Posts made by aadbuild

House builder.rb has incorporated a skin in with it. you may be able to figure it out from there. . ps you have to turn the skin layer on after you draw with house builder as it is turned off by default.

If I where teaching 170 students any 3d program or 2d program I would only use sketchup as it would have to be the easiest for all ages to learn. When you get a chance load up layout and watch the videos from 3d basecamp. At first layout seam clunky and slow but when you get used to it it is fantastic. Most importantly keep the resolution at 75 dpi until you need to print. If you get stuck on any bugs dont waste too much time on them I find it easier to get on this forum and type in the problem, you will find there is a work around for every obsticle you encounter.
Good luck

I like the idea, of namesets chris. How do I go about getting a copy of the ruby so i can take it for a test drive? I was also wondering about the components, obviously the components in the youtube video are generic. How would I go about putting in say a special request component? I guess when specific components are added I could have a break down of them e.g. 6/820 doors timber doors with high lights, 35 lengths of 70*35 colonial architrave, and then also make a purchase order to send to the individual suppliers. Or could I use the URL link to request a quote? Do you invisage the suppliers that advertise on namesets to have prices & specifications to go with the components?

Hi Didier and shannon, i have found that the attributes reporter wont take attributes from components unless you open the component and then select then the instance. It would be good if you could select the entire model and then get a report on the attributes. Another thing that would be really good would be: name the attribute by material and a seperate field for the supplier of the material. That way when the material is exported it could be grouped into suppliers. Do you think this can be done didier?

Hi all, I just received a PM that should help if anyone is trying to get breakdowns BOMS or take offs from SU.

@unknownuser said:

I was reading through your post and was wondering if you ever came right with this component reporter. We are trying to achieve something similar. We would like to build models for clients and then let them run the reporter to get a breakdown of the costs. Any info appreciated.

Thanks
Shannon

The answer to your question is I am 90% through the process of perfecting take offs from SU. I have been using several rubies to come up with a result. I downloaded attribute reporter and it works well, you simply add an attribute to an item and then export all attributes to excel. From there you can add prices and coalate the information the way that best suites your needs.
You could also look at rp reports.rb It has a free 30 day trial yet I found the final cost a little high. I am not sure of your experience in SU but the outlinner is you first point of call. You can label groups and component quickly an easily. I guess the hardest thing about getting accurate take offs no mater which plug in you use you must have accurate descriptions on your components. It could be regarded as misleading if your clients are doing take offs from models that have not been made entirely of components , groups or at least every face / edge having an attribute assigned to it.
I guess the reason why I am only 90% through is because I am yet to complete all my components names and attributes, its a pretty big job whilst trying to run a business. You may notice that Chris is working on namesets and he is definately on to something It may take a little while before he perfects it but its well worth looking at the namesets pages and videos.

I am also having trouble with templates not printing correctly, I am missing about an inch from the RHS and half an inch from the top & the print preview is as per the previous message. This happens even when I use a standard templates. Is there some way to fix this? I have tried to adjust margins this makes no difference. I am using a HP 8700 A3/ A4 printer. I wonder if the bug has something to do with layout & HP printers? as it happens on both of my HP printers yet these printers print perfectly in progams other than layout. I have not noticed any other threads so these must be an isolated instances, which also makes me think I am doing something wrong. I would greatly apreciate any advice as I can not use layout until I can over come this problem.

I have few sugestions, job sheduling by phase. e.g phase 1 footings, phase 2 piers, phase 3 beares and joists etc. automated wall numbering & window numbering would be useful. If you are yet to check out housebuilder.rb, this ruby has some powerful house building uses. If you need anither beta tester please let me know.

Hi Chris, I have just had the chance to see your youtube video, I was having trouble understanding some of your emails as my mind is on many things. I am sure you are on to a winner with your script it looks to be coming along well. Please dont hesitate to contact me if you need any help, I will do my best to make the time. Unfortunately my participation is equivalent to a bad internet connection, in and out at an unpredictabe rate with no warning.

Hi all, I am also a builder and I have spent time working out the best way to get take offs for estimating purposes. I would be interested in try out the beta version as I may be able to give you some good feed back and learn a thing or two.
Below is what I use to estimate, you all may be well past this point but I will throw in where I am up to. Please dont hessitate to leave comments if you can see a better way.
I have been building component assemblies of as many job items as I can e.g a door requires 1 Jamb, 2 hinges (internal), 1 lock, 1 latch, 2 lengths of architrave, & labour to be fitted. I make all of these items a component then I make 1 componet out of the lot.This allows me to add a componet which has a break down in the outlinner. From here i've got onto a fantastic Ruby called component reporter.rb made by TIG. This ruby exports all of the components to excel in a klist form. Here the information can quiet easily be exported to quickbooks or any database that imports from excel (although i am yet to do it as I need to format the spreed sheet correctly). As you would all know the above component reporter is not a be all and end all solution. Estimating requires square meter or square feet measurements when estimating bricks, concrete, roof coverings, dry wall and the like. I have been estimating them by assigning a colour, hatching or material to the item required. I then select the material required, right click and select area > material and write in the quantity in my spread sheet. I am sure that there would be a ruby to do this its just I am not up to that yet.
I can see that sketchup and rubies have the capabilities to do these jobs, it just a mater of us getting the information in the correct spots. When this happens this will reduce our estimating time by more than half and should reduce the likely hood of missing items when quoting. I also think that if a job sequence number was added to the items & components we could also set out shedules.

Hi chris, a quick question with the java script imports, are they going to be similar to clicking on components and inserting a java script component?

Hi Chris the guilt got to me while I was laying in bed Sunday morning so I dragged my fat arse out and made a model and threw in as many components that i thought would be of assistance. I also put in an excel breakdown of components from TIGS ruby (above). Let me know if you need anything else..

Hi Chris please excuse my absence unfortunatley I have been caught up in work I will get back to you as soon as I get time with some component instances

Hi Andrew, I have just inadvertantly come across this thread and I like the idea of numbering. I am a builder and our estimating comes from sketchup and also our sheduling as well. I would like to number all stages of the job uniformly between our estimating and sheduling & designing. Could you relink the above attachment so that I can have a look at the way you are doing it? Thanks mate..

Hi Tig, I had a look at the info on the excel sheets that you exported and attached. As i looked through the sheet I had one of those moments where I got all excited as this is what I have been trying to achieve for bloody ages. I will try to get leave from the wife and kids tonight to get it formated so I can use it. You are a champion TIG. I would like to have a crack at editing the script to include attributes but unfortunatly my ruby experiance is very limited. Can any one recomend a ruby book for dislexics?

Thanks Chris for your input, its good to know that there are many ways to acheive a similar or better result. I will post you a private message on what I would like the final out come to be. (it sounds as though you may be talking about what I am seeking as a final result). I dont want to bore the rest of the people following this topic although If any one wants me to post the message here just reply and I will try not write a cure for insomnia (hehe).

Hi all, I made my components unique and used the entity info to rename the components, everything worked out perfect. I didnt have as much luck with the attributes ruby. I downloaded attributes reporter (http://www.smustard.com/script/AttribReporter)I opened a trial model and right clicked on a component then clicked on attribute reporter. A dialogue box named attribute reporter with dictionary and a box came up. I typed in "trial text" and clicked ok. A message came up reading " Attibutes + reports saved to: my docs. CSD-Attributes+report.csv. I navigated to the sheet with great antisipation and it was there and had a tab named attribute reporter but had no information in any cells. Am I missing an important step?sliding door assemblies

Thanks for all your feed back its much appreciated. I will try to make unique first and then I will try the rubies and get it through to excel. When I come up with a positive result I will let you all know. Thanks again.

Hi all, I am building cluster components to create assemblies so that I can add a door and get a break down of hinges, jambs, architraves and door handles etc in outliner.I was hoping some one could help me? To do this I am drawing a door and making it a component, drawing a jamb and making it a component, drawing hinges and making them a component. In the description column I am writing the product code and quantity . I then put them all together and make them into 1 component cluster. The problem I am having is that there are many different door sizes so I tried to take a short cut by exploding the cluster, copying it and then stretching it with the scale tool to the next standard size. I then renamed the component to the new size. Unfortunately when I rename the door size component it renames the original clusters components. Can any one tell me if there is a solution without making all components individually as the scale tool saves a lot of time and repetion?

Hi Todd I would like to see house builder at base camp if possible