Chief Architect compatability with 2020

[goldfinchstyle]

Does anyone have anything to add to this that may be different from what CA Support have provided?

 

I asked CA support if they had any update from CA's side with regards compatibility with 2020 - last post seems to be from around 2011 on chieftalk http://www.chieftalk.com/showthread.php?54296-Compatibility-with-20-20-Software). The answer I got was:

 

The short answer is no, there is no new news on that front. A more detailed answer is that the two programs are both propriety file types that while they can both export basic cad files, the data that defines the plans themselves is stripped in the process.

One of our users on Chieftalk addresses the subject of compatibility here, and though the post is from 2017 it sounds like it still is solid advice:
https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/topic/15011-2020-compatibility/?_fromLogin=CA3
 

This sounds pretty definitive to me, but if anyone has a new work around I'm all ears.

 

Thanks, Janine

[DBCooper]

I think Mark's comments are still solid.  I haven't heard of 2020 making any changes to make the programs more compatible and I don't think Chief has either.  @MarkMc might want to chime in if he has any new info.

 

This all begs the question though, why do you want them to be compatible? 

 

Are you trying to work with both 2020 and Chief?  And if so, you might be able to do everything you need in Chief making compatibility a moot point.

 

Are you using Chief but want to work with others that are still using 2020?  Probably not much you can do to get around this but you might be able to streamline the process of going from Chief to 2020 to make this slightly less painful.

 

[Renerabbitt]

2 hours ago, DBCooper said:

Are you trying to work with both 2020 and Chief

This is pretty common because of 2020's cabinet ordering capabilities. Would be a monumental step forward if Chief could build that into this software.
I can get chief to have this functionality but not on the big massive catalogs like crystal cabinet works

[MarkMc]

4 hours ago, goldfinchstyle said:

a new work around I'm all ears.

Not really and I doubt it will ever, nor should it IMO, ever happen. My solution was eventually just ignored 2020. 

Pretty much as explained in that 2017 post but instead of using 2020 I began dragging and dropping into an online ordering system for brands that have that. Nowadays that should be a majority of brands. Originally, I had libraries of cabinets for that purpose but switched to Style Palettes. Less than two dozen well done will usually take care of most of what is needed.

 

FWIW my two primary brands did not support 2020 and AFAIK still don't. One did not have an online system, the other was full custom and the online system could get complicated (but I still made it work most of the time.)

For brands that don't have an online system, are very advanced, or have an overly complicated online system; I set up a spreadsheet template that printed matching the brands order form. I would then copy from the exported sheet to the order sheet. That would still require some manual input for some things (like number of doors/drawers). You could go so far as to eliminate all manual input but that is pretty advanced and not worth the effort. Then yes you have to look up the prices in a pdf catalog but the order sheet can be set up to do ALL of the final calculations. Gets pretty fast with a little practice and a well bookmarked PDF file (you likely need to add your own bookmarks so need a decent PDF editor)

I'd be willing to set up one brand and train you on it so you could then do others but for a fee. Or better yet dive in. You will only need to learn some very basic macros and dive into the rabbit hole for a while but a great learning experience.

[QuickDraw59]

Funny, I just got off the phone with 2020/Design/Live/Cyncly (whatever their name is this week).  After living in front of that program for 20 years, I've had Chief since April and there's no going back.  I only had one free-lance Client left that needed factory-ordering capability, and he was Ok with me turning it off (he's using mostly off-the-shelf cabinetry these days).  My full-time gig is at a Design/Build outfit that has their own cabinet shop and also uses a local cabinet shop when they get too busy.  Chief is $400/year less cost and does everything better/faster.  And dear god, the speed differential.  I had/have computers w/ huge CPU processing capabilities and still sat in front of 2020 for 5-10 minutes for a good-quality rendering just to have it crash.   Now if Chief wants to add the ability to upload cabinet orders to Masterbrand, Masco, etc. as an add-on module I would be very interested.

[goldfinchstyle]

Thanks all for super interesting responses - FYI I'm coming at this from an interior design perspective, so going down macro rabbit holes is not honestly the route I'd want to take - honestly MarkMc most of your response went waaaaayyyyy over my head :-).  And I asked the question because - unfortunately - a fair number the kitchen and bath industry seems to still use 2020 and the supplier I work with most of the time for kitchen cabinets uses 2020.  I was just looking to make it more efficient on their end - i.e. they import my output, make a few modifications and done.  But I appreciate it would be a mammoth task given all the cabinet catalogues out there.  It's not a train smash, it would have been a nice to have, but I'll just stick with the default which is to supply plans and elevations with a materials schedule and then they recreate in 2020.