Version 2.2.6 - 12.16.2018
- Added the Miter Cut icon to the Medeek Tools toolbar.
- Added the Miter Cut function for (solid) groups and components.
- Enabled temporary (construction) dimensions for trusses, roofs and floor assemblies.
- Added a section in the General tab of the global settings for configuring construction dimensions.





Tutorial 12 - Miter Cut: 

In order to round out the selection of tools available and also per suggestion from a respected colleague it would seem prudent that I also include a mitering tool in the grab bag that is the Medeek Tools.

This can take shape in a few forms however the most important configuration in my opinion would be a tool that can take two solids and miter both of their ends at a common plane, while retaining the solid status of the group or component and retaining all of their properties and meta-data.

This would involve selecting the faces to extend/trim on each solid and then selecting two (non-parallel) edges that intersect at a point, so four pick points in total.  The intersecting edges need not be orthogonal (90 degrees) just so long as they intersect at a point, that is enough to define the mitering plane.

I haven't searched very much yet to see if such a tool/plugin already exists and I don't really want to recreate the wheel on this one.  Please let me know if you are aware of such a tool, that can work for any (non-plugin specific) solids.

Would there be a need/demand for this proposed tool?

For CMU I actually use two textures/materials to simulate the look and feel of CMU brick.  One for the vertical faces and one for the faces normal to the vertical (horizontal faces).  I could add a couple parameters in the materials tab of the global settings which allows the user to select their own material for these two face orientations for the CMU framing option.

I've been giving this plugin some more thought now that I well versed with making my other plugins parametric.

The one area that is intriguing to me right now is the ability to make a complex outline parametric.

My concept or idea on how to make this work would be to have a context menu item which allows the user to right click on the foundation (ie. slab-on-grade) and choose to edit "foundation outline". A html menu would open up with the option to cancel or save changes.

The points that define the foundation outline are actually stored in the attribute library.  The tool would create a temporary group and then create a temporary outline (edges) within that group, while greying out the rest of the model.

The user could then modify, delete or create any edges (lines) they like, so long as the edges (points) form a complete, closed loop.  (When the user clicks save the plugin would first do some error checking to make sure that the updated outline forms a valid loop.)

Once the user is done editing they can click the save button and the new points are saved into the attribute library, the temp group and its contents is deleted.  The user is returned back to the root of model and the foundation is regenerated.

Tutorial 7 - Stairs  (23:19 min.)



Unfortunately there is just too much information to convey regarding this new module and the video doesn't really dive deep enough into all of the details and options, but hopefully this will be enough of a primer for getting started with stairs.

I also discuss the new wall isolation concept in some detail in this video.

Version 2.2.5c - 12.13.2018
- Added the Trim 3 icon to the Medeek Tools toolbar.
- Added the Trim 3 function for (solid) groups and components. This trim function allows the user to select three trimming planes.
- Enabled the ability to invert your selection within the Trim 2 and Trim 3 tools using the "CTRL" key in Windows.



Tutorial 11:



Note that the planes in either advanced trim tool do not need to be orthogonal.

When using the Trim 3 tool the suggested order of selecting the cutting planes/faces is:

Vertical - Vertical - Horizontal

On an outside corner like that I'm not entirely sure how a skilled roof framer would cut that birdsmouth, but at least with the Trim 3 tool you have the option to cut it so it fits tight to the wall as I've shown in the video.

I like including this toolset as part of the Truss plugin, but I am also wondering if there might be a potential market for it as a stand alone plugin ($5 - $10).  As it stands currently the prospective user is forced to purchase the entire Truss Plugin if they want to use these tools.

Figured I might as well add construction dimensions to the beam and stair modules:

Version 2.2.5b - 12.10.2018
- Added the Extend function for (solid) groups and components. This function allows the user to extend a member to a single plane/face.



The tool also has the ability to handle fairly complex, prismatic beams etc...

A huge shout out to ThomThom and John (John_DrivenuptheWall) from the SketchUp forums for helping me sort some of the issues out with the algorithm and code. 

Tutorial 10:

After giving this some more thought here is my proposed algorithm, feel free to find the holes in it:

1.) User selects the (end) face of the stud, joist, beam or rafter they want to extend.

2.) The user then selects the face (plane) they want to extend to.

(now the algorithm in the API)

3.) Find all of the vertices and edges belonging to selected face in step 1.

4.) Find each edge attached to the vertices in step 3 that is not belonging to the edges that make up the face.

5.) Check each edge found in step 4 by assigning a vector to one of them and then checking that each edge is parallel to this vector. If they are all parallel then proceed to step 6, if not abort.

6.) Check that the normal of the target face (step 2) is not perpendicular to the vector in step 5, if it is abort.

7.) Calculate the geometric line for each parallel edge (step 4). Then find the point (new vertex) for each line with the intersect_line_plane method and the plane (step 2).

8.) Calculate the distance between the new vertex (point) and the existing vertex (point), then move each vertex the calculated distance in the direction of the vector (step 5).

For some time now I've been wanting to create an extend tool. The most common utilization would be for extending rafters or studs to meet a wall or plate (face).

The problem I am seeing with this feature is how to determine which edges to extend. I can't really base it on axis orientation since studs are typically drawn along the Z-axis and joists and other elements such as rafters could be along an arbitrary axis.

I can't really base it on edge length either since you may be starting with a very short stud or block and the edges that you want to extend may be shorter than the end edges.

I don't know that there is an easy solution to this problem.

Just putting it out there to see if anyone has any ideas on this topological problem.

Version 0.9.9t - 12.09.2018
- Enabled temporary (construction) dimensions for wall panels in the Draw Wall tool.
- Added a section in the General tab of the global settings for configuring construction dimensions.

I've also added the option for closed arrows, open arrows and ticks:





Note the larger text size set to 18PT versus 14PT in the previous to screenshots:



The endpoint, color and text size of the dimensions can be configured in the General tab of the global settings:



Hopefully this is flexible enough for most users.  Alternatively you can also turn off the construction dimensions if you would rather not have them displayed.

Version 2.2.5 - 12.08.2018
- Added Trim 2 icon to the Medeek Tools toolbar.
- Added the trim 2 function for (solid) groups and components. This trim function allows the user to select two trimming planes.



This additional trim function will be helpful in trimming more complicated geometry like hip rafters and triangular pieces of roof sheathing or cladding.

Similar to the regular trim function this tool can also be utilized on any non-plugin geometry so long as it is a (solid) group or component.

View video here:

What I really need to do is enable some additional options in the global settings for construction dimensions:

Color: RGB value

Endpoints: Closed Arrow / Tick

Text Size: 14 Pts default

Also the ability to enable or disable them.

The color will also apply to other temporary dimensions and graphics utilized in the wall move and opening move tools, as well as the upcoming stretch wall tool.

I think it is imperative that I allow the user to set the color so that they can find an appropriate color to work well in their particular style.  It would be very bad if the dimension color and the background color were too close and the user could not distinguish between them.

Here is a first look at the updated draw wall tool with a temporary dimension enabled:



I think it came out alright, however I can change up a number of parameters to improve the aesthetics if there is call for it.  The parameters for the temp. dimension currently are:

Extension Line:  18"
Dim Line:  12"
Ext. Line Offset: 1.5"
Dim Color:  0000FF
Text Color:  0000FF
Text Size:  14pt
Text Font:  Arial
Arrow Width:  3"
Arrow Length:  7"
Line Weight/Width: 1

Version 0.9.9s - 12.06.2018
- Added two parameters in the stair module to allow for extended stair stringers.
- Draw and Edit Wall menus now display wall height in feet and inches (fractional) when using an imperial units template.
- Added the action: "Regen Wall Assembly" in the context menu for all wall assemblies.

I've also gone ahead and enabled the feet-inches dimensions for other applicable dimensions within the global settings tabs (Walls, Door, Windows, Stairs).