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Messages - Medeek

#466
After some discussion with various stakeholders (ie. super users) and considering the competition (ie. Revit LT) here is a more competitively priced version 2 of the new pricing schedule:


1.) Subscription License:

Medeek Wall $50.00/year
Medeek Truss $50.00/year
Medeek Foundation $40.00/year
Medeek Electrical $30.00/year

mdkBIM $120.00/year (Wall, Truss, Foundation)

2a.) Permanent License: (NEW with free renewals for one year)

Medeek Wall $150.00
Medeek Truss $150.00
Medeek Foundation $120.00
Medeek Electrical $90.00

mdkBIM $320.00 (Wall, Truss, Foundation)

2b.) Permanent License: (RENEW for one year)

Medeek Wall $75.00
Medeek Truss $75.00
Medeek Foundation $60.00
Medeek Electrical $45.00
#467
New Pricing and Licensing Model

After reviewing the number of recent plugin license renewals and the number of active licenses I've decided I will need to change up my licensing system to ensure enough revenue for further development of the plugins.

What this means is that I will offer a dual option licensing system.  You can continue with the current permanent license and renewals if you prefer or you can go with a subscription license.  My proposed pricing (USD) for each licensing option is:

1. Subscription License:

Medeek Wall        $75.00/year
Medeek Truss       $75.00/year
Medeek Foundation  $50.00/year
Medeek Electrical  $40.00/year

mdkBIM             $150.00/year  (Wall, Truss, Foundation)


2a. Permanent License: (NEW with free renewals for one year)

Medeek Wall        $190.00
Medeek Truss       $190.00
Medeek Foundation  $130.00
Medeek Electrical  $110.00

mdkBIM             $340.00  (Wall, Truss, Foundation)

2b. Permanent License: (RENEW for one year)

Medeek Wall        $95.00
Medeek Truss       $95.00
Medeek Foundation  $65.00
Medeek Electrical  $55.00

Obviously this pricing is trying to encourage people to migrate to the subscription licensing system, but the upside to the permanent license is that it will never stop working in the future if an active license is not maintained.

This is only a proposed license and price change, nothing is in stone yet.  Please feel free to email me with your thoughts and/or any suggestions. 

The thinking with this change is that I will have more licenses being renewed/subscribed and then have the ability and resources to bring on extra personnel and further accelerate the development.

**P.S.**
All of these numbers may be a bit confusing, even I admit it is a lot of numbers to throw out there at once.  The main thing to grasp from all of this is that there will be two types of licenses "Permanent" and "Subscription".  With subscription you just pay as you go and an active subscription gives you access to the latest releases of the plugins.

With the permanent license you always have the option to renew the license for another year which adds another year to the exp. update date.  However what people sometimes don't understand is the situation in which you let the license lapse for a number of years.  If this happens and then you decide to renew the license you still can and the additional year is not added to the date the license lapsed but to the date when you renew the license.  So basically once you purchase a permanent license it holds its value significantly even if you let it lapse and don't renew it immediately.

**P.P.S.**
All licenses issued to date are permanent licenses.  The downside for the permanent  (current) license holders is not that the new pricing is increasing by double but that the renewal pricing is also increasing.  I understand that this is not exciting news for existing users, but my plans to expand my operation and the plugin development will require additional employees and hence my pricing structure needs to be able to support that additional overhead.  Existing users have four options:

1.)  Don't upgrade their plugins and continue to use the most up-to-date versions that their license allows (this is determined by their license expiration update date).  This option will work for many but as I continue to upgrade and release new versions with new features the newest versions of the plugin will become increasingly more attractive.

2.)  Upgrade when their license expires as they deem necessary at the updated pricing level for permanent licenses.

3.)  Switch to a subscription license when their exp. update date has passed and their permanent license is no longer active.

4.)  Future proof themselves by renewing their licenses now and adding a number of years to their exp. update date at the current lower pricing (at a significant savings, approx. 50% discount from the new pricing).

** P.P.P.S. **
The subscription pricing is also lower than the current NEW pricing so it lowers the entry bar slightly for non-professional and casual users who many only need to use the plugins for a few weeks or months.

The cost for the permanent or professional users is going up, but in my mind that is where the burden should be shouldered. If you are a professional and actually making money with these plugins is a yearly cost of $150.00 too much to ask? is it still good value for the money? That is the question I really need to answer, and any feedback in this regard would be greatly appreciated.
#468
The valley truss set was one of the first features I programmed when I created this plugin about 5 years ago, however it has been sorely neglected and in its current state is a crude and ineffectual tool.



The current tool/assembly is not parametric and needs to take care of additional integration details with regards to blending with the main roof and the sub-roof.  I will be spending a few days working out some of these details which will also help me better formulate my game plane for the upcoming complex truss roof module.

It also needs some additional options/features such as:

1.) Ridge cap
2.) SUBTRACT and CUSTOM geometry
3.) Non-orthogonal algorithm (not a high priority but I will be considering it)
4.) Full HTML menus
#469
Version 2.9.0 - 07.02.2021
- Added a "Regen" context menu item for hip truss sets.
- Enabled subtractive and custom geometry for hip truss set assemblies.
- Enabled the edit function for hip truss sets.
- Labels and callouts added to hip truss sets.
- Added an "inset" parameter for hurricane ties into the global settings.







#470
Version 2.2.1 - 06.28.2021
- Fixed a bug with right handed shed walls and blocking.
- Mid-span blocking is now notched out for "California Corner" studs.

#471
There have been over 189 revisions or releases of the plugin since it all started so be sure to check the changelog to make sure I haven't already enabled a feature you might be considering. I often refer to this page myself in order to keep track of what has been done and what hasn't, the number of updates and revisions is simply too large now to keep track of in one's head:

http://design.medeek.com/resources/pluginchangelog.html
#472
The last year or so I have been focusing a lot of my efforts on the Wall plugin even though I have released many updates for the other plugins along the way.

That being said I am still surprised out how far behind I am with a lot of stuff within the Truss plugin.  For one thing the various (truss) hip sets are still not parametric nor do they have labels enabled.  There is still an incredible amount of work that needs to be done with this extension/plugin and that is in addition to the complex roof module and all that it entails.

The last few days you may have noticed that I have been doing a little house cleaning and enabling edit menus and subtractive geometry for the various assemblies within the plugin.  The list of incomplete truss and rafters types is still large so much work remains to be done.

The current TODO list is the following:

1.) The valley set module has not been updated in many months/years and needs a parametric update as well as other options such as a rafter framed option (California Valley Set).

2.) The floor truss module needs an option to disable the chase or even better the ability to enable any number of chases.

3.) Hip sets (trusses) should also be able to be asymmetric, which is actually a huge undertaking to program.

4.) The complex roof module is begging for my attention and really needs the rafter framing module completed.

5.) A lot of the more exotic truss types have yet to be completed and advanced options and parametrics are still waiting.

6.)  The dormer module is still mostly incomplete by anyone's standards.

7.) Subtractive and additive geometry needs to be enabled for all roof and floor assemblies.

8.) Stats and integration with the Medeek Estimator needs to be setup for every roof, dormer and floor assembly.

9.)  The floor truss module needs an option for configurations other than the Mod Warren.

10.)  I would like to add TriForce's Open Joist to the floor module.

11.)  Labels and other annotations (framing callouts) need to be enabled for every assembly, some are done but many are not.

12.) Soffit and Fascia options need to be enabled for truss hip sets and all other applicable assemblies.

13.)  A gypsum ceiling option might be nice for floor assemblies.

14.)  3D materials as defined in the Wall plugin need to be made available in the Truss plugin for gable wall cladding.

15.)  I have a lot of people asking for language options, for all the plugins, but mostly for the Truss plugin.

16.)  Ridge cap option for valley sets.

17.)  Many of the current menus can be switch to more attractive HTML menus and should be switched.

18.)  More parameters and defaults need to be exposed in the global settings.  Notice how much more expansive the Wall plugin's global settings is in comparison.  I could easily spend two or three months just updating this part of the plugin.

This list is by no means exhaustive but it does highlight the most obvious deficiencies with the plugin.

I'm really not sure how long it will take me to get all of this done but it does need to get done, and I can push out an update about two to three times a week.

Please feel free to chime in and add to this list if you see I am missing something that is a major thorn in your side or even something that would drastically improve your workflow.
#473
Version 2.8.9 - 06.26.2021
- Added a "Regen" context menu item for floor truss assemblies.
- Enabled subtractive and custom geometry for floor truss assemblies.
- Enabled the edit function for floor truss assemblies.



#474
A live stream this morning with Artisan Tony:

#475
Version 2.8.8 - 06.24.2021
- Added a "Regen" context menu item for all I-joist and lumber floor assemblies.
- Enabled subtractive geometry for I-joist and lumber floors.
- Enabled the "Edit Floor Assembly" function for lumber floors.



View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/5de5b38f-9265-48ea-90e0-4e39a04592f5/Subtraction-Floor-Framing
#476
About two years ago I brought the asymmetric gable and hip roofs online and there was quite a bit discussion at this time about the positioning of the ridge board when the pitches are asymmetrical:

https://forums.sketchup.com/t/medeek-truss/16452/846

As I'm looking at this now my feeling is that the correct way to handle this is NOT to have the ridge board center up on the sheathing, so essentially I think I have it WRONG, or at least not configured the way I think it should be.

I will be giving this some more thought, I really hate for the plugin to be incorrect or wrong, it just doesn't sit well with me.  Maybe I'm not entirely wrong with the way I currently have it but there are two ways to handle this situation, and I am now liking the other way a bit more.

To clarify I've shown the two possible framing configurations for an asymmetric gable below:

#477
Version 2.8.7 - 06.23.2021
- Added stats (roof cladding, sheathing, drip edge, hip & ridge, rafters) for gable and hip rafter roofs which can be analyzed within the Medeek Estimator (Wall Extension) module.
#478
Version 2.2.0 - 06.23.2021
- Added roof cladding, sheathing, drip edge, hip & ridge and rafters to the Medeek Estimator (gable and hip rafter roof assemblies).
- Added rafter labels for gable and hip rafter roofs within the Medeek Estimator.



*Note:  To have this new functionality work with the Truss plugin you will need to upgrade the Truss plugin to Version 2.8.7.
#479
First look at a hip roof with rafter labels applied:

#480
First look at "Rafter Labels" for a gable roof.  Note that the dimensions are given in inches rather than feet: