Does anyone here use revision clouds?

[kiwicad]

need drag handles on revision clouds to make revision clouds right angled in shape to cloud around affected areas etc

[gawdzira]

Dan,

Like others have stated it would be great to have a linestyle for the clouldiness.

Ideally, I would like to be able to take any closed polyline and convert it to revision cloud. In the dbx I would then be able to adjust the complexity of the bumps so that it would relate to the scale of the drawing that I planned to output.

As an aside, this type of control through the dbx is what as known in CG as a procedural operation. As opposed to the cut and paste of cad lines.

[Ron Ravenscroft]

Dan,

Like others have stated it would be great to have a linestyle for the clouldiness.

Ideally, I would like to be able to take any closed polyline and convert it to revision cloud. In the dbx I would then be able to adjust the complexity of the bumps so that it would relate to the scale of the drawing that I planned to output.

As an aside, this type of control through the dbx is what as known in CG as a procedural operation. As opposed to the cut and paste of cad lines.

Great Idea Adobe does it with Acrobat you can draw a series of polygon and it turns into a Cloud. Dan Dermot we need the guys to work on this.

[Seth]

Excellent input, everyone. Your ideas are being noted.

I would like to know if there is any interest in the ability to create revision schedules corresponding to the revision cloud /tag combinations.

[gawdzira]

For me, a corresponding schedule would not be effective. If I have a revision "delta 1" it will correspond to a date of revision with many (hopefully not too many) revisions. My revisions usually get keyed via a separate sheet of paper with answers to the revision questions.

[mbbailey]

Excellent input, everyone. Your ideas are being noted.

I would like to know if there is any interest in the ability to create revision schedules corresponding to the revision cloud /tag combinations.

Seth, a schedule is a great idea. Plan checkers are often too busy to even find a correction that they have requested. It would be great to key the revision numbers to a page number in the drawings. I also like to leave the plan checkers notes to tell them which part of the building code applies to my entry in the cloud. Schedules don't have to be used if you don't need them, but our battle with the code checkers is getting more and more complicated.

[hotrodracer]

When we submit drawings to the cities in the "Valley of the Sun" they turn into a very large fire hydrant & the reviewers (dogs) can not resist goin on them with a red pencil. We then have to correct the drawings. Each correction must be "clouded" and a revision triange next to the cloud.

Ol hotrod during his 12 years of FHA service has been both a plan checker, building inspector, Cost Section Chief, Appraiser, and general 'know nothing.' Also Calif lic B contr since 1965 drawing plans w/ pencil and a Mayline board until I finally upgraded from Chief 1 thru 3 to CA 10.08a.

Now about Clouds? First encountered them a couple years back in Chino Hills. Not only had to use red outline clouds, but also attach a separate listing on which page the cloudy corrections were placed. Redundant to say the least. To be a PITA to offset the pita received, I placed the revised clouds all over the drawing sheets instead of my usual just change the 'offending,?,' area under consideration. Sometimes it is just difficult to tell the person on the other side of the counter that they do not know what they are looking at, and IF they did know what they were looking at, that all was OK as drawn... Yes, I did not earn any brownie points, but sure got a load of frustrations off my chest.

Excuse the long reply, but IMHO the talent on the other side of the counter is now mostly trained in some accredited school and follow a printed list of items for compliance, if they can read, and understand same.

Paul Gerber

[MEB540]

DataCad used a technique of connected arcs to create custom revision clouds. I found this technique to be very easy to use as well as very flexible. It allowed clouds of various sizes and shapes, which is very usefull in depicting revisions on complicated drawings.

[sutcac]

Ideally, I would like to be able to take any closed polyline and convert it to revision cloud. In the dbx I would then be able to adjust the complexity of the bumps so that it would relate to the scale of the drawing that I planned to output.

As an aside, this type of control through the dbx is what as known in CG as a procedural operation. As opposed to the cut and paste of cad lines.

I like this idea too.

[Ron Ravenscroft]

I like this idea too.

great idea, I wonder if that is what Acrobat does

[Ben Palmer]

An option to have a customizable schedule with a corresponding mark would be helpful.

As far as the cloud tool, the polyline tool, from my experience, seems to be the most efficient...usually 4 quick lines drawn like a diamond does the job...but larger, and more comples shapes are easily done also. Adobe's cloud is pretty handy and efficient, and I like very much, but I admit I have not compared it to other softwares cloud tools.

[Seth]

It looks like the ability to create a schedule (like Michael's suggestion) or at least a keyed sheet of annotations (as in Alan's response) corresponding to individual revisions appears to be desirable. I don't yet see any necessary differences between the two, though.
Ben mentioned that the schedule should be customizable.
So, are there certain fields you would consider useful to have (at least optionally) when generating annotations / schedules for each revision, or any that are required by your plan checkers?
Fields like "revision id", "date added", etc?

[Ben Palmer]

Thanks Seth.

Schedule items that I use...(please add to the list if you use additional items):

• revision id (i have this shown as numberical deltas or triangles on my layout) that correspond with the delta at the cloud location...so two deltas these need to be dynamically linked so if the number changes in one place (automatically or manually), the number changes in the other place automatically....reducing errors.
• revision date...this should be editable also...the need for multiple dates is needed. perhaps a cloud revision is added for a client change. and another a couple of weeks later as a plan review change.
• revision author....putting the initials or name of the drafter, designer, engineer, etc. who made the change....i rarely use this, but i've seen larger firms use this regularly.
• revision description...a very brief explanation when occasion requires it...such as 'client revision', 'city', 'builder', 'client added sitting room', 'added garage bay' etc. This needs the ability to revise/add/delete.

[Dyefrog]

I'm familiar with the revision clouds in Revit which seem to accomplish what most of you need. They are dynamic in shape/size and automatically generate a schedule which is extremely efficient. I would suggest to download the demo and see if it works like you do and integrate into Chief.

[Ray C]

Hi Folks
A search for clouds brought up this thread,, good one!

I’m looking for an “easy” way to place a cloud and have only the info within the cloud visible,,,,, place the cloud and all info (lines in cad or pl info in plan view) outside of the cloud be white out. Now it’s a send to cad detail to accomplish this task there,, very time consuming.

Here’s hoping someone has a procedure for this! :-)

Still in 10.0, Ray