Medeek Wall Plugin
-
After listening to Aaron's latest podcast on the state of the residential construction market and how it relates to SketchUp I think I have at least a few points that I would like to add to what has been said.
The residential construction industry has been notoriously slow to change I think many of us can agree on that but I also do see a paradigm shift and the industry appears to be on the the verge of upgrading to the "high tech" world of BIM and 3D modeling like its commercial and industrial cousins already have.
The reason for this shift seems to be three fold in my opinion. The first reason is that the 2008 financial crisis caused everyone to tighten their belts just a little more. Methods that worked before were just not good enough anymore. Further increasing efficiency and eliminating waste became the necessity. This need for more control of the process requires better models and a better understanding of the actual amounts of materials being used. As Brock noted, 2D plans only get you so far, they leave a lot of the structure undesigned or unaccounted for. An accurate 3D model eliminates waste and requires the designer to fully understand and contend with the structure. Clashes and potential flaws are much easier to identify and fix prior to the actual construction in the field.
I see a big push by production builders to pre-fab wall panels in a controlled (shop) environment. This allows for better quality control and also for less skilled laborers since all of the thinking has already been done for them. Each wall panel has an accurate framing plan associated with it and it is no longer up to the individual carpenter to decide how to build the structure. The skilled carpenter has and will become a thing of the past. The new construction laborers will be more like worker bees and less the skilled craftsman they once were.
This brings me to the second reason for the shift. The upcoming generation (millennials and Gen Z) are less savvy when it comes to the trades and using their hands. These are the generations raised on Angry Birds and Pokemon Go. For some reason they seem to lack some of the skill and craftmanship associated with the skilled laborers and carpenters of the past. Asking them to cut stair stringers and hip rafters/jacks makes their head spin. This lack of skilled laborers in the field further necessitates the need to further automate the design and build process and take the thinking out of the hands on the job site.
Finally the third biggest reason for the paradigm shift is the moving on of the Baby Boomer generation (the old guard). Most of the boomer generation saw a major point of inflection at the crisis in 2008 - 2012. A lot of retirement happened and continues to happen. Before the crisis even in my own family my Dad was building spec homes in Utah like their was no end in sight. The crisis completely took the wind out of his sails and even though the housing market has recovered he did not. At 72 years old he doesn't have the energy or the drive to start over and so has consigned himself to retirement. I think this same story is not unique to just my family but to many other small and medium builders out there as well.
The industry is now run by my generation (Gen X) and maybe some day by the millennials (perhaps somewhat of a scary thought still). With the changing of the guard comes new ideas and new methods. My generation was raised on computers and tech, we are not afraid of bringing this new beast into the workplace and finding ways to leverage it to our advantage. Working from emails, screens and PDFs come naturally, paper is nice but not a necessity anymore. Resistance to change will always be there but BIM and other "technological concepts" are far more likely to take hold among this newer generation of construction professionals than the previous one.
So yes, the residential construction industry is on the verge of change in my honest opinion. In fact, I think many professionals are actively seeking the vehicle of change (eg. Revit, Chief Architect, ArchiCad, AutoCad, SketchUp), based on my many conversations (email and phone) with various players in the field. Unlike the commercial industry, no single player has taken a firm hold of this market yet, its still too early and the smoke and dust literally has not settled.
This is why there is such an urgency by myself and other developers (PlusSpec, John Brock, etc...) to try and put together a system(s) which would allow SketchUp to become a significant player in this emerging market. In the next few years the battle lines will be drawn and someone or something will emerge from the fray to dominate the residential (BIM) design and construction market. My goal is to make sure that SketchUp is able to capture that prize. I am hopeful that Trimble/SketchUp can also recognize the seriousness and magnitude of this paradigm shift and their potential role within it. As such increased development and efforts on improving the performance of Layout will go a long ways in cementing their position of strength within the marketplace.
-
I've been putting out a few fires the last couple of days and one thing that I would like to provide some clarity on is the current system that handles custom data from the User.
Specifically I am talking about wall presets, custom materials and custom headers.
Currently this user generated data/settings is stored within the plugin subfolder within the following three sub-folders: preset, library_mats, library_headers. Within each of these sub-folders is a simple text file that acts as the database and where all of the parameters are actually stored.
When the plugin is uninstalled SketchUp deletes the entire plugin subfolder and hence any custom settings stored in these files/folders are removed as well. The long term solution to this problem is to store this information in a folder that is outside of the plugin folder itself (change up the way the plugin is storing this information). The short term solution is to simply copy these three sub-folders to a different location (back them up) and then uninstall the existing plugin and then reinstall the new version. Once the upgrade is complete then you can simple drop the contents of the backed up sub-folders into the plugin sub-folders overwriting the (default) config files and you get all of your wall presets and custom materials and headers back.
-
Initially the gable wall matrix will look like this:
Since only one gable wall type will be enabled. It has been nearly six months since I started working on the gable walls and unfortunately it has been quite a bit more complicated and problematic then I originally imagined.
Gable walls change up almost every aspect of the wall from connections to other walls to trim and wainscoting. The differences between rectangular walls and odd shaped walls is so drastic that I've basically had to write completely new modules for windows, doors, garage doors, trim, wainscoting, advanced options etc... its almost like there are two plugins running side-by-side.
To get to all the other gable variants is going to take some serious coding but the leap is less than from the initial leap from rectangular to gable so I am fairly optimistic that it will be manageable.
-
Version 1.0.9 - 04.01.2019
- Fixed a bug with exterior wainscoting.
- Fixed a bug with midspan blocking and wall presets.
- Added the Shearwall toolbar and icons.
The fix with the midspan blocking and the wall presets is a critical fix if you are using wall presets and I would highly recommend upgrading to this latest version of the plugin.
-
Version 1.0.9b - 04.03.2019
- Fixed a bug with the data logging module.
Not exactly a critical fix, just another box to check off. Some of you may have noticed an occasional pop up that warns about an error connecting to the Medeek server. This fix should resolve that minor annoyance.
-
Version 1.1.0 - 04.26.2019
- Fixed the show_modal bug for macOS in the Materials and Headers tabs of the global settings.
-
Has anyone loaded up the new version (1.1.0) in macOS yet?
If you’re on a Mac, please check the Material tab of the global settings, try to add a material or try to edit a material.
-
Okay, let's try this again. I've uploaded a new version of 1.1.0 with all the show_modal calls replaced with non-modal calls. My conclusion is that show_modal is a complete disaster when using macOS, realistically one can only use non-modal html menus. I'm just hoping now that this does not somehow create issues for users in Windows. I don't think it will based on my limited testing thus far.
If it does then I simply add some logic which switches to non-modal html menus if macOS is detected. However, I would rather that the plugin behaves in a similar fashion for both operating systems.
Please re-download Version 1.1.0 and let me know what you get.
-
SketchUp Essentials latest video:
-
Has anyone ever seen or tried these type of studs?
-
Version 1.1.1 - 06.19.2019
- Corrected the code for raising and logging exceptions.
-
Version 1.1.2 - 06.25.2019
- Fixed an HTML/javascript bug with the wall edit menu (specific to Internet Explorer).
- Fixed an HTML/javascript bug in the General tab of the Global Settings (specific to Internet Explorer).
These two fixes were prompted by problems being encountered by users of SketchUp 2015. I haven't quite decided yet but I will probably end support for SU 2015 and 2016 in the very near future as I have already done with the Truss plugin. At some point the effort to maintain compatibility with older versions of SketchUp is no longer feasible or profitable.
If you are a registered or even trial version user of the plugin and still using SU 2015 or SU 2016, please contact me so that I can get a better feel for how many users are still requiring this compatibility.
-
Excellent live modeling session by Aaron this afternoon:
After spending quite some time modeling this very simple structure it quickly becomes clear to me why extensions are so important.
I am hoping to get the gable and shed walls out shortly to close that gap.
-
As some of you are aware the Wall plugin includes a number of connectors and hardware, primarily Simpson Strong-Tie but a few others vendors as well. The full list is available here:
Medeek Design Inc. - Medeek Wall Plugin Vendors
Medeek Design Inc. - Medeek Wall Plugin Vendors
(design.medeek.com)
Mitek also provides a comparable line of hardware with their USP Structural Connectors. I'm considering adding in the equivalent product lines from Mitek and then allowing the user to specify in the Global Settings which vendor they prefer so that the menus populate with the appropriate vendor's products and thereby give the user more options and control over their hardware choices.
-
SketchUp Essentials latest video on the mdkBIM suite:
-
Good for you! That's like having some advertising and training done for you as well. as seeing how others experience the plugins.
-
This particular design for a storage unit was originally created by me about four years ago for a local client here in Western Washington. I had another purchase of this planset from my website and the customer requested that I also provide the 3D model so I thought this might be a good opportunity to test out the plugins and see what difficulties I would encounter with a fairly simple but large model:
Framing:
Wall Framing and Foundation:
The floor plan (originally drawn in AutoCad):
View model here:
3D Warehouse
3D Warehouse is a website of searchable, pre-made 3D models that works seamlessly with SketchUp.
(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com)
This planset can be purchased here: http://design.medeek.com/plans/search.pl
Overall the process of creating the model went quite smoothly, I was pleasantly surprised. However I did note a few things:
1.) When you have a large wall and are putting an excessive amount of doors or windows into it the regen time starts to become noticeable. Not sure what the fix is here but I will give it some thought.
2.) With extremely large truss assemblies it may be advantageous to turn off the metal connector plates, the model gets a bit heavy and regen times are also affected.
3.) I need to add in more light fixtures (ie. external wall packs)
4.) There is currently no way to add a vent or window into a gable truss. This had to be done manually.
5.) The Simpson holdown DTT2Z was not being properly rotated, additionally I needed to utilized a Titen HD bolt in this model, I will address that this evening and release and update of the Wall plugin shortly.
6.) Anchor bolts typically need to be manually moved around and deleted. It would be nice to figure out a way for the plugin to preserve the manual manipulations even with a regen when the assembly is edited.
7.) I don't have a way to deal with two wall intersecting each other in a "CROSS", in the model I simply had them pass through each other. I will need to give this some further thought.
8.) I don't like the way I am creating/managing the components for slab reinforcement (mesh or rebar). I will need to change this up slightly. It works but performance suffers on large SOG foundations.
9.) Obviously I need to spend some time further integrating the estimating module, that would be really nice for generating a materials list.
10.) The parametrics of all of the plugins is really nice and to be honest, essential.
11.) I manually copied over some more gutter downspouts since I need more for this long gutter run. By adding CUSTOM into the instance name I am able to maintain these additional downspouts even with a regen of the truss assembly.
-
Version 1.1.3 - 09.23.2019
- Fixed a bug with the placement of Simpson's DTT2Z holdown and replaced included component with a low poly version.
- Added the option for Titen HD holdown anchor bolts: THD50500H, THD50600H, THD50800H, THD501200H, THD501400H, THD501500H.
-
Version 1.1.4 - 09.28.2019
- Fixed a critical performance bug that affects all the modules within the extension.
*** CRITICAL PERFORMANCE UPDATE ***
If you are noticing a slowdown of the plugin performance after multiple edits to a wall assembly, this fix will resolve that issue. This issue affects all previous versions of the plugin.
-
The question "Can I manually edit my wall assemblies?", seems to come up quite often.
***** Important Information *****
The parametrics (editing) with regards to the plugin(s) require that when you edit any wall assembly, roof assembly, foundation assembly etc... it regenerates the geometry from the parameters stored for that assembly.
If you are going to manually edit an assembly just be sure not to regen it, by editing it or adding windows, doors etc... after you have done any manual edits. When you edit an assembly it essentially removes the existing geometry created by the plugin and redraws it. If you have altered the geometry created by the plugin it will also remove any of those manual edits.
You can effectively lock an assembly by removing the instance name (or replace it with something else). When you remove the key words in the assembly instance name the plugin(s) no longer recognizes the assemblies as something they can edit and hence they become "locked" for editing.
You can also unlock a valid assembly (provided it still has its attribute library) by putting the keywords back into an instance name. You will notice that each type of assembly has specific keywords utilized in its instance name.
The problem with manual editing is that, yes you can do it, but the plugins have no way of knowing what changes you have done to the assembly and when it goes to rebuild/regen the only information it has is the parameters stored in its attribute library (database) for that assembly. If you explode the group that contains the assembly the attribute library for that group (assembly) is deleted and even if you were to group the assembly back together the attribute library will no longer be present and hence the assembly is no longer a parametric Medeek assembly.
If you want to include custom components or groups within your assemblies (wall, truss etc...) and you want those "additional" geometric objects retained after a rebuild then you can accomplish this by including the keyword "CUSTOM" or "custom" within the sub-group or components instance name.
Also note that any non-grouped geometry (ie. edges and faces) will also be retained within the assembly by default.
In fact, this is exactly how the electrical plugin works in concert with the Wall and Truss plugins. All of the electrical groups within your wall panels, utilize a special key word in their instance names. This allows them to be retained within the larger assemblies.
There is a method to my madness.
Advertisement