I've got all of the bolts working now for each plate as well as the extra logic to make sure bolts don't get too close to the scarf line at the heel joint. 

http://design.medeek.com/resources/timbertruss/web_dialog_timber_truss.html

Please go ahead and test out the link I've given above. 

If there are no major fixes then I am ready to implement this module into the plugin.

I've posted the Html Timber Truss input page at the link below so anyone can start putting it through its paces and offer me some feedback.

http://design.medeek.com/resources/timbertruss/web_dialog_timber_truss.html

I still need to add in the algorithms for the bolts into the top chord and top of the king post, should be able to knock that out this evening.

I will probably need to add in some extra logic that deals with bolt placement at the heel joints especially when the scarf cut on the bottom chord extends below the centerline of the bottom chord.

What is the size or resolution of your monitor?

Progress is slow but steady:



Now I just need to add the bolts to the peak and heal plates...

Visually, not a lot of progress:



But what you can't see is the algorithm to efficiently position and display the bolts. 

For larger trusses I'm a little worried that the display is too small to show the bolt details, but I'm not sure what else to do about it.

This afternoon I began to put together the HTML for the timber truss GUI (what I have so far):



I think I've reduced a metal plated (bolts) timber truss down to twenty (20) parameters.

Hopefully the preview panel will help simplify the entry of these parameters and give the user instant feedback on what each one does.  With these sort of trusses the look and feel of the truss is every bit as important as the structural aspect so a preview is very important.

The preview panel will not only show the timbers but also the metal plates and exact position of each bolt.

Once the user submits "go", the timber truss module will draw one (1) timber truss with all of the timbers, metal plates, bolts, nuts and washers.

In the global options the user will be able to specify the bolt standard and the washer standard as well as set the material (color) for the plate and hardware.

As usual the design and programming is a little more involved than I originally anticipated but in the end it should be quite dramatic to be able to create a fully bolted and plated timber truss.

I'm probably going to need a full week to complete this, so given my current schedule and hours it will probably be 2-3 weeks before this is ready to release.

Added a hip & ridge option for all gable truss roofs (sub. rev. 1.9.6b):

Quote from: Fred H on July 29, 2017, 01:02:33 PM
Hi Nathan,

I'm using your plugin to guide the "look" of a house we're not sure we can afford to build. Until we get it to look like we want we can't ask for any bids.

To break up a too-large roof expanse I wanted to add a dormer. Since that's not fully implemented yet, I thought I'd just do an additional roof. But the result is weird; it seems to be rotated a few degrees clockwise as seen from above.

I put the file on dropbox so you can look at it: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9lnnksyct7nkz93/VT11.skp?dl=0. I made the "dormer" using a Fink truss with a 9/12 pitch, 16.6025" energy heel and 24" overhangs and gables. The three points I used are the two vertical dotted lines on the front where they intersect the green wall, and where the horizontal dotted line intersects the brown wall.

Either I'm misusing the program or there's a bug. Would you please take a look?

Thanks,
Fred

The vertical line next to your main entrance is offset from the exterior wall line, this is skewing your secondary roof (dormer) from the perpendicular to the main roof line. 

Another hint:  Click on the global settings and turn on layers and materials, this will let you peel back the roof  and look at things easier.

Version 1.9.6 - 07.29.2017
- Added a hip & ridge option for all hip type roofs.

I will now need to setup hip & ridge for all other roof variants (gable, dutch gable etc...)

I'm quite pleased with the way this has come out.  Within the global settings under the "Sheathing" tab you can adjust the width and thickness of the hip/ridge cap. 

This option definitely adds a finished look to the roof. 

The hip and ridge is now fully implemented for hip roofs as shown.



It can also handle pyramid roofs where there is no ridge cap.

In the global settings I will setup and option to enable this feature and also an option to set the (ridge/hip) cap width and thickness.

Its too late tonight but I will see what I can do tomorrow about rolling out a new version.

View model here:

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

Tonight I was thinking it might be kind of cool to enable an option for hip and ridge (cap) on hip roofs.

After about an hour of coding I generated this:



I've got the hip cap figured out at the eaves but I'm a little unsure how to terminate everything where the hips meet the ridge:

Fixed a minor bug with the tail bearing truss module.  The user should now be able to input a roof pitch up to 16:12.  This was such a minor fix that I'm not rolling a major revision, just a sub-revision:  1.9.5b.

Talking to my wife today about how much time I devote to all of the different projects I'm constantly involved with, in particular the plugins and my plans to launch the much needed wall plugin.  I'm coming up on two years since I started the Truss Plugin and I am quite proud of how far it has progressed but I'm even more amazed at how much more there is yet to do.

As you all know I work a full time job and only get to this stuff in my free time which is pretty tough on the family since all my time and energy is devoted to my "work".

My wife feels like I need to cut back on something, which I can understand.

My work is simply work, it pays the bills and it is fairly stable and decent income.

My passion is my plugins and other structural and design programs (design.medeek.com) that I have created and continue to create.

The last couple of days I've taken a hard look at the numbers and realized that the volume of customers is pretty good (currently about 350 active truss plugin users) but definitely not in the thousands or what I would consider "high volume" or "mass market".  If it was in that range then I could easily offer the plugin at much lower pricing and it still could pay for the considerable time and effort that I put into it.

As it currently stands, given the number of customers or potential customers I think I'm seeing, the plugin(s) is more of a niche item and not so much a "mass market" item. 

I guess what I am trying to say is that both myself and my wife think that in order for me to devote as much time as I do to the plugins I need to figure out a way to make it compensate me better for that time.  The only two solutions I am seeing is increase the volume or increase the price.

My major argument up until now for increasing the price is that the plugin(s) are not finished nor polished products.  However this is sort of a chicken and egg problem, more money would theoretically allow me to devote more time to the development which would make the plugin(s) more valuable and worth the additional cost.

Any ideas are welcome.  Bottom line is I think there is a lot more that I have to add to the SketchUp community, I just got to figure out how to do it.

Try it now.  The list somehow got reset that the map was working off of.  Its a little complicated how I create the map.

I've updated the user map so that it now shows all users at once without a time lapse effect:

http://design.medeek.com/calculator/sketchup/data/medeektrusspluginusermap.pl

and a new combined map with both the foundation and truss plugin:

http://design.medeek.com/calculator/sketchup/data/medeekpluginsusermap.pl