Xactimate LowDown
Xactimate Lowdown is a blog about Xactimate news, classes,
helpful hints and any news that affects its users.
helpful hints and any news that affects its users.
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Have you ever googled how to do something in Word or Excel and found out it was very simple, but the next time you attempted it you could not remember because you had not done it in a while? That is essentially Xactimate. It is actually a very easy, large program. So why is it so daunting. First, you don’t know what the program is capable of. If you did, you would know what to search for. This is why you take an Xactimate class; to learn as much as you can but more importantly, to experience what the program is capable of. If you know it is possible, you know what to search for if you can’t retain it. For example, how do you change the manner of calculating so that Xactimate calculates waste on a 15-foot-wide carpet instead of 12-foot-wide carpet? If you don’t know it can be changed, you won’t look for it. Even though we concentrate on retention by repetition in class and the information is easy, there is only so much your mind can retain especially with 3 days of information. At some point the hard drive (your mind) gets full for that period of time. What does it take to excel at Xactimate? In one word…practice, especially when it comes to sketch. It’s all muscle memory. No level of intelligence is required. And the more you practice, the easier it gets and faster you become. And speed and efficiency equal more money. A lot of bad habits are formed when someone is self-taught and it is hard to break those habits. Even when they are taught to do it correctly, if they don’t practice it until it replaces the bad habit, the correct method is forgotten & the bad habit returns. I tell my students to practice sketching correctly everyday until they master it. I don’t care if it is only 5-10 minutes a night drawing a part or all of their house. Then delete it and do it again & again & again until it is so easy, they can draw it in their sleep. Then move on to new challenges. I don’t worry so much about my Public Adjusters or Contractors, because they have work waiting for them so their practice is back at their office. I do worry about the IAs because unless they have a deployment right after class & if they don’t have the discipline to practice, they will be lost and leaving tons of money on the table when that deployment does arrive. A deployment is the absolute worst time to try and learn Xactimate. That is why we give unparalleled support on all of our classes & products. Anyone who registers for any class with us will receive a free 1-year membership which gives you access to the online self-paced training videos for the class you select. What this means is that you can keep retaking the class information or refer back to any part of it for a year! We wanted to make sure that any part that you missed, didn’t understand or forgot was still available for you.
include the subgroup. If you drop it into the sketch, it will include the subgroup. This is only on the SKT macros as I have seen it happen in the electrical and hvac SKT macros.
room is selected including the subgroups (closet & stairs), it only puts the carpet on the landing on the first attempt. On the second attempt, it arbitrarily put it only on the upper stairs only. When the stairs are removed and the closet is left as a subgroup, it places it correctly, so the issue is with the stairs. This issue has been forwarded to Xactware but until it is corrected, be careful. Just goes to show, you should always check your work.
In case you haven’t noticed, if you try to arch a wall in Xactimate mobile, you will get a ghost circle over the drawing instead of the arched wall. The smaller you make the arch the larger the circle. Xactware was unaware, but not anymore. They are “looking into it”. On the sketch to the right (click on sketch to enlarge), the left wall of the 2 left rooms are arched. Some new things appeared after the latest update. Here are some of the answers to the questions you are asking. Question: What is the Skybox option in sketch under View? Answer: This is part of Photorealism. You won’t see much in regards to Photorealism in this release as the assets are not available yet. The Xactimate Team is looking at having assets ready to release in the Dec. update. This will basically give you the ability in 3D view to view the rooms with textures etc. on in the rooms. Question: What is the Split Screens in Sketch: Answer: Split screen Horizontally and Split Screen Vertically are options that show up under View in Sketch when you have more than one Sketch Tab. This allows you to split your screen either horizontally or vertically to view both sketch tabs. Question: What are the Wireframe Roof options that show up under the Roofing Tool in Sketch? Answer: These options have shown up from the last couple of updates. They can be utilized when an Exterior Level is created. They can provide a certain advantage over the traditional Sketch or Block Roofs. Imported property packages - including from third party providers - will import as wireframe roofs. Wireframe roofs will also be required for a new tool that will be released first part of next year. The Sketch team will be giving Shane Howarth and myself some in-depth training by the end of the year on this. We will make sure to include training on wireframe roofs in an upcoming XCT Quarterly Training. This is a reminder that on July 31, 2021, support for all Xactimate 28 installations will no longer be available. In addition, end of life for Xactimate 28 will occur on December 1, 2021. On this date, the legacy comm servers that Xactimate 28 uses to communicate with XactAnalysis will be shut down, and Xactimate 28 will no longer function. We encourage all users to upgrade to Xactimate X1 before support ends next July, even though Xactimate 28 will continue to work through November 2021. Below is an update in Xactimate X1 on Decks that may be helpful for all.
Deck Framing in 3D View in X1 has been moved. This was done to boost the performance of Sketch. Showing that construction on the decks is one of the most costly features of Sketch in terms of raw performance. In order to enable Deck Construction view, simply:
In my last class, I had a student that watched all my preclass videos and did very well in class because he had already started putting in the work from those videos. He had almost no experience with sketch but worked it like it was important because he knew the importance of it. He did the homework, studied what he learned in class and took the certification exam shortly thereafter. He completed the 3 hour exam in Crest record 35 minutes and posted is his result (click on the image to enlarge). Not everyone will have these results because everyone learns at a different rate, but if you put in the required work and practice, the results will be there. I work in every class to study my students and also work to adjust my teaching methods for those students. I offer preclass videos because I know that instruction alone will not make you proficient, but practice of that instruction will. This allows students to practice some basic sketch techniques so they will do better in class and retain more of the instruction. I would put my teaching method against anyone teaching Xactimate because that is where my focus is and not on getting through the day and moving on. I have had so many people who have taken other classes that thanked me for getting through to them when they describe their previous class as I just did. Just because you know Xactimate doesn’t mean you can teach it. That was my experience with my first 2 classes when I was trying to learn Xactimate. Whether you are a beginner or experienced, you won’t be disappointed by my class. Check out my testimonial page and see if you see a consistent theme there https://www.crestllc.com/xactimate-testimonials.html Check our home page for upcoming classes. I remember when I worked for a carrier having to log out of Xactcontents because if you closed out (x’d out) without logging out, you could not log back in until the system logged you out (could be up to 20 minutes), so I got in the habit of logging out when I was done. With X28 desktop, you did not have to worry about logging in or out, you just have to be connected to the internet when you use Xactanalysis. With X1 desktop, you do not have to be connected to the internet to work on it, but you do have to be connected to the internet to log in. That means if you download a price list for an catastrophic area that does not have internet and log out before you get there, you will not be able to log back in until you get an internet connection. So the way around that is to never log out, just close the window (x). Originally I had heard that it would not log you out for 30 days, now I hear indefinitely, but I have not tested it. I’ll let you know in 30 days. If you want to look into taking classes from Crest LLC, go to our home page .I am also on facebook https://www.facebook.com/crestllc/ and advertise on CADO http://catadjuster.net/ which is a great site for adjusters. I go to great lengths to make sure all my students get a good understanding of this program. You can see what some of my former students are saying on my testimonial page https://www.crestllc.com/xactimate-testimonials.html |
Highlight Video - A few good sketch habits to begin with
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Alfred ReyI became a Certified Trainer because it was the part of industry I loved the most. I've come to really love it because of the distance a new student goes in those 3 days. " >
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