are with no user interaction?

 

It makes me wonder if in fact the Dialog box is not essentially just a "Search Engine" the sifts through Dozens of previously drawn and saved "Details" to find and swap out Details as needed.

 

M.

[Alaskan_Son]

2 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

It makes me wonder if in fact the Dialog box is not essentially just a "Search Engine" the sifts through Dozens of previously drawn and saved "Details" to find and swap out Details as needed.

 

This is EXACTLY what I suspect is happening as well.

[GeneDavis]

But what generates the annotation?

[SHCanada2]

22 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

It makes me wonder if in fact the Dialog box is not essentially just a "Search Engine" the sifts through Dozens of previously drawn and saved "Details" to find and swap out Details as needed.

My guess as well for the details, but what about for the cross section he has?

 

And if his two roofs on the section had different pitches? how would that work?

 

@HomeDesign724 any idea how the cross section works?

[HomeDesign724]

On 12/16/2022 at 9:42 PM, Joe_Carrick said:

If you want "Live Details" try this:

• Create a Cross Section (Vector Render Technique)
• Save it and rename as desired
• Open it for Edit in the Project Browser 
• Set Clip Lines (Horizontal and Vertical) and check "Display"
• In the View, move the Clip Lines to crop the Detail
• Annotate the detail - some things can use referenced labels
• send to Layout (at desired scale) and use the built-in macros to Label the Detail

When anything is changed, the Detail will automatically correspond to those changes.

 

You might need to play with the Defaults to get the annotation sized correctly for the scale of the Detail(s)

Thank you, I'll try this today!!

[HomeDesign724]

On 12/17/2022 at 1:11 PM, SHCanada2 said:

what is dynamic in that cross section? I'm still not understanding what that represents. Is that actually the cross section of the house, and then further adjusted by that dialog box? What would a sunken living room floor look like and how would the one floor height change in the dialog box impact it? i.e. that dialog only has one floor height, what happens to a sunken living room when you change that height?

 

Are all the annotations just put where they are with no user interaction? Impressive if it does

 

 

 

 

So what happens is you input the information in the dialog box and then the program draws it for you, including the text. It was a macro the boss' son in law made before he left a number of years ago, it's pretty impressive. If there are multiple pitches, you have to make a new cross section/detail showing that it's different. As an example, I attached screenshots showing the progression of how to make the details box. It creates one detail based on all the information you click on. So it's kind of like pre-made drawings but also not...? Not 100% sure how it works, I'm still new here xD As you can see, there was nothing on the page before I hit OK, so the program drew this detail based on my selections, it decided which already made drawings are needed to make the desired end result.
But yea so what we need in order to full time switch to Chief is an easy way to create the details and cross sections so we're not wasting time adding single CAD blocks or drawing every single instance. Boss wants to just create the plan and then maybe zoom into the side and get the detail from there because details would be already input from like the wall info or something. Like saying what type of insulation is being used for example.

I hope I'm explaining this okay?? Thank you everyone for being so helpful!!!

[Joe_Carrick]

It looks to me like it's actually just selecting a pre-drawn detail and editing the labels - probably using a macro.  If that detail is a dwg it could be imported into the Chief Layout.

[HomeDesign724]

2 minutes ago, Joe_Carrick said:

It looks to me like it's actually just selecting a pre-drawn detail and editing the labels - probably using a macro.  If that detail is a dwg it could be imported into the Chief Layout.

I mean kind of? But the program still figures out what to draw based on your selections, so we're not having to edit any labels at all. That's kind of what we're looking to replicate in Chief, something we don't have to edit or redraw everytime. The detail isn't the same each time, that's why we can't just import one or two drawings, it would take us forever having to draw it in our current program and then import to Chief when there's literally hundreds of possibilities (ie someone has an 8 pitch, but the next guy has a 12, or this person has brick but the other vinyl siding).