The half round gutter type (U6):

Gutters:

SketchUp Essentials has put together a nice overview of the plugin.

About a year ago I added some code into the plugin to phone home when a new installation occurs.  This tells me the IP address (geographic location) of the installation as well some other data such as the plugin version number and whether or not it is the trial or full version.

Recently I have noticed a number of installations of the full version of the plugin that show a bogus version number (2.8.8 ) and they are all coming from China.  The leads me to believe that the plugin has been hacked and possibly those hacked copies are being distributed but so far not widely.

I guess the upside is that if the hackers are trying to crack the program it must be worth their time and hence I've put together a fairly substantial product.

On the next release I will include some additional error checking which will hopefully thwart these would be hackers.

I've been contacted by a truss designer who uses Mitek software.  He wanted to know if there was a way to bring my truss models directly into the Mitek Engineering software.  Apparently there is a .mxf file format that is already utilized by a Revit plugin to do this exact thing.  If I can get the specifications of the .mxf file format I can probably setup an export feature which will allow the full truss assembly to be exported directly into Mitek.  This would be convenient for the truss technician, eliminating some of his workload and manual entry.

I've contacted Mitek's support staff inquiring about the the .mxf file format and if they would entertain the idea of my plugin be able to transmit truss designs directly to their software.

I don't know if is something I will add in right away but it has been added to my list.  I think that making the gutter a solid makes it easier to work with manually and that the top being covered or solid does not really affect the appearance detrimentally.



View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/7aa80c75-5183-4aed-b0fb-ee54aa094fe0/Hip-and-Ridge-Medeek-Office

Version 2.0.4b - Added the 8/8 configuration:

The updated truss menu:

Version 2.0.4 - 10.21.2017
- Added Parallel Chord (vaulted) truss type, configurations: (2/2, 4/4, 6/6).







I will still need to enable structural outlookers and plates for this truss type, but everything else should be there:

- Roof Cladding
- Roof Sheathing
- Gable Wall Cladding
- Gable Wall Sheathing
- Ceiling Gypsum
- Ridge Cap

etc...

View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/1a7064f4-b059-46ff-928b-7b2408185555/Parallel-Chord-Truss-Roof-Vaulted

I've got some direction on how to deal with engineering for beams and joists, not high on the priority list right now but I've been giving it some thought:

https://forums.sketchup.com/t/intersecting-faces-or-edges/53452

At first gathering the geometric information from the model seemed the most challenging aspect of this problem but after giving it more thought, dealing with multi-span beams with various distributed and point loads is also not a trivial problem.  My current beam calculator is very limited in this respect and can only handle very simple loading on a single span.

http://design.medeek.com/resources/beam/beam_calculator.pl

And yet even with the simplicity of the span and loading the logic and calculations required is fairly substantial.  The output of the beam calculator will attest to this.

To properly analyze a multi-span beam with complex loading requires some magic from my engineering texts (ie. matrix analysis).  Since beams and joists are one dimensional as compared with trusses (two dimensional) the math is not nearly as cumbersome but it should prove to be a bit of a challenge.

A request today for the barrel vault truss.  I had been working on the algorithm for this truss type about 18 months ago but the lack of interest caused me to stop.  Below is a matrix of potential configurations:



If anyone has some shop drawings for this truss type that they are willing to share I would be grateful.

I will try and knock this one out next week.  I will probably utilize an html/svg UI since the look and feel of this truss type will be important to the designer (barrel height and barrel width).

Version 2.0.3d - 2017.10.15
- Added PinkWood SAFEjoists™ I-joists: PKI 10, PKI 20, PKI 23, PKI 35Plus, PKI 40, PKI 50.



This I-joist manufacturer has a pink protective coating on the ends. The purpose of the end coating is to protect the joist against moisture penetration.

In addition, PinkWood offers Class A and Class B Fire Rated joists often referred to as "SAFEJoists". These joists are protected with an intumescent Fire Rated Coating, and have tan colored coating on the web.

Manufactured in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Now that I've got things configured correctly it is quite easy for me to add in new manufacturers and their entire series of I-joists.  If you are interested in seeing a particular brand added to the plugin please feel free to contact me.

Version 2.0.3c - 10.14.2017

- Added Red Built Red-I™ I-joists: 45, 65, 90, 90H, 90HS.

Version 2.0.3b - 10.14.2017

- Face mount hangers added for solid sawn floor joists.





LUS24
LUS26
LUS28
LUS210 (this hanger used by both 2x10 and 2x12 joists)