Why Won't This Boolean Command Work?

[KnotSquare]

Searching first, I found the topic in the Forum, "Polyline solid subtraction" by MN_JohnH with a short video "Recording #1329" from solver. So I tried creating it from a rectangle and then a polyline solid. While better results, still not actually removing the material, but leaving an outline of the cut out in Vector View.

 

 

I save this as Girder to Post Detail Polyline and attached it as well.

 

1 min 39 sec video showing my issue "with this object":

 

Is Chief not capable of subtracting from a region where a previous subtraction occurred?

 

In plan view, you will see that there are two tenons next to each other at the end of the girder. This is reserved so that I can offset the mortise coming into the opposite side of the beam where the should also has already been prepared.

 

 

So I took a section view:

 

 

The the skin peeled up above the shoulder???

 

Well, I got it to work, but some strange behavior as can be seen in this video when I basically solved it with the video from Eric and a little trial and error: https://youtu.be/lELYPaZGHfI

 

What I was after and the solution is in the video should anyone need the same solution for "embedded bollean" functions. A subtraction over a subtraction.

 

Mark

 

Girder to Post Detail.zip Girder to Post Detail Polyline.zip

[Alaskan_Son]

You're dealing with a different problem than you think. Your actual issue is that you have 2 identical posts in the same location.  One of them is obeying the boolean command just fine.  The other (the one you're not selecting) doe not.  The "skin" you deleted was nothing more than that second post.  By the way, if you ever decide you want to get any professional training/coaching, please let me know.  I think I could help you dramatically improve your workflow. 

[KnotSquare]

Thanks Alaska_Son

I just posted a video on this topic. It is scheduled to air at 6PM MST today.

https://youtu.be/rJLRnbVqF3o

 

Mark

[Renerabbitt]

39 minutes ago, KnotSquare said:

Thanks Alaska_Son

I just posted a video on this topic. It is scheduled to air at 6PM MST today.

https://youtu.be/rJLRnbVqF3o

 

Mark

Michael was correct, you have duplicate posts. Curious why you have a post-dated video response?

[KnotSquare]

Hey Rene,

 

Big fan of your videos and the serious customization toolboxes you create. A cabinet into anything as well.

I do some pretty custom stuff myself, but in a completely different arena. I posted a like for Alaska_Son in the event that he was a timber frame fan. It is a long video that demonstrates some of my techniques of using Chief Architect in conjunction with AutoCAD. It is almost 2 hours long, so not for everyone.

 

Maybe he is not, but put it out there JIC.

 

Mark

[Renerabbitt]

59 minutes ago, KnotSquare said:

Hey Rene,

 

Big fan of your videos and the serious customization toolboxes you create. A cabinet into anything as well.

I do some pretty custom stuff myself, but in a completely different arena. I posted a like for Alaska_Son in the event that he was a timber frame fan. It is a long video that demonstrates some of my techniques of using Chief Architect in conjunction with AutoCAD. It is almost 2 hours long, so not for everyone.

 

Maybe he is not, but put it out there JIC.

 

Mark

Cool I will check it out...You probably know this but I am a firm believer that we can do any cad based actions in chief and kick AC to the curb  Maybe we can help you with that..and thanks

[KnotSquare]

I am a little older than you and started using AutoCAD at a junior college in California, circa 1988. I then introduced the first computers to the Architecture Department at ASU and recently found out that the software I taught back then was still around. Form Z.. No idea what it is like now, but I would send a sphere, unioned with a pyramid and recatngle and hope the machine did not crash while it rendered overnight.

 

Still find AutoCAD my go to for Construction Documents, but I am also using Chief only since X11. Wish I had a little more control in the line-work area, but Chief keeps improving. Loving that I can snap in elevations now! If they would only have the same manner of selecting via ACAD. Right to left is window, left to right...

 

I posted a 15 minute video showing how I combine the two in a very easy to understand Detached Garage design:

It's a quick video and kinda cool to combine the best of both software.

 

www.knotsquare.us

 

Mark Farrar

[Renerabbitt]

14 minutes ago, KnotSquare said:

Right to left is window, left to right...

We have made this suggestion before, it helps if you add your two cents to it. For now, just map contained selection to a hotkey as well as intersected selection, which is a quick way of getting a few different selection techniques. Couple that with learning tool-restrictive selections, deselections, marquee select similar, match properties and more.
I would challenge yourself to go all Chief, you are missing out on some of the benefit of boilerplating/automating redundant tasks and creating a warehouse plan system. Things we draw in Chief are smart data, meaning that everything is carrying information that can inform other aspects within Chief. As soon as you work outside of chief, you are losing the potential for automating redundant tasks. I really barely do any actual CAD work in Chief to produce a full condoc set

[KnotSquare]

Rene,

 

I do appreciate what you are saying, but it comes down to my level of confidence in trusting Chief to build roofs correctly and then I need to learn how to place the items I create as 3D Solids or others outside of automatic features in the Material Lists correctly. I have already found that Chief is not that accurate with anchor bolt count as if you have a slab with a footing, no walls, it will add anchor bolts to your list. I use the slab with footings to create a thickened edge for my patios, etc.

 

In ACAD I can draw the section with fine detail and confirm that the height proposed by Chief is matching up. On my Fisher Residence, a timber frame home and barn, wrapped entirely in conventional framing I have yet to meet with success. Once I do, I will then spend the time to learn layouts as I know I am doing repetitive work.

 

I have yet to test sections, but love that we can now snap to elevations. This is a step in the right direction and I would guess that we can snap to sections now to, just haven't tried.

 

Like you, I have never drawn a straight leader and use splines in ACAD for detailing out drawings so the leaders do not mix in with the straight lines in the drawing.

 

What I wish I could control was line work. If you see one of my framing plans, a beam is a line-dash-line, joist: line-dot-line, truss: line-dot-dot-line, header: line-dash-dash-line and so on. I started drafting when the main method was a drafting table. These symbols are very important when I engineer my plans as a simplex loaded beam typically will size smaller than a complex loaded beam, so telling the contractor where a beam starts and stops so that beams in a line are ordered at the right length is critical to the accuracy of my plans.

 

I am still learning what Chief can and cannot do, and the roof in Fisher is particularly complex as we are trying to meet PassivHaus standards. I have a timber frame with spans from the ridge to the wall of only 9' in the horizontal plane, yet I have 2x14 material on top of that just to pack in the insulation. It surely is overkill for structure. I have yet to get this roof to cooperate, but I now have time as they have turned their attention to the barn for this year, the house next. Fortunately the barn in not insulated, so I get to cut my teeth on a timber frame there.

 

mark@knottystudios.com

Mark Farrar

[KnotSquare]

I will put in the suggestion for selection as well.

[KnotSquare]

I submitted it as a case as I could not find a suggestion box. Is there one?

[KnotSquare]

Found it? suggestion@chiefarchitect.com

[Renerabbitt]

2 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

Chief to build roofs correctly

What problems are you having with roofs?
 

 

2 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

learn how to place the items I create as 3D Solids

What type of items?
 

 

2 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

Material Lists correctly

It shows you are a designer, why mess with material lists?
 

 

2 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

create a thickened edge for my patios, etc.

What do you mean by thickened edge? have a visual?

 

2 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

In ACAD I can draw the section with fine detail and confirm that the height proposed by Chief is matching up

Why can't you do this in Chief?
 

 

2 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

I have yet to meet with success

What problem are you running into?

 

2 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

use splines in ACAD

We can definitely do this in Chief

 

2 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

If you see one of my framing plans, a beam is a line-dash-line, joist: line-dot-line, truss: line-dot-dot-line, header: line-dash-dash-line and so on

We can do this in Chief
 

 

2 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

so that beams in a line are ordered at the right length is critical to the accuracy of my plans.

Are you having trouble with accuracy, have you tried the tab-input method for sizing. Ever polyline or line based object is dimension-able and even reports its dimension.

 

2 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

cannot do

This would be a very very short list, so with that in mind, if you think chief cant do something, post a question, chances are it can
Ask away
 

[KnotSquare]

Rene,

 

I have a commercial building that is going to permit. I would love to chat once this is out if you do not mind keeping this thread on your watch list as it seems to be you and I or sharing an email and we can start a new thread.

 

I am a little more than a Designer, but if you read the code, Architect and Engineer; nowhere. Me: ASU, Architecture B Program, combined degree in Architecture and Structural Engineering. Instead of pigeon holing myself as AIA or PE, I went AIBD. Best of both worlds and reciprocity is soooooo much easier.

 

I have seen you (recently) I think during a review of new X15 features (but maybe another video) show your curved leader process. Not an issue. I see how you do that with ease. I fall asleep to this or Building Science shows or anything to further my knowledge. It can take me a week to watch one show because I watch as far as I can and then does off. Love learning.

 

My roof problems are extensive enough I would likely have to share PDFs from ACAD to demonstrate the section as it is to be, even the roof; solved. In Chief, I am just not to that point, but getting stronger with lighter projects. I am juggling 12 right now, including a train station and a hotel, both 1800s conversions. I live in Butte, Montana and the history in this town is hard to surpass in the US. Great buildings. My family owns the Hennessy Building at 130 N Main St. in Butte. Butte had electricity before Manhattan, NY.

 

I have spent months in a wheelchair in my 20s and then was married for a few years to a woman with a boy with Cerebral Palsy. I also specialize in accessibility due to my experience, but my real passion is conservation. Many of my homes have R-70 walls with R-10 windows. Code requires R-60 in ceilings. I got into this field in part after winning a few design competitions in San Diego, and after a plane crash ended my Top Gun career, but mainly because I grew up in the mountains of Montana and am opposed to urban sprawl and see a real urgency to help the most energy hungry industry in the world. If I cannot stop it, I can influence it. My son is going to be 19 this summer, and I need to leave him something.

 

Here in Montana, our building season is only 3 months in the prime, so it is hump time. I type fairly fast, so this comes out pretty quick. I wrote lots of AutoLISP routines before doors and windows were ever considered to be automated as the are in Chief. "Menu driven". I also love to teach, have no fear of competition and post my videos for free to teach all that I can without the time to edit, but I have a small following in the 3 weeks I have into serious lessons.

 

With genuine respect for what you do, I would like to hit you up when the smoke clears. Spring is here and deadlines are a callin'.

 

Let me know if that sits well with you. When it comes to the Fisher House, once things slow, I would love to share that model and see how I can improve my Chief skills. I can do AutoCAD with my eyes closed, but Chief; I have a lot to learn before I can trust the output.

 

Why the time into my plans? My house plans run about $20-$75k depending on what you are doing, but I provide an erector set. As for the simple Detached Garage, that is a test run that is about to go to ReadyFrame. If it comes back flawless, the house for the Pecks is next and somewhat complex in a few areas. Pre-cut and bundled walls would speed up erection, a much needed aspect considering the short "prime" building season. The garage is so simple, I will be sorely disappointed if I see a saw on site. That garage was much less than $20k. I do treat my clients right and work with people more than I work on projects.

 

An old man that loves this stuff so much I will likely die with a trackball in one hand, 3DConnexion in the other.

 

I have an excavation company awaiting office plans, so I hope we can continue...

 

Mark

[KnotSquare]

If you watched any of the timber frame video, the posts, beams, girders, purlins and knee braces are all built using solids. I have to learn how to enter those into the Material Lists as they are to be, true dimension, rs lumber.

[Renerabbitt]

On 4/24/2023 at 9:14 PM, KnotSquare said:

I have to learn how to enter those into the Material Lists as they are to be, true dimension, rs lumber.

Coming back to this...I always have to ask...why are you providing material lists? Are you design-build?

[KnotSquare]

@Renerabbitt

 

This string was left blank. I did not realize until trying to locate an old answer to a question that you had a further reply. My apologies.

 

I have builders that appreciate the spreadsheet and homeowners that have difficulty getting decent bids. Napkins still pass as contracts in this state. Literally. It may seem like it is over the top in film, but your handshake means a great deal, almost as much as the builder you recommend being a relative or friend of a relative. The series Yellowstone is a joke! You can't order up a viewing of wolves eating an elk, nor have I ever seen a suit at an auction, not even the auctioneer, but we all have 20 guns and hate rules.

 

I went to ASU, ran my business out of Flagstaff up until the 2008 recession and then moved to Phoenix to struggle until 2014 when I moved back to Montana to work for my father using SolidWorks to design machines we sell to the military and pharmaceutical companies.

 

When the economy started showing signs of life up here in 2018 I restarted my design business, and my first project was a residence. When I called the county because I found the website unbelievable, they confirmed that I needed a floor plan and a wall section, even for commercial permits. Imagine a builder, that cannot get a license as a contractor, because Montana does not offer them (to this day), trying to produce a bid from such plans. Now imagine economically challenged families trying to get something built and how many builders go out of business during construction from not managing funds correctly. Getting the picture?

 

It is improving, but not in a great manner. As of December 2018, Montana started recognizing building codes as a whole, but still placed all considerations upon local jurisdictions. A town of under 100 people does not have a Building Department and the state still does not tip their toes in residential construction.

 

Larger towns, such as my hometown of Butte have embraced the code in the last few years and I am guessing that some where sent off for training as a couple of guys and gals at the courthouse are starting to know it well.

 

Still, get outside of Silver-Bow County by crossing the line into Granite and you do not have a building department in the county. I have a community center in design that is not required to have a permit, but the land owners wish to go through proper steps as they are from outside of Montana originally and have seen how other states work.

 

Wild west. Ever wish to visit, give me a jingle and we will pull out the guns or mountain bikes. Your choice.

 

One thing Yellowstone did get correct. There are a lot of Dodge trucks up here. Mine is black like on the show, but rarely is it clean and shiny!

 

What else do they not portray? 9 months of winter, that's what. Seems it is always warm. Damn, we wear sweaters around the campfire up at our cabins in July at night. It is currently almost noon and the frost has yet to leave the roof of my "black" truck and there has not been a cloud in the sky yet today. Every other man up here likely has an AR or two, but none of the Game Wardens carry them. Ha ha ha. I swear 1-5 people die from homicide per episode. add them up for all 5 seasons and you have our annual homicide count.

[Renerabbitt]

22 hours ago, KnotSquare said:

@Renerabbitt

 

This string was left blank. I did not realize until trying to locate an old answer to a question that you had a further reply. My apologies.

 

I have builders that appreciate the spreadsheet and homeowners that have difficulty getting decent bids. Napkins still pass as contracts in this state. Literally. It may seem like it is over the top in film, but your handshake means a great deal, almost as much as the builder you recommend being a relative or friend of a relative. The series Yellowstone is a joke! You can't order up a viewing of wolves eating an elk, nor have I ever seen a suit at an auction, not even the auctioneer, but we all have 20 guns and hate rules.

 

I went to ASU, ran my business out of Flagstaff up until the 2008 recession and then moved to Phoenix to struggle until 2014 when I moved back to Montana to work for my father using SolidWorks to design machines we sell to the military and pharmaceutical companies.

 

When the economy started showing signs of life up here in 2018 I restarted my design business, and my first project was a residence. When I called the county because I found the website unbelievable, they confirmed that I needed a floor plan and a wall section, even for commercial permits. Imagine a builder, that cannot get a license as a contractor, because Montana does not offer them (to this day), trying to produce a bid from such plans. Now imagine economically challenged families trying to get something built and how many builders go out of business during construction from not managing funds correctly. Getting the picture?

 

It is improving, but not in a great manner. As of December 2018, Montana started recognizing building codes as a whole, but still placed all considerations upon local jurisdictions. A town of under 100 people does not have a Building Department and the state still does not tip their toes in residential construction.

 

Larger towns, such as my hometown of Butte have embraced the code in the last few years and I am guessing that some where sent off for training as a couple of guys and gals at the courthouse are starting to know it well.

 

Still, get outside of Silver-Bow County by crossing the line into Granite and you do not have a building department in the county. I have a community center in design that is not required to have a permit, but the land owners wish to go through proper steps as they are from outside of Montana originally and have seen how other states work.

 

Wild west. Ever wish to visit, give me a jingle and we will pull out the guns or mountain bikes. Your choice.

 

One thing Yellowstone did get correct. There are a lot of Dodge trucks up here. Mine is black like on the show, but rarely is it clean and shiny!

 

What else do they not portray? 9 months of winter, that's what. Seems it is always warm. Damn, we wear sweaters around the campfire up at our cabins in July at night. It is currently almost noon and the frost has yet to leave the roof of my "black" truck and there has not been a cloud in the sky yet today. Every other man up here likely has an AR or two, but none of the Game Wardens carry them. Ha ha ha. I swear 1-5 people die from homicide per episode. add them up for all 5 seasons and you have our annual homicide count.

I'm from Oakland, my black dodge pickup was stolen, I miss her, 5 speed manual 4x4, yum. Headed up to tahoe in a couple of days because snow is far between over here.
I just got back from Costa Rica, where if you put up a fence around your property, thats your property line.
Regarding your material list stuff..you can always get anything with a Components panel to report to a material list the way that you want. I can point you in the right direction, just come back with your specific questions.