Alan.AHA Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I was very pleased to see this addition to VW2008 - then I had a look at it and have to say yet again VW have disappointed. I have been a user since the MiniCAD days and each upgrade has promised and then missed the mark. That's not to say that each one has not been an improvement, just that every time I seem to be disappointed by some aspect. In this case the limit to loading variables cripples what could have been a very useful tool for me. Whilst I understand its not a priority, could we not have an improved version that at least lets us load a simple beam like it is in the real world, with a combination of loads. Quote Link to comment
Dieter @ DWorks Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 This 'Simple beam calculator' is not new in VW2008. It was there in 12 and 11. Quote Link to comment
Alan.AHA Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 (edited) Well you learn something every day. I really should get out more as I used both those and never realised. I'll go back and see how good they were but I suspect that the same issues will be there too. Thanks for the info. Edit: This re-enforces my point only you'd have to go back a few issues. This hasn't been updated/improved since VW11 so am I the only one who sees this as a shortcoming. Edited March 25, 2008 by Alan.AHA Quote Link to comment
Tom G. Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 For $150 one can purchase a really nice beam calc. program, BeamChek. http://www.beamchek.com/ with far more features than NNA could possibly provide. This may not satisfy your short term needs, but if you are interested, I highly recommend. I do agree that the NNA simple beam calculator is too limited and therefore, not particularly useful. Quote Link to comment
Alan.AHA Posted March 26, 2008 Author Share Posted March 26, 2008 Thanks for that, I'll check it out. I suppose my gripe is that, having added the feature (some time ago), it's so limited that it is, as you said, not very useful. Quote Link to comment
mike m oz Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Another option for both Mac and PC is Dr. Beam Pro (US$109). http://www.drsoftware-home.com/index.html Quote Link to comment
Alan.AHA Posted March 26, 2008 Author Share Posted March 26, 2008 Dr Beam Pro is $299 unless you are a student. Good program though Quote Link to comment
Alan.AHA Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 tguy Had a look at beamchek or at least I tried to but as I don't have Excel on here it wont work. Any more suggestions anyone? Quote Link to comment
gmm18 Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Pick the formula you need from American Wood Council Design Aid #6. You can download the PDF free at: http://www.awc.org/Publications/DA/index.html The one you need is Design Aid #6. Just select the formula you need based on your loading condition, then doing the calc is a piece of cake (despite the scary-at-first-looking math involved). If you have Excel you can even just enter the formula there so that you can change the variables (length, point load, distributed load, etc) for an instant answer. When Vectorworks does update the Simple Beam Calculator they can be sure to include all of these formulas from the AWC. Quote Link to comment
Tom G. Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 tguy Had a look at beamchek or at least I tried to but as I don't have Excel on here it wont work. Any more suggestions anyone? You don't need Excel--you may be referring to another product?? If you are having problems, send them an email. One can also get, for free, Boise's BCI program BC Calc or TJI's program TJ-Beam for design of solid sawn members. Neither of these programs, in my opinion, are optimized for ease of use (speed). Quote Link to comment
Alan.AHA Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 tguy I stand corrected, I opened up another beam program by mistake and you are correct. Unfortunately it seems to work in imperial (feet and inches). Here in the UK that would make life very awkward requiring a host of conversions. Thanks anyway :-) Any more suggestions. Thanks for everyones input BTW Quote Link to comment
Alan.AHA Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 Just an update in that the Dr Beam application price has been corrected on the website. Single user is now about $100 so I bought it as it is pretty good value for that price. Quote Link to comment
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