Help with tray ceiling, please.

[Aunttieem]

I have created a tray ceiling with a sloped ceiling plane, just as the video instructed.  However...the point where the top of my walls and the sloped ceiling plane meet are all different heights.  I set my room ceiling height.  I also set locked the "inside bottom height" but still where my wall ends and ceiling slope begins are different on all four walls.  Not by much, but quite noticable.  What is it I am doing wrong?

[Alaskan_Son]

Not posting a plan for starters. Seriously though, it's basically impossible for us to tell without seeing the plan. We could try guessing but that could take days and more often than not proves to be a waste of time.

[Aunttieem]

Plan files too big to attach.  Sorry, newbie here.

 

[johnny]

Plan files too big to attach.  Sorry, newbie here.

 

You can zip first or place in free drobbox and put link to download.

[Alaskan_Son]

Plan files too big to attach.  Sorry, newbie here.

 

If you can't figure out or dedicate the time to figure out how to post the plan, the argument could be made that you should probably just give up entirely right now and not waste anymore of your time. 

 

Being able to post the plan (even a stripped down version) or at least posting screenshots is a near necessity if you want any help from us or from tech support, and in the big picture, if you can't do those things you're really going to have a hard time learning to do some other very basic things that will be required to get proficient at using Chief to any real usable end.  

[CJSpud]

As suggested, the simplest thing for you to do is to "strip down" your plan .... i.e., save a copy of your plan under a new name (e.g., stripped plan) using "Save As" .... then, in your new "stripped plan.plan" file, delete everything that isn't relative to solving your problem(s).  I would delete all cabinets, furnishings, doors, windows, text, electrical, dimensions, fixtures, terrain, etc. ... mostly everything other than the main structure itselt.  Then save the plan (i.e., stripped plan.plan) and close the plan (you can leave Chief open ... just close the plan itself).

 

Next, navigate (go find) your plan wherever you have it stored (stripped plan.plan) and right click on the file name to open up the list of options;  then hover your mouse arrow over "Send To" and left click on the option "Compressed (Zipped) Folder".  You will immediately see that a zipped (compressed) copy of your plan file has been created in the same location and that it has a ".zip" file extension and a cute symbol designating it as a zipped file.  This is the file that you'll want to post to Chief Talk so someone can help you solve your problem.

 

Back in Chief Talk, you'll need to click on "More Reply Options" once you have a Chief Talk posting window open in order to open up an expanded posting window with the extra tools needed to attach your plan to your post.  Once you've open that expanded posting window, you'll see on the bottom left "Attach Files" and under that a box that says "Browse".  Left click on that button and then navigate to your zipped plan file and left click on it to select it and then click "Open".  Then back in the Chief Talk expanded posting window, right below the "Browse" button, left click on "Attach This File".  It will take a short period of time for the file to be attached and when it is done, you'll see your zipped plan file shown right above Attach Files.  All you need to do now is to go over to the right side of your zipped file listing and click on "Add to Post".  The file "link" will be inserted into the Chief Talk text entry box wherever you last left the cursor prior to clicking Add to Post.  Chief Talk will show your file in brackets and will add "attachment=##### along with your zip plan name (like this .... .

 

The procedure for posting images is basically the same.  The only difference is that you'll need to create and save the images you want to post in advance and then navigate to each one individually at a time to post them.  I usually just save the images I post as .jpg files and I try to keep their size around 480 ± pixels wide/high so that they are of a decent size for viewing.  If your images are too small, you might as well not waste your time or ours posting them.  Seems like there used to be a limit on the number of images you could include in each post on Chief Talk (maybe five or six) but I am not sure if that is still true of not.  It might be explained somewhere within the Chief Talk tools etc. ... I will let you go and check on that.

 

Hope this helps you get started getting better help on Chief Talk.  Please remember to preview your posts before Add(ing) Reply and ask yourself, will everyone reading this post be able to understand what my problem is and/or what I am trying to do or fix.  If it doesn't make sense to you or you haven't adequately stated or described your problem or provided us with enough information, then it is likely you may not get the answers you are looking for.  Someone might even mumble something to that effect in reply.  I've been mumbled at before so I know the experience well.

 

Good luck and happy Chief Talking!!!

 

[joey_martin]

If you can't figure out or dedicate the time to figure out how to post the plan, the argument could be made that you should probably just give up entirely right now and not waste anymore of your time. 

 

Alright..ENOUGH! Stop being an A-Hole. If you come across a post with no plan attached MOVE ON! Stop berating people for your lack of knowledge in being able to figure out a problem without seeing the plan!@!!@!@@#!@@#$%!%^#%^$

 

Now...@Aunttieem...While the room you are working in may have the correct ceiling height, remember that Chief is build around all the rooms. First, check the ceiling heights of the adjacent rooms to ensure that the ceiling heights are all consistent, if they are not, then that is where you start with fixing the issue.

 

If the intent of your design is to have different ceiling heights through-out the plan, then you need to work from the ceiling height of the room you are in, and use that as the number you are going to work from. On the walls that are taller, you will need to detail how the ledger connects the sloped ceiling plane, as it may or may not model correctly. Creating a detail of that connection is a painless process.

 

I hope that helps more than having your a&$ chewed for not posting that plan. 

[dshall]

Folks like Michael "The Alaskan Son" spend a lot of his time helping out newbies and experienced folks.  Thank you Michael for all of the help you have provided.  You are a great asset.  

 

If you ever want to call me a nitwit for not posting a plan,  do so,  I will welcome  your assistance at the cost of being berated.  

 

One final note,  if a plan had been posted,  the OP would of probably received some very clear guidance along with a video to further explain the process instead of 4 lines that even an experienced user would have problems understanding.

 

Keep up the good work Michael.

[joey_martin]

Then perhaps that should have been the response rather than the a$& chewing her gave the poster. 

[CJSpud]

And our guidance from Dan Park from Chief Architect:

 

https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/23-how-to-get-good-answers-when-you-ask-questions/

 

I don't hesitate to call tech support if I want a quick answer on something that's giving me trouble - I paid for the service and I don't feel bad using them.  After that, depending on what I am struggling with, I often will try F1 (help); Chief's Help Database (website "how to" articles); Chief's training videos (although I hate the fact that some topics are difficult to search as some things are buried in videos under a different subject); and then Chief Talk.  I really appreciate guys like Scott, Glen, Michael, Larry, David (J. Potter), Perry, Joe and David Michael who seem to have that uncanny ability to find solutions that make sense [there are many others such as Wendy, Jim, Jeff, Jintu, ...].  Johnny's an up and coming star.  Yosuf has found ways to take Chief to another level many of us haven't even considered.

 

Hoping Aunttieem is getting the needed help.  Chief's not one of those things we learn overnight so and it is easy to get frustrated when a plan isn't behaving the way we want it to.  Making an effort to put in our time studying the program and practicing as we learn is tremendously invaluable.  Taking on projects without having the skills to use the program so a project can be completed on schedule is a recipe for failure.  This may not apply to the OP (original poster) but I mention it as a general discussion item as there have been many Chief Talk posters that can wear that hat.  Including yours truly ... sometime in the past.

 

Again, good luck Aunttieem .... don't be afraid to post here .... we are all here to help each other .... just make sure to give us some ammo to work with.  Given a good description of a problem (including a plan and/or some good images), a solution is usually just a few posts away. 

 

PS:  I really like to see Chief user's real names in their signature ... gives me a little better feeling about who I am communicating with.

[Alaskan_Son]

Joey,

 

I think an "a$& chewing" is an extreme overstatement.  Am I wrong with what I said?  I don't think so.  I was legitimately trying to be helpful with my post.  Your "more helpful" response was based on what?  Your uneducated and uninformed guesses.  Don't pretend you have any idea what is going on with the OP's plan.  None of us do, and for the vast majority of problems, simple written questions are going to be of very little help to anyone...ever.  You coddling isn't doing anyone any good, whereas helping a person realize the importance of learning to use the right tools could potentially open the doors for a real progress.  

 

Anyway, I'm sorry you feel that way but I don't feel bad about what I said at all.  

[Alaskan_Son]

Aunttieem,

 

Please don't take any offense based on my post above.  It didn't come from a mean heart.  I was just trying to be straight with you.  You're just going to find yourself hitting dead ends on a regular basis if you can't figure out how to better communicate your problems, whether that be via better describing your issues, posting screenshots, and/or posting the plan.  And I'm not sure exactly how you are using Chief or what exactly you are using it for, but there's a good chance you're going to have a hard time doing anything truly productive with your plan unless you get this whole communication thing figured out.

 

I've seen this time and time again and simply ignoring the problem trying to be Mr. Nice Guy isn't doing anyone any good.  We use this software for what?  To produce plans.  Why are we producing plans?  To communicate with people to reach an end goal.  If we can't even communicate a simple issue here on Chieftalk, how in the heck are we going to communicate complex construction details to people?  And if we can't posts simple screenshots and plans, how are we ever going to be able to communicate electronically with clients, subcontractors, engineers, etc...or even take advantage of tech support.  The answer is that we won't.  I'm just trying to encourage people to figure out how to use the bag of tools we have at our disposal. 

 

Hope you all have a great day.

[joey_martin]

I have been engaged with this forum for around a decade and have probably answered hundreds of questions over those years. I can count on one hand how many times I have downloaded a plan. I simply move on...you should try it.

[dshall]

I have been engaged with this forum for around a decade and have probably answered hundreds of questions over those years. I can count on one hand how many times I have downloaded a plan. I simply move on...you should try it.

 

 

It's tempting,  but I ain't gonna bite on this one.  

 

You  win Joey,  you are the smartest man.

[Aunttieem]

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU KIND  Chief advisors for your help and suggestions on how to do simple thing such as upload my plan as smaller version. I have many things on my plate and sometimes a brain freeze happens.  It happens to all of us.  

 

To ALASKAN SON, I am sorry that you are such an unhappy person that it gives you pleasure to be so rude and feel it necessary to put down someone you know nothing about.  I am sure that you were not born knowing everything about EVERYTHING, we all have questions at one time or another.  And as I tell my students in my school where I teach, "The only stupid (silly- for the kids) question?...the one that is never asked."

 

FYI...I have created a beautiful big home for our family.  I just wanted to do something different for this smaller bedroom.  I have done some smaller homes as well.  NO, I have not had any problem doing anything else with the program.  NO, I won't just stop trying to do something because I don't know how without a little assistance.  Just think where this world would be if we all did that, nowhere.  

 

You comment about "Being Mr. Nice Guy doesn't do anyone any good"???  You are wrong, It is being an A#%$^&* to people that doesn't do anyone any good. I hope whatever is bringing you down gets better soon.

 

Thank you again for all you KIND and NICE advisors.  I have uploaded the room I was referring to.  

 

SMILE...I HEAR IT'S CONTAGIOUS!!

Third bedroom floor plan.plan

[Alaskan_Son]

Aunttieem,

You missed my point. As a teacher, you of all people should know that you're only going to get out as much effort as you put it and it seems you would want to be a shining example of that. Your previous post only reinforces my point. You wrote up 12 well thought out and detailed lines when you had an agenda to push but when you were requesting people to donate their valuable time to assist you with your problem the best you do was...

"Plan files too big to attach. Sorry, newbie here."

You only took the time to post 3 lines in your OP as well. Anyway, you may not like what I had to say but it was the truth.

 

And my suspicions were correct. Joey's "more helpful" response was dead wrong and did little to help anyone. I can't blame him though as your OP was too vague, unclear, and lacking in critical details. Its not your wall heights that are the issue its your ceiling planes. the baselines, baseline angles, heights, and pitches need some work. I believe the vast majority of your problems lies with the fact your exterior wall is at a slight off angle. That caused your ceiling plane along that wall to be at an off angle as well...and the one on the opposite side of the room is the same. Fix those things first and see if that helps clean things up for you.

[chief-hello]

I met the same problem as Aunttieem mentioned when I draw the sloped ceiling

slope-ceiling.plan

[chief-hello]

solver

I still can't understand what you said. My issue is that I cut a hole in the center of ceiling, and then draw four sloped ceiling planes and merge them together. However, when I open the dbx of ceiling plane, there are deferent values and deferent items of dbx.  In the 3d view, they were actually merged with each other. Would you gave me more detail descriptions. 

thnx.

[CJSpud]

My observations:

 

1.  Get rid of the flat ceiling in the structure tab.

2.  Get rid of the crown molding in the room.

3.  Verify that all of your ceiling heights are where you want them.

4.  Straighten out the crooked exterior wall as Michael said.

5.  Assuming you want the bottoms of your sloped ceiling planes starting at the perimeter of the room, draw them there and then join the edges.

6.  Square up your room dimensions if you want the sloped ceiling planes to meet at a single point.

 

Check your results with back clipped section views.  If you aren't happy with the way Chief places the bottoms of the ceiling planes, then put them where you want them using Chief's edit tools.  Just remember that someone will have to frame it the way you detail it.