There are several efficiency improvements to our drafting and project management
tools. Section views and dimensions have received several new updates.
Let's begin by looking at these enhancements.
Elevation cameras can be copied and pasted.
The new view will retain dimensions, text, CAD,
or other information from the originating view.
Wall elevations for open to below rooms, or those with vaulted ceilings,
will show the full wall height.
The elevation camera view has an option you can use to ignore walls above
to crop the view at the rooms defined ceiling height.
When dimensioning this type of view, the upper walls can be located,
and the dimension text can be rotated using a new rotate handle.
Elevation cameras can be clipped to expand or contract your view.
Like the current backclip feature, elevations can be clipped at the sides,
elevation, and room.
Let's take a look at this bath example and how to generate this type of
elevation view.
The wall elevation camera is designed to view only the room,
which may not be enough information.
The cross section elevation camera views the entire structure.
That may be too much information. By using this clipping feature,
either of these views can be adjusted to match the example.
In this cross section camera,
choosing the option to clip to room will convert this view to a wall elevation.
When selecting clip sides in elevation,
you will see you have access to clipping lines.
These lines can be snapped to the floor, ceiling,
and wall edges to create the desired view.
From a wall elevation camera, you can do the same thing.
Uncheck clip to room. Then,
as you click very close to the wall edge and select the clipping plane,
it to can be adjusted to help you create the elevation view you need.
There are a number of enhancements for dimension defaults. First,
on the primary format,
you can specify a specific rotation angle for dimensions.
Angle dimensions have default settings you can specify for these types of
dimensions. For dimensions using feet,
you can set a threshold where the dimension will display in inches when the
value is less than the specified amount. For example,
you can show the dimension as 18 inches instead of one foot six
inches. Next,
there is a new panel to set up automatic dimensions.
These settings are specific to the dimension default,
making it easy to control the dimension behavior. Finally,
for each primary dimension tool,
there is a locate panel to specify its behavior.
This allows you to uniquely define the attributes for these tools.
If you make these settings in your template plan,
then they are always available as you begin new projects.
Dimensions can snap to transitions for stepped foundations.
The dimensions can be added to foundation steps,
both in an elevation view and in a plan view.
Dimension strings and other objects now snap to dimension lines. And,
when dimensions snap to the center of an object,
it automatically displays the centerline dimension indicator,
provided you have the auto mark centerlines enabled for that dimension default.
There is control for wall width dimensions to show or hide wall widths.
This behavior can be per dimension string or set up in your dimension defaults.
Cabinet faces and openings can be dimensioned. In your dimension defaults,
you will find two new settings; one for doors,
drawers panels, and the other for openings. Using these settings,
I have built two new dimension defaults.
With the dimension default for cabinet openings,
using the manual dimension tool, you'll see it is picking up the openings.
To dimension the openings for cabinets with cabinet face items,
turn the layer off and run the dimensions.
You might use this type of view for your cabinet shop drawings.
For the cabinet face item dimensions, I'll switch the dimension default
and run the manual dimensions.
To display the gaps between the face items,
you can enable it by turning on that setting in the dimension specification.
Finally, for dimensions,
they can be created for sub elements in architectural blocks. For example,
with this kitchen island block,
it can be dimensioned to the individual cabinet boxes.
Schedules have received several changes and enhancements. First,
skylights can be included in schedules, such as a window schedule.
There are new columns in the schedule for skylight sizing information,
like actual square footage. Roof planes are
a new schedule category. There are several columns that can be included,
like surface and projected areas, perimeter, and pitch.
For a wall legend or schedule, we have included the length information
making it easy to display the total length by wall type. And,
all schedules can be directly exported to text, CSV,
or XML formats to exchange the data with external applications.
Next, moldings can be added to schedules or placed in a separate molding schedule.
In this example, I can create a custom molding schedule for the kitchen,
choose the molding category for the cabinets and countertops,
and then choose the relevant columns.
I can create a very specific molding schedule for my cabinet millwork and
counter edging.
Notice there is a type column with a description of the molding.
You can define this molding type in the cabinet dialog on the molding panel.
For cabinet schedules,
there are new columns to include for the cabinet interior and exterior
materials. Stand-alone objects like hardware, millwork,
cabinet doors, or other specialty items, can be included in your schedules, such
as this specific cabinet island end panel.
For fixtures or appliances embedded in cabinets,
there is a new edit button to directly modify the item.
You can also designate which schedule, or schedules,
the fixture, or appliance, is listed in.
Finally, for schedules,
there's a starting number where you can specify a number on the label panel.
You might use this to break up long schedules for easier formatting.
Material lists now use layer sets to control the items included in the list.
The initial layer set used for your material lists can be defined in the layer
set defaults.
The new material list layer set included in X13 can be customized or
replicated for your specific needs. For this example,
I can create a new layer set for floor framing to isolate the materials for
only the flooring.
Once I select the desired layers for the new layer set, the material list updates.
Notice there is pricing for some of the framing members.
Pricing information can be saved in the structural member reporting table per
board, or for linear length.
For driveways, sidewalks, and roads,
you can specify the thickness to help calculate the material volumes.
This information will also show in the materials list.
Be sure to have the road and other layers turned on.
Opening indicators are available for hinged and sliding doors and windows.
There is a new opening indicator panel in the dialog to configure the indicators.
These settings can be saved with your default openings for use in your template plans.
Display of opening indicators is controlled per view using the existing opening
indicators layer.
Labels for doors, windows, cabinets,
and other objects have a new layer control.
Labels can be assigned to the default system layer, the object's layer,
or on any layer of your choosing.
Added formatting for labels allow for a border and an alignment setting.
And, the dialog label panel has been added to existing objects that previously did
not include it.
Arrows have an option to set the fill color to automatically match the line color.
A new construction line tool is available to create a column grid with callouts
to reference between floor levels and elevation views.
You can use these construction lines to mark key planes in your project,
or as a grid to assist with creating drawings for a shear wall plan.
Lines created in a plan view then show in the elevation view.
Wall hatching has a new default setting. Using this default,
you can define the wall hatching attributes for your project or template plan.
And, when you create wall hatching, it can be copied and pasted to other walls.
There are several great new features in Chief Architect X13,
and you can expect to see it this Summer. And remember,
all new software purchases include a year of Support and Software Assurance.
So, if you're not currently a customer, get started today with Chief Architect.