ChiefArchitect

Moderators
  • Posts

    286
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by ChiefArchitect

  1. Hello,

     

    I am sorry to hear you are having trouble with 3D views.  This is often related to your graphics card as mentioned above.  Our in house tech support can troubleshoot the issue and see if it can be resolved.  You can contact Support at 208-292-3375.  They are open M-F from 7AM to 4PM.

     

    The trial version does not expire (it is not time limited), but there are limitations in that you can print, save or export.  If you keep the program open, you can continually work on a plan. If you feel that it is a fit, you can then purchase the software and plug the paid key into the trial to enable the save feature.  Note that we also have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee after you purchase,

     

    Kind regards,

     

    Derek

    Chief Architect Software

  2. The results are in! Congratulations to our 3 winners in the Residential Design Contest.

     

    514271085_SarahGubbels.thumb.jpg.a40a28f25946b1fbe876c6f841bab9e8.jpg

     

    1st Place – Sarah Gubbels of Homestead Homes of America

    2nd Place – Shelly Wood of Axis Construction

    3rd Place – Robert Smith of Robert Smith Design

     

    View all of the great submissions:

    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.5656329087729630&type=3

     

    We enjoyed viewing everyone’s design and want to thank you all for sharing with us and our community!

     

    Varying prize packages will be awarded.

  3. Have you been curious about Chief Architect Premier and how it compares with the Home Designer Software products?

     

    Tune in for our webinar presentations and Live Q&A sessions, each Thursday at 12:00 PST.

     

    Exterior Chief Architect Rendering of the Austin Sample Plan House

     

    We will be working through a full home design project, catch up on past sessions via our blog and download the sample plan to explore the design.

    Join us to see the process unfold with tips and tricks, and get sneak previews of what is coming in X14!

     

    Sign Up

  4. Our Next Contest is Kitchen/Bath and Interiors!

     

    March22-KBI-FB-Highlight-1200x717.thumb.jpg.2c12c639a7da05b897168c13d510e6dc.jpg

     

    Share one of your Kitchen, Bath, or Interior Designs for a chance to win Chief Gear. Use any Chief Architect software product to create your original design.

     

    You have the chance to win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in this contest. Discover how to enter and more through our blog:

    https://www.chiefarchitect.com/blog/design-contest-kitchen-bath-interiors/

     

    The entry deadline is March 10.

  5. We are excited to be announcing the Design of the Year Contest winners for 2021!

     

    Chief Architect holds a monthly design contest every year. There are 3 categories: Kitchen/Bath and Interiors, Residential, and Remodel/Additions. Each monthly winner is entered into the Design of the Year Contest and our Facebook community votes for their favorite.

     

    Kitchen/Bath and Interiors Grand Prize Winner – Chris De Martino of Elite 3D

    Residential Grand Prize Winner – Aaron Swearengin of Oak River Design Group

    Remodel/Additions Grand Prize Winner – Javier Montenegro of d.SGN SMITH Studio

     

    Thank you so much to everyone who participated this year. We enjoy seeing your work and love seeing what you can do with Chief Architect, and thank you to everyone who voted on our Facebook page. We couldn’t do it without you!

    2021-Winners-FB-Highlight-Image-1200x717-1.jpg

    2021-Winners-FB-Highlight-Image-1200x717-2.jpg

    2021-Winners-FB-Highlight-Image-1200x717-3.jpg

  6. image.thumb.png.3b42ccb9a2664f9bb985abd2684c889e.png

     

     

    Greetings!

     

    During this holiday season, I would like to personally take the time to thank you as a Chief Architect customer, and wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas, a Wonderful Holiday Season, and Happy New Year.

     

    In 2022, Chief Architect will be hosting several new events online and in-person – we look forward to meeting with our customers again soon!  Our first event in the new year will be a user reception on Feb. 9 in Orlando where we will showcase some great new products that we’ve been working on. Our Chief Academy (User Group Meeting + Training) will be hosted in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Aug. 31 – Sept. 2. This is a marquee event, and I hope that you can plan to make it. This will be a special year for all of us as Chief Architect turns 30 years old this coming summer!

     

    We, here at Chief Architect, appreciate your business and the time you take to help us improve our products and services. Please let us know if there are additional ways that we can help you become even more successful with our products.

     

    Thank you, and have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

     

    Greg Wells
    President and CEO
    Chief Architect Software

    • Upvote 1
  7. The results are in! Congratulations to our 3 winners in the Residential Design Contest.

     

    1617767306_VinceBurry-page-001.thumb.jpg.991feedda5363ab16b106ad403bcc63b.jpg

     

    1st Place – Vince Burry of Homes by Design Innovations

    2nd Place – Clarissa Froom of Green Slate Designs

    3rd Place – Zachary Karimipour of Persica Homes, Inc.

     

    View all of the great submissions:

    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=ChiefArchitect&set=a.5226196627409547

     

    We enjoyed viewing everyone’s design and want to thank you all for sharing with us and our community!

     

    Varying prize packages will be awarded.

  8. Our Next Contest is Residential!

     

    10-October-Residential-FB-Highlight-Image-1200x717.thumb.jpg.4b5b876cd3c124a8744062aa054613ac.jpg

     

    Share one of your Residential Designs for a chance to win Chief Gear. Use any Chief Architect software product to create your original design.

     

    You have the chance to win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in this contest. Discover how to enter and more through our blog:

    https://www.chiefarchitect.com/blog/design-contest-residential/

     

    The entry deadline is November 12.

  9. The results are in! Congratulations to our 3 winners in the Kitchen, Bath, and Interiors Design Contest.

     

    1645360294_ChrisDeMartin.thumb.jpg.dd27649fa4e267b38403104bd4a66762.jpg

     

    1st Place – Chris De Martino of Elite 3D

    2nd Place – Rene Costabile of Design Line Kitchens

    3rd Place – Alexandra Aldrich of Envizion Designs

     

    View all of the great submissions:

    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=ChiefArchitect&set=a.5024218334274045

     

    We enjoyed viewing everyone’s design and want to thank you all for sharing with us and our community!

     

    Varying prize packages will be awarded.

  10. Did you know we host an occasional "Takeover Tuesday" on our Instagram Account?

    We hand over the reins to an experienced Chief Architect user and let them guide us through their day via Instagram Stories. Not only do they share how they leverage the software, but also give a peek into business operations, design processes, and their general industry story.

     

    We love seeing what our customers are doing! You can see past takovers on IGTV. Stay tuned for upcoming shares!

     

    Shout out to fellow Chief Architect users who have put themselves into the Takeover seat:

  11. Our Next Contest is Kitchen/Bath and Interiors!

     

    09-Sept-KBI-FB-Highlight-Image-1200x717.thumb.jpg.8bf82a5110de1929a5c8686aa0ab798e.jpg

     

    Share one of your Kitchen/Bath and Interior Designs for a chance to win Chief Gear. Use any Chief Architect software product to create your original design.

     

    You have the chance to win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in this contest. Discover how to enter and more through our blog:

    https://chiefarchitectblog.com/design-contest-kitchen-bath-interiors/

     

    The entry deadline is October 15.

  12. The results are in! Congratulations to our 3 winners in the Remodel/Additions Design Contest.

     

    1st Place – Alan Lehman of Lehman Design Studio

    2nd Place – Cody Corbin of Drafting & Design Solutions

    3rd Place – Mark Lemond of Sinatra Homes

     

    View all of the great submissions:

    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=ChiefArchitect&set=a.4939941859368360

     

    We enjoyed viewing everyone’s design and want to thank you all for sharing with us and our community!

     

    Varying prize packages will be awarded.

    Alan Lehman -page-001.jpg

  13. Hello and thank you for the question.

     

    The new rendering engine has migrated from being based on OpenGL over to Direct X 12 for Windows and Metal for Mac.  If your graphics card supports real time raytracing you will see benefits in the rendering quality.  Specifically, there will be improved ambient occlusion.  This provides more realistic shadows, soft shadows and enhanced detail that result from shadows created by ambient light in the scene.

     

    There are also speed improvements to the watercolor rendering technique (this process has been moved over to the graphics card rather than the CPU) and there are general speed improvements to rendering if your graphics card supports real time raytracing.

     

    You can test our the new 2022 version by downloading the trial.  In the 2022 trial version, you can see if your video card supports the enhanced rendering by clicking on the dropdown menu "Edit>Preferences" then click on the "Video Card Status" panel.  In this panel you will see a listing for "Hardware Ray Tracing."  If there is a "yes" next to this item you will see the ambient occlusion improvements.

     

    There are significant improvements to the walkthrough feature including efficiencies in producing walkthrough videos, the ability to preview the video and edit keyframes more efficiently.  You can't record a walkthrough in the trial but you can see the new walkthrough preview and editing features.

     

    Feel free to contact us in sales at 208-292-3400 or email sales@chiefarchitect.com with any questions.

     

    Kind regards,

     

    Derek

    Chief Architect Software

    • Upvote 1
  14. Our Next Contest is Remodel/Additions!

     

    08-Remodel-Design-Contest-FB-Highlight-Image-1200x717.thumb.jpg.98e60a29c6c3fe046f1f73c06b8a5790.jpg

     

    Share one of your Remodel/Addition Designs for a chance to win Chief Gear. Use any Chief Architect software product to create your original design.

     

    You have the chance to win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in this contest. Discover how to enter and more through our blog: https://www.chiefarchitect.com/blog/design-contest-remodel-addition/

     

    The entry deadline is August 13.

  15. The results are in! Congratulations to our 3 winners in the Residential Design Contest.

     

    1794996477_JohnRahall.thumb.jpg.7c82a9abe4c1fcad982955d09a15efc9.jpg

     

    1st Place – John Rahall of JHR Design

    2nd Place – Alan Lehman of Lehman Design Studio

    3rd Place – Aaron Swearengin of Oak River Design Group

     

    View all of the great submissions:

    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=ChiefArchitect&set=a.4859551820740698

     

    We enjoyed viewing everyone’s design and want to thank you all for sharing with us and our community!

     

    Varying prize packages will be awarded.

  16. Hello,

     

    Thank you for the question.  Yes the  Home Designer Pro version 6 is still eligible for upgrade pricing.  To purchase online, you would need your original CD Key found on the product package to receive the upgrade discount.  Here is the link to the upgrade page.  https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/whats-new/?from-version=6&from-product=pro&to-product=pro    

     

    If you can't find your CD Key, you can call our sales department and we can try to look up your product in our database.  You can call us at 208-292-3400. 

     

    Kind regards,

     

    Derek

    Chief Architect Sales