Development and Updates for the Medeek Wall Plugin

[Medeek]

I've got the corner trim working reasonably well now:



It can also handle non-orthogonal corners.

[Medeek]

The corner trim options within the Wall Edit Menu:



Then later today, a Style A (left wall) and Style B (right wall) window trim:



Style A is per the previous drawing I posted on the board.  Style B is where the sill trim extends past the jamb trim(s).  Note, that the thickness of the header, jambs and sill can all be independently set.  At some point I would like to set it up so that users can save specific configurations

I'm now looking at the interior casing for the windows and also at the baseboard and crown molding trim.  I'm not sure how elaborate I am going to get with this with the first go around, this may have to come later after the initial release.  I'm trying not to get bogged down in the minutiae but as I've come to realize there are a lot of details when it comes to a full architectural design.

I'm also starting to think about the Windows and Doors.  The doors (man doors) are fairly straightforward in my mind, use a typical pre-hung door, I've got some details that should guide me fairly well in that regard.  Windows on the other hand are a real mixed bag, there are vinyl windows with the nailing flanges (the type I'm most familiar with) and then there are the much more expensive types.  Any particular styles, brands or suggestions would be helpful.

[Medeek]

Here is my draft for Window Casing (Style A):



View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/ee5d51af-dc92-4a66-bb0f-4f1fdda56ebb/Window-Casing-Style-A-Medeek-Wall-Plugin

The parameters will probably be:

Head Casing Width:  5.5"
Side Casing Width:  3.5"
Apron Width:  2.5"
Jamb Ext. Depth: 2.5"
Casing Thickness:  0.75"
Stool Thickness:  1.0"
Apron Thickness:  0.75"
Jamb Ext. Thickness:  0.75"
Header Extension:  0.0"
Stool Extension:  1.0"
Apron Extension:  0.5"
Stool Projection:  1.25"
Casing Reveal:  0.25"
Shim Gap:  0.25"

The values given are the default values and coincide with the model given above.

Some details show shims between the framing and the jamb extensions, others do not:

[Medeek]

Here is a quick preview of the Window Trim and Interior Casing:



In this video I'm only showing Style A of the interior casing, I will finish up Style B later tonight.

View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/cda13921-ecfc-4cb2-9e54-24ce1b8cf1b0/Framing-Test-9-Window-Trim-and-Interior-Casing

[Medeek]

Window Casing Options:



From right to left:

- No Casing
- Style A:  Full Casing
- Style B:  Stool and Apron with Gypsum jamb and header extensions
- Style C:  Full Gypsum jamb, sill and header extensions

[Medeek]

I've decided I'm not going to attempt a full blown window and door plugin just yet since the Wall Plugin has become a larger project than I anticipated.  However, for the time being I will provide a rudimentary (fully integrated) window and door feature which I have been testing out today, see images below. 

The jamb extensions are automatically calculated so that they close the gap to the window and finish out the window well as shown:









Currently I have the Picture, Slider and Single Hung window types enabled.

[Medeek]

Muttons or grilles are now enabled for picture, slider and single hung.

[Medeek]

This weekend I needed a little break from the programming to re-constitute the "todo" list and to give windows and doors some more thought, and to generally catch a breather.

Even though I don't want to get into a full fledged window/door plugin at this moment as I try to focus solely on the wall plugin I also realize that without a tightly integrated solution the wall plugin is severely handicapped and in my opinion utterly useless.  The designer needs to be able to completely edit the model within the capabilities of the plugin otherwise modifications to walls and opening locations will create additional (manual) work and thereby defeats the purpose of the plugin.

As such I've spent some additional hours Sunday afternoon completing the trim, casing and windows for both the Rectangular (Picture, Slider, Single Hung) and the Half Round (Picture, Slider, Single Hung).  There are a vast amount of window types with multiple permutations.  The work to include the majority of these will need to be followed up in the coming months.  For now though, I hope these two window types will be enough to get the plugin off of the ground and make it somewhat functional.





View Framing Test 12 Model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/260cc208-e1c1-44bd-9173-8244eacd99d4/Framing-Test-12

[Medeek]

The Medeek Wall and Medeek Wall Tools:



The tools toolbar has the following functions from left to right:

- Move Opening (Window or Door)
- Edit Opening (Window or Door)
- Delete Opening (Window or Door)
- Move Wall
- Edit Wall
- Split Wall

[Medeek]

Doors are coming along, just need to add the exterior trim and the interior casing, then on to bigger and better things.







View updated model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/260cc208-e1c1-44bd-9173-8244eacd99d4/Framing-Test-12

Doors are interesting since there are really two types, man doors and garage doors (on a typical residential structure).  When the user goes to create a new door, there is a flag which can be flipped that takes one to the garage door modules versus the man door modules. 

Most garage doors are trimmed out different than man doors and also generally do not have interior casing, also the actual doors are a completely different animal than your typical man door.  As such they require their own separate module. 

For the man door module I am starting with a basic solid door and a half glass or half lite window as shown, later I will add additional door types, the list is extensive.

I've also set it up so that the user can upload their own door hardware (door knobs) into the component sub-folder of the plugin, this allow for the user to completely customize their inventory of door knobs and levers.  I am currently only including two very basic (low poly count) knob/lever styles.

All of this programming is exhausting, never thought I would say that.  After the initial release I am going to take a break for about a week just to recover.

[Medeek]

Trim and casing for man doors is now complete.  The garage door module has been planned out but will have to come after the initial release of the plugin.



Currently there is only one style of trim and one style of casing for doors. 

With the completion of the doors all of the primary geometry programming is done.  What is remaining is the edit menus for the door and windows and the move and split functions for the walls. 

The number of parameters is rather large so it will probably also be another two days worth of programming just to fully update the global settings so that it encompasses all of this information.

[Medeek]

It's funny how you get your best programming ideas while not actually programming, always seems to work that way.

I was thinking about the flow of the plugin and the number of menus the user has to navigate through if they are to enable all of the options for a door or window, the menus are:

1.) Basic Geometry
2.) Advanced Options (choose whether you want trim, casing and window or door installed)
3.) Window / Door Installation and Parameters
4.) Trim
5.) Casing

As you can see this is alot of menus to have to click through just to create a window or a door, in my mind it is too many and too clunky of an interface.

Similar to the truss plugin I think I need to setup an option so the user can instead use a graphical user interface (HTML GUI) as an alternative.

My idea here is to have a HTML menu pop up that looks very similar to the edit menu but allows the user to keep it open and make changes to the parameters as required and then proceed to create another window or door but with those updated parameters.  This will allow the user to get all of their parameters to what they would like and then make minor changes by changing one or two (or more) parameters without having to walk back through the basic menu system given above.  This should greatly speed up window and door creation. 

I may not roll this out with the first release depending on how quickly I can get the other items on the "todo" list done but it is certainly on my mind and is very close to the top of the list.

This same system or workflow should probably be implemented for wall creation as well.  In fact, one could theoretically leave all three GUI menus open and work of them to create walls, windows and doors in no particular order and without having to walk through any menu chains at all.

[Medeek]

Just to give you an idea of the number of parameters that are involved in a window opening with all of the advanced options enabled please take a look at the following html page that will form the template for the Window Edit Menu:

http://design.medeek.com/test/web_dialog_editwindow.html

The premise of this edit function is that each window can have everyone of these parameters individually set by the user independent of any other window or door.

I've been also contemplating if I should have a window grouping feature which allows one to group windows so that certain parameters can be updated once and propagate to other windows within that group.   

[Medeek]

Comparision of the 2D and 3D (full framing) modes:





View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/4e04242e-eaa3-4842-b1b5-f3695a82b274/Framing-Test-14

The 2D model could probably use some further refinements to bring it more in line with standard drafting practice.

If the designer installs the actual doors then the plugin will show the appropriate swing and opening direction of the door in the 2D mode.

[Medeek]

Preview of the Opening Edit and Delete Functions:



View model here:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/5ae43655-d3f1-414a-a4ea-456f32a416c3/Framing-Test-15

I am now working on the opening move function or tool.