Medeek Wall Plugin

medeek

I'm trying to simulate a G-rib metal wall panel here (clay and stone color):

The problem of course is that the shadow will be cast a certain direction on the original texture/image but when you render it out the light source may be the opposing direction which will make things look a bit off.

Modeling the actual texture/profile of the panel is not a good idea either since it would make the model very heavy.

Thoughts?

View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/6e963b76-13f4-4632-aef0-dec78588f019/G-Rib-Wall-Panels

medeek

This is an example of metal roof and wall cladding (utilizing the Material Manager in both the Truss and Wall plugins):

View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/dbab0b27-58c2-41f8-86a2-441544a2b939/Metal-Siding-Test

The model was created with all three plugins. The only manual edit was moving the person outside of the structure and re-positioning of two anchor bolts that landed in the middle of the garage door. The entire model except for the foundation (slab-on-grade) is fully parametric, moving openings or changing the roof pitch is a couple clicks of the mouse. Model creation time was about 10 minutes.

As far as speed of modeling goes I think this is starting to close in on other design packages like Revit and Chief Architect. Once I add the estimating and then the engineering it will even exceed their capabilities.

medeek

Tutorial 6 - Custom Material Library:

Youtube Video

medeek

A whole different area I really haven't explored yet is fixtures (and furniture).

Technically this is a very broad topic and could really use an entirely different plugin to do it justice.

However, I will add in a toolbar called "Fixtures" which will allow the user to select from a matrix of options (Bath, Bedroom, Kitchen etc...) and then to select from some standard layouts.

For bathrooms the layout below (Layout A) is very typical in the US for many mid-range homes:

An 8'x5' bathroom with a sink, toilet and tub.

The idea being that the user can quickly generate any standard layout from a library of components. I will probably include a few default (low poly) components however it will be up to the user to drop their own preferred components into the plugin sub-folders if they want to be able to select from them in the drop down menus.

I don't want to include a large number of high poly count components in the plugin because is will make the .rbz file too large and cumbersome. Besides there are vast libraries of manufacturer components available in the 3D warehouse.

The cool thing about integrating this within the plugin suite is that it will then be possible to obtain counts for estimating purposes on many of these fixtures and assign prices etc...

The Edit menu will allow the user to swap out any of the components and also custom position them as required.

For this particular bathroom layout (and most layouts in general) there is a left and right hand orientation. The user will be able to select the orientation in the draw and/or edit menu. The first mouse click will establish the insertion point the second click will establish the rotation. Clicking the shift key will toggle orientation (left or right).

Some fixtures such as the bath tub shown come in a left and right version. It will be up to the user to upload both versions for use however I will include an additional parameter (rotation: 0 or 180) so that orientation can be controlled.

With this new module I will start with bathrooms first and then branch into other rooms as the need arises.

juju

I think the fixtures should rather be a separate extension.

medeek

Version 0.9.9e - 11.08.2018

Removed all advertising banners from the global settings.
Fixed a bug (metric) for window and door grilles in the global settings.

Note that this is a critical fix for Windows 10 and Mac users. The intermittent response times of the google ads was causing issues for the HTML menu pages of the global settings so I decided to completely remove all advertisements.

medeek

Version 0.9.9d - 11.07.2018

Added a material parameter for ext. wainscot ledges.
Added toolbar icons for "Fixtures" module.

This extra parameter was added per customer request.

This will allow the designer to setup a texture/material for rowlock brick.

medeek

I had a request yesterday for multiple rows of blocking/nogging. A typical example might be a 12 ft. wall with a row of blocking every 4 ft.:

My idea on this is to add two additional parameters to the blocking module/UI:

Number of Rows: 1,2,3 or 4
Row Spacing: inches or mm

The vertical parameter that already exists will position the first row vertically in the wall and then the next rows of blocking will be arrayed upward by the row spacing and number of rows.

For now I am omitting blocking over and under opening but that will probably need to change with multiple rows of blocking.

Multiple rows of blocks is going to get a bit heavy in the model but you have to give people what they want.

Thoughts?

medeek

Version 0.9.9f - 11.08.2018

Added two additional parameters for mid-span blocking to enable multiple rows of blocking in a wall panel.
Added two parameters (number of rows, row spacing) for blocking into the Walls tab of the global settings.

There may be an issue with previously created wall presets due to the addition of more parameters to the wall panel dictionary module. The number of parameters now stored for a preset is 97.

I am also wondering if anyone would be interested in having me publish the attribute library for the wall panels. This would allow other developers to potentially access and modify the Medeek wall panels with their own plugins or have their plugins interact with the Wall plugin.

medeek

Version 0.9.9g - 11.09.2018

Added the Australian/New Zealand I-Beam (Universal Beam - UB) as another steel beam option in the beam module. (27 different sizes)

I also spent some time cleaning up this module a bit today and tightening things up. It's amazing how you are able to condense your code when you spend a few minutes and really work at it.

I've also made it much easier to add in new schedules/lists of different beam types and sizes. I still need to add in many more beam sizes for the metric world (or just make it completely open ended so the user can define their own sizes).

medeek

Version 0.9.9h - 11.10.2018

Added hollow structural section beams (HSS) to the beam module.

This profile is not used as commonly as the wide flange however in specific situations it has its advantages due to its torsional capabilities.

medeek

Technical discussion about groups vs. components here:

https://forums.sketchup.com/t/group-name-or-description/81010/2

This is related to the way I am handling certain elements such as studs, blocking, insulation and other arrayed building elements.

medeek

Currently in the plugin I have only implemented the California Corner (as we Americans call it) or Energy Corner for corner treatment however there are number of ways to handle corners.

https://design.medeek.com/resources/framing/FRAMING_CORNERS.pdf

I have been requested by a potential client to enable the following corner type: "Solid corner with short blocks". For a deeper wall sometimes two rows of blocks are used (2x6 wall) rather than one.

I can implement the solid corner however I need some more information:

1.) If you use blocking rather than a full stud how do you determine the length of the blocks and the number of blocks in a given wall height? Is there any rule of thumb with this? I just need to come up with a reasonable algorithm.

2.) Is the blocking typically the same dimensional lumber as the studs?

medeek

For wall corners I will be adding in the following additional corner treatments:

3 Stud Solid
4 Stud Solid
3 Stud Block
4 Stud Block

When the user sets the number of studs for the corner on anything other than one, that setting will override the corner treatment for the above corner treatment types. However this is not the case for the California corner (however I may change it in the future if it makes sense to).

These algorithm can get a bit complicated due to the number of permutations possible when you start mixing up corner treatments and multi-stud corners for shearwalls.

The problem I find with California Corners is that it does not provide very good backing for ext. outside corners when it comes to siding and trim. However it certainly is better for insulation and much easier on the electricians.

There does not seem to be any hard and fast rule on the length of blocks used but it seems to average between 12" to 14", so I will set my algorithm to a max. block length of 14" . So for example a 96" wall will have four blocks at 13.714".

medeek

Version 0.9.9j - 11.13.2018

Added the following corner treatments: 3 Stud Solid, 4 Stud Solid, 3 Stud Block, 4 Stud Block, U-Cal
Enabled a parameter in the General tab of the global settings to toggle the labeling of groups.

I also addressed some minor issues with the way blocking and insulation interact with the corner treatments. Its seems I have that ironed out now and much less likely to generate geometry that clashes.

I don't know how commonly the U-shape California Corner (U-Cal) is used (shown above) but I really like the fact that it offers more nailing surface for ext. trim and siding. I've had a few requests for it as well, so being as it was not too hard to include I added it in. There are now seven possible corner treatments for walls, the other two are California or None.

I typically like to name all of the groups I create within the assemblies however there may be some who do not want this behaviour and so I have made it optional.

medeek

Version 0.9.9k - 11.15.2018

Added the ability to import materials directly from the model within the Custom Material Libary/Manager in the global settings.
Provided an additional parameter in the Wall Corners tab of the global settings for setting the thickness of corner blocking (3 and 4 Stud Block corner treatment only).

With this latest update the tutorial on the Material Manager is somewhat out-of-date/obsolete. However the basic functionality has not changed, I've really only added one additional action.

The ability to customize the blocking on these corner treatments was per a request from one of our Australian clients. I've added a tooltip in the global settings to more fully explain the usage of this parameter.

Now back to the big items on the list.

medeek

Some of you may have noticed the difference in the way materials are handled between the garage doors and man doors. The method being used in the garage door module is the new and improved method. I will be updating both the man door module and the window module to this new system which incorporates the materials in the Custom Material Library.

Also at some point I need to switch the draw door, draw window and draw garage door menus to HTML. As always, never a dull moment and way too much to do.

medeek

Per customer request the available sizes of Wide Flange Steel Beams will be increased to the following:

W8x10
W8x13
W8x15
W8x18
W8x21

W10x12
W10x15
W10x17
W10x19

W12x14
W12x16
W12x19
W12x22

W14x22
W14x26
W14x30
W14x34

W16x26
W16x31
W16x36
W16x40

W18x35
W18x40
W18x46
W18x50

W21x44
W21x50
W21x57
W21x62

W24x55
W24x62
W24x68
W24x76

medeek

Version 0.9.9i - 11.10.2018

Added angle iron (L) beams to the beam module.
Added fillet radiuses to wide flange (W) and universal (UB) beams.

Nine different beam types with two series of wide flange beams (W and UB).

Aside from residential structures one could also use the beam module to create various structural steel assemblies, however that is not really the purpose or target audience for this module.

I added the fillets to the wide flange profiles per customer requests. The primary reason for including this information it to better predict and check bolt patterns that are on the web of the beam(s). Fillet radiuses are per the various standards.

I haven't take the time yet to add in the few hundred standard sizes from my steel manual but as time allows I will continue to populate these fields. Also if there is specific requests for sizes or series of beam types I will accommodate those requests.

View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/6a9a2b62-ffd8-4054-92c9-2b93e5ee98f8/Beam-Types

medeek

I been thinking about putting on a weekly one hour webinar where I can demonstrate the latest features of the plugin and then take additional questions from the audience. Would there be any interest in this?