3D Truss Models

medeek · 7 Oct 2017, 19:32

Inset floor joists for sawn lumber and I-joists is now running, (with and without ledger). I will need to test it further and then roll a new revision:

medeek · 7 Oct 2017, 23:32

Version 2.0.2 - 10.07.2017

Added the option to inset floor joists with ledger.
Added the option to inset floor joists without ledger.

I just realized that today is the two year anniversary of the Truss Plugin, crazy to think that I've already been working on this thing for two years. Progress has been incremental but fairly steady. There are still some big obstacles and goals ahead.

The new inset option also works well if you are using joist pockets in the foundation:

This model was created with the Truss Plugin and the Foundation Plugin. Foundation wall is 8" thick with the pockets set at 2.25" deep and the bearing length of the joists set at 2". The floor sheathing layer is turned off for clarity.

View model here:

3D Warehouse

3D Warehouse is a website of searchable, pre-made 3D models that works seamlessly with SketchUp.

(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com)

pbacot · 8 Oct 2017, 06:30

Great looking work! I don't know how you even did it in 2 years!

medeek · 8 Oct 2017, 15:53

Version 2.0.2b - 10.07.2017

I-Joists are branded with respective manufacturer's logo.

View model here:

3D Warehouse

3D Warehouse is a website of searchable, pre-made 3D models that works seamlessly with SketchUp.

(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com)

medeek · 8 Oct 2017, 17:15

This morning I've spent some time reviewing my roadmap and my "todo" list. I'm still working on the straight skeleton implementation, and that is the big one right now. The small upgrades and fixes I've released over the last few days have been some low hanging fruit that I've gravitated towards to break up my heavier coding sessions. Its rewarding to achieve a few small victories and push them out when your bogged down and progress seems retarded.

The plugin as a whole has quite of bit of functionality but it also is very limited in many respects. This really jumps out at me when I try to model up some recent homes that I did structural work on a few months ago. The biggest issues seem to be:

Inability to cut holes in floors or create polygon floor outlines.
The same issue with roofs in that the plugin is only really good at rectangular roof outlines. The straight skeleton implementation will address this, at least for rafter roofs initially, truss roofs will be a much bigger problem.
There is no function for editing a roof or floor assembly, it's fire and forget. This feature would be particularly useful when you botched one parameter and just need to go back and edit something minor rather than recreating the entire assembly (not that this is too difficult).
I'm missing a good staircase creator/editor.
Not all of the truss types are up to speed with all the recent advanced options, so much to do.
The manual is almost non-existent.

The list of limitations goes on. The plugin has potential but its certainly a work in progress and far from the polished gemstone it needs to be.

With all that being said I feel like moving my price to $40.00 was and is probably a bit of an over reach. Personally I would not pay that amount for the functionality offered, its too much. I've dropped my price back down to $30.00 and the renewal price is now $20.00, hopefully this is more commensurate with the amount of functionality and utility offered.

At some point in the near future when I have fully addressed most if not all of the above issues then I will look at raising the price to its former level.

For those users who purchased the plugin at the $40.00 price I have no problem in extending your license a pro-rated amount. Please feel free to email me with your request for the license extension.

medeek · 10 Oct 2017, 05:10

With the inset joists I thought it would be really cool to have the plugin be able to auto-select the correct joist hanger and insert it at both ends of the I-joist or sawn lumber. I quickly modeled up a simplified version of an IUS1.81/11.88 Simpson Face-Mount I-Joist hanger and with the addition of one simple function I was able to do this:

View model here:

3D Warehouse

3D Warehouse is a website of searchable, pre-made 3D models that works seamlessly with SketchUp.

(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com)

I haven't yet released this most recent addition because I only have two sizes of hangers created so far. There are five typical flange widths and the following typical I-joists depths: 9.5, 11.875, 14, and 16. So if you do the math I need to model 20 different face mount I-Joist hangers and 20 top flange I-joist hangers (IUS and ITS series). For sawn lumber a similar situation exists for 2x6, 2x8, 2x10 and 2x12 joists.

I was considering using the official Simpson models from the 3D Warehouse but they are too complex, a minimalistic hanger gets the point across just as well.

When I get home from work I usually only have a couple hours to hammer away at things so some more low hanging fruit gets picked.

I just realized that I have no idea what I-joist and hanger (metric) sizes exist for the UK and Australian markets, can someone point me in the right direction for some literature.

facer · 11 Oct 2017, 00:25

Medeek,
You may get some ideas by checking out:
http://www.tilling.com.au/framesmart

They also have a free program called "Smartframe" that is
part of their marketing strategy to professional.

TIMBER SIZES - METRIC - AUSTRALIA
https://www.tilling.com.au/product-type/smartframe/

medeek · 11 Oct 2017, 04:06

The IUS hanger family:

3D Warehouse

3D Warehouse is a website of searchable, pre-made 3D models that works seamlessly with SketchUp.

(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com)

I was going to release the latest version but the SketchUp signing page is down again.

p.s. And now it up, 2.0.2c has the hanger update with all twenty (20) IUS hangers for I-Joists ranging from 9.5 to 16 inches deep.

medeek · 11 Oct 2017, 20:15

After giving it much thought I've decided that selling my plugins would be a bad idea. They've literally become a part of me, who I am and what I do. To part with them would leave a hole, so in the end this becomes an emotional decision for me rather than one that is solely based on monetary gain.

The Medeek plugins will continue as they are for the foreseeable future.

I've also noticed sales of the plugin has completely dried up over the last two weeks, I don't know if this because I was considering the sale of my plugin or if is indicating a saturation point. It does make me wonder if lowering the plugin price even further would drive a larger volume of users.

Lets say for example I lowered the price to $10.00, would I then expect a double or triple increase in sales? When I look at the number people who have actually installed the plugin it is well over 10,000 now, and I only started keeping track about a year ago, so the number could easily be double that. If the price was lower ($10.00) could I get at least 10% of the installed base to upgrade to a registered version, if so this type of marketing makes sense.

But then again perhaps I have hit an actual saturation point, where "real" users have all been potentially exposed to the plugin and everyone else is just testing it out but never will purchase it for serious use.

Ultimately, I am just trying to find a way to monetize my efforts more and somehow enable myself to spend even more time developing this plugin and all of others I've started cooking up.

juju · 12 Oct 2017, 07:22

Can one switch off those logos? It is of little use to the rest of the world (or other areas where the brands are not represented).

glro · 12 Oct 2017, 10:54

@medeek said:

...
But then again perhaps I have hit an actual saturation point, where "real" users have all been potentially exposed to the plugin and everyone else is just testing it out but never will purchase it for serious use.

Ultimately, I am just trying to find a way to monetize my efforts more and somehow enable myself to spend even more time developing this plugin and all of others I've started cooking up.

10 000 downloads is a lot! but your extension is a very specific and professional one; so, what percentage of the 10 000 downloads correspond to professional users?

my understanding is that you are confused between a hobby and a professional use

i doubt lowering the price of your extension would change anything; because it is not an extension for a hobb

my guess is you rather need a partner, to help you with the marketting, so you can reach only the professional users, and get real income from your work.

The logo you recently added on the beams might be an opportunity to contact the manufacturers; maybe they would be interested in paying you to work on there product.

because technical tools help to sell products also

medeek · 12 Oct 2017, 15:01

@juju said:

Can one switch off those logos? It is of little use to the rest of the world (or other areas where the brands are not represented).

Valid point. I will add an option in the global settings to toggle on/off all branding (logos). Even if it is applicable some users may not want to display the logos, I need to give them that option.

2.0.3 will have that option added in as well as the rest of the ITS series of hangers.

medeek · 12 Oct 2017, 15:02

Top flange hangers without a ledger, just a sill plate:

This is a Simpson ITS1.81/9.5, this is the equivalent to the the IUS series but in top flange configuration. Again there are 20 different configurations for this hanger type.

medeek · 12 Oct 2017, 15:12

@glro said:

@medeek said:

...
But then again perhaps I have hit an actual saturation point, where "real" users have all been potentially exposed to the plugin and everyone else is just testing it out but never will purchase it for serious use.

Ultimately, I am just trying to find a way to monetize my efforts more and somehow enable myself to spend even more time developing this plugin and all of others I've started cooking up.

10 000 downloads is a lot! but your extension is a very specific and professional one; so, what percentage of the 10 000 downloads correspond to professional users?

my understanding is that you are confused between a hobby and a professional use

i doubt lowering the price of your extension would change anything; because it is not an extension for a hobb

my guess is you rather need a partner, to help you with the marketing, so you can reach only the professional users, and get real income from your work.

The logo you recently added on the beams might be an opportunity to contact the manufacturers; maybe they would be interested in paying you to work on there product.

because technical tools help to sell products also

I guess that is my question, if I where to lower the price to make it feasible for the "DIY'er, Hobbyist etc..." would they jump on board. I realize that the professional market of SketchUp designers and architects is somewhat limited. The number of non-professional users far outweigh the professional, partly due to SketchUp Make being free and also because the learning curve of SketchUp is so much better than competing products.

Would the casual user be willing to pay $5-$10 for a plugin that could help with their one off project?

dpaul · 12 Oct 2017, 15:52

I do not believe the solution can ever be to lower the price of your plugin to attract MAKE users.
You are in the process of crafting a remarkable professional plugin, and to my mind, you have to stay the course with that group of purchasers and users.

An observation from my little perch: purchasers are not drying up, they are WAITING. They are waiting for the plugin (floors, trusses and the WALL plugin as combined...!!!) to mature for daily professional use.

Your own notes clearly tell us what we already know about the present limitations and how much more coding is required:
@unknownuser said:

The plugin as a whole has quite of bit of functionality but it also is very limited in many respects. This really jumps out at me when I try to model up some recent homes that I did structural work on a few months ago. The biggest issues seem to be:

Inability to cut holes in floors or create polygon floor outlines.

The same issue with roofs in that the plugin is only really good at rectangular roof outlines. The straight skeleton implementation will address this, at least for rafter roofs initially, truss roofs will be a much bigger problem.

There is no function for editing a roof or floor assembly, it's fire and forget. This feature would be particularly useful when you botched one parameter and just need to go back and edit something minor rather than recreating the entire assembly (not that this is too difficult).

I'm missing a good staircase creator/editor.

Not all of the truss types are up to speed with all the recent advanced options, so much to do.

The manual is almost non-existent.

The list of limitations goes on. The plugin has potential but its certainly a work in progress and far from the polished gemstone it needs to be.

In truth, it is almost as if you have no choice but to go 'underground', complete all of the coding required (as per the essential list above), only coming back out to the marketplace when you have a robust finished product in hand. From there, us professional users, aware of what we already see (and further imagine) could be a world-class addition to Sketchup, will willingly support your marketing efforts.

I am encouraged to read you are not selling the code, but will continue, regardless. You show an entrepreneurs' courage. For this alone, I wish you ever possible success.

medeek · 13 Oct 2017, 02:00

The plugin is targeted at the professional designer. The complexity and level of detail it affords is the primary reason some designers find it useful. However, this level of detail does not automatically preclude it from being used by the casual user. Typically one can leave most of the setting at their default values and use the plugin with little to no effort and special building knowledge. A completed manual would of course help with the learning curve.

The casual user base would subsidize the more intense development and ultimately the end product that the design professionals can take advantage of.

Its really just a numbers game, if the volume is there then the price can decrease. In the end my development costs are the same whether I have 400 users or 4,000 users. To develop this full time for a couple years is going to cost between $80,000 to $100,000 at an average of $45,000 per year. I figure I'm going to need at least two more years of full time development to make this thing into something fairly substantial.

medeek · 13 Oct 2017, 02:27

Price dropped to $15.00 for a new license and $10.00 for a renewal.

medeek · 14 Oct 2017, 03:23

Version 2.0.3 - 10.13.2017

Added the option to provide a face mount hanger for inset floor joists with ledgers.
Added the option to provide a top flange hanger for inset floor joists without ledgers.
Added an option in the global settings to enable or disable manufacturer's logos.