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By David Anderson
Large Project Capability
Despite the fact that with release 7.0 the program can handle structures with a foundation level, 10 floors and an attic level, its strengths are in wood frame structures of more modest size. There are no xref capabilities, but as with most "things in Chief," there is a way around the software's limitations.
In the past, the inherent efficiencies and speed in which designs could be completed, coupled with the programs more limited abilities—in terms of building size—have precluded this need. Future versions will address the xref issue and the current file structure suggests a workaround for this version. See figure 1.
Save your multi-story building in a working directory of your choice. You will see that Chief automatically creates numerous files for this project. Keep these files as your project masters. Create a directory for each level and copy all the drawing files that Chief created into each directory.
To work on one floor, open the specific floor file in the specific floor directory. Example: the *.pln file in the floor n directory. When you are finished editing floor n, overwrite all the floor n files in the master directory (*.can, *.cbn *.pbn *.pln). This method may be a little tedious and require careful administration, but it does provide some multi-user capabilities.
Space Planning
This new tool, the "House Wizard," lets you identify all
the required rooms and areas of a particular building before drawing
a single wall. After making your choices—you are guided through
a series of dialogs—"Room Boxes" are created. The boxes
(see
figure 2) can be resized on the fly, copied, deleted and positioned
as required. A few mouse clicks and this schematic plan will generate
walls and doors, which can be edited in the normal fashion.
Terrain Generation
This new feature replaces the previous lot perimeter function. It
includes all the functionality of the previous feature while adding
the ability to generate 3D terrain. Innovative uses of the terrain
tool include swimming pools, reflecting ponds and other landscape
elements. These techniques are demonstrated on the CD training videos
and there is no doubt that experienced users will find unintended
and creative uses for this new feature.
Data can be entered into the terrain feature by elevation points,
elevation line or elevation splines. In addition to the 3D terrain,
accurate contour lines are created and the building model can be placed
precisely in the x, y and z directions. Building sites of any shape
can be modeled and shadows created by a sun angle will conform to
the site's contour. As with all Chief Architect objects, materials
and textures can be assigned to individual terrain objects.
Detail,
Symbol and Texture Libraries
The library feature is accessed through a new explorer-like interface.
There is outline, and where appropriate, colored previews of all items.
You may add to the CAD Detail Library at any time (see
figure 3).
You can block and save your details from within the program or you
can import into your drawing, via DXF, manufacturers' details that
can be saved into custom libraries. Custom molding profiles can be
saved in a similar manner. In addition, you may add your own texture
files, backdrops and entourage images.
What, at
this point, is not customizable are 3D symbols such as furniture,
light fixtures, cabinets, doors and windows. While the program ships
with a comprehensive collection, the inability to define custom objects
is looked upon by some designers as a serious limitation.
Currently, the creation of 3D symbols, for use by Chief Architect,
must be done in a separate program called the Symbol Development Utility
(SDU). This utility, which is available at additional cost, can convert
3D objects, created either inside Chief Architect or with other modeling
software, into parametric 3D symbols that can be added to the existing
libraries. Information from ART suggests the SDU is to be included
in the next release.
This inclusion
will complete the object definition enhancements begun in Release
7.0. These include the ability to create custom molding profiles and
apply them to window and door casing, cabinets, baseboards, crowns
and chair rails. This version gives us the ability to mull windows
and doors together in any combination. Custom muntins both straight
and curved can be added to the glass of any door or window. Door and
window schedules can be automatically created, although customizing
the displayed information and adding additional comments is a cumbersome
task.
Rendering/Presentation
Capabilities
This release features a new rendering engine based on Open/GL technology.
It supports many upper-end features such as specular highlights, line
smoothing, curved surface smoothing, transparency settings and shadows.
Hundreds of supplied textures are available and can be applied on
the fly. This capability makes it fast and easy to compare different
material and color choices.
Initially the Open/GL engine presents a preliminary rendering that
allows these comparisons to be made very quickly. When all settings
and choices are finalized, a presentation quality rendering can be
provided. These controls are set in the Render Panel of the Preferences
Dialog box (see
figure 4).
Additional render tools include a day/night toggle (see
figure 5), ambient light controls and the ability to insert a
moon into a scene. Lights in a model can be defined as parallel, spot
or point. Their properties including attenuation, shadow casting,
angles and drop off rates are completely definable. Final renderings
can be printed directly or saved to disk.
Chief renderings can only be saved in the .BMP format and there is
no facility for specifying the final image size. Images are saved
at the screen resolution of 72 DPI, so renderings intended to be used
for client presentation or promotional materials must be resampled
in image editing software with the inevitable loss of quality.
Chief Architect
can also export models in VRML format and includes a freely distributable
viewer.
