Development and Updates for the Medeek Wall Plugin

Started by Medeek, March 04, 2017, 08:59:31 PM

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Medeek

Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

Very helpful and informative video put together by Braden York on integrating Quantifier Pro and the Wall plugin:

Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

I've enabled an ICF option within the Foundation plugin however I am wondering if I should also enable an ICF option within the wall plugin?

Corners and Tee intersections might get a little interesting but I'm quite sure I can code my way through it.

Thoughts?

I've also been thinking about SIPS as well, so many different building systems to consider.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

Most Common Licensing Question - Why do I have to renew a Permanent License?

I actually get asked this question quite a bit lately and usually it is a very angry or frustrated customer I am dealing with, so I think it is worth my time to clarify this subject and hopefully help everyone better understand what is meant by renewing a permanent license.

At first glance it would seem oxymoronic that one would need to "renew" anything that is "permanent" however it does make more sense when you fully understand how the permanent licensing system of the Medeek plugins work.

When you purchase a permanent license of any of the plugins you are given a serial number and a "License Update Expiration Date".  The expiration date indicates which versions of the plugin you are allowed to operate with your current license/serial number.  One will quickly note that the exp. date is usually one year out from the purchase date.  This means that your license will work with any versions of the plugin that are released up to or prior to this date.

Effectively what this means is that when you purchase a permanent license you have free upgrades for a year from the date of purchase.  Once this date has passed any future updates/versions of the plugins will not work with your license.  To enable your license to work with versions released after your license has "expired" you simply need to "renew" it for another year.  This will then push your "Update Exp. Date" out another year, giving you another full year of potential upgrades.

One can also renew at any interval they choose, there is no requirement to renew as soon as your license exp. date is reached.  You may choose to renew and upgrade two or three or even five years down the road from the date of your original purchase.

There is also no requirement to renew your license(s) or update to the latest version of the plugins if you so choose.  You can download the latest versions of the plugins when you originally purchase them and use them that way forever.  Permanent basically means that the currently license plugins will continue to work forever (unlike a subscription license - which actually stops working once your subscription has ended).

However, to be clear, a permanent license does not mean "free upgrades forever", and I think that is where some confusion exists for some customers and some frustration exists.

I have considered doing a "Lifetime" license which would be a permanent license with "unlimited" upgrades, however I would probably need to charge significantly more for that and the bar might be too high for most SU plugin customers.

If you have any questions with regards to how the licensing system works please feel free to email me specific questions at any time.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

The current system of setting the wall framing material in the global settings is not flexible enough.  Let's assume you want to have some steel framed walls and also some wood frame walls in the same model/file, the current system really does not allow for this concurrent use of different wall types as it stands now.  The wall framing material needs to be on a per wall basis...  working on it.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

#995
Version 2.8.7 - 05.30.2022
- Added the "Wall Framing Material" option to the Draw and Edit menus for all wall types.
- Added "BRICK" as another wall material/texture type.



Previously the wall framing material or texture was set in the global settings, only allowing the user to specify this parameter for the entire model and not on a per wall basis.  Now the global setting will set the default value but each wall can be customized to a specific material.

* Note that this update does not change the way the pressure treated lumber (texture) is applied.  This parameter is still set globally (per the model).

I've also added on additional texture/material for the wall framing and that is brick (red).  I had a number of requests for this material recently so I thought it might be useful to add it as another option.  Unlike the CMU options the way to correctly use the brick would be to set the Wall Framing parameter as "NO" and the Wall Framing Material parameter as "BRICK".  This is really no different than the regular no framing mode other than the brick material gets applied to the wall solid/primitive. 

In all actuality the CMU modes are also very similar to the no framing mode as well however there is a bit more logic required for applying the materials and some minor adjustments for window openings (non-rectangular).

What I've shown in the screenshot above is a "brick" wall with a 1" air gap and brick cladding, effectively giving me a double brick wall.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

Version 2.8.8 - 06.02.2022
- Added Simpson Strong-Tie "High Strength" wood shearwalls to the SSW module: 24", 18" and 12".



I don't think the older Simpson wood shearwalls are available for purchase anymore from Simpson but I left them in just in case someone has a need for them.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

Version 2.8.9 - 06.05.2022
- Added a "resolution" parameter into the General tab of the Global Settings for adjusting the smoothness of annotation text.





By default this parameter is set to 0.5 which may be a bit choppy/pixelated for some.  For maximum smoothness set this parameter to zero (as shown above).
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

Version 2.8.9b - 06.06.2022
- Fixed a bug with trimmer studs for garage doors.


!!!! CRITICAL BUG FIX !!!!
Note that if you are using more than two trimmer studs on your garage doors you will get an error and your garage door will not be drawn.  Update to this latest version to fix this bug with the garage door module.

This bug has existed for some time and I was probably not aware of it or made aware of it until today because most garage doors don't use more than two trimmers/jack studs.  However, it is still strange to me how long it was able to slip by unnoticed.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

Tutorial 30 - Double Brick Walls (9:32 min.)

Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

I've decided to kick off the holiday in style and offer a new mdkBIM promotion for the rest of the month of July:



Note:  There will be no rainchecks on this promotion and there will also be no discounts on subscription  licenses or permanent licenses purchased separately.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

Version 2.9.0 - 07.07.2022
- Added the following window types to the window module: Double Hung, Twin Double Hung, Triple Double Hung.



Technically these windows are no different (geometrically) than the single hung variants however the callout indicates that they are "double" hung instead of "single" hung.  This addition was per customer request.

Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

Version 2.9.1 - 07.08.2022
- Added additional grille options for windows and doors.



The additional grille options are all GRID options.  The "FH" appending the window grille options stands for "Farm House".  When this option is chosen the grille is only installed in the top window of a single or double hung type window.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.

Medeek

Version 2.9.2 - 07.24.2022
- Added one additional raised header configuration for windows and doors.





The "RAISED2" configuration removes the plate directly below the header.  This update per customer request.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, P.E.