Stair Plugin

medeek

I've been looking over what plugins are available for stairs and I think I may write my own simple plugin for dealing with straight, U-Shape and L-Shape interior stairs.

I'm trying to figure out the most intuitive way for the user to select the points or planes that define the staircase.

For a straight staircase my idea is to have the user select three points on the upper level and then a face on the lower level floor.

The L-Shaped staircase would be similar but with two additional points needing to be selected. The fourth point would select the landing plane and the fifth point would select the lower level plane as well as the left/right handedness of the staircase.

With the U-Shaped staircase I have no idea yet how to best configure the point selection process.

Also with the U-Shaped staircase I have some questions with regards to how the upper run of stairs frames into the landing. I've seen some details where the stringers land on top of the landing and others where they abut up to it and are held in place with hangers. I've also seen some details where the stringers are notched into the landing platform.

Looking at some floor plans of previous work I have done I can see that the way it is normally drawn would favor the hanger method but rarely do these plans really reflect actual reality when it comes time for the carpenter to actually frame up the stairs. I need more clarity.

juju

Are you meaning timber structure staircase or RC or both?

I think a universal approach of indicating should be considered, starting with methodology of the more difficult of configurations.

Maybe have the staircase outer edge be indicated on a plan like manner (thus on the same plane), starting from the first step on the lower level. Dialogue would have to have entry fields for both riser & tread maximum & minimum requirements with a tick box which takes precedence (or something along those lines). You may have to have one final selection, probably part of the outline indication, to indicate which way is inside, probably more needed for the simpler configurations.

More complicated though, is probably the different ways landings can be done, you may also need additional dialogue boxes for maximum height differentials between landings. Also min landing lengths, etc.

Then there is the matter of open staircases where the tread overlap becomes of concern, this will need additional selection fields and entry boxes.

facer

Medeek,
I suggest looking at the existing "stair plugins" in the Extension Warehouse
and see if there is not a common "universal" approach.

Stair Tool plugins in Extension Warehouse

1001bit Tools
http://extensions.sketchup.com/sv/comment/30876

GKWare Stair Maker
https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/gkware-stair-maker-0

DIBAC for SketchUp
https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/2014-dibac-sketchup

Engineering ToolBox - SketchUp
http://sketchup.engineeringtoolbox.com/stairs-ladders-to_14.html

and Stair Maker - by sdmitch
http://sdmitch.blogspot.com.au/

For inspiration check out ArchiCAD 21 new Stair Tool
showcased in the following videos:

Organic Curves – Bauhaus Stairs of Budapest #1
Classics Remodeled in ARCHICAD
Published on May 2, 2017
Youtube Video

ARCHICAD 21 - Step Up Your BIM!
Published on Jun 14, 2017
Youtube Video

Innovation has been a key differentiator for ARCHICAD since the beginning. ARCHICAD 21 introduces
the highly-anticipated Stair Tool, featuring GRAPHISOFT’s patent-pending Predictive Design technology.
ARCHICAD 21 delivers a number of other, important functional improvements in the fields of visualization,
OPEN BIM, performance and productivity making this version one of the strongest in GRAPHISOFT’s history.

ARCHICAD 21 - Creating Stairs with the Magic Wand
Published on May 2, 2017
Youtube Video

JQL

Medeek. In the end, will these plugins of yours turn out to be a big BIM for sketchup plugin?

It might turn out to be a good aproach.

medeek

I was looking at 1001 bit Tools this morning and it has given me some ideas. The problem with most of these other plugins is that they are too cartoony for me, if that is even a word. This is probably good enough for many designers and architects, but I would like a stair plugin that draws all of the stringers, landings, treads etc... exactly as you would build them, I want it accurate so you can literally build from it.

I will say though that I was thoroughly impressed with 1001 bit Tools hip roof generator. But again as I inspected the model created by this tool I noticed a number of issues and inaccuracies (top of rafters not lining up correctly, spacing is off, lack of double bevel cuts etc...). I like my stuff to be spot on, granted I have not yet fully achieved that in many respects but that is the target I shoot for.

As for these catch phrases and buzz words people use these days I don't even know what they really mean, for example:

CLOUD: Everything is on the cloud anymore is what I often hear. The "Cloud" is nothing more than the internet, its been around for a few years now. Whether its hosted on a mega server farm by Google or on a single web server sitting in your garage its still on the cloud. All of my sites I host on my own servers from my garage, I guess I'm part of the "Cloud".

BIM: A big fancy word for Revit models is what I initially thought this word meant. In lay person's terms a computer model of your building rather than a paper plan set.

Sorry to derail my own thread but these buzz words sometines confuse more than bring clarity to an issue, and they definitely get used too much.

pbacot

People build stairs a lot of different ways and there are myriad situations. For the intermediate landing height, it's usually set on the module keeping all the risers all the same. For design purposes it would be cool to have some interactive features, so you could decide, for example, how high the landing is and see what that does to the stair position and headroom.

juju

@medeek said:

All of my sites I host on my own servers from my garage, I guess I'm part of the "Cloud".

Please say you have off site redundancy backups.

@medeek said:

BIM: A big fancy word for Revit models is what I initially thought this word meant. In lay person's terms a computer model of your building rather than a paper plan set.

Yes and no, it depends on which level of BIM you're referring to. It gets complicated.

facer

BIM, what is it? (Building Information Modelling)
NBS National BIM Library- UK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_beeFtrgQJE
NBS

106,188 views views
Published on Oct 25, 2013

Description

This video helps with the question: 'What is BIM'?

http://www.nationalBIMlibrary.com is the construction industry's free-to-use resource of NBS standard BIM content.
Objects are available in IFC, ArchiCAD, Bentley, Revit and Vectoworks format.
(note: although UK based it is FREE to enrol in NBS for BIM information and for BIM Library etc. At present mainly IFC and revit files)

NBS National BIM Library content links with manufacturer content such as maintenance literature and CPD. It also links to the UK specification system NBS.

For more information on BIM please see http://www.thenbs.com/BIM

For more information on BIM objects please see http://www.nationalbimlibrary.com

medeek

I have three different machines I actively back my stuff up to, the process is automated so its replicated every week. I also occasionally dump the more important stuff to Google Drive (in the cloud) so that there is an off site backup of my calculators and plugins.

There is always the chance that the Cascadia fault line ruptures and we have a 9.0 earthquake. If that were to happen all of my local data, machines and my house would be gone, washed away by a 50 ft. tsunami. If I'm lucky I might survive. Either way my code will live on. In August I will be visiting my sister in Utah, I will devise a contingency plan in the odd chance that the worst case scenario were to happen.

ccaponigro

I have to say I've used a bunch of plugins but always came back to doing a somewhat schemtic but code compliant model myself and then call for stair shop drawings. Which will inevitably be different then what I draw. I find the same thing to be true with cabinets. You can spend a lot of time agonizing over the details and it gets handed to the cabinet or stair maker and all bets are off.

The other thing is the simple stairs are so easy to model you hardly need a plugin and the complex and unique ones are usually beyond any plugins capability.

Now that I wrote this I feel like it's to negative but that's my reality.

facer

In response to "ccaponigro comments":

I agree with your observations which describe the practice of design and construction
for smaller projects in "older firms" or ones that do not utilize software to its fullest advantages.

The current trend is towards integration of software in the design, manufacture, and construction.
Currently, this is mainly being achieved in larger projects and modular designs. The evolution in the
application of BIM is a testament to this change. Refer to video in http://www.nationalBIMlibrary.com

Change is now happening "exponentially" with the increasing power of computers
allowing the sophistication and elegance of software as shown in the ArchiCAD 21 videos.
Youtube Video

Time savings as a result of using "plugins" or smart software are welcome.
What is needed is continual refinement and improvements. To this end, I support programmers such
as Medeek and the software, they are developing.

Therefore the work practices described in your observations will likely remain
in the future but in a diminishing number of practices and industries.

JQL

@facer said:

Therefore the work practices described in your observations will likely remain
in the future but in a diminishing number of practices and industries.

I'd like to disagree, though I cannot.

Currently it seems limitations in Software, are leading to the most sophisticated architectural practices being almost standardized.

For me the ideal solution is a mix between modelling and information:

Standardized basic solutions modelled in an automatic or semi automatic way with the help of software;
Leaving free time for the investigation of non standard solutions that humanize architecture;
Both of them would be valid aproaches for BIM and sketchup seems to be a good platform for that.
Information is key in BIM too, not only modeling, so the bridge between how a model is created in terms of geometry and what kind of information is needed to fully describe it and manage it is what stands out as hard to deal with in Sketchup.