Are they examples of plan sets done by users?

[CurraheeWW]

Hello board, new user here. I am a old school user of AutoCAD (1990's) -> AutoCAD Architectural Desktop 3.3 (early 2000's) -> (Revit Architecture mid 2010's) -> Revit (late 2010's). 

 

I just took a position with a residential developer/builder running Revit 2024, which they are getting away from using. We are transitioning to CA x17 Premium. All future plans and all old plans have to be drawn/redrawn in Chief. 1 week ago on my first day on the job I was the first seat in the office to have the new software. This is going to be a major undertaking especially since I have never used Chief before. Since no one on our team also has ever used the software, I am learning on the go without any guidance from fellow architects on the workflow, settings, preferences, layouts, defaults..etc. of the program. After a week of working with the program, its nice to know how similar the BIM software was to Revit but also startling to find how different they were at the same time. It's like going into a big house to find the kitchen, in a house you've never been into; all house are generally built and layed out the same but you just have to through different doors to get to where you want to go.

 

So, I am here on the board searching for answers to a lot of questions concerning the aforementioned set-up and workflow of the program. Yes I could get on here and ask different questions as they arise but that would be very time consuming. What would be a great help if some users on the board could send me some of your drawings (not asking for anything proprietary) so I could dig into the ....settings, preferences, layouts, defaults..etc....to see how yall went about "getting" to the kitchen.

 

As I was perusing the forum I came about this post. He was asking for the same thing but for a different reason than I.

 

Here is his, GeneDavis. post:

 

Is there anyone out there that can send me their plans and layout files?

 

Thanks ahead of time!!

 

Tim

 

 

 

 

[rwdozier]

Log in to your account and go to:

 

Samples Gallery | Chief Architect

 

There are many sample plans available there.

[SHCanada2]

there are people that sell more advanced templates. @Renerabbitt

 

And people that sell other types of packages @Joe_Carrick

 

and people that have paid newsletter with tips and tricks and does custom assistance @Alaskan_Son

 

If your office is just starting out, you might want to evaluate these types of offerings to get a head start which is consistent across all of you in the offcie

[johnny]

I want to say (as i wish someone made this point clear when i started)....

 

Depending on the complexity of the homes you’re working on, this transition can feel rough at first. About 80% of the process will genuinely impress you...you’ll find yourself moving faster than you expected and wondering why you didn’t switch sooner. The other 20%? That’s when you’ll be tempted to throw your computer across the room.

 

You’ll quickly hit moments where you question whether it would be faster to go back to your old software. But then you’ll remember just how efficient that 80% felt, and going backwards won’t be very appealing anymore. It’s a constant push and pull. Some things will surprise you....in both directions. The 2D CAD and generic 3D tools can feel shockingly limited, yet at the same time you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can assemble complex roof structures.

 

You’ll turn to the forums for help and find one of the most responsive, genuinely helpful communities out there. But when it comes to advanced problems, the solutions often aren’t straightforward....they’re clever, sometimes obscure workarounds rather than direct modeling approaches.  However, its best just to accept...."this is the way".

 

 

You’ll start to realize that the software can do almost anything....but not always in the way you expect. Often, the solution involves using a tool that seems completely unrelated to the task at hand. Over time, you build a mental library of these techniques, and that’s when things begin to click when you can triangulate answers to your own solutions. Just make sure to recall the pythagorean theorem when trying to solve your probelms. There are strong invisible forces at work in your model space that have some setting in some part of the app that can help or wreck you.  

 

In most BIM applications, you directly model the exact thing you want, step by step...which can be precise but also tedious. This software works differently. Think of it more like a dance partner.......when you make the right moves, it responds in kind. Once you understand how to guide it, you begin to unlock a level of automation that makes routine tasks incredibly fast.

 

That’s when the real value becomes clear...even if you arrive there a little begrudgingly. In the end, it’s very much a love-hate-love relationship.  Good luck.

 

 

Edited Saturday at 08:38 PM by johnny

[joey_martin]

Here is a home we plan to start building in the fall. I don't have the site plan and the interior design pages aren't ready yet, but this should give you an idea of what Chief can do.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vkzm4fpc63jz1ugpuv7ml/CJs-Bungalow_PRELIM_010526.pdf?rlkey=v5moqj0is8ldiletba39vq98v&st=xc1rsn8p&dl=0

[johnny]

Joey does great work, but just to show you another "format" ......for this project we do a full size plan set and then a detail workbook (letter size) for supplementary reference/details.  Its a method where you can provide details for reference with different conditions we may not have thought of.  However, we do a completely different interior spec/detail workbook but I can't provide on this project here in the forums.  This is arch only.

 

 

FC_WALKER_PLANS_ANSID_5_18_2022.pdf Walker_Detail Packet.pdf

Edited 20 hours ago by johnny

[Michael_Gia]

@johnny

Really nice work!

great colour scheme and font. 

May I ask what font that is?
 

How was that rendering done?

[SHCanada2]

18 hours ago, johnny said:

but just to show you another "format"

 

That is an impressive set.

 

what is 4 for this below? it says sheathing, but I think maybe the line should go across the truss to the vertical cross hatched pline?

 

..and a little typo "EXSPSOED" ...I do these all the time... only to find them way after I sent them out

 

 

 

[johnny]

4 hours ago, Michael_Gia said:

@johnny

Really nice work!

great colour scheme and font. 

May I ask what font that is?
 

How was that rendering done?

 

Thank you.  The font is Universe 45....we probably spent 40+ hrs looking at different fonts and arrived to that one due to its ability to read well at full-size 1/4 scale Ansi D but read very well still with the same layout 50% or 11x17 (Ansi-B) while simply using the print function out of Chief for those two sizes with no different template required.

 

Rendering?  Don't you mean real photo?  ...lol...no, you are correct it is a rendering though the actual home turned out exactly like it.  We export out of Chief into Blender, add elements like landscaping, trees, and hard surfaces and a Corona plugin that lets you use it for Blender.  We then run it through a quick AI detail opimizer which just puts the finishing touches.  Before you bother with all that, I do believe in the short future all this will be for not.  I've seen my team do some crazy things with just AI.  I'd say the only reason we still use a strucutred path is to get predicability and fine controls over the end render you don't have with AI.  

[johnny]

2 hours ago, SHCanada2 said:

 

That is an impressive set.

 

what is 4 for this below? it says sheathing, but I think maybe the line should go across the truss to the vertical cross hatched pline?

 

..and a little typo "EXSPSOED" ...I do these all the time... only to find them way after I sent them out

 

 

 

 

Ah, good catch. When I looked into this detail, I noticed that the (4) target line is positioned behind the fill used for the truss. That said, fixing the layering would only address part of the issue. As a general practice, I instruct my drafters to avoid crossing the target line with other elements whenever possible. In this case, the (4) should be placed above the other numbers on the left side. I’ll have them correct it.