3D Truss Models

medeek · 15 Mar 2018, 15:43

I am trying to get my hands on some shop drawings for a dutch gable truss set. I would like to work on adding this truss set into the plugin this weekend if possible.

medeek · 17 Mar 2018, 03:19

Two different ways to truss out a dutch gable roof:

The first method involves a wailing plate attached to the side of the girder truss. This appears to be the preferred method of construction in Australia.

The second method employs vertical studs on the gable end portion (upper half) of the girder truss. What is not entirely clear to me is how the joint comes together at the top chord where the horizontal member (at the top of the jacks) meets the vertical and diagonal web of the girder truss.

I could really use a shop drawing (2D) of this particular configuration.

medeek · 18 Mar 2018, 18:18

Version 2.1.8 - 03.18.2018

Enabled the "Edit Floor Assembly" function for all I-Joist floors (imperial and metric units): TJI, BCI, LPI, Red-I, PKI.

Now I just need to get the floor framed opening feature working and then this module might actually be useful.

Realize that any manual edits made to the floor assembly are blown away when you use the edit function. It is essentially re-drawing the entire floor assembly, the same goes for the roof truss assembly edit feature.

medeek · 19 Mar 2018, 14:15

Spending some time the last couple of days thinking about the floor module (floor trusses, I-joists, solid sawn joists).

The obvious 800 lbs gorilla is the ability to easily add openings into these floors. The other missing element is the ability to create a polygon shaped floor (something beyond a rectangle outline).

With regards to polygon shaped geometry I've already done the heavy lifting when I programmed the foundation plugin to generate polygon shaped layouts (slab and stemwall). The details in trimming the joists is also mostly figured out since my rebar and mesh routine for slabs utilizes a function that will form the basis for this function. It is really just a matter of finding the time and then digging into the code deep for a solid 12+ hour period (uninterrupted).

These two issues are my main focus the next week or two. If I can address both as well have the edit function work seamlessly with both then I will have created an actual functional floor module.

medeek · 19 Mar 2018, 17:39

I have a lot of people recently asking me about features that are or are not included in the plugin. Granted my documentation is still in disarray, especially the manual, but I would strongly suggest doing a search in the Changelog if you are interested in a particular feature and would like to check if it has been implemented yet:

Medeek Design Inc. - Medeek Truss Plugin Changelog

(design.medeek.com)

medeek · 23 Mar 2018, 01:31

I've been looking at adding in the ability to handle dual pitch hip roofs:

View model here:

3D Warehouse

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

(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com)

The first thing that jumps out at me is the jack rafters do not line up when the pitches are different. Also if the overhang is the same and the fascia is the same height then the top plate will be a different height for the different pitches.

pbacot · 23 Mar 2018, 05:39

Yeah irregular pitch roofs are kind of tricky. They occur nevertheless.

juju · 23 Mar 2018, 12:23

@medeek said:

I've been looking at adding in the ability to handle dual pitch hip roofs

That'll be neat! Just a quick question (or two), are all existing options/functions (as relevant) ready and implemented across all truss types? Manual?

medeek · 23 Mar 2018, 14:07

I am still adding advanced options and the edit function to each truss type and floor type. Some are further along than others, but progress is steady.

The manual is currently way down on the todo list, once the plugin matures further it will rise to the top.

With dual pitch hip roofs technically one could have a different pitch for all four sides (the most general case). I should probably try to code this most general case then all the rest simply fall out of it.

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 · 24 Mar 2018, 10:53

It is certainly an interesting puzzle. Calculating the commons, jacks and hip rafters is not a problem, I can figure that out. The one item that has me though is the fact that if each pitch is different and assuming the same overhang all the way around and the same birdsmouth cut then the top plate of each wall will need to be slightly different. Again I can make that adjustment for each side of the roof. The real question then is what to do with the birdsmouth cut of the hip rafters? Which wall height does one use?

pilou · 1 May 2018, 22:07

Not exactlly truss house but...

medeek · 28 May 2018, 03:49

Version 2.1.9 - 05.27.2018

Replaced the 64 bit SketchUp check in the installation module to fix an incompatibility issue with SketchUp 2014.
Added additional wall cladding materials in the sheathing tab of the global settings.
Fixed a bug in the top level assembly method of the roof truss module.

medeek · 20 Jun 2018, 01:06

Version 2.2.0 - 06.19.2018

Sub-groups within roof and floor truss assemblies can be made persistent by naming these groups or component instances to (custom1, custom2, custom3, etc...), also all other user defined geometry (ie. faces, text, lines and dimensions) are also retained when the assemblies are regenerated by the plugin.

medeek · 15 Jul 2018, 04:37

I don't have a half hip (rafter roof) setup yet however there is probably a workaround by combining a gable with a hip and then using the trim tool to manually trim some of the rafters, however I haven't really tried this at least not for a real design.

I took about 10-15 minutes and tried creating a half hip with a gable and hip roof as primitives. Using the trim tool made it fairly easy to clean up the rafters, see results here:

3D Warehouse

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

(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com)

Since the end result is not parametric you will want to be sure that you have all of your rafter depths, overhangs etc... set before you dive into the manual editing of such a roof.

This is obviously a painful and slow process. Conclusion, I need to add in a half hip rafter roof.

medeek · 25 Sept 2018, 16:02

Version 2.2.0b - 09.25.2018

Fixed a bug so that structural outlookers can be enabled without utilizing a gable end truss.

Technically this should not be allowed since structural outlookers typically require a dropped top chord and currently the only way to achieve a dropped top chord is with a gable end truss (option enabled).

However, since I am not strictly disallowing it I provided some logic so that the appropriate parameters are set so that this particular state is possible. Previously, the gable end truss routine set some required parameters that the structural outlookers were dependent on. Now the outlooker algorithm will set those parameters if they are not previously set by the gable end truss algorithm.

This is a fairly minor fix/patch.

medeek · 5 Oct 2018, 21:46

Version 2.2.1 - 10.05.2018

The trim tool now allows for multiple trim operations once a trimming plane is selected.
Pressing the ESC key will reinitialize the trim tool during multiple trim operations, space bar will terminate.
The trim tool will now trim components as well as groups.

medeek · 15 Oct 2018, 06:41

Version 2.2.2 - 10.14.2018

Name of plugin changed to "Medeek Truss".
Updated the licensing system to include a 30 day limit of the trial version.
Updates to the HTML pages of the global settings.

This next week I plan on returning to the multi-pitch hip roof and start back up where I left off a few months ago. I am also going to be adding in the custom material manager so that the truss plugin has the same capabilities as the wall plugin.

After that the next big push is to make all of the rafter roofs parametric with HTML based edit menus similar to the common truss edit menu.

While all this is going on I would also like to complete the stair module of the wall plugin. A lot of things to juggle right now.

medeek · 17 Oct 2018, 05:49

Version 2.2.2b - 10.16.2018

Updated the "Edit Truss Assembly" menu so that it properly loads default values when advanced options are expanded.
Added a user definable name to truss assemblies that will be utilized in the future options and upgrades.

A number of other "under the hood" updates (to numerous to list) were also incorporated to bring the code more in line with the wall plugin and its more efficient and modular organization scheme.

medeek · 26 Oct 2018, 07:58

Version 2.2.3 - 10.26.2018

Added a Custom Material Library/Manager in the Materials tab of the Global Settings.
Enabled custom materials for wall sheathing, wall cladding, roof sheathing and roof cladding in the HTML wall draw and edit menus for common trusses.
Enabled the ability group materials and control which drop down menu they will appear in.
Added an SKM file import utility to the Material Library.
Default wall sheathing and wall cladding materials brought in line with options available in wall plugin.

Note the various wall sheathing options that are brought over from the wall plugin (ie. Tyvek, Zip Systems, Plywood, Densglass etc..)

Also note that the custom and expanded materials selection is only available for common truss shapes (ie. common trusses, scissor trusses etc...). I have not yet implemented the new system for other truss shapes and rafter roofs, that is work for yet another day.

There is still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done with this plugin. Many of the specialty truss shapes do not even have advanced options available to them yet. All I can do is keep hacking away at it and maybe one day I will have the resources to really push this thing along.

medeek · 26 Oct 2018, 15:22

Version 2.2.3b - 10.26.2018

Fixed a bug in the attribute library for common trusses.